The Sun and News

Your Hometown Newspaper Serving Middleville and Caledonia Areas

No. 9/ March 2, 2024 Published by J-Ad Graphics, Inc. • 1351 N. M-43 Highway, Hastings, MI 49058 146th year

• Middleville DDA launches Small
  Business Week


• Attorney General warns of scheme
  involving Pine Rest


• Caledonia High School veterans
  memorial a go


• TK cheer places second at D
  regional


• Caledonia’s Potgeter tackles tough
  finals ski course

IN THIS ISSUE...IN THIS ISSUE...

Caledonia schools not interested

in changing sales agreement for

portion of Dutton school property

Greg Chandler
Staff Writer
Caledonia Community
Schools officials are show-
ing no interest in changing
the terms of a sales agree-

ment for a developer to buy

more than 27 acres of prop-

erty near where the new

Dutton Elementary School

is being built.

JTB Homes had asked for

a change in the terms of the

agreement for the developer

to purchase the property

south of where the new

school is being built along

Patterson Avenue, south of

76th Street. The district’s

Board of Education dis-

cussed JTB’s request at a

committee of the whole

Literacy festival planned at Duncan

Lake Early Childhood Center

Greg Chandler
Staff Writer
It’s been close to 20 years
since some teachers at
Caledonia’s Duncan Lake
Early Childhood Center
developed a vision for a
school festival focused on
promoting early childhood
literacy.
This year, the school that
is home to Caledonia
Community Schools’ pre-
school classes, as well as
Young Fives, the Great
Start Readiness Program
and YMCA child care pro-
gram, will hold its annual
literacy event in March to
coincide with National
Reading Month. The event,
which is free, will take
place from 6 to 7:30 p.m.
March 14 at the early child-
hood center, 9751 Duncan
Lake Ave. SE.
“The purpose of this
event is to open up our
building to the community,
to give them an opportunity

to learn about literacy, learn

about us (as a school) and

have fun,” said Robin

Trocinski, a preschool

teacher who has taught at

Duncan Lake for 12 years.

Trocinski and fellow pre-

school teacher Jodi Barthel,

who has been at the school

for 20 years, are among the

event organizers.

“We wanted a family

event that wasn’t like a tra-

ditional carnival. We want-

ed something that fit,

because March is (National)

Reading Month, we wanted

it to be a literacy-based, fun

event for our families to

attend,” Barthel said.

This year’s festival theme

centers around sports.

“Each of the classrooms

has an activity that they’ll

be doing, and each class-

room has chosen a sport (as

their focus),” Trocinski

said.

Primary election

voting goes smoothly

in Gaines Township

James Gemmell

Contributing Writer

Michigan’s presidential

primary election voting

ran smoothly in Gaines

Charter Township, accord-

ing to Clerk Michael Brew.

The election was held

Feb. 27, but for the first

time registered voters in

Michigan got to cast their

ballots early. The passage

of Proposal 2 in November

2022 now allows for nine

days of early voting ahead

of any state or federal

election.

“We did not have a large

turnout for early voting

(123 ballots were cast) ...

but those who came out

were very pleased that it

was available,” Brew

wrote in an email response

to the Sun and News.

“For instance, many

were leaving for trips that

took them out of town for

Election Day,” he said.

“The ability to vote their

own ballot into the

machine made them feel

more secure than relying

on an election worker

through the absentee

counting board. Many

expressed they like the

feeling of releasing the

ballot themselves. Also

they knew that the lines

would be shorter than on

Election Day.”

According to the web-

site ElectionReporting.

com, there are 513,

registered voters in Kent

County, and 22,292 in

Gaines Township. The

unofficial numbers from

the Democratic ballots in

Gaines show that 1,

voted for President Joe

Biden, 52 for Dean

Phillips, 67 for Marianne

Williamson, and 145 voted

for “Uncommitted.” There

Caledonia’s Duncan Lake Early Childhood Center

welcomes children in the community to join it for a

literacy event to mark National Reading Month. The

event is slated for 6 to 7:30 p.m. on March 14. (Photos

See LITERACY FESTIVAL, page 3 provided)

Crews are in full swing working at the site of the future Dutton Elementary School. (File photo)

See DUTTON SCHOOL, page 2

See VOTING, page 3

An absentee ballot information table at a Gaines

Township polling location. The township’s clerk,

Michael Brew, reported a smooth presidential pri-

mary election, which concluded this week. (Photos

by James Gemmell)