The Hastings Banner — Thursday, February 15, 2024 — Page 3education programs, special education class-
rooms and likely many more.
Jane Arnold, who some students may know
as Ms. Whitmore, taught fifth-grade students
in the Annex in the ‘60s, in the years leading
up to the construction of the high school at
520 W. South St. in 1970. Central classrooms
became crowded in the years leading up to
1970, as elementary students attended classes
on the first floor of the building and junior
high students – sixth, seventh and eighth
graders – attended classes on the second
floor. High schoolers went to the “old” high
school building, where Hastings Middle
School stands today at 232 W. Grand St.
Before teaching in the Annex, Arnold was
a student there. After graduating from Hast-
ings High School in the ‘50s, she attended a
“county normal” class offered in the Annex
building.
“If you went to county normal for one
year, you learned how to teach all the classes
for any grade in a (one-room) country
school, so that’s what I did,” she said. “I
attended that and learned everything, sup-
posedly, in one year.”
Arnold taught for two years at a rural
school before earning her teaching degree
and teaching for more than 30 years in Hast-
ings. Remembering back to those first years,
Arnold can’t help but think about how differ-
ent things were then. Although she remem-
bers taking county normal classes with other
17- and 18-year-olds, she said there were
plenty of older people enrolled, too. The class
was open to anyone in the county who want-
ed to teach.
“I look back on that now, and I think when
I taught my first year I was nothing but just a
big kid,” she said. “But I surely had a good
time, because I loved it. But I look back now
and I’m sure I was not the best teacher. I think
I did become a very good teacher, but not for
the first year or two,” she laughed.
Shirley Keeler, who some students may
know as Ms. Johnson, taught fourth-grade
classes in the Annex for two years in the ‘70s.
She taught for 38 years at Central Elementary
starting in 1972. She has a certain fondness
for the Annex building and all its peculiarities
- including one in particular.
Years ago, the building had an “evacuation
slide” attached to a second-floor window.
While intended to be used as a fire escape,
Keeler and other kids who grew up in the
neighborhood would climb and slide down it
after school hours.
“It was obviously off-limits during school
time, but growing up as kids, many of us
would go over there and play in that,” Keeler
said. “You could climb up and then just slide
down. You know all those yellow tube slides
that they have now for kids? Multiply that by
about 100 and that’s what that was like.”
Dean McVay, one of Keeler’s third-grade
students in the ‘70s, remembered playing in
the slide, too. Although many recall playing
on the evacuation slide, there was another fire
escape McVay remembers playing on, too.
“There was also a fire escape on the east
side, just right around the corner from that
tube. That was a staircase and we used to go
up there. I don’t know why because I could
have fallen and broken my leg,” McVay
said. “But we used to climb up there, and
people would take chalk and write their
names on the brick.”
He remembers writing on the brick too,
putting his name next to the name of a girl in
his neighborhood. He grew up just east of the
Annex on the corner of West Grand Street
and South Church Street, where his mother
Bee Dunham still lives today. She attended
classes in the Annex in the ‘40s.
Now living in California, McVay was sad
to hear about the planned demolition of the
Annex building.
“Mom went to school there, I went to
school there, my older sister went to school
there,” he said. “It’s just been kind of a fix-
ture. I can’t believe they’re tearing it down.”
The building is old, and ill-suited for mod-
ern use. The more-than-a-century-old design
was not built to modern accessibility and
design standards, and the Annex hasn’t seen
much use outside of storage since the ‘90s.
Hastings Superintendent Matt Goebel said
the district has been discussing demolition of
the building for at least a decade.
Now is the right time, as the district pre-
pares to install new play equipment at each
elementary as part of a bond proposal passed
by voters last year. Utilizing the district’s
sinking fund, the demolition of the Annex
will coincide with the installation of the
equipment this summer. It will also make
way for more sinking fund projects in the
future, including a bus loop and parking for
faculty. Currently, teachers and bus drivers
park on the streets surrounding Central Ele-
mentary.
“It’s a very, very old building. It’s primari-
ly used for storage right now,” Goebel said.
“One of the problems is a lack of parking for
our teachers. There is a lack of green space
for our kids to play. We felt like it was a per-
fect time to demo the building and providethat green space and that playground equip-
ment in that area.”
Announced last year, news of the build-
ing’s demolition has brought mixed reactions
from both current and former residents, with
many reminiscing about their time in the
building in the local Hastings History Face-
book group.
For McVay, the Annex is just as much a
part of his childhood as the town of Hastings
itself. He remembers waking up across the
street at 8:25 a.m. and making it to class
before the bell rang at 8:30 a.m.
“I mean, the Annex isn’t a beautiful struc-
ture, but it’s been there forever,” McVay said.
“It’s just kind of a historical building that
everybody knows.”
Although it’s where she started her 33-year
career as a teacher, Arnold said it’s hard to be
sentimental about a building with such a
functional design.
