Page 4 — Thursday, March 7, 2024 — 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?
Coming down!
The main drag of the Village of
Middleville looks a bit different after crews
spent last week demolishing the former
Baby Bliss factory downtown. This fol-
lowed on the heels of initial demolition
work the week before, which took down
additional buildings on the site, located at
120 W. Main St.
The current property owner, River Run
Flats LLC, has been working with the
Barry County Brownfield Redevelopment
Authority on the demolition. The village
will now shop the land around to develop-
ers hoping to receive a promising plan for
the riverfront property. (Photo by Greg
Chandler)Landmark smokestack goes down
Banner Feb. 29, 1996Out with the old, in with the new. Progress, in the form of demolishing the landmark smokestack at Central, brings sadness
to many who remember the ‘old days.’ The stack has been a neighborhood fixture since sometime before 1918. The Annex
(right) was built in 1891.It took a long time for Desiree Hol-
ley-Sancimino to find her way to Hastings.
She grew up in Detroit, where she lived
for nearly 40 years. After moving out of the
state, she found her way back to Detroit in- Just a few months after moving back,
she attended her high school’s 45th class
reunion. There, she reconnected with one of
her old classmates, Joseph Sancimino.
It was there, 45 years after graduating, he
professed he had a crush on her when they
were in high school. It was the first time
Holley-Sancimino had ever heard about it.
“He never said anything, so we went our
separate ways,” she said. “Then the 45th
class reunion came and he told me that he
had this crush on me, and I thought that was
really cute.”
Her husband had passed away about four
years before the reunion. She loved to
dance, she said, but hadn’t in a long time.
She asked Joe if he wanted to. Even with
the risk of embarrassing himself in front of
their classmates, he agreed and the two hit
the dance floor.
They stayed in touch even after the
reunion, and Holley-Sancimino made plans
to visit Joe at his home in Hastings.
Although she wasn’t familiar with Hastings
then, she knew all the nearby landmarks Joe
pointed out to her: Grand Rapids, Kalama-
zoo, Battle Creek. She set out to make the
trip but wasn’t ready for how out-of-the-
way Hastings was.
“I didn’t ever think I was going to get
there. I’m driving, driving, driving...,” she
said. “You’ve got to be purposeful to come
to Hastings. It’s tucked away.”
Even on her first visit, she was immedi-
ately struck by how different Hastings was
from her experience in Detroit. It was more
rural, and quieter, sure. But Holley-Sancimi-
no was mostly struck by how there weren’t
many people who looked like her – black.
“I said, ‘Well, we’re just dating anyway.
It’s no big deal,’” she said. “Things pro-
gressed, he proposed and we were in love. I
agreed to marry him and came here to live.”
That was in 2019. Holley-Sancimino
prayed to find friends in her new communi-
ty, and she did, through church and commu-
nity events.
In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic turned
the world on its head. Unrest swept over the
country as protests against racial injustice
and police violence became widespread.
Holley-Sancimino spoke out during a
rally promoting unity at the Barry County
Courthouse that summer.
“It was a diverse rally. Different people
were getting up speaking their hearts and
everything. I just told them that the country
needs to come together,” she said. “I quoted
the Scripture, where the Bible talks about a
house divided of itself cannot stand, and I
said, ‘Well, a country divided of itself can-
not stand either.’”
Shortly after, a brick was thrown in the
back of Joe’s car.
“He had a nice Mercedes station wagon.
I don’t know if that was because of me or
just some kids, but it was deliberate,” she
said. “Somebody threw something in the
back of that car. I don’t know if it was retal-
iation because I spoke during that rally.”
Tensions have relaxed slightly, as the
world continues to move closer to what it
was before the COVID-19 pandemic. Hol-
ley-Sancimino has reconnected with the
friends she had made before the pandemic
when they had formed the Roundtable
Companions for Racial Equity. Together,
they hoped to educate themselves and the
community about how to work toward a
vision of unity.
Last month, they gathered for a series of
community discussions at Hastings Public
Library discussing diversity. In the follow-
ing weeks, they’ll be hosting a book club tolearn more about racism, inequality and
how to strive towards a more diverse cul-
ture. By uncovering our own implicit bias-
es, she hopes we can learn to be a stronger
community together.
The Roundtable is just one of the ways
that Holley-Sancimino has found her place
in Hastings. She attends Hastings Church
of the Nazarene, which she said has a focus
on community and diversity. She also
serves on the board of Barry County Cares,
and was recently voted into the Hastings
Rotary Club – likely making her the first
black member of the club, she said.
“I think I have found community. I’m
praying that I can leave a mark, however
long I have here, leave a mark that won’t be
changed and will move forward. That’s
what I’m hoping for,” she said. “To leave a
mark of change, of people being educated
and wanting to come together and do what
they can where they are.”
She hopes she can continue to facilitate
conversations and connections in Hastings
and continue to help it grow for the better.
We all stand to benefit from a more diverse,
welcoming community – and we stand to
lose from a narrow, exclusive community.
“If it hurts you, it’s going to hurt me too.
If it benefits you, it’s going to benefit me
too,” she said. “So let’s benefit each other,
together, and move forward. That’s where I
am. That’s what my hopes and prayers are.
That’s the voice I want to send out to the
community, for people to get educated.”
“Wherever you are, the purpose is to
make people that don’t look like you or
have come here from someplace else feel
welcome in this community, not to feel
ostracized or in fear,” she said. “That
should be something no community should
want for another community.”
For facilitating difficult conversations
about race and working to bring the com-
munity together, Desiree Holley-Sancimino
is this week’s Bright Light.
