Page 4 — Thursday, July 27, 2023 — The Hastings Banner
The Hastings Banner
Devoted to the interests of Barry County since 1856
Published by... Hastings Banner, Inc.
A Division of J-Ad Graphics Inc.
1351 N. M-43 Highway • Phone: (269) 945-9554 • Fax: (269) 945-
News and press releases: [email protected] • Advertising: [email protected]Frederic Jacobs
Publisher & CEOHank Schuuring
CFO- ADVERTISING DEPARTMENT •
Classified ads accepted Monday through Friday,
8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Chris Silverman
Mike GilmoreTy Greenfield
Jennie Yonker- NEWSROOM •
Jayson Bussa (Editor)
Molly Macleod (Copy Editor)
Brett Bremer (Sports Editor)
Greg Chandler
Hunter McLaren
Alexis Chandler (Newsroom intern)
Subscription Rates: $78 per year in Barry County
$85 per year in adjoining counties
$90 per year elsewherePOSTMASTER: Send address changes to:
P.O. Box 188
Hastings, MI 49058-
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at Hastings, MI 49058Have you met?
Do you remember?
Did you see?
Thinking about — my future me
As earnest as we are as a community to
provide young people with alternative
career paths from those requiring a col-
lege degree, we may be getting ahead of
ourselves. How many times have we
asked a child, “What do you want to be
when you grow up?”
As kids head back to school in a few
weeks, it’s important that we give them
the support they need to find their place
in a world that is filled with all kinds of
messages and concerns. I’m just not sure
that suggesting they focus on a career
before they’re prepared to do so accom-
plishes the purpose of a good education.
Instead of that favorite question we
adults continually ask children, maybe
our most important – and appropriate –
advice should be to see and enjoy the
journey of discovery.
For the last couple of years, my com-
pany has produced a book for Barry
County fifth graders called My Future
Me. We work with local schools to get
students to think about their future and
who they might want to be. We want to
encourage children to dream about the
things that interest them most.
Not every kid is headed to college and
has a special career in mind. Many will
find something they have an aptitude for,
such as an electrician, welder, plumber,
builder, salesperson or landscaper. Their
satisfaction may come in working for one
of our local manufacturing companies. It
really doesn’t matter – as long as they
enjoy what they’re doing.
Most kids may find it difficult to make
career choices at such an early age, but
imagining their future life and putting it
in words is a process of becoming the
total someone they want to be when they
become an adult.
Ask any adult, and I’m sure they have
a story to tell about some of the things
they did along their journey. It reminds
me of “My Way,” a song made famous by
Frank Sinatra.
“My friend, I’ll make it clear,
I’ll state my case, of which I’m certain
I’ve lived a life that’s full,
I’ve traveled each and every highway
And more, much more, I did it my way
Regrets, I’ve had a few
But then again too few to mention
I did what I had to do,
I saw it through without exception
I planned each charted course
Each careful step along the byway
And more, much, much more
I did it my way.”
The important thing for all of us is to
find the joy in life that comes from hard
work, struggling and learning. Joy comes
from the process of becoming. “Be who
you are and say what you feel, because
those who mind don’t matter and those
who matter don’t mind,” suggests chil-
dren’s author Dr. Seuss.
Two people – public servants whose
stories were featured in last week’s Ban-
ner – exemplify that advice perfectly.
Michigan State Police Trooper Brian
Roderick was 16 when he decided he
wanted to be a police officer. He joined
the military because he couldn’t afford
college and spent 10 years as a military
police officer. He then spent a year as a
corrections officer before being accepted
into the State Police Academy and then
assigned to the Monroe post in 1997.
After four years, Roderick transferred
to the Hastings post and spent the rest of
his career working in Barry County. Now,
as he plans his retirement, Roderick says
he can look back on all the relationships
and special people he met and know they
were all people who “just want to work
together to make Barry County a better
place.” Roderick enjoyed the journey and
is ready to enter the next phase of his life.
Rick Krouse, Hastings assistant fire
chief who is now serving as interim chief
following the death of previous long-
time Fire Chief Roger Caris, also began
following his journey as a youngster.