“It was just a plain old, eight-room build-
ing with the typical bathrooms, and that was
all it was. There was no elevator. No, you
had to climb the stairs,” Arnold said. “It was
just a regular building. I have no idea when
it was built or how old it was, but it needs to
be torn down because that is useful space it’s
sitting on.”
Clearing the Annex from the site will allow
the district to adapt to its growing needs once
again, the same way the construction of Hast-
ings Middle School and the current Hastings
High School building once did. It will make
way for new memories, too; today’s kids may
not have a two-story slide, but they will have
an entirely new space where they can go to
just be kids.
“That elementary school doesn’t have as
much green space as other schools in the dis-
trict,” Goebel said. “We have to be able to
provide this green space to play, and for
recess. But because it’s centrally located in
the city, lots of kids use it as a centralized
playground. It’s important not only for the
school but for the community as a whole.”Hastings Public Library to create and
maintain seed library starting next week
Hunter McLaren
Staff Writer
Hastings library-goers will be able to start
or expand their gardens at no cost starting
next week.
The Hastings Public Library is set to open
a seed library on Feb. 19. There, patrons
will be able to pick and choose up to 15
packets of seeds to plant at home, all for
free. Costs for maintaining the inventory
will be taken on entirely by the library, sup-
ported by donations. In addition, the library
will be vetting seeds to ensure they’re of
good quality.
“It’s going to be entirely free. We will be
accepting donations,” said Librarian Emma
Seif. “They will need to be purchased from
a store or from a gardener who comes in and
sets up a partnership so that we can confirm
that all of the seeds are from healthy plants
and that they’re going to germinate well, so
people can get good plants for their gar-
dens.”
The seed library’s initial stock largely
came from a Pierce Cedar Creek Institute
donation. Seif said PCCI was naturally a
great fit for the initiative.
“We reached out to them because they do
a lot of work with native plants, and we
specifically wanted to make sure that we’re
getting plants that are friendly to the ecosys-
tem,” Seif said. “That’s going to be a goal of
ours as we go, to make sure that we’ve got a
good amount of native plants mixed in or
plants that are healthy for the local ecosys-
tem. (We want to) help people who want to
put together a pollinator garden or just make
sure that they’re lessening their impacts on
the environment and slowing the spread of
invasive species.”
Seif and fellow librarian Sharon Elzinga
have been working to get the seed library in
action at HPL since October last year. The
two attended a seed library workshop hosted
by the Lakeland Library Cooperative and
discovered seed libraries are becoming
increasingly popular throughout West Mich-
igan and locally. Henika District Library in
Wayland has had a lot of success with their
seed library initiative, Seif said.
“It’s been a huge hit with their communi-
ty. It’s been a good way for homeschooling
families to do science experiments, for fam-
ilies to supplement their food budget, or for
people to try out planting flowers or herbs
that they might not have thought to try
before to get a little more variety in their
yards, in their lives and on their tables,” Seif
said.
Michigan is leading the way, with Cali-
fornia being the only state with more seed
libraries.
“It’s been a huge movement that I think
doesn’t get talked about a whole lot,” she
said. “Once you start looking into it, there’s
a lot there.”
The seed library at HPL will tie into many
of the library’s existing programs as well as
open doors to new ones. Information aboutthe program will be available at HPL’s Fam-
ily Science Night program on Feb. 21, as
well as a library planting program hosted on
Feb. 24. HPL will also be able to participate
in One Seed, One State through the Michi-
gan Seed Library Network, which provides
a native plant to every seed library in the
state. This year’s plant is Mammoth Long
Island Dill.
After the seed library launches on Mon-
day, Feb. 19, interested patrons can access it
by inquiring at the HPL information desk.
Library staff will have more information
available as well, including lists of local
seed swaps for those looking to get more
seeds.212360
City of HastingsNOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING
ON A SPECIAL USE PERMIT FOR VACANT LAND SOUTHHANOVER STREET
The Planning Commission for the City of Hastings will hold a Public Hearing for
the purpose of hearing written and/or oral comments from the public regarding the
request for a Special Use Permit and Site Plan Review from Rusty Bible for a contrac-
tor yard for construction equipment with easement from 1633 S. Hanover. The public
hearing will be held at 7:00 PM on Monday March 4, 2024 in the Council Chambers, sec-
ond floor of City Hall, 201 East State Street, Hastings, MI 49058. Please check the City of
Hastings website at http://www.hastingsmi.gov or contact City Hall at 269-945-2468 for details.All interested citizens are encouraged to attend and to submit comments.A copy of the plans and additional background materials are available for public inspec-
tion from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM Monday through Friday at the Office of the Community
Development Director, 201 E. State Street, Hastings, MI 49058. Questions or comments
can be directed to Dan King, Community Development Director at 269-945-2468 or
[email protected].The City will provide necessary aids and services to individuals with disabilities upon
five days’ notice to the Clerk of the City of Hastings. Individuals requiring these services
should contact the Clerk of the City of Hastings at 269-945-2468, or via email at cbever@
hastingsmi.gov.