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].Desiree Holley-SanciminoJayson Bussa
Editor, Hastings BannerGet out! (No, seriously,
let’s go outside)
I inadvertently uncovered a new meth-
od of advanced torture – and I did so by
simply sitting in the living room relaxing
with my kids the other day.
And, no, I’m not suggesting that spend-
ing time with my kids is torture. I love
them very much. But in the scenario I am
referring to, each of my three loving chil-
dren was watching YouTube on a tablet or
device with the volume cranked up. That’s
three different videos going simultaneous-
ly. And, I don’t know if you know this or
not, but absolutely nobody on YouTube
uses an indoor voice. So, it was three vid-
eos of people yelling like maniacs (parents
in 2024 know my struggle).
My kids seemed very unbothered by
this environment they had created while I
had to go to another area of the house to
find some solace.
I only bring this up because that scene
was a microcosm of sorts on how the last
few months have been in the Bussa house-
hold, as it has for several households
across Michigan, where it isn’t always so
easy or desirable to go outside during the
winter months. Both parents and children
tend to stay cooped up during these dark,
gray days. I’m not saying they have to –
this state provides some very entertaining
and unique winter activities that you can’t
get anywhere. Still, many use the cold
temperatures and lack of events to justify
hunkering down to hibernate with their
choice of video streaming service.
I’m guilty of that as well. Most parents
are – letting an iPad entertain their kids so
you don’t have to.
That changed, though, when unseason-
ably warm temperatures descended upon
the area over the weekend and early this
week. It felt like springtime and I had to
resist the urge to be “that guy” who enthu-
siastically and prematurely wears shorts.
In those few days, the routine was way
different. Instead of watching YouTube
creators unbox toys and prank unsuspect-
ing folks at the mall, my kids went outside
to do kid things – ride bikes, jump on a
pogo stick, play baseball, use sidewalk
chalk. I know it is early, and there was a
lot of pent-up demand to finally get out-
side and bask in the sunshine and fresh
air, but what a difference just those few
days made. My kids were in better moods,
they slept better, they ate better and all
was good.
Thus are the powers of playing out-
doors. Say what you want about the mer-
its of what mental health experts have
deemed “seasonal depression,” but it is a
real thing. Fresh air, sunshine and physi-
cal activity have some serious healing
powers.
Don’t believe me? This might shock
you, but I am not a doctor. But even med-
ical professionals agree with the benefits
of playing outside – while also sounding
the alarm that parents aren’t doing enough
to help their kids reap those benefits.
Sanford Health, a large rural health
system based in North Dakota, laid out a
grim statistic in a report it issued back in
2018 and still holds largely true today. In
the report, Sanford Health stated that
American children spend four to seven
minutes a day in unstructured outdoor
play compared to seven or more hours in
front of a screen.
The content coming from these screens,
which I can personally attest to, are loud,
empty and can decimate a child’s attention
span. Meanwhile, outdoor play, as laid out
by Sanford Health leads to a variety of
positive changes, like building physically
healthier children, improving sensory
skills, increasing attention spans and
growing immunity.
“Scheduling time to actively play out-
doors sets a natural limit on the amount of
time your child can spend with a device
(such as TV, smartphone or video game),”Dr. Katie K. Lockwood, a pediatrician at
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, said
in an interview last year. “It promotes
active engagement with their peers and the
natural environment, and helps them
develop respect for the world and consid-
eration for others around them.”
The benefits of getting outside could
not be more clear-cut, but not everyone
seems to care or be getting this message.
Researchers at the University of Colo-
rado have dove into the issue and conclud-
ed that kids have never spent less time
playing outside than with today’s kids
I’m not writing any of this as some sort
of lecture to parents who have been cooped
up inside with their children. It’s more of
a rallying cry that, as the weather starts to
turn (NOTE: We’re still liable to get sev-
eral inches of snow on any random day),
it’s time to not only get your own kids
outside but support the many organiza-
tions and volunteers that make it possible
to get outside.
Barry County – a place that embraces
its rural character and general love of the
outdoors – is an easy place to find some-
thing to do outside. It has a little bit of
something for every lifestyle. If you’re
into enjoying natural resources, this coun-
ty has trails and rivers with accessible
locations like the Barry State Game Area,
the North Country Trail and the Pierce
Cedar Creek Institute. Not as interested in
roughing it? Many of the municipalities
around Barry County feature parks that
are in great condition or slated for signif-
icant upgrades. Specifically speaking,
both Putnam Park in Nashville and Vil-
lage Park in Vermontville will receive
major upgrades as recipients of a Depart-
ment of Natural Resources (DNR) SPARK
grant. This grant program on its own is a
testament to how important having acces-
sible, entertaining outdoor spaces is to a
community.
I’d be remiss to talk about meaningful
outdoor experiences if I didn’t mention the
robust 4-H and FFA communities that
Barry County has fostered. It doesn’t mat-
ter if you live on a farm or in the middle of
the city, these organizations are always
willing to help impart lessons that can
only be conveyed through the unique ave-
nue of agriculture.
And, of course, if you are someone who
is looking for a more structured form of
outdoor play, organizations like the YMCA
of Barry County and various Little
Leagues across the county will be ramping
up sports for the spring and summer sea-
son. Some of my most fond memories
growing up were playing Summer Little
League.
There truly are few, or no, excuses why
kids can’t get outdoors and reap some of
the amazing benefits that come with
unplugging. If you’re someone who
doesn’t have kids anymore, then jump in
and find a role that allows you to facilitate
outdoor play for kids, whether that be vol-
unteering, coaching, umpiring, or some-
thing else. Let’s all do our part to get kids
outside.
Now, if you will excuse me, I’m going
to hide my kids’ iPads. We’ll see you out-
side!