After 39 years with the Hastings FireDepartment – 28 years as assistant chief- Krouse recently interviewed to achieve
his ultimate career dream as official fire
chief.
And while he wasn’t ultimately select-
ed, his story still resonates for good
reason.
Krouse’s story is much the same as
Roderick’s.
“I’ve always wanted to be the fire chief
since I became assistant chief,” says Kro-
use, who started as a volunteer and
worked through the ranks as lieutenant
and assistant chief. “I grew up here, went
to school here, raised my family here and
my family is in the fire department, as
well.”
“This is a job we do out of love,” added
Krouse. “We wouldn’t be here if we
didn’t want to serve the public. Every
member has to buy into it, and every
member has to work toward that goal or
else it will not work. I want to continue
that process of getting that work done.”
Both of these men charted their course
and did what was necessary to fulfill a
journey that provides the satisfaction of
doing something they love. These are the
kinds of stories we need to tell our stu-
dents to help them create a roadmap as
they begin their journeys.
“What do you want to be when you
grow up?” is a fixed-minded way of
thinking about children’s futures. It sug-
gests they must choose one career, train
for it and then do it for the rest of their
lives. But that isn’t reality for most of us.
It’s most often after we graduate and
actually enter the work world that we find
what interests us.
Maybe that’s why American poet
Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote, “To
be yourself in a world that is constantly
trying to make you something else is the
greatest accomplishment.”
Kids today are under a great deal of
pressure, especially when they begin to
think about what they want to be some-
day. But if you read through our My
Future Me booklets, you’ll be assured
that kids haven’t really changed much, as
they still want to be firemen, nurses,
policemen, professional athletes, teachers
and all kinds of heroes.
In a survey conducted by online
resume-builder Zety, taken by more than
2,000 Americans, respondents were
asked to examine their childhood dream
jobs and their evolution to adulthood.
The survey found that more than 6 in 10
failed to reach their childhood dream
jobs. Sixty-seven percent of respondents
stated they were not able to achieve their
childhood vision dream jobs, yet 58 per-
cent still dream about fulfilling their
dreams. While some respondents said
their childhood dreams evolved over
time, the most common response was
they “became more realistic.” One sur-
prising finding from the survey was that
82 percent of people who did not fulfill
their childhood dream jobs are not pur-
suing them at all in adulthood; they’re
concentrating on the jobs they have
today.
It’s important for kids to have a dream
job idea because as they grow and mature,
as their life changes, they’ll learn to be
flexible, patient and satisfied in life’s
journey. This is what we should be telling
our children. It’s not important that you
decide today – it’s a process that will take
a lifetime.
High Fashion
The 4-H Fashion Show made a return to the
Barry County Fair this year after a brief hiatus.
The event offers a bit of levity for youth that have
worked so hard throughout the year to raise their
animals and show them at the fair. Participants and
their animals both wear fun, creative outfits for a
one-of-a-kind fashion show.
This is a photo of Alexis Konetzka, who was
Reserve Champion of the event. She outlined her
horse’s spots with painter’s tape and wore a paint
smock, dubbing it “Painter and Painted Horse.”
Lailah Getter was crowned Grand Champion of
this year’s event.Would you care for a joust?
Banner May 26, 2005Members of the Society for Creative Anachronism will present a program, “A Look at Medieval Life,” at 2 p.m. on Wednesday,
June 8, at the Barry County Courthouse lawn to kick off the Hastings Public Library’s summer reading program. Members of
the non-profit organization will make their presentation to start this summer’s “Dragons, Dreams & Daring Deeds” series on
Wednesday afternoons through July 30. (Photo by Perry Hardin)Hastings native Morgan Johnson discov-
ered she had a passion for people while
working as an intern at The Kellogg Com-
pany in Battle Creek.
“I quickly found out that I am a lot more
people-driven than I am money-driven. I
am more about the causes that are going to
help people than what we can do to make
more money,” Johnson said. “Kellogg’s
was great, but I could see that I wanted to
work more for what the people needed.”
