Page 2 — Thursday, March 2, 2023 — The Hastings Banner
Auditions for Thornapple Players’ ‘Into the Woods’
set for March 13The Thornapple Players are kicking off the 2023 season of shows with “Into the
Woods” slated as the spring musical.
This production features music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James
Lapine. Julian Kratochvil is directing. Dan Braker will serve as music director.
The Players are hosting open auditions for “Into the Woods” on Monday, March 13 at
7 p.m. in the Dennison Performing Arts Center, 231 S. Broadway, Hastings.
“Into the Woods” is based on stories that parents have told their children for genera-
tions. There are elements where it’s pure fantasy and exciting for kids, but there is also
a message that is specifically centered toward adults: Be careful what you tell your
children.
There are a variety of female and male roles for a cast of 17. Rehearsals will be held
Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. with the possibility of addi-
tional rehearsals as determined by the director. The mandatory technical rehearsal will be
Sunday, April 30.
The Players will perform “Into the Woods” May 4-7 and will have an open-to-the-
public dress rehearsal on May 3.
Those interested in auditioning but can’t attend the auditions must contact the Players
before March 13 at [email protected] to find an alternate time.
Questions can be submitted by emailing the Players, visiting their Facebook page or
by calling the Thornapple Arts Council at 269-945-2002.Healthy Living Supper Club discussing digestive health
“Digestion, a Churning Question” is the topic at the upcoming Hastings Healthy Liv-
ing Supper Club meeting on Sunday, March 5 at 3 p.m. The free program will be hosted
in the community room of the Hastings Adventist Elementary School building, 888 Terry
Lane, off of Star School Road in Hastings.
When it comes to food, rich sauces can cause stomach issues. The supper club will
look at healthy alternatives to dairy-rich sauces.
Attendees of the program will learn how to make nutritious sauces, along with hearing
“Digestion, a Churching Question,” which is a Lifestyle Matters program.
Dairy-intolerant folks will have lots to learn at the program, where participants will be
shown how to enjoy lactose-filled favorites like creamed soups, macaroni and cheese,
pizza and more without the dairy. After learning how to make a basic, dairy-free cream
sauce, the door will be opened for many other dairy-free recipes.
Attendees will also learn some digestions basics to improve gastrointestinal (GI)
health and reduce the risk for serious digestive disorders.
The program and materials are free; free-will offerings are welcome.
To register or for more information, contact Janice Cleary at 269-804-9959 or email
[email protected].Local meteorologist to speak to Gun Lake women’s club
The Gun Lake chapter of the General Federation of Women’s Clubs will be joined by
Jeff Porter, the morning and noon meteorologist for WWMT, at its March 8 meeting.
Porter will give a presentation to the women at 10 a.m. on March 8 at SS. Cyril and
Methodius Catholic Church in Wayland, 159 131st Ave. Porter will present on weather
safety and will provide the group with a severe weather outlook.
Porter has been a member of WWMT News Channel 3’s team since 2009 after a four-
year stint at WHIO in Dayton, Ohio. Porter has qualifications from both the American
Meteorology Society and the National Weather Association. He has worked with other
stations in the past as well, including The Weather Channel.Barry County COA offering free, high-tech ID bracelets
The Barry County Commission on Aging will host its monthly Parkinson’s Support
Group on Wednesday, March 8 at 5 p.m. This month’s topic will be “Miles for Memories
Safe Return Technology.”
The Miles for Memories Safe Return technology is designed to help a person that has
wandered or is lost to return home safely. The Personal ID Bracelet is specially designed
to be comfortable and waterproof. It allows for emergency and medical information to be
stored and accessed by emergency personnel when a loved one is found. The information
the bracelet provides can be accessed and adjusted by family members, or caregivers,
through a phone app or online.
The COA invites all to join on March 8 to learn how easy it is to program a device and
retrieve emergency information.NEWS NEWS BRIEFSBRIEFS
“many times over the past year.”
“The combined enrollment of Hastings and
TK puts our athletes in the largest division in the
(Michigan High School Athletic Association),”
Goebel said. “Many times over the years, swim-
mers from Hastings and TK would have quali-
fied for state finals at each school in the division
we will be in when we split. We will likely go
from Division 1 to Division 3.
