The Hastings Banner — Thursday, March 7, 2024 — Page 7R.T. Wilson, local inventor
Esther Walton
Banner Oct. 4, 1990
This story was written by Hubert Cook in
1968, and it tells about the “Wilson Wabbler,”
a surface fishing bait developed by R.T. Wil-
son of Hastings.
Only a few comments are made by this
writer to clarify or update locations:
“This surface fishing bait was conceived,
patented and manufactured exclusively by its
inventor, R.T. Wilson. He was always known
as Art Wilson, but he really had no first name,
and was christened by only the initials R.T.
“He came to Hastings from Greenville and
was employed by the Consolidated Press &
Tool Co. as a pattern-maker in the same
building evacuated by the Viking when they
moved to their present location.
“The building is believed to be on the
south side of Mill Street, just west of the rail-
road bridge.
“At this time,” continued Cook,” I was no
draftsman for the Car Seal, and as they had no
pattern maker of their own, it was my job
after the drawings were made to go over to
the consolidated pattern shop and make the
patterns for the Seal and Table Companies,
machines, dies, jigs and fixtures. This is how
I met Art, and this was the time (1908-1910)
he was experimenting with his fishing lures.”
Up to the time of Wilson’s invention, one
of the best ways for catching bass was by
“dapping,” using a long cane pole with a line
of the same length, with either a live frog or
minnow on a single large hook, and skittering
it in or near the weed beds or lilies.
“Art thought there must be some better
way of fooling the fish without the trouble
and expense of using live bait and the ungain-
ly long pole. The pattern shop was in the
south wing of the building, overlooking the
river below the C.K.&S. bridge where you
could see the weed beds and quite often a fish
jumping.
“This stretch of river was Art’s testing
ground, and many summer evenings would
find him there, casting with the different
shapes and colors of the lures. He usually
turned these experimental lures on the pattern
shop lathe during the noon hours, and carved
by hand the flutes or other shapes he thought
might give the desired action.
“He finally decided the lure with the white
body and four red flutes gave the most satis-
factory results. Although he eventually made
other color combinations, and other shapes
under different names, this was the origin
patented ‘Wilson Wabbler.’
“He made several of the lures and gave
them to his friends to try out. They had such
great success that he decided to put the bait on
the market, bought a small lathe and a spindle
carver, installed them in his garage where he
worked in his spare time and was in business.
“Aben Johnson became interested and
helped Art on the selling end.
“The business soon grew to the point
where he had to add on to the garage, add
more equipment, quit his pattern-making job,
and was soon employing his own and most of
the other wives in the neighborhood in paint
dipping, hand stripping, assembling hooks,
boxing and shipping.
“Over the next few years, other manufac-
turers, noting the success of the Wilson Wab-
bler, made surface lures of all manners and
descriptions until, I guess, the bass got so
confused over the many choices they had to
make that they just gave up in despair, or
decided not to be fooled anymore.
“Anyway, the business tapered off and Art
quit making them. He then took the job of
driving the first motor-driven fire truck in
Hastings, living upstairs on the City Hall so
as to be on 24-hour duty most of the time.”
After a few years, he contracted tuberculo-
sis, moved to Alamogordo, N.M., but his
health did not improve and finally, he returned
to Michigan to the T.B. Sanitarium in Gay-
lord, where he died.
“Art was a great lover of the out-of-doors,”
said Cook, “and we spend many happy hours
together hunting, fishing, canoeing, and pic-
nicking with our families.
“He loved a good joke and once asked me
to make a bobbin for his wife and furnished
me with a place of cocobolo wood. He
enjoyed telling how excited his wife was
when she first threw his line out and the bob-
ber went down immediately and she thought
she had a big one hooked. She repeated this
several times before she discovered the cause.
Art explained to her that I had probably
picked up a piece of cocobolo by mistake.
This wood is so heavy that it sinks of its own
weight, and this was my introduction to Mrs.
Wilson, which at first was none too cordial.
“Soon after this, our two families packed apicnic lunch and journeyed up north of
Greenville to one of Art’s favorite trout
streams to catch and bring home enough for a
trout supper. However, the trout wouldn’t
cooperate, and we didn’t catch a single one
big enough to keep. But coming home
through Freeport, we turned west a mile or so
to Cane Creek and caught plenty of nice trout
for our supper.
“All of this has nothing to do with Wilson
Wabblers, but just writing about Art brings
back so many recollections of our escapades
that I just have to tell about them.
“For instance: Art Wilson, Fred Fairchild,
Frank Holly, myself and two hound dogs are
probably the only white persons ever to travel
from two miles east of Woodland to Hastings
by canoe. You couldn’t do it today and I
doubt if any Indians ever did it, as trees and
brush block the channel of Mud Creek all the
way to Thornapple Lake.
