Page 2 — Thursday, March 7, 2024 — The Hastings Banner
“Typically, January and February are my
slow months because of not many craft
shows,” Wilcox said. “This would be an awe-
some opportunity just for the fact that it’s
local and it could be consistent every other
weekend... I’m hoping it takes off.”
Wilcox was one of the over 25 local farm-
ers and artisans who signed up to participate
in a new indoor market being coordinated
by the Barry Community Foundation.
Essentially a carbon copy of the Hastings
Farmers Market, which occurs downtown
on Wednesdays and Saturdays during the
warmer months, the indoor market will be
held inside on both March 9 and April 13
from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Barry Commu-
nity Enrichment Center. There, shoppers
can find local products from small business-
es in the community.
Wilcox is a regular at the outdoor farmers
market and, as a result, is giving this new
concept a try. She said that many consumers
who buy her products forget that she alsosells out of her home, therefore it is crucial to
be in the public eye with her raw honey.
She is not necessarily alone in that plight,
either, which is why the Barry Community
Foundation is dipping a toe in the water to see
if an indoor market might be in demand and
viable for future years.
This year’s installment will include just
two days, and each day will feature dozens of
local vendors and artisans, some of which,
like Wilcox, will be familiar faces from the
outdoor market.
“We had a co-worker that went to Europe
and experienced a lot of the European indoor
markets. She came back and pitched it to us
and we thought it would be a great thing for
our farmers,” said Annie Halle, COO of the
Barry Community Foundation.
Extending an invite to outdoor market ven-
dors first, the inaugural indoor market didn’t
have any problems attracting people to sell.
“We sold all of the spaces within a day,”
Halle said. “But we want to make sure thatwe have patrons for those individuals. It’s a
new concept for our area. We’re getting the
word out about that and about how we will
have the farms and artisans here to support
our local economy.”
The indoor market will feature products
that include oven-fresh bread, jams and
jelly, maple syrup, mushrooms, goat milk
products, eggs, meats and jewelry, among
other things.
There is no cost to enter the indoor market
and parking is available next to, and around,
the Barry Enrichment Center.
If it’s successful, then residents can expect
a local, indoor shopping experience next
year, “Our goal is to have a winter market
next year and bring farm fresh local food and
wares to our community,” said Tammy Hayes,
Barry Community Foundation coordinator
for the Hastings Farmers Market program.
“This is the first time we’ve offered this pro-
gram and we hope to gauge community inter-
est in the winter market.”County board cancels its meeting
The Barry County Board of Commissioners canceled its Tuesday morning committee
of the whole meeting due to a lack of agenda items. County business has seemingly
slowed down a bit with Tuesday’s cancelation being the second COW meeting that has
been called off in 2024 due to a lack of agenda items.
Meanwhile, a pending presentation by Barry County Sheriff Dar Leaf to lay out the
findings of his long-standing voter fraud investigation continues to hang in the balance.
Leaf was originally slated to present his findings to the Board of Commissioners on Feb.
13, but it was postponed in order to secure a larger venue. Leaf told the Banner this week
that he is working on locking in a date this month, but it has not yet been finalized.Hastings students open ‘Matilda’ tonight
Hastings High School’s run of “Matilda” opens tonight after weeks of preparation.
Performances begin tonight at 7 p.m. at the Hastings Performing Arts Center, 520 W.
South Street. Hastings students will also perform the show at 7 p.m. on Friday, March 8,
and Saturday, March 9. Additionally, there will be a 2 p.m. matinee performance on Sat-
urday, March 9.
“Matilda” is a musical based on the book of the same name by Roald Dahl. It tells the
story of a bright young girl who discovers she has telekinetic powers. She uses her pow-
ers and intellect to help her navigate her strained relationship with her family, along with
her cruel headmistress.
Attendees are encouraged to purchase their tickets as soon as possible before all shows
are sold out. Tickets can be purchased at Hastings.ludus.com.Thornapple Wind Band performing
Irish melodies March 17
The Thornapple Wind Band will perform “A Wee Bit of Irish: An Afternoon of Irish
Melodies” on Sunday, March 17. The concert will take place at 3 p.m. at the Hastings
Performing Arts Center.
The wind band will perform a mix of Irish favorites including “Down by the Salley
Gardens,” “March of the Irish Guard” and “An Irish Interlude.” Attendees are invited to
dress in green in honor of St. Patrick’s Day.
The Thornapple Wind Band is open to all adult musicians regardless of ability. Anyone
interested in more information on joining the band is invited to speak with current mem-
bers after the concert.
