Page 4 — Thursday, May 18, 2023 — The Hastings Banner
The Hastings Banner
Devoted to the interests of Barry County since 1856
Published by... Hastings Banner, Inc.
A Division of J-Ad Graphics Inc.
1351 N. M-43 Highway • Phone: (269) 945-9554 • Fax: (269) 945-
News and press releases: [email protected] • Advertising: [email protected]Frederic Jacobs
Publisher & CEOHank Schuuring
CFO- ADVERTISING DEPARTMENT •
Classified ads accepted Monday through Friday,
8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Chris Silverman
Mike GilmoreTy Greenfield
Jennie Yonker- NEWSROOM •
Jayson Bussa (Editor)
Molly Macleod (Copy Editor)
Brett Bremer (Sports Editor)
Greg Chandler
Hunter McLaren
Alexis Chandler (Newsroom intern)
Subscription Rates: $78 per year in Barry County
$85 per year in adjoining counties
$90 per year elsewherePOSTMASTER: Send address changes to:
P.O. Box 188
Hastings, MI 49058-
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at Hastings, MI 49058Have you met?
Do you remember?
Did you see?
Fifth graders look
to the future
When you see the daffodils and hear
the graduation speeches, you know it’s
spring.
I love this season of celebration,
renewal and promise of the future. It’s a
beautiful time to honor graduates as they
reach educational milestones and
embark on new roads.
We’ll hear a lot about those future
paths in commencement speeches filled
with words of wisdom from special
speakers. However, over the past few
years, I’ve wondered if there might be
as much wisdom imparted from area
fifth graders who contribute to our annu-
al “My Future Me” booklet.
My company has worked with local
school districts for the past four years to
encourage Barry County fifth graders to
write down what’s in store for their
future. Teachers ask their fifth graders to
write a short story about what they want
to be someday. We publish them and
then distribute them to fifth graders
throughout Barry County.
We get some of the expected respons-
es, such as a professional football or
basketball player for the boys and, from
the girls, a mother with lots of kids, an
actress, ballerina or professional swim-
mer. Some say they may want to join the
military or become a teacher, lawyer,
computer or video programmer.
There are so many more, but surpris-
ingly, many have no idea what their
future might hold. That’s why we decid-
ed to take on the project; it gives kids a
chance to write down some ideas and
start to think about their future – which
is only a few years away.
Perhaps one of the most fundamental
actions in our lives is preparing for the
future. Experts suggest that planning
makes life more meaningful and can
lead to people being more generous and
fulfilled.
Studies suggest that the ability to
think and act on the future begins
between the ages of three and five. It is
unclear what underlying processes
change during a youth’s development
and how their parents and environment
will impact them. Nevertheless, studies
show that thinking about the future is an
integral aspect of life because much of
our behavior is future-oriented.
However, getting young kids to think
about their more-distant future is nearly
impossible because they are generally
only thinking about next week, an
upcoming vacation, a test at school or a
sporting event that weighs on their mind.
Kids are worried about today – what to
wear, what’s for lunch and who’s invited
them over to their house after school.
But by the time they are in fifth grade,
kids should at least start thinking about
what they might want to do or become.
And that’s been the impetus for our
annual “My Future Me” booklet project.
“I continue to believe that if children
are given the necessary tools to succeed,
they will succeed beyond their wildest
dreams!” says former U.S. Sen. David
Vitter of Louisiana.
It’s important to acknowledge the
tools, such as a good education, that are
the foundation of what our students can
accomplish in their future. Vital to pro-
viding those tools are parents.
Experts say that by the time kids are
10 to 11 years old – fifth-grade age –
they have lots of dreams about what
they want to be, and some begin to real-
ize the importance of choosing a career
path for their future. Naturally, the dis-cussion may focus on what the child is
thinking about at the moment, but the
goal for parents should be to listen for
common themes below the surface, the
glue of what motivates the child. That’s
a search that should never end.
“If you want your children to be intel-
ligent, read them fairy tales,” said Albert
Einstein. “If you want them to be more
intelligent, read them more fairy tales.”
Thinking about the future can help
kids shape their decision-making during
their early years.
That’s the investment we have a
responsibility to make.
“Children are the world’s most valu-
able resource and its best hope for the
future,” said former President John F.
Kennedy. We need to give them the sup-
port they need to fulfill their future plans- and part of that is taking the time to
write them down, forcing them to think
about the possibilities for their future.
“My Future Me” happens again here
in Barry County this year thanks to the
schools, teachers and supporters. Spon-
sors for this year’s booklet were the
Barry Community Foundation, which,
with Highpoint Bank, promotes the
Kickstart to Career program; Southside
Pediatrics and its ‘Caring for the Com-
munity One Child at a Time;’ The HUB,
which promotes Hands-on Career
Exploration; JB Septic Service, which
supports many local educational oppor-
tunities; and J-Ad Graphics, which
encourages the importance of writing
down one’s thoughts for the future.
We hope the booklet will become a
historic document for these kids to look
back on when they graduate to assess
the progress they’ve already made, to
see what their next steps should be, and
to hear their own voices amidst the noise
of everyday life.
Congratulations to this year’s gradu-
ates – and the fifth graders looking for-
ward to their own day!
Bird’s the word
With spring in full effect, Barry
County has plenty of opportunities for
people to get up close and personal
with nature. Recently, Hastings Banner
staffer Molly Macleod visited Pierce
Cedar Creek Institute, where she par-
ticipated in a special day of hiking.
