Page 4 — Thursday, November 4, 2021 — The Hastings Banner
Have you met?
Do you remember?
Did you see?
An ode to football
Hastings Mayor Dave Tossava’s cell phone
comes in handy when he wants to show pho-
tos of his grandson.
One dynamic image, shot by our Sports
Editor Brett Bremer, he showed me last week
is of his grandson catching a pass for the
Hastings Saxons at a recent game.
It’s a wonderful moment. I marveled with
the mayor about the photo. (Great job, Brett!)
And I marveled with the mayor about foot-
ball.
No other competitive sport can compare to
college football on a fall day in Michigan.
As a kid, I remember going to University of
Michigan games in “The Big House.” There
was a trudge up a short but fairly steep hill to
reach the stadium, then that moment when
you’d walk out into the stands and the sound
of 100,000-plus people washed over you.
I was amazed by all the pageantry and tra-
ditions: That high-stepping Michigan march-
ing band taking the field as the breeze briskly
snapped their capes back. The mellow tones
of the trombones striking a distinctive coun-
terpoint to the background noise of the crowd
as it gathered on game day.
People were happy to be together and
excited to see the Wolverines play in person.
There was always good-natured rivalry, no
matter the opponent.
But, for diehard fans, the day was about, as
their legendary coach Bo Schembechler used
to say, “The team, the team, the team.”
And, oh, as that team ran out onto the field,
leaping up to tap a banner for luck, the crowd
went wild. Everybody was cheering – stu-
dents, parents, families and friends – and lots
and lots of fans.
At the beginning, I loved the marching
band, the blustery fall weather, the feeling of
anticipation, and the spectacle. I grew to love
the game.
So, this past Saturday, like tens of thou-
sands of other football fans, I was transfixed
by what will likely go down in the record
books as one of the greatest games in the
Michigan-Michigan State rivalry.
I won’t assume everyone knows – and I
want to get this part over with fast. So, here’s
the spoiler: The Spartans won.
But it sure didn’t look like that was going
to happen at the beginning when the two
unbeaten teams met in East Lansing.
Michigan came out strong; they intercepted
the ball and then a relatively unknown wide
receiver by the name of Andrel Anthony ran a
93-yard touchdown on Michigan’s first drive.
Not much has been said about Anthony,
although, given his outstanding efforts
Saturday, much will likely be said in the
future.
A lot has already been reported about
MSU’s outstanding running back Kenneth
Walker III, who not surprisingly scored five
touchdowns for the Spartans. In fact, he was
the only Spartan to score any touchdowns.
They couldn’t have won without him.
There they were, 12.5 minutes to go in the
fourth quarter, the game tied, 30-30. The
Wolverines got a field goal to jump ahead by 3.
Then, with 5:08 minutes remaining, Walker
did it. He scored a 23-yard touchdown to
make it 37-33.The excitement of that game was almost
constant, with incredible individual effort and
unexpected developments. A particular one
that will live in infamy for Michigan fans was
a controversial score for the Wolverines, ruled
as a touchdown on the field, then overruled
after an official review.
The game offered a duel between the
coaches, too.
At the end of the first half, Michigan was
preparing to kick a field goal when Spartan
Coach Mel Tucker called a time out. MSU
had three left, so he used them all, in quick
succession, every time U of M started to kick.
The ball was in the air when the timeouts were
called. The kicker for U of M, the unflappable
Jake Moody, ended up having to kick that
field goal three times. Each one of the kicks
was accurate, but none of them counted until
MSU used its last timeout.
It was a great strategy – and Tucker applied
it well. The Spartans’ quick succession of
timeouts made Michigan Coach Jim Harbaugh
smile. At that point, U of M was ahead, so
Harbaugh could afford to smile.
He sure wasn’t smiling by the end of the
game.
Tucker had sized up the Wolverines’ weak-
nesses and ended up out-coaching Harbaugh.
That, truly, was the story of the game:
Good leadership won the day.
The game was just loaded with life lessons- and the notion that leadership is paramount
to success for any organization was perhaps
the most obvious.
The importance of time and not wasting
opportunities when they present themselves
was another obvious take-away.
Also, the outcome of the game made it
clear that, no matter what, outstanding indi-
vidual effort truly counts. But it’s tough to
convince someone whose team has just lost
that this might be the case.
I will never forget the face of that Michigan
quarterback who had just played the best
game of his college career. He was standing
on the field, his helmet off, crying in the rain.
Yet, amid all the dramatic developments of
the day, there were some moments of good
sportsmanship and fun. One sweet-faced child
amid the throng Saturday held up a sign that
read: “Wolverine. Tastes a little like chicken.”
We’ve missed these contests; these remark-
able encounters that celebrate our passion for
a team. And, when MSU plays the Buckeyes,
we’ll gladly cheer for the Spartans. (We do
have our priorities in order.)
Frankly, it seems like the procedures fol-
lowed by the officials in Saturday’s football
game might help if they were applied in other
venues.
