Page 4 — Thursday, August 24, 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
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-
Second Class Postage Paid
at Hastings, MI 49058Have you met?
Do you remember?
Did you see?
Is the political
divide in America
eroding patriotism?
Remember patriotism? Can anyone
recall those special holidays like the
Fourth of July, Memorial Day, Veterans
Day and the annual commemoration of
9/11 when our whole nation celebrated
freedom, sacrifice and the gift to live
freely in America?
Apparently, few of us do. Alarmingly,
maybe we no longer care.
A recent poll published by the Wall
Street Journal shows a steep decline in
the number of Americans who say that
patriotism is very important to them –
only 38 percent. That’s down from 70
percent in 1998 and 60 percent in 2019.
How can we explain such a decline in
the attitudes of Americans toward their
own country in the past 25 years? And
what can we do about it?
Other polls show that this once-great
country is changing in other concerning
ways, as well. The importance of reli-
gion has dropped dramatically and only
23 percent of American adults under the
age of 30 feel that having children is
important to them. These are statistics
that should daunt every American who
still believes we live in the greatest
nation on earth.
“America will never be destroyed
from the outside,” said Abraham Lin-
coln. “If we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed our-
selves.”
Is that what’s happening? Are we
allowing our strong principles, our dedi-
cation to a country founded on the tenet
that every American is created equal and
possesses inalienable rights to wash
away in greed and narcissism?
Have we allowed left- and right-wing
groups to define who we are and to
reframe the mistakes America has made
in the past into debates over oppressors
and victims?
That’s not the America I know –
where anything is possible if you’re
willing to fight or work for it. Today’s
problem is that we’ve lost the ability to
discuss important issues calmly and
respectfully regardless of party affilia-
tion or other differences. Our future may
truly be in jeopardy because of our reck-
less spending, Godless government and
mean-spirited attempts to silence anyone
who doesn’t agree with the way we
think.
Many people today don’t believe in
free speech, the canon of our democracy.
Oh, they support free speech ... but with
conditions. Our beliefs have no meaning
unless we tolerate things that are said that
we loathe – along with those things of
which we approve. That’s understanding
and supporting free speech.
Too often today, we are inclined to
suppress opinions just because we don’t
like them, or attack the viewpoints of
those who express them.
“I disapprove of what you say, but I
will defend to the death your right to say
it,” said writer and philosopher Voltaire.
That’s what a commitment to free speech
is all about.
The idea that anyone can express the
way they feel isn’t working today in
America because we’re allowing groups
of people to dictate the conversation. If
you don’t agree with them, you will pay
a price. It’s happening in our own com-
munity where people have taken sides on
issues or voiced their opinion only to be
cancelled or threatened for their posi-
tions rather than being allowed their right
to free speech.
This is a free country, isn’t it? Then, as
good citizens, we should cherish the abil-
ity to say what we think or hear whatothers think without resentment from
anyone or any group.
For much of our country’s history we
were taught to believe that, through hard
work and perseverance, we could achieve
just about anything.
Today, however, people – and espe-
cially young people – seem to accept that
nothing they do matters since the system
is stacked against them.
A recent Pew study found Millennials
describe themselves as more “patriotic”
than any other generation, but let’s not
misinterpret that data. Millennials are
reinterpreting patriotism through their
own unique lens. According to Pew, Mil-
lennials have made a clear delineation
between patriotism and protest, between
those who dogmatically defend our coun-
try and those who criticize it just as
vocally.
Millennials are passionate critics of
our nation’s flaws and our history. Yet,
when asked how they felt about our
country, 86 percent said they were “proud
to be an American.” They just have a
different interpretation of what it means
to be “patriotic,” which is less of a rigid
acceptance of an ideology of accepting
one politics over left or right viewpoints.
The Pew report suggests that Millenni-
als identify as more politically indepen-
dent than associating with either political
party. They’re looking for answers and
action on issues that impact their lives
and they don’t feel either party is focused
on solving problems. And that’s a per-
spective that more of us than just the
Millennial generation are seeing.
So is the lack of patriotism the prob-
lem or does this new view have more to
do with lack of confidence in our gov-
ernment? Common sense says it begins
with the highest inflation we’ve been
dealing with in more than 40 years.
Mortgage and interest rates have hit
highs not seen in 20 years. Food, gas,
energy prices and the clothes that every
average American purchases every day
have hit all-time highs.
Common sense tells us that average
people are not in a very good mood,
which is impacting our patriotism polling
numbers.
Someone once said, “A good scape-
goat is almost as good as a solution,” and
we’ve got a barnyard full of scapegoats
these days.
We won’t solve our problems by look-
ing for a scapegoat, though. It takes lead-
ership, understanding and commitment
to make a difference – something that is
lacking in government today. We need a
chance and a new direction or patriotism
numbers will continue to decline.
“To lodge all power in one party and
keep it there is to insure bad government
and the sure and gradual deterioration of
the public morals,” said Mark Twain.
Common sense tells us that America is
going in the wrong direction, no matter
how the politicians play it or the national
media reports it. Americans are fed up
and are ready for a new direction.It’s that time
of year again...
Banner Sept. 1, 1988Bev Siekman, a first grade teacher
at Northeastern Elementary in
Hastings, explains an assignment to
some youngsters on their first full day
of school.Farm Vac
Forget the Dirt Devil – Hastings’ own
Mensch Manufacturing has a high-powered
vacuum that is able to clean up the major
messes that farmers have to deal with.
