SN 3-16-2024

Page 10/The Sun and News, Saturday, March 16, 2024

United Way seeking Volunteer

Awards nominations

The Barry County United

Way & Volunteer Center has

announced nominations are

now being accepted for the

2024 Volunteer Awards. The

Volunteer Awards recognize,

honor and celebrate residents

within Barry County who

have given their time and

talent for the benefit of the

community.

This event will celebrate

volunteers who work in a

variety of areas. Nominations

are being accepted for the

following awards: Volunteer

of the Year, Youth Volunteer

of the Year, Outstanding

Mentor Award, Continuing

Service Award, Corporate

Service Award and Group

Volunteer Award.

Nominations must be post-

marked by Friday, April 5,

2024, to be considered.

Nomination packets can be

found on the United Way’s

website at bcunitedway.org.

Any organization that uti-

lizes volunteers in Barry

County is eligible to submit

nominations. This includes

nonprofit agencies, service

clubs and organizations,

churches and businesses that

are involved in employee

volunteering. Winners will

receive personalized awards

and all nominees will receive

a certificate of appreciation.

The recognition event is

hosted each year and cen-

tered around National

Volunteer Week. This week-

long effort is about taking

action and encouraging indi-

viduals and their respective

communities to be at the cen-

ter of social change – discov-

ering and actively demon-

strating their collective

power to make a difference.

The Volunteer Awards will

take place on Tuesday, April

23, from 6 to 7 p.m. at the

Barry Community

Enrichment Center, 231 S.

Broadway in Hastings.

Attendees are required to

register in advance.

Sponsorships are also being

sought for the awards.

How can you manage student

loan payments?

If you have student loans,

you likely received a “pay-

ment vacation” over the

past few years, due to legis-

lation related to COVID-19.

But if you’re like millions

of other borrowers, you

may have recently been

required to resume your

payments. How will this

affect your overall financial

situation?

Of course, the first thing

that comes to mind is the

effect on your monthly cash

flow. But the amount of

pressure you feel will

depend on your income and

the size of the required pay-

ments. If these payments do

represent a real challenge,

you may need to adjust

your budget and spending

habits as best you can.

However, there might be

other steps you can take to

help ease the burden or pos-

sibly reduce the repayment

time.

Here are a few sugges-

tions to consider:

• Sign up for autopay.
  Falling behind on your stu-
  dent loan payments can
  lead to late fees, and if you
  were to become truly delin-
  quent, you could face even
  bigger troubles, such as
  wage garnishment. To avoid
  these problems, you can
  enroll in autopay, in which
  you move money automati-
  cally from a checking or

savings account to your stu-

dent loan provider. In addi-

tion to staying current on

your loan, you might earn a

.25 percent rate reduction,

which is offered by many

lenders and loan services to

those who enroll in autopay.

• Refinance your loan.
  With a steady income, a
  reasonably good credit
  score and a manageable
  number of other debts, you
  might be able to refinance
  your student loan and
  reduce your interest rate,
  which will enable more of
  your monthly payments to
  go toward the principal.


• Look for employer ben-
  efits. Some employers —
  typically the larger ones —
  offer student loan repay-
  ment help to employees, so
  check with your human
  resources department.


• Make extra payments. If
  you feel strapped just mak-
  ing your regular student
  loan payments, you may not
  be able to make extra ones.
  But if you can afford to add
  to your payments consis-
  tently, you could pay off
  your loan earlier than you
  had thought. But just
  because you make an extra
  payment, the money doesn’t
  necessarily go toward
  reducing your principal —
  student loan services gener-
  ally apply payments first to
  late fees and then to accrued

interest. If you pay online,

you should have an option

to apply extra payments to

the principal. Your loan ser-

vicer could also provide

you with other ways of pay-

ing more toward principal.

• Choose a payoff strate-
  gy. If you have multiple
  student loans, and you can
  make more than the mini-
  mum payments, you may
  want to be strategic in how
  you pay off your loans. You
  could choose the “snow-
  ball” method by getting rid
  of the smallest loans first
  — a technique that can give
  you feelings of momentum
  and satisfaction. Or you
  could take the “avalanche”
  approach by first going
  after the loans with the
  highest interest rates. Either
  route could save you more
  money in the long run.
  It can certainly be chal-
  lenging to deal with student
  loan debt. But with patience
  and diligence, and by
  exploring all your repay-
  ment options, you may be
  able to help yourself make
  progress toward putting
  these loans to rest.

