The Sun and News
Your Hometown Newspaper Serving Middleville and Caledonia Areas
No. 23/June 5, 2021 Published by J-Ad Graphics, Inc. • 1351 N. M-43 Highway, Hastings, MI 49058 143rd year
July public hearing set for Gaines
public safety special assessment
James Gemmell
Contributing Writer
Residents of Gaines
Charter Township will get a
chance July 12 to give their
input on a proposed 1.5-mill
special assessment levy for
police and fire services that
could be on their winter tax
bill in December.
The township board
voted Monday to set the first
of potentially two public
hearings on the levy. No date
has been set yet for the
second hearing.
If approved, the estimated
$1.3 million in revenue
generated by the special
assessment would help cover
the township’s nearly $2.
million in annual operating
expenses associated with
public safety and protection.
It would be billed each year
and included in the winter tax
bill issued in December and
would be due in mid-
February.
“It’s not going to fully
cover all of our costs, but it
would help offset those
costs,” Township SupervisorRob DeWard said. “Because
we’ve been drawing from the
general fund all these years
for that, we don’t have any
millage special assessments.”
DeWard pointed out that
nearly half of the township’s
annual budget goes to public
safety. It supports the
Cutlerville and Dutton fire
departments, plus it pays for
two full-time deputies and a
community relations officer.
“You can draw from the
well just so long. And it’s
starting to cost us,” he said.“We’re getting to the point
where we ought to think
about helping offset some of
those costs. They’re not
going away.
“Our fire department
wants to buy a ladder truck
for Cutlerville, which is over
a million dollars. We’d split
that cost with Byron
[Township]. The fire
department wants to buy a
new truck for Dutton; we’d
eat the whole cost. And then,See HEARING, page 3
IN THIS ISSUE...
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via solar panels - Caledonia golf season ends at D
regional - Caledonia Class of ‘21 Valedictorian
delivers a speech – and a plea - Second-ranked Gull Lake a goal
better than TK
Dan Erskine named
Caledonia Hometown Hero
James Gemmell
Contributing Writer
Each year, the Caledonia
Charter Township Board
names someone as its
“Caledonia Hometown
Hero,” based on the person’s
recent community accom-
plishments.
But in the case of long-
time Caledonia Village
Council Trustee Dan Erskine,
this year’s Hometown Hero
designation recognizes him
more for what he has done
throughout his lifetime in the
community, rather than just
in the past year.
Wednesday, the township
board approved the nomina-
tion of Erskine as this year’s
honoree. The 74-year-old vil-
lage resident will participate
in the annual community
parade July 3, during
Caledonia’s Independence
Day Celebration.
In a phone interview,
Erskine said he is “thrilled to
be given the honor.”
He served in the U.S.
Army as a sergeant in the
14th Armored Cavalry, in
1969-70.
“I went to Germany as a
[member of the] border patrol
in East and West Germany
during the Vietnam War,” he
said.
Erskine has been an
active member of the
Caledonia American Legion
Post 305 for 43 years, andserved two years as its com-
mander. He also has been a
member of its color guard.
He was a Caledonia fire-
fighter for 33 years and
helped the fire department
organize the community fire-
works show for several years.
He was named Kent County
Firefighter of the Year in
1983 after he and two other
Caledonia firefighters res-
cued a 4-year-old child,
according to Township
Supervisor Bryan Harrison.
But Erskine’s extensive
accomplishments don’t stop
there. He also worked for the
Caledonia Farmers Elevator
Company for 39 years and
has been on the Caledonia
Village Council for nearly
four decades. He was
re-elected to another four-year term last fall. Erskine
served on the village plan-
ning commission prior to
becoming a member of the
village council in the 1980s.
He has been on various coun-
cil committees over the
years.
Erskine also has been a
member of the Hastings
chapter of the National Wild
Turkey Federation for 20
years, and is a past president
of the local chapter. In addi-
tion, he has volunteered at
the Grand Rapids Home for
Veterans.
At the township board’s
meeting Wednesday,
Harrison said Erskine served
on the planning committee
for the Caledonia Western
Week. Erskine was a found-
ing member of that event,
which was canceled in 2020
and 2021 due to pandem-
ic-related restrictions on
community gatherings.
“Anyone who knows Dan
knows that his heart is here
for the community,” Harrison
said. “His family is
multi-generational in the
community. He has served in
multiple capacities befitting
of the Hometown Hero.”
Erskine and his wife,
Janis, were married 50 years
before her death in 2019.
They have three children,
four grandkids and two
great-grandchildren.Dan ErskineThornapple Kellogg High School trumpet player Aaron Michalk plays taps on the
Main Street bridge over the Thornapple River in Middleville Monday during the 2021
Memorial Day ceremony while getting an echo from classmate Maddie McCrumb.
(Photo by Brett Bremer)
Accompanied by a melody from the Caledonia Schools Orchestra, the class of 2021
enters Ralph E. Myers Memorial Stadium from the north, marching past a crowd of
family and friends, before taking their seats as the ceremony began. (Photo by Sophie
Bates) See story and photos, inside.
Caledonia Class of 2021 graduates
Memorial Day 2021
Chet Teater narrates while Ed Harmon, Bill White and Jim McConnon perform a
flag-folding ceremony: “After the flag is completely folded and tucked in, it takes on
the appearance of a cocked hat, ever reminding us of the soldiers who served under
General George Washington and the sailors and marines who served under Captain
John Paul Jones, who...[preserved] for us the rights, privileges and the freedoms we
enjoy today,” Teater said. (Photo by Sophie Bates) See stories and photos, inside.