Perhaps some of the dysfunction we’ve
been witnessing lately in local meetings could
benefit from the addition of referees in striped
shirts blowing whistles and ejecting disorder-
ly people who aren’t following the rules.
But maybe that’s not such a good idea
after all.
Instead of masks, they’d have to mandate
helmets.
Rebecca Pierce,
EditorThe Hastings Banner
Devoted to the interests of Barry County since 1856
Published by... Hastings Banner, Inc.
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1351 N. M-43 Highway • Phone: (269) 945-9554 • Fax: (269) 945-
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Publisher & CEOHank Schuuring
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Brett Bremer (Sports Editor)
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at Hastings, MI 49058On the trail of a wind turbine
Remember last Thursday’s photo on this page of the
oversized load making its way through Barry County on
Oct. 18? Well, there were three more of those huge
tube-like structures being trucked down M-43 on Oct.- And that’s the day we heard that these big tubes will
become the base of a wind turbine. Now, our curiosity
is driving us (no pun intended!) to ask where the wind
turbine will be located? If you know, email
[email protected]. The wind turbine shown here
can be found in Ubly in Michigan’s Thumb. But, if our
sources are correct, we won’t have to drive that far to
see one sometime soon.
Photo provided by No Trams To Lime Street from
METRO DETROIT, used under Creative Commons
license.Exchanging
perspective on World
Community Day
Banner Nov. 4, 1965
Exchange students attending Hastings
High School this year are to be special
guests of the United Church Women Friday,
Nov. 12, as they observe World Community
Day. The girls are to share their impressions
and experiences in brief talks at the meeting
to be held at the Evangelical United Brethren
Church at 12:30 p.m. Pictured (from left) are
Carol Henderson, of Ireland, living with Mr.
and Mrs. Vernon Engle; Birgit Brodt,
Germany, living with Mr. and Mrs. Robert
Gaskill, Dowling; Hilda Carson, Ireland, liv-
ing with Mr. and Mrs. Eric von Reis; Karin
Nilsson, Sweden, living with Mr. and Mrs.
Melvin Smith; and Pirvo Airio, of Finland,
living with Mr. and Mrs. Don Springer.During his first class on his first day as a
full-time teacher, Wesley Johnson gave a
30-minute PowerPoint presentation. He want-
ed to establish relationships with his new
students. He wanted them to get to know him,
packing the presentation with photos of his
family, his art, and his interests, like Chinese.
But it didn’t matter how interesting
Johnson’s life was. Three minutes into the
presentation, the kindergarten students start-
ed talking. A game of tag broke out in the
back of the room, and the classroom, as
Johnson remembers, felt like it was in chaos.
When he drove home at the end of the
day, he couldn’t stop his body from twitch-
ing with muscle spasms from the anxiety of
his first day.
“I was just like ‘What happened?’ ” said
Johnson, the new art teacher at Star and
Northeastern elementary schools.
Two months after his first day, Johnson
sits back in his art classroom at Star
Elementary without any twitching. A lot
has changed since then.
For Johnson, 25, this is his first job out of
college. It took time to learn, but he’s get-
ting the hang of it, he said.
Artwork lines the hallway leading up to
his door. Craft creations hover above every
table. Chinese artwork overlooks his desk.
Painted pictures dry in the back of the room.
“It’s gotten way better,” he said. “It’s
only gotten better.”
Johnson was born in Reed City, the sec-
ond youngest of eight kids. He was homes-
chooled until third grade, when his dad, a
carpenter, died of cancer. Not long after, his
mom remarried and moved the family to
Rockford, where Johnson started attending
parochial school. It took time to adjust.
“I had so many siblings, it was like they
were my friends, I didn’t need anybody
else,” he said. “And, then, when I went to
school, I was like, ‘I don’t need to be here.’
“But I realized I did need to be there
because I was really far behind.”
When his dad first became ill, his mom
paused the homeschooling for half a year,
and Johnson’s reading lagged. He was held
back, and the constant fight to get better at
reading made him dread going to school.
As a result, he immersed himself in
classes where he didn’t have to read – like
math, gym and art. As a senior at Rockford
High School, he started to think about what
he wanted to do with his life. He thought
about following his brothers into the trade
industry or trying graphic design for video
games or, after years of taking Mandarin,
studying linguistics.
But as he stepped back and thought about
the people who had the largest influence on
his life. He thought about teachers.“I was like, ‘I don’t even know what I’m
going to teach.’ I was like, ‘I’m OK at art,
so let’s just go that way.’”
Johnson had always been interested in
art. As a kid, his mom used to put him in a
high chair, tape down a large piece of paper,
and Johnson would “just got to town.” Over
the years, he kept drawing, often cartoon
drawings, like anime.
In 2016, he enrolled at Grand Valley
State University to study art education with
an emphasis in jewelry making and met-
alsmithing.