“This year alone, had our teams been split,
Hastings and TK would have had a total of 10
athletes qualify for the state meet – five for the
girls, all from TK, and five for the boys, all from
Hastings. As a Division 1 program, we had one
girl from TK qualify for the state meet. The
other nine athletes did not get the experience
with this very special event.”
Goebel went on to say that Hastings currently
cannot fully compete in the Interstate-8 Athletic
Conference under the current co-op arrange-
ment, as opposed to other sports the school
sponsors. Hastings joined the I-8 in 2016.
“The I-8 officially wants to add swim and
dive as a league sport, and wants our participa-
tion, but not with a 2,000-plus student co-op,”
he said. “We have also been invited to partici-
pate in the Southwestern Central Michigan
Swim Conference, which includes several of the
I-8 schools, like Marshall and Harper Creek, as
well as other schools very similar to us such as
Plainwell, Otsego, Sturgis and South Haven.
This would be a great fit for us with schools
much like us in terms of size and programs ...
They would not be interested in us as a 2,000-
plus co-op, and TK is not interested in leaving
the O-K Conference.”
Goebel went on to describe the nature of the
cooperative arrangement between Hastings and
TK.
“Although Hastings possesses the pool and
assumes the vast majority of costs and responsi-
bility for the team, TK has always been the lead
school and makes the majority of the team and
scheduling decisions,” he said. “TK only con-
tributes (with) the payment of coaches, the
coaches’ stipend, and half of the transportation
(costs) ... While we do not want to speak poor-
ly of TK administration, we would say that there
have been some times, particularly in the last
few years, when we feel they could have been
much more supportive and much more inclusive
in making decisions for the team, and much
more supportive to our coaches when dealing
with difficult parents.”
Goebel said that he has had “several discus-
sions” with TK administration “well in advance,
to allow them to develop other swim options for
their students.” He said after Monday’s meeting
those discussions began at the end of the 2021-
22 school year.
“We will have a swim team for both boys and
girls (at Hastings) next year. That is a guarantee,”
Goebel said. “We know some renewed efforts to
recruit new members to both the boys and girls
team will be needed to boost participation. We
feel it is completely feasible for a school the size
of Hastings to support a competitive-size boys
and girls teams. We do so now in every other
sport we offer, with no co-ops needed.”
In an e-mail to the Hastings Banner , Thor-
napple Kellogg Schools Superintendent Craig
McCarthy said the district opposed ending the
cooperative program.
“Thornapple Kellogg Schools is moving for-
ward in an attempt to do what is right for our
students,” McCarthy wrote in the e-mail. “The
pool at TK High School is not regulation-size and
cannot be used for competition. Therefore, we are
actively engaging other districts in forming new
co-ops for our girls’ and boys’ swim teams.”
Goebel said plans to boost participation in
swimming include offering a middle school
swim clinic this spring and renewed recruitment
by coaches of current athletes who do not have
a sport they compete in during swimming sea-
son. In addition, the district is exploring the idea
of adding swimming and diving as a middle
school sport, he said.
But those involved with the swimming coop-
erative say there aren’t enough swimmers inHastings to make a stand-alone swim program
work. In a survey of 65 swimmers, parents,
coaches and former swimmers that was submit-
ted to the board, 98 percent said the schools
would not have enough swimmers to compete if
they were separated.
This season, the cooperative program had 18
swimmers on the boys team – 12 from Hastings,
including two foreign exchange students, and six
from Thornapple Kellogg – and 23 on the girls
team – 13 from TK, seven from Hastings and three
from Delton Kellogg. Four of the boys and three of
the girls from Hastings are graduating seniors, said
Steve Shults, who represents a parents’ group that
has campaigned to keep the co-op going.
“What are we saying to the kids with all of
this?” he said. “It’s not just the swim team kids,
but all kids. To the people on the inside of the
swim co-op, it does feel like this is some sort of
weird personality conflict that is not able to be
resolved between the two ... We continue to ask
that the administration and the school board try
and reconsider this decision and then work with
the TK administration and TK athletic director
to mend fences and to figure out what’s a great
path forward.”