The company had its model V2520 manure
vacuum on display at the 2023 AgroExpo
held near St. Johns last week. Here, compa-
ny representative Sarah Mensch (right)
explains the use and benefits of the heavy
machinery for larger livestock operations to
Nelson Weaver (left) of Sandusky, Mich.
The V2520 vacuum can clean a barn alley
in one pass and has found great acceptance
in the international marketplace with units
shipped overseas for the European market.
(Photo by George Hubka/MG News)Staff Writer Hunter McLaren is a Report
for America corps member covering
schools, city government and community
issues in Barry County for The Hastings
Banner. Report for America is a national
service project that places journalists in
local newsrooms to report on under-cov-
ered issues.
As part of the program, corps members
are expected to take on a service project
that benefits the community. McLaren hosts
a weekly, two-hour summer writing class
for middle and high school students in
Barry County. This week’s Bright Light
features writing and reporting contribu-
tions from local students Gregory Neubaur,
Jacob Jay Lewis and Patience Schulz.
Hastings resident Jon Schmidt grew up
working in his dad’s car shop trying to live
up to the sign hanging above his desk.
“He was a perfectionist. He had a sign
over his desk that said, ‘If it isn’t perfect, it
isn’t finished,’” Schmidt said. “He was a
very hard man to work for. I love my dad,
but boy was it hard to work for him.
Because he meant it – if it isn’t perfect, it
isn’t finished and it doesn’t go out the door.”
Once he got out of college, Schmidt start-
ed running an Earl Scheib Paint & Body
shop in Kalamazoo. Schmidt said at that
time they only charged $29.95 for a paint
job, and their work often reflected that.
“My dad said if it wasn’t perfect, it
wasn’t done. Earl Scheib said get it out the
door, there’s two more coming. That was
his philosophy,” Schmidt said.
Schmidt said he took a lesson from his
time in his dad’s shop and focused on
upping his shop’s quality of work. The
move was a success and helped him get
more work with local dealerships and start
a bonus program for his employees, he said.
After several years, Schmidt said he left the
automotive business to get away from enti-
tled customers who expected a lot from
their $30 or $40 paint and repair jobs.
“The people start to get to me after a
while. They really expect the world for 40
bucks,” he said. “They would bring us
rusty, trashy, dirty cars and expect us to
make them shiny. I got tired of pacifying
people.”Although he found a new day job, he’s
kept tinkering with cars at home. He cur-
rently has a 1972 Oldsmobile Cutlass and a
1938 Ford, both of which he’s restored and
upgraded. Although those two are his most
recent models, he’s lost count of how many
cars he’s owned over the years. It’s a hobby
that’s kept him out of trouble, he said.
“I’ve always had a shop in the last 40
years. I buy and sell older cars, play with
them for a while, pass them on and find
something else. It’s a hobby,” he said. “It’s
not very lucrative. I don’t make a lot of
money, but my wife knows where I am, so
she’s happy.”
Now, Schmidt has helpers. With nine
grandkids and three great-grandkids, his
home gets busy during the summer months.
Although a few kids have shown an interest
in what he does in the garage, he said
they’re not old or interested enough (yet) to
help too much. Either way, they like taking
rides for ice cream.
“The car to them is a fun thing. It never
breaks down, never needs gas and never has
a flat tire. No, none of those things,” he said.
“It’s just grandpa turns a key, and we go.”
Schmidt said that while it’s a humble
hobby, he still enjoys it just as much as he
used to. Being able to work on cars in his
garage away from his father’s watchful eyeand his customers’ persnicketiness has its
perks, too.
“There’s no sign that says it has to be
perfect before it’s done in my shop,”
Schmidt said. “I’m 72 and still having a lot
of fun. It can last if you stick with it.”
For sticking with his passion and sharing
it with Barry County youth, Jon Schmidt is
this week’s Bright Light.
First car: My dad bought my sister and
I our first cars, and he bought us cars from
our birth year. I don’t know where he found
her a ‘42 Pontiac, but he did. He bought me
a 1950 Jeepster, which was a rear-wheel
drive Jeep with a folding top, and it was
very slow. It was very cold in the winter
because it had side curtains instead of win-
dows. I think I went 60 in it once, it wasn’t
fast. He told me, “As long as you drive that,
I’ll pay for the insurance and plates.” He
wanted me to drive something slow and not
go very far or go very fast. I took him up on
that and I had that vehicle for 32 years. But
I let him off the hook for the insurance and
plates after 10.
Favorite car: My next one. I have had
some favorites in the past, some that stick
in my mind. I had a ‘56 Ford that I bought
for $50. It was one of the best cars I’ve ever
owned. That’s hard to believe because you
can spend $50 on lunch these days, but in
‘68 it could actually buy you a decent car.
But generally I’m never happy until the
next one gets into the shop, and then I get
all excited because I have stuff to do again.
What’s changed about cars over the
years: A lot of plastic. Lots and lots of
plastic. It’s sad in a way, but I guess that’s
an economical thing. The other main thing
is everything looks the same. If you took a
Lexus and put Kia emblems on it, I don’t
think anybody would know the difference.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].Jon SchmidtFred Jacobs, CEO,
J-Ad Graphics Inc.