“The only reason we could do it was a
stream dredge that had cleared the channel
the year before, and the only obstacle we
encountered was an occasional wire fence.
We took turns, two paddling the canoes while
the other two hunted rabbit with the dogs. We
stayed all night at Cole’s Resort on Thornap-
ple Lake and the next day on down the river
to Hastings, ending up with more rabbits and
ducks than we felt like cleaning.
“Another time, Art and I borrowed a hound
and went rabbit hunting a few miles south of
Hastings. Before noon, we either lost the dog
or he lost us, and we spent most of the after-
noon whistling, calling and looking for him,
also worrying what we would tell his owner,
when we returned without the dog.
“However, when we came to his house,
there was the dog on the porch, wagging his
tail as though he was delighted that we had
found our way home without help.”Thursday, March 7 – Movie Memories &
Milestones watches a 1955 film starring
Danny Kaye, Glynis Johns, Basil Rathbone
and Angela Lansbury, 5 p.m.
Friday, March 8 – Friday Story Time,
10:30 a.m.
Monday, March 11 – Crafting Passions, 10
a.m.; teen neon sign making (registrationrequired), 3:30 p.m.
Tuesday, March 12 – Baby Cafe, 10 a.m.;
mahjong, 2 p.m.; chess, 5 p.m.
Wednesday, March 13 – Itsy Bitsy Book
Club, 10:30 a.m.
More information about these and other
events is available by calling the library, 269-
945-4263.Inside an insect
How are the insides of an insect different
from a human?
Landon, 11, Calif.Dear Landon,
I love taking selfies with my insect
friends. They’re so tiny and look so differ-
ent from a big cat like me.
But my friend Rich Zack told me that
insects and humans have lots in common.
He’s an insect scientist at Washington State
University.
“There are body systems that every ani-
mal needs,” Zack said. “Insects are relative-
ly advanced animals, so they do a lot of
things like humans do.”
That means many of an insect’s body
systems are like yours. But there are three
body systems that are super different for
insects. Those are the skeletal, circulatory
and respiratory systems.
Let’s start with your skeleton. The bones
inside your body give your body structure.
Without them, you’d be kind of floppy.
Since your bones are on the inside, youhave what’s called an endoskeleton.
But an insect has zero bones. It has a
tough covering on the outside of its body
called an exoskeleton. The hard outside of a
beetle is an exoskeleton. The leathery out-
side of a grasshopper is an exoskeleton. The
delicate outside of a caterpillar is an exo-
skeleton.
All those exoskeletons do some of the
jobs your skin does. They keep the stuff
inside an insect from falling out. They keep
outside germs from getting inside the
insect’s body.
The second big difference has to do with
blood. Your heart pumps blood through a
network of blood vessels. It’s a closed cir-
culatory system. That means the blood
stays inside the vessels as it moves oxygen
and other important things to all the cells in
your body.
An insect has an open circulatory system.
Its blood–called hemolymph–just sloshes
around inside its body.
Remember how an insect doesn’t have
bones to give its body structure? Its blooddoes that job. It’s like when you fill up a
water balloon. The water inside pushes
against the balloon and gives it shape.
Like your blood, insect blood moves
around important stuff like nutrients and
chemical messages. That’s why an insect
has one blood vessel that runs along its back
inside its body. That vessel is called the
insect’s heart, but it’s much simpler than
your heart.
The insect heart pushes the blood from
the insect’s tail end up to its head. That
sends all those nutrients and messages to
the insect’s brain. Then, the blood flows
back through the insect’s body cavity.
But insect blood doesn’t do the biggest
job your blood does. Insect blood does not
carry oxygen.
That brings us to the third big difference.
You take in air with your lungs. Then your
blood carries the oxygen all over your body.
Insects don’t have lungs. They take in air
through a row of tiny holes along their
sides–called spiracles. When the holes
open, air enters a network of tubes. The
tubes get smaller and smaller and smaller.
They pipe oxygen to every cell in the
insect’s body.
“That’s one of the reasons insects can’t
get very large,” Zack said. “That tube sys-
tem only works for a certain size range.”
That explains why my insect friends are
so tiny–but we still feel like we have so
much in common. Our amazing differences
don’t bug us at all.Dr. UniverseDo you have a question? Ask Dr. Uni-
verse. Send an email to Washington State
University’s resident scientist and writer at
[email protected] or visit her website,
askdruniverse.com.HASTINGS PUBLIC
LIBRARY SCHEDULE
Middleville UMC to host Barry County
Cares benefit concert on Friday
Greg Chandler
Staff Writer
It’s a resource in the Middleville commu-
nity that some folks might not be aware of.