Steve Shults also defended the participation
of TK parents and families in helping the coop-
erative work.
“Without them, we would never have been
able to do all the things that we do, including
running all of the meets, being able to host all of
the things we do,” he said. “If I look up and
down at what they’ve done over the years, it’s
often times a majority of the coordination and
ability to run the meets, both on the deck and the
stuff that happens after with the team dinners
and everything else that happens – lots and lots
of that organization happens and is driven by
TK parents, both on the boys’ side and on the
girls’ side. If you don’t acknowledge that,
you’re missing a big piece of the puzzle.”
Michael Schipper, who has coached the local
Hammerheads swim club for more than a
decade, expressed similar concerns that enough
swimmers can be found to support a stand-alone
team in Hastings.
“You really need 12 swimmers to be able to
fill all the events in all fields. You need a mini-
mum of 12 ... You’re only allowed to swim two
individual events and two relays. There are 11
events and three relays (at a typical meet),”
Schipper said.
Hastings Athletic Director Mike Goggins
expressed optimism that enough swimmers will
be found to field a stand-alone team next year.
“We’re making a commitment to field a team,
and I believe it’s going to happen,” Goggins
said. “I acknowledge your concern, I understand
it. We’ve had other sports teams where numbers
have gone down, and we’ve been able to rally
them back. In the 18 years that I’ve been here,
we’ve never eliminated a program, and we have
no intention of eliminating one now.”
Several parents spoke out in support of keep-
ing the cooperative, noting its impact on their
kids and worried that not enough swimmers will
be found to support a Hastings-only team next
season. Erin Merritt, who has a son that is anHHS junior, worried that she may have watched
her son’s last swim meet last Saturday.
“It’s funny that we refer to the team as the
TK/HSS/DK swim-dive co-op. What mouthful
that is,” Merritt said. “I don’t think of the team
that way. I think of us as the Barry County Bar-
racudas – one united team, no matter what else
anybody decides to go by. I was just as surprised
as everybody else when it (said) ‘MTK’ (for
Middleville Thornapple Kellogg) on the score-
board, when it’s always been BCB – Barry
County Barracudas. That’s our team. For myself
and many other parents, we don’t think in terms
of schools, we think in terms of one strong and
special group of athletes.”
“At this point, all the reasoning and the
excuses behind the decision to dissolve the
Barry County Barracudas mean only one thing
to me. It means that the HHS (administration) is
actively and willfully depriving my son and his
teammates from participating in the sport they
love,” Merritt added. “No matter of what you’ve
heard from anybody ... there are not enough
boys to have a Hastings team, period. The num-
bers don’t add up.”
Jamie Hays, a Hastings parent whose son has
swum for the Barracudas for three years, echoed
Merritt’s concerns about not having enough
swimmers for a stand-alone team.
“The claim has been made to just build a
team, and as Steve (Shults) said, there will be
four Hastings girls and six Hastings boys
(returning next season),” Hays said. “How is it
going to be possible to build a swim team when
there isn’t a team there? It is already difficult to
get athletes in most sports, and I can imagine
that it will be even more difficult to build a team
where there isn’t one in existence. And after
18-plus years of this co-op, it would seem that if
there was going to be a team built, it would have
been built by now.”
Board Trustee Brad Tolles acknowledged the
benefits of having a cooperative program, but
said the board was not in a position to make a
decision.
“I’m always willing to hear everything, but
we have no say in this, honestly. This isn’t our
decision to make,” Tolles said. “This is an
administrative decision, and we have to support
our administrators, who I think have put in a lot
of time and effort ... If our superintendent and
athletic director feel confident they can get the
job done and have a team, (I support this).”
During his speech, Riley Shults said that such
issues as being able to qualify for a state meet
were not as important to him as winning dual
meets and conference meets. He asked his team-
mates if any of them supported discontinuing
the cooperative. No one stood up. He then asked
which of his teammates want to continue to
co-op, and all of them stood up.
“Look at all those people,” Riley Shults said.
“All of them are swimmers, on the team, who
need to be addressed. We are the people that this
is affecting, okay? This isn’t affecting the econ-
omy ... this is affecting those kids, right there,
us, okay?