Throughout his first four years at Grand
Valley State, he thought he would go into
secondary education. That changed during
his fifth and final year, when his wife,
Laurin, who is the Young Kindergarten
teacher at Central Elementary School, sug-
gested he go into elementary education. She
pointed to the fact that, with 22 nieces and
nephews, he has spent a large portion of his
adult life taking care of kids.
“I feel like those struggles that I had with
[school], I can use those challenges that I had
to overcome to help students here,” he said.
Earlier this year, Johnson began applying
to elementary art teaching jobs. He looked
at nearby schools in Rockford and Grand
Rapids first. But as he had trouble securing
jobs or finding art education openings, he
slowly expanded the search. That’s when an
opening in the Hastings Area School
System popped up. He had never heard of
the place, but he decided to apply. He inter-
viewed and got the job.
During the interview process, Johnson
told them about his wife, a special educa-
tion major who also was looking for a job.
She was hired as well, and they have begun
their first jobs, together, in the Hastings
Area School System.
It took time for Johnson to learn how tomanage a classroom full of energetic kids.
In recent weeks, he has assigned more cre-
ative projects and incentivized them with
rewards. Follow the rules, he told them, and
you get candy.
The only problem? The kids started fol-
lowing the rules and, suddenly, Johnson
was down 480 pieces in a week.
“I ran out of candy so fast,” said Johnson,
who now only awards candy to the best
table every class.
His job is a little different than the average
elementary school instructor’s. He teaches
500 kids between the two elementary schools.
He only sees each class about once a week.
Still, he said he’s been able to create relation-
ships with the students and, in turn, he has
found more control over the classroom.
When he has the energy, Johnson will
spend his free time playing pickleball or
collecting mugs. On the weekends, he still
teaches English to students in China – a
program he started in college.
Every morning, the couple wakes up at
5:20 and are on the road by 6:20. They still
live in Allendale from their time at Grand
Valley, and the trip requires an hour-long
commute.
To avoid burnout, the Johnsons don’t nor-
mally stay at work past 5 p.m. By the time
they get home, they’re exhausted. They flop
on the couch, watch a bit of television and
eat dinner and, by 9:30, they’re asleep.
The commute has taken a lot of time and
energy. Johnson said they’re logging 700
miles on their car every week. But it’s not
too bad: He has a carpool buddy and is glad
he chose Hastings.
“I’m really happy that I was hired here
because everybody’s so nice. And I feel like
I’m learning so much,” Johnson said.
“Teachers just will stop by and ask how I’m
doing, really, how the year’s going and stuff
like that. It’s an incredible community, and
the staff is very supportive. ... I’m very
blessed to be here.”
For his new role as the art teacher and
Star and Northeastern elementary schools,
Wesley Johnson is this week’s Bright Light:
Favorite movie: “Iron Giant.”
Favorite TV programs: “Avatar: The
Last Airbender” and “The Chosen.”
Hobbies: Pickleball. I really enjoy learn-
ing about other languages. That’s another one
for me. I’m practicing my Chinese writing. It
helps me learn my vocab a lot. Knowing how
to write in a language allows you to be able
to read and speak it pretty well.
What I like about my job: The relation-
ships.
An important lesson from childhood:
Don’t take for granted the people that you
have with you.Wesley JohnsonCongratulations to
Highpoint Community Bank
It was 135 years ago when a young man
came to Hastings from Kalamazoo with the
idea of starting a local bank. He was success-
ful in attracting several investors, farmers,
publishers, dry goods and hardware mer-
chants, a druggist and attorneys. All of them
were anxious about the success of our com-
munity and willing to invest in his enterprise.
On Oct. 26, 1886, Hastings City Bank was
chartered as No. 11 with $50,000. Now, 135
years later, it is still operating under the same
charter but with a different name. It remains
the oldest state bank charter in Michigan.
The bank’s intent, written in a history book
published by J-Ad Graphics in 1987 was, “To
finance manufacturing activities so that
Hastings could share in the fruits of a growing
industrial revolution. At the time, sawmills
mostly served the town’s economy. There was
one rail line with a second under construction,
which brought freight, passengers and daily
newspapers from Grand Rapids and Detroit.”
Over the years, the bank – now Highpoint
Community Bank – has grown, adding
branches in Middleville, Nashville, Caledonia,
Bellevue, Wayland and Marshall, along with
drive-up locations in Hastings and Delton. So,
with that large footprint, they’ve really
become a community bank that’s ready to
serve these communities with personal andbusiness banking needs.
Where else can you go, get a cup of coffee
and sit down with a representative who knows
you and is ready to help you with all your
banking needs. It’s all about community bank-
ing. Like so many industries, that sector of the
economy has been taken over by big banks,
leaving approximately 4,700 community
banks nationwide.
Now, as it marks 135 years in business,
HCB continues to be a leader. To this out-
standing banking institution: Congratulations
on your years of service and for all you’ve
done to promote the growth and stability of
the communities you serve.Fred Jacobs, CEO
J-Ad Graphics, Inc.