Tucked in the basement of Middleville
United Methodist Church, the Middleville
Community Food Pantry serves about 35
families, representing more than 100 peo-
ple, in any given month, helping them
make sure they have enough to eat.
And pantry director Jeanne Petersen
says with rising food costs, she’s seeing
increased requests for help.
“It’s a-growing. The need is there,” said
Petersen, who has been the director of the
pantry for the last 10 years.
Clients who come to the pantry are inter-
viewed by Barry County Cares, based in
Hastings, which serves as the intake
resource for the Middleville pantry and
four other pantries around Barry County.
“They are the clearinghouse for the cli-
ents that come in here. They do the inter-
view ... They get the information, and then
that information is given to one of the vol-
unteers that come in,” Petersen said.
Once clients go through the interview
process and are approved by Barry County
Cares, they can come in one time a month
and choose five days’ supply of food. The
pantry is open weekdays by appointment,
Petersen said.
“I (have clients) start with (canned) veg-
etables and fruits, and they work their way
around (the pantry). They choose the food
they want. I don’t choose any food (for
them). The only thing I choose is the
meat,” Petersen said.
And while the shelves are well-stocked
at the pantry, there are a few things thatmight not be available, and to cover that,
Petersen hands clients $10 gift cards to
Harding’s Friendly Market of Middleville
to fill in those gaps.
About 25 volunteers help staff and
stock the pantry. Petersen is thankful to
have the support of the Methodist church
for the use of the space, which helps the
pantry put all of the donations it receives
into acquiring food.
“Because they are generous enough to
allow us this space, we don’t have to pay
heat and rent and garbage disposal and
insurance and all that stuff,” she said.
The pantry recently received a check of
more than $3,500 from Harding’s through a
“round-up” fundraising campaign where
shoppers could round up their grocery bill to
the next dollar with the additional contribu-
tion going to the pantry. Store director Nate
Costello presented the check to Petersen.
The church will host a benefit dinner
and concert to support Barry County Cares
on Friday, March 8, featuring music from
the Langford Lads, three area musicians
that specialize in Irish, old-time and folk
music. The dinner will be served from
5:30 to 6:45 p.m. with the concert at 7
p.m., Petersen said.
The dinner will consist of meatloaf, a
baked potato bar, salad bar and dessert. The
meal is $15 per person, with children 6-
at $10 and kids 5 and under eating free. All
proceeds will go to benefit Barry County
Cares. Petersen notes that BCC does not
receive any federal funding and strictly
relies on private and business donations to
serve the community, and that the organi-
zation does not receive financial support
from the food pantries.Pierce Cedar Creek Institute events for March 8-
March 1-31 – March Storybook Walk:
“How to Catch a Clover Thief” by Elise
Parsley. Follow this funny tale about prob-
lem-solving and ingenuity to discover
who’s stealing Roy’s favorite meal from
right under his snout. The Storybook Walk
is free and self-guided.
March 1-31 – Who Stole the Rose Hips?
Mystery game on the trails. Be a nature
detective and help solve the mystery of the
missing rose hips.
Sunday, March 10 – Easter Brunch andConcert, 11:15-2 p.m. Discover the musical
talents of local musician Zach Franklin on
the keyboard with a mix of light jazz and
easy-listening music while enjoying good
conversation and food.
Tuesday, March 12 – Volunteer Orienta-
tion Training, 6:30-8:30 p.m. Attendees will
enjoy an evening of learning about the Insti-
tute and available volunteer opportunities.
Wednesday, March 13 – Rock painting
fundraiser, 6-8 p.m. Join local artist Nancy
Anderson as she guides you through theprocess of rock painting in a fun and wel-
coming atmosphere.
Thursday, March 14 – Nature Playdates in
the Play Space, 10-11 a.m. Join the Institute
for a playdate about raindrops and rainbows.
Friday, March 15 – Conservation in a
Changing World Series: Biodiversity in our
Backyard, 11-2 p.m. Register by today,
Thursday, March 7, to reserve a lunch.
Those interested can register for these
events and find more information at cedar-
creekinstitute.org/events/.A view looking north across the Thornapple River near Boltwood. The first “Wilson
Wabbler” was made in the old Tyden Seal building on the left.A check was recently presented to Middleville Community Food Pantry Director
Jeanne Petersen by Nate Costello, store manager for the Harding’s Friendly
Market in Middlevllle for $3,500. The store recently did a “round-up” fundraiser to
support the pantry. (Photo courtesy Jeanne Petersen)A look inside the Middleville Community Food Pantry, located in the Middleville
United Methodist Church. (Photo by Greg Chandler)