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VOLUME 170, No. 10 Thursday, March 7, 2024 PRICE $1.

T HE

H ASTINGS

Devoted to the Interests of Barry County Since 1856

Hastings High School

presents “Matilda”

See story on page 8

DK boys win first district

in 40 years

See story page 9

Busy intersection proves

dangerous for students, guards

See story on page 3

Pierce Cedar Creek

Institute Executive Director

announces retirement

Molly Macleod

Copy Editor

Michelle Skedgell, Pierce Cedar Creek

Institute’s longtime executive director,

announced last week that she intends to

retire at the end of this year.

Skedgell joined the Institute, an 850-

acre nature preserve, learning center and

biological station located south of Hast-

ings, in 2001 shortly after its opening. The

Institute was the dream of local philanthro-

pists Bill and Jessie Pierce, who hoped to

provide a place for everyone to share in the

beauty of the natural world.

Before joining the Institute, Skedgell

was living in Hastings and working at

Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park

as the development director. Skedgell said

that while she loved her job at Meijer Gar-

dens, she wanted to be able to work in the

community she lives in. When she saw the

job posted at the Institute, she seized her

opportunity.

“I wasn’t looking, but I saw this ad in the

paper for foundation director for the Pierce

Foundation,” said Skedgell. “I thought,

‘Oh my gosh, wouldn’t it be wonderful to

be able to live and work in the same com-

munity?’”

When Skedgell applied for the founda-

tion director position, she had no idea she

would end up as the longtime executive

director.

“My thought was that when I was hired,

I would oversee more of the foundation

part, and Dr. Gary Pierce, Bill’s son, was

running the Institute,” said Skedgell.

About six months after she started,

Skedgell shifted roles from just running the

Pierce Foundation to managing the Insti-

tute, as well, after Dr. Pierce decided he

wanted to stick to teaching. The rest is

history, and the Institute has grown expo-

nentially under her guidance.

When Skedgell took the helm in 2001, the

Institute consisted of 550 acres of land and

five employees. Today, the Institute boasts

850 acres and 20 employees, along with a

robust summer research program working

with 11 colleges and universities. Addition-

ally, the Institute has a budget of $1.4 million

and a healthy endowment of $23 million.

The Institute’s Board of Directors is

planning a public celebration of Skedgell’s

time at the Institute, with specific informa-

tion about the event to be announced later.

The directors have also initiated a search to

identify her successor.

To learn more about Skedgell’s time at

the Institute, her accomplishments and

what a successor might look like, look to

this weekend’s edition of The Reminder.

Longtime Hastings business moving

out of the city – but not far

Jayson Bussa
Editor
On April Fool’s Day of 1948, owners of
cemetery monument business Patten’s Mich-
igan Monuments Company purchased land at
1065 Green Street in Hastings and built a
production and sales facility.
The company already had roots planted in
Hastings after establishing an initial sales
office on Michigan Avenue in 1929.
While Patten’s has become a mainstay on
the corner of Green Street and Cook Road
in Hastings, and has expanded as much as it
could at the location, it has finally outgrown
its current digs and will be selling the prop-
erty.
“This has been in the planning stages since
2018 – we kind of looked at all the different
options and decided it would be better to buy
a new piece of property and build on it,” said
Ryan Holley, vice president of the fami-
ly-owned Patten’s Michigan Monuments,
which is headquartered in Hastings but also
has a presence in Battle Creek, Kalamazoo
and Coldwater. “We wanted to stay on the
corner of Cook and Green since we’ve been
here since ’48, but unfortunately we’re going
to have to move and we’ll end up selling this.”

Patten’s Michigan Monuments will be

leaving a cramped, outdated space in favor of

a brand new home that is currently being

constructed in Rutland Township along M-

Highway near Upton Road. Passersby can get

a glimpse of the massive facility currently in

progress with a sign out front proclaiming the

new home for Patten’s Michigan Monuments.

The new facility will give the company the

needed space that it simply does not have at

its current location.

“Our stock room is out of space, so we

have to put things outside and some of our

equipment we’re not able to keep here

because we just don’t have the room for it,”

Holley explained. “We’ve kind of grown.

Technology is advancing and instead of

everything needing to be done by hand, now

everything is more computers like plotters

and that stuff takes up more space in the

office. A lot of the reason for the expansion is

we’re out of room.”

All production for its statewide client base

is performed in Hastings and shipped out to

the customer. This means that shipments

Barry Community Foundation to hold

indoor market, gauge public interest

Jayson Bussa
Editor
With a lull in craft shows, January and
February tend to be a slower time for busi-
ness for Rayann Wilcox, owner of RC’s
Bees.
That’s why she is so excited and optimistic
over a new concept being launched by the
Barry Community Foundation, which gives
customers a chance to find Wilcox with her
booth of raw honey and honey products
before the warmer temperatures of spring and
summer move in.

County takes on planning, zoning and

enforcement in Village of Nashville

Jayson Bussa
Editor
While leadership in the Village of Nashville
made a major change to its zoning and zoning
enforcement processes, residents won’t find
themselves having to tip-toe through a mine-
field of new potential violations.
After a months-long process, on March 1,
the Village of Nashville transferred the plan-
ning and zoning duties to the Barry County
Planning and Zoning Department, which
handles planning for much of the rest of the
county. Leaders in the village cited the fact
that the county has more resources, making it
more effective in enforcing zoning ordinanc-
es throughout the village.
Even though this crucial aspect of local
power has been handed off to the county,
Planning Director and Zoning Administrator
Jim McManus spoke with the Banner on what
changes residents can expect.

Pierce Cedar Creek Institute Executive Director Michelle Skedgell announced

last week that she will retire at the end of this year. Skedgell has led the Institute

since 2001. (Photo provided)

Patten’s Michigan Monuments is constructing a new headquarters along M-37 in Rutland Township. Once complete, the com-

pany will move out of the City of Hastings and take over the more spacious confines of the new facility. (Photos by Jayson Bussa)

See BUSINESS, page 2

Just as she does at numerous craft shows and markets throughout the year,

Hastings-based honey producer Rayann Wilcox of RC’s Bees will set up shop at this

weekend’s Barry Indoor Market to sell her raw honey and honey products.

BARRY INDOOR

MARKET

Saturday March 9 and April 13

10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

At Barry Community

Enrichment Center

231 South Broadway in Hastings

See MARKET, page 2

Effective on March 1, Barry County’s Planning and Zoning Department has

absorbed the planning and zoning duties for the Village of Nashville. (Courtesy photo)

See VILLAGE, page 3