This article was written

by Edward Jones for use by

your local Edward Jones

Financial Advisor.

Edward Jones, Member

SIPC

Village of Middleville

COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES

The minutes of the February 28, 2024 Regular Council

Meeting, which were approved on March 12, 2024, are

posted at the Village Hall at 100 E Main Street and on the

website at http://www.villageofmiddleville.org.

St. Patrick’s Day

hike today on trail

in Middleville

Hikers can join members

of the Chief Noonday Chapter

of the North Country Trail

today, Saturday, March 16 for

a St. Patrick’s Day hike.

The guided hike will begin

at 9:30 a.m. and will explore

the Paul Henry Trail.

Participants are asked to meet

at the gazebo in Middleville.

Hikers can park at the

Middleville Village Hall, 100

E. Main St. There, restrooms

will be available as well.

Hikers can choose

between a short, four-mile

hike and a longer, 11-mile

hike. Both hikes are out-and-

back — participants can turn

around at any time. They are

encouraged to wear green if

they’d like.

The hike can also contrib-

ute toward the 100 Mile

Challenge.

There will be an optional

post-hike lunch at Riverdog

Tavern in Middleville, 117

W. Main St.

It is one of a handful of

events the NCTA Chief

Noonday Chapter has along

its section of trail in the com-

ing weeks. There will be a

trail clean-up day in Battle

Creek March 23 beginning at

10 a.m. Volunteers are asked

to bring gloves and/or grab-

bers to collect trash. Trash

bags will be provided.

Workers should near Brady

Road and Dickman Road

near trail mile 1079.5 –

watch for signs.

The NCTA Chief Noonday

Chapter will also be hosting

a solar eclipse viewing event

in connection with the

National Park Service on the

trail in Augusta for volun-

teers and their families.

Organizers are expecting

about 96 percent coverage of

the sun by the moon in that

area. The eclipse begins at

1:55 p.m. and ends at 4:

p.m. with the maximum

eclipse to occur at 3:11 p.m.

Everyone is reminded to uti-

lize safe viewing practices to

prevent eye injuries during

the eclipse.

TK alumnus, Wilkinson, wins

high jump at GLIAC Indoor

Claudia Wilkinson

cleared the bar in the high

jump at 5 feet 2 inches a few

times in high school, includ-

ing in a runner-up perfor-

mance at the 2019 MHSAA

Lower Peninsula Division 2

Track and Field Finals.

She has added a few

inches since then.

Wilkinson, now jumping as

a senior for the Ferris State

University Bulldogs,

cleared 1.63 meters (about

5 feet 4 inches) to win the

women’s high jump cham-

pionship at the 2024 Great

Lakes Intercollegiate

Athletic Conference Indoor

Championships the week-

end of Feb. 24-25.

Wilkinson was the run-

ner-up at the GLIAC Indoor

Championships in the high

jump at the end of her fresh-

man and junior campaigns

and has been in the top

eight at the GLIC Outdoor

Championships in each of

her three collegiate seasons

so far.

She set her outdoor per-

sonal record at the 2023

GLIAC Outdoor

Championships clearing the

bar at 1.62 meters. Her

indoor PR came two weeks

before the 2024 Indoor

Championships when she

cleared 1.65 meters at the

Big Meet hosted by Grand

Valley State University.

Wilkinson has also com-

peted in hurdle events and

relay races for the Bulldogs

during her first years in Big

Rapids. She was also a state

finalist in the 300-meter

low hurdles and in the

4x400-meter relay for the

Trojans during her three

varsity seasons in

Middleville. She was a part

of the 2020 class which lost

its senior spring of high

school competition to

Covid.

Ferris State University senior Claudia Wilkinson accepts her medal for winning

the women’s high jump at the 2024 GLIAC Indoor Track and Field Championships

the final week of February.

The Barry County United Way & Volunteer Center

has announced nominations are now being accepted

for the 2024 Volunteer Awards. Pictured are Mia

Dickman (left) and Morgan Johnson at last year’s

awards. (Photo provided)