“We care about this team, we care about peo-
ple, our team.”195347HASTINGS CHARTER TOWNSHIP
2023 NOTICE OF BOARD OF REVIEW
PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that the Board of Review will meet at the Township Hall,
885 River Rd., Hastings, MI 49058 to examine and review the 2023 assessment
roll. The board will convene on the following dates for the hearing of appeals of
assessments or taxable values, poverty exemptions, parcel classification appeals
and/or current year qualified agricultural denials:Tuesday, March 7, 2023, 1:00 pm Organizational Meeting
Wednesday, March 15, 2023, 9:00 am to Noon and 6:00 to 9:00 pm
Thursday, March 16, 2023, 9:00 am to Noon and 1:00 to 4:00 pmAnd on such additional days as required to hear all persons who have given
notice of the desire to be heard until assessment rolls have been revised, cor-
rected and approved.APPEALS ARE HEARD ON FIRST COME FIRST SERVE BASIS; letter appeals
will be accepted and must be received no later than 5:00 pm the Friday before
the first appeal hearing.Tentative ratios and estimated multipliers for 2023 are as follows:
Agricultural 41.46% 1.
Commercial 47.88% 1.
Industrial 41.62% 1.
Residential 41.66% 1.
Personal Property 50.00% 1.Tentative equalization factor of 1.0000 for all classes is expect-
ed after completion of Board of Review.Jim Brown, Supervisor Hastings Charter Township
Kevin Harris, Assessor Hastings Charter TownshipHastings Charter Township Board Meetings are open to all without regard to
race, color, national origin, sex or disability.American with Disabilities (ADA) Notice
The township will provide necessary reasonable auxiliary aids and services, to
individuals with disabilities at the meeting/hearing upon seven (7) days’ notice to
Hastings Charter Township. Individuals with disabilities requiring auxiliary aids or
services should contact Castleton Township by writing or calling.Hastings Charter Township Clerk
885 River Rd.
Hastings, MI 49058
269-948-SWIMMERS, continued from page 1 –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Members of the Barry County Barracudas cooperative swim team listen to the
debate at Monday’s board meeting.erately set up differently than a job fair.
While he had no doubt that each vendor pres-
ent at CareerFest had openings available for
students, he hoped the event would not only
help students network but also help them
explore possible career avenues.
“Every one of the companies have jobs for
those kids right now,” Domke said. “But a lot
of the kids don’t know about what’s out there
or how it works.”
For example, students may be aware ofmanufacturers in the county but they may not
know that those same employers offer jobs
that aren’t manufacturing related, he said. In
this example, he hoped students could realize
a local manufacturer could also offer jobs in
other fields such as marketing, human
resources or accounting.
For Hastings senior Xandar Holtrust, the
event provided an opportunity for him to talk
to a physical therapist about the job for the
first time. Holtrust plans on pursuing a career
in physical therapy
after graduation.
“I think it’s important
because people don’t
necessarily get to expe-
rience things like this
(event) and they don’t
really think about
(career paths) until it’s
too late,” Holtrust said.
“It’s been helpful to me.
I’d never talked to any-
body that works in
physical therapy (beforetoday), I just knew that’s what I wanted to do.”
Holtrust spoke with Lindsay Vertalka, a
physical therapist at First Rehab and Sport
Physical Therapy. She said the event was a
great way not only to represent her business
but also to get kids interested in the health-
care field in a more general sense.
“I just think it’s great that Hastings is offer-
ing this because a lot of kids aren’t sure what
they want to do (after graduation),” she said.
This year’s event marked what the organiz-
ers hope will be the first of many. Nichole
Lyke, economic development director for the
chamber, said the event saw huge interest
from local businesses.
“We’ve done job fairs in the past, but
we’ve never worked together (with the high
school) to do an event on this large of a
scale,” Lyke said. “We were actually only
anticipating about 30 vendors, and we hit 50
and kind of had to put the cap on it.”
With more time to iterate on the model,
Domke hopes to make it an even bigger event
in years to come.
“I’d love to get 200 vendors here,” he said.CAREERFEST, continued from page 1 –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
MICHAEL KINNEY
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