Additional trails were made available
to the public that day only.
Macleod, who just might become a
budding birder after all, spotted this
Blue-Winged Warbler on the Institute’s
Little Grand Canyon property.Put on your dancin’ boots
Banner Feb. 16 1981These ranch hands and cowboys (junior and senior high youth of the First Presbyterian Church) are preparing for the
Western Dinner, which they will be serving on Sunday, Feb. 22, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Ranch, better known as Leason
Sharpe Hall.
Posing here prior to the event are (front row, from left) Dave Byrne, Jack Wiswell, Laura Wiswell at the piano, Suzie Carlson
and Laura Bowers. In the back, left to right, are Jeff Arnold, Chris Forman, Sandy Spindler and Barb Carlson. In the far back
row are Heidi Spindler and Lisa Cain.Hastings native Evelyn Ricketts has been
fascinated with water for as long as she can
remember.
As a child, she remembers always being
in the pool, putting her legs together when
she swam, mimicking a mermaid flipper. If
she wasn’t in the pool, she was watching
“The Little Mermaid.”
“My mom told me she had to actually
re-buy my ‘Little Mermaid’ videotape when
I was a kid because I watched it so many
times a day that it actually ruined the
VHS,” she said.
As she grew older, her love of mermaids
never went away. Ricketts found herself
still drawn to water, with a growing collec-
tion of mermaid statues. She would watch
videos about the history of mermaids and
“conspiracy theories” explaining how the
magical creatures might be real.
One day, Ricketts came across an adver-
tisement for a swimmable mermaid tail – a
special kind of swimsuit with one giant
flipper that allows the wearer to look and
swim like a mermaid.
“It was like a dream come true for me,”
she said.
Ricketts started saving up and eventually
bought her first mermaid tail in 2019.
Shortly after, she went to the Hastings
Community Education and Recreation Cen-
ter and suited up in her new mermaid tail
get-up. Then, something unexpected hap-
pened – she received a huge positive
response from the kids at the CERC.
That’s what inspired her to become the
Thornapple Mermaid. She makes appear-
ances around Hastings and Barry County,
where she swims with kids and teaches
them about the importance of keeping our
waterways clean.
Although COVID-19 put her plans on
hiatus, Ricketts hopes to expand her role as
the Thornapple Mermaid this year. She’s
planning many public appearances at
Tyden Park and elsewhere in Hastings,
with more information to come on the
Thornapple Mermaid Facebook page.
She’s also planning to expand the scope of
what she does with things like meet-and-greets, birthday party appearances and
in-costume read-alongs.
Becoming the Thornapple Mermaid has
fulfilled Ricketts’ lifelong dream of becom-
ing a mermaid, but it’s been challenging,
too. For starters, learning to swim with a
mermaid tail can be quite tricky. Ricketts
has also had to adjust to the attention and
recognition of being an entertainer – and
sometimes skepticism from folks who don’t
understand what she’s doing or why.
“I just keep telling them it’s just fun,” she
said. “It’s fun to have that little spark of
creativity for kids because my mom has
always instilled in me that kids need imag-
ination and kids need creativity.”
But for Ricketts, the pros vastly out-
weigh the cons. Becoming an entertainer
was another lifelong dream for Ricketts,
and she’s glad to be able to do it in a way
that gives back to the community. It also
allowed her to connect with the greater
mermaid community. As it turns out, there
are hundreds of people just like Ricketts all
over the country who gather to share their
love of mermaids.
Ricketts said she closely follows the
Society of Fat Mermaids, a group dedicated
to plus-sized mermaids and body positivity.Ricketts said that the group’s attitude is
indicative of the inclusive nature of the mer-
maid community as a whole, with anyone of
any background being welcome to join.
More than anything, Ricketts said being
a mermaid is a freeing experience.
“To me, it feels magical. I think it’s just
fun,” she said. “You can let go of that adult
energy for 10 minutes the entire time where
you’re just flipping around in that tail. You
can let go of all your worries, all the things
that come with adult life, and you can just
be in that moment and just be a mermaid.”
“We may still have bills, but mermaids
don’t,” she said. “(Mermaids) don’t have
stress or problems at work. They don’t have
all of those issues. They are just carefree
creatures that just swim. It can be nice as an
adult to have that escape.”
Favorite movie: Any horror movie. I’m
not just a mermaid; I’m also a really creepy
horror buff. My favorite would have to be
‘Nightmare on Elm Street,’ the entire series.
That or ‘Child’s Play.’
Best advice I’ve ever received: You’ve
got to go through to get through. Nothing in
life is easy.
What the world needs more of:
Patience.
Person I most admire: That would be
my mom, Dawn Ricketts. She has been
through so much but has never let it stop
her from being the best mother she possibly
could. Supportive, loving, caring. She has
always worked so hard for us. I admire that
about her.
What I would tell a high school gradu-
ate: Don’t grow up too fast; enjoy life.
That’s my biggest advice. Take that time to
be that young kid while you have it. Enjoy
being a kid while you can.
Each week, the Banner profiles a person
who makes the community shine. Do you
know someone who should be featured
because of volunteer work, fun-loving per-
sonality, the stories he or she has to tell, or
for any other reason? Send information to
Newsroom, Hastings Banner, 1351 N. M-
Highway, Hastings, MI 49058, or email
[email protected].Evelyn Ricketts
(The Thornapple Mermaid)
Fred Jacobs, CEO,
J-Ad Graphics Inc.