Born and raised in Hastings and a Hast-
ings High School graduate, Johnson attend-
ed Kellogg Community College before
transferring to Western Michigan Universi-
ty. She received her bachelor’s degree in
business administration, majoring in adver-
tising and promotion with a minor in graph-
ic design. Following her epiphany during
her internship, Johnson began looking for a
role where she could utilize her talents
while helping people.
Johnson continued working in Battle
Creek at a volunteer center before landing
her current role at the Barry County United
Way. She’s been there for 13 years, han-
dling the nonprofit’s marketing and graphic
design projects.
Coming back to Barry County to work
and raise her family was always part of her
plan, she said.
“Barry County is a lot different than any
other community,” Johnson said. “It’s a
community where collaboration is key, and
where we’re here to genuinely help others
in the community. It’s not an ‘I’ game, it’s a
‘we’ game.”
Johnson and her husband Brandon, also a
Hastings native, wanted their kids to be
able to receive the same opportunities they
had growing up in Hastings. Their four
kids, ages 10, 9, 7 and 6, all attend Star
Elementary. If she’s not working a commu-
nity event with United Way, Johnson said
she’s likely attending one of her kids’ sports
events. If she’s not doing that, she’ll be
attending a sports game that one of her
nieces or nephews is playing.
“(Outside of work I’m doing) anythingthat my kids are involved in,” Johnson
said. “I’m definitely going to be that mom
that’s going to cheer competitions, basket-
ball games, football. We’re just at the start
of kids getting involved in everything, but
I can already tell that we’re going to be
involved.”
As she raises her family, Johnson said it’s
been an interesting experience coming into
her own in Barry County. Granddaughter of
Art Steward and daughter of Steve Steward,
Johnson’s family has been well-established
in the Hastings community for many years.
Although people still recognize her as
Steve’s daughter from time to time, she’s
also leaving her mark on Hastings.
“My dad always lived with the legacy of
my grandpa. We always lived with the leg-
acy of my dad,” Johnson said. “My dad has
not passed away, but this new generation is
coming through. We’re moving away from
‘I’m Steve Stewards’ daughter’ to ‘I’m
Morgan Johnson’ now.”
For dedicating herself to helping people
in Barry County and forging her legacy,
Morgan Johnson is this week’s Bright
Light.Best advice I’ve ever received: God has
control of everything, and whatever God’s
will is for my life will happen. It’s in God’s
hands, it’s not in my hands. His will is
going to be the way my life goes.
What I do outside of work: Honestly, I
immerse myself in my kids and being at
work and helping the community. One of
the things about working in an organization
(like United Way), especially in Barry
County, is it’s never eight-to-five. I live and
breathe the work I do, so I never see it as,
‘Oh, my work is done at five o’clock.’ Any
given night, I could be talking to someone
(about my work) – you just don’t know
when those things are going to happen. It’s
never like an eight-to-five job, it’s your life.
What the world needs more of: That
just makes me think of that song. Honestly,
this sounds so cliche but I think love is the
biggest thing that we need in the world that
we live in, and kindness.
Music I listen to: I do love all kinds of
music. I will say that we have seen Chris
Tomlin probably five or six times, so that’s
what plays in our house most of the time.
That, or Disney.
What I would tell a high school gradu-
ate: I won the Young Athena Award through
the Chamber, and the year I won it I spoke
at the Senior Tea for the girls. The advice I
gave them was that your life is going to
give you disappointments, but it’s how you
move on from those disappointments and
how you work beyond that that really
brings out the best in you. I spoke about
how sometimes what you think is going to
work for you doesn’t work for you, and
that’s okay. It’s about being okay with those
different paths that your life might take.
Each week, the Banner profiles a person
who makes the community shine. Do you
know someone who should be featured
because of volunteer work, fun-loving per-
sonality, for the stories he or she has to tell,
or for any other reason? Send information
to Newsroom, Hastings Banner, 1351 N.
M-43 Highway, Hastings, MI 49058; or
email [email protected].Morgan Johnson Fred Jacobs, CEO,
J-Ad Graphics Inc.