Christopher R. Bever
City Clerk212377PRAIRIEVILLE TOWNSHIP ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS
PUBLIC HEARING NOTICE
TO: THE RESIDENTS AND PROPERTY OWNERS OF THE TOWNSHIP OF PRAIRIEVILLE,
BARRY COUNTY, MICHIGAN, AND ANY OTHER INTERESTED PERSONS:PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that a public hearing will be held on March 6, 2024, com-
mencing at 7:00 p.m. at the Prairieville Township Hall, 10115 S. Norris Rd., Delton MI,
49046 within the Township, as required under the provisions of the Michigan Zoning
Enabling Act and the Zoning Ordinance for the Township.PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that, In addition to participation during an public hearing,
members of the public may also provide comments for the Zoning Board of Appeal’s
consideration by emailing or mailing those comments to the Zoning Board of Appeal’s for
receipt prior to the meeting, in care of the Township Zoning Administrator, Mark Thomp-
son ([email protected]) or by leaving a phone message prior to the meeting with
the Township Zoning Administrator, Mark Thompson at 269-948-4088. PLEASE TAKE FURTHER NOTICE that the item(s) to be considered at said public
hearing include, in brief, the following:- A request from property owners Todd and Deana Phillips, 10837 Shelp Lake
Dr, Delton, MI 49046 for a variance to allow for the construction of an addition
that fails to meet the setbacks, pursuant to section 4.24 “Waterfront Lots”
and 4.41 “Schedule of Lot, Yard, and Area Requirements” of the Prairieville
Township Zoning Ordinance. The subject site is located at 10837 Shelp Lake Dr,
Delton, MI 49046. Parcel #08-12-460-020-00 and is currently zoned R2-Single
and Two Family, Medium Residential. - Such other business as may properly come before the Zoning Board of Appeals.
All interested persons are invited to be present at the aforesaid time and place.
Prairieville Township will provide necessary reasonable auxiliary aids and ser-
vices, to individuals with disabilities at the hearing upon four (4) days’ prior notice to the
Township Clerk. Individuals with disabilities requiring auxiliary aids or services should
contact the Township Clerk at the address or telephone number listed below.PRAIRIEVILLE TOWNSHIP ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS
By: Dale Grimes, Chairperson
Prairieville Township Hall
10115 S. Norris Rd.
Delton, Michigan 49046
(269) 623-... I’ll turn in my hours for February to you
next week. Gregg Guetschow is going to
come back; he’ll start on Monday.”
Trustee Johnson opened discussion on that
Monday meeting, saying she
was experiencing second
thoughts since the vote to com-
pensate Banks $50 an hour.
Hickey echoed her concerns.
The two council members
argued that a lower wage, clos-
er to that of the last village
manager, would feel more
appropriate.
“Well since the last meeting,
I’m having a hard time with
the $50 (an hour). I’m just
wondering if we could make it
comparable to what the last
manager was making. That
feels better for me,” she said.
Johnson and Hickey said they both received
dozens of calls from village residents after
last month’s vote, with many expressing their
ire at the council’s decision.
Trustees Brighton and Yoder said they
didn’t hear any opposition when talking to
residents.
“This is the first time in all the years that
I’ve been on the board that I’ve actually field-
ed multiple calls,” said Johnson. “I don’t
know why $50 is a scary number, but it is. It’sa marked difference from the $38 that we
were paying Ben (Geiger), and then we were
paying (former Village Manager) Patrick
(Reagan) less than that. And I know that you
were going off of the $90 (an
hour that Gregg Guetschow
charges) ... I will say that
there are people that were not
happy when they read the arti-
cle in the paper about the $50.”
Johnson said that she would
feel more comfortable with
Banks being compensated
closer to Geiger’s wages.
“(Banks is) not jumping up
and down having to do this,
but she’s having to do it
regardless,” said Brighton. “I
think of the alternative, the
only alternative I’ve come up
with, is getting Gregg (Guet-
schow) in here and paying $90 an hour to do
the same thing. And actually, he was working
more hours. She’s trying to just do the bare
minimum to give us some time. So I don’t
have an alternative.”
Council members eventually voted to
agree to a contract with Gregg Guidance,
LLC. The contract states that Guetschow will
work a minimum of eight hours per week and
a maximum of 24 hours per week without
written permission from the village president.LAKE ODESSA, continued from page 1 ––––––––––––––––––
Gregg GuetschowANNEX, continued from page 1 ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
The east side of the Annex building, pictured here, once featured a traditional stair-
style fire escape alongside an infamous “evacuation slide.”The Hastings Public Library is set to offer plant seeds to patrons next week through
a seed library initiative. (File photo)