All Thornapple Wind Band concerts are free. The band will happily accept donations
to help pay for new music.Moolenaar staff available to discuss
constituent assistance
Staff members from the office of United States Congressman John Moolenaar are
hosting meeting times across the district this month where constituents can sit down to
discuss personal casework issues they are experiencing with a federal agency.
Moolenaar’s office is offering help to constituents who need assistance with a federal
agency, including the VA and the IRS.
Staff members will be available locally in the coming weeks in Hastings, Sunfield and
Ionia. On Tuesday, March 12, staff will be available at the Ionia Community Library, 126
East Main Street, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Staff will also be available that day at
the Sunfield Township Hall, 145 Main Street, from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. and at the Hastings
Public Library, 227 East State Street, from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m.Family Support Center offers crib
resources to ensure safe sleep
The Family Support Center of Barry County’s Crib Resources in Barry County (CRIB)
program offers tools to ensure safe sleep environments for families that do not have
appropriate sleeping arrangements for their infants and toddlers.
Families that live in Barry County and are in need of a safe sleeping arrangement for
their infant or toddler can fill out an application through Family Support Center to
receive the following:- A crib, pack-n-play or toddler bed, depending on the need.
- Two fitted sheets
- Two sleep sacks
- Written resources on safe sleep and infant safety
CRIB program applications can be found at familysupportbarry.com/what-we-do/.
Safe sleep arrangements are crucial for infant safety because they help reduce the risk
of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and other sleep-related accidents. SIDS is the
sudden and unexplained death of an otherwise healthy infant, typically during sleep.
While the exact cause of SIDS is not fully understood, creating a safe sleep environment
has been shown to significantly lower the risk.
Those with questions can email [email protected].
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& InsuredCounty Board Chair gives
‘State of the County’ address
County makes dent in housing shortage
with 704 units built, in progress
Molly Macleod
Copy Editor
Barry County Board of Commissioners
Chair David Jackson gave a “State of the
County” address at Monday’s Hastings Rota-
ry Club meeting, detailing the county’s recent
accomplishments, projects and challenges
looming in the future.
Jackson, a Delton Rotarian, began by high-
lighting Barry County’s consistent AA credit
rating. He credited much of the county’s
accomplishments and smooth operations to
the work of County Administrator Michael
Brown, who is retiring later this year.
“The only reason we can’t have a AAA
credit rating is because we’re a small county,”
Brown explained. “...We have had a AA
credit rating as long as I can remember, as
long as I’ve been a commissioner. A lot of
that’s because of the leadership of (County
Administrator) Michael Brown. That (rating)
basically says that you are stable, you are a
good credit risk.”
“Financially, we’re in a very good posi-
tion,” said Jackson.
In 2023, the county made headway on sev-
eral key issues. Jackson highlighted some of
these accomplishments, including the sale of
a Barry County Mental Health Authority
building to the YMCA of Barry County, the
current construction of Tyden Lofts and prog-
ress being made toward a new Commission
on Aging building.
Originally, Jackson said, county officials
were considering the Mental Health Authori-ty building as a potential location for a new
COA building. While the site was deemed not
to be a fit for the COA, the YMCA expressed
interest in the property.
“(We) started the conversation with Jon
Sporer and the YMCA and talked about all of
the programs benefitting the youth, benefiting
childcare, which is one of the boxes we were
trying to check in the county. That was a big
win for the county in our minds,” said Jackson.
One large accomplishment highlighted was
the number of housing units planned in Barry
County. Currently, 704 units throughout the
county are either planned or in development.
This, Jackson said, will help put a dent in
Barry County’s need for housing.
The county received roughly $1.4 million
in grants in the past year. These grants will be
used for things like rural business develop-
ment and environmental assessments.
Jackson credited the many volunteers
throughout Barry County who are involved
with local government.
“I really appreciate the fact that we have
people in our community, a lot of them like
you, who are willing to stand up and help out
and lead in different places. And we continue
to need those voices to help us,” he said.
Looking forward into 2024, large-scale
solar and wind energy projects will be a
hot-button issue for the county.
State legislators passed a series of bills in
November 2023 that take away regulating
control over large-scale renewable energy
projects from local municipalities. The reg-ulating control now lies in the hands of the
state.
Already, parts of Barry County are being
targeted for large-scale solar projects. In the
southern end of the county, Consumers Ener-
gy is planning a roughly 1,000-acre large-
scale solar energy system in Johnstown
Township.
“We’re looking hard at what we can do to
control that, especially where it concerns
prime farmland, housing, real estate, things
that are important to us because our rural
culture is important. We want to keep that the
best we can,” said Jackson.QUESTIONS:
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MARKET, continued from page 1 –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
from quarries across the country home into
Hastings, and with the new facility in Rutland
Township, the company will be able to store
everything comfortably inside.
“We’re growing a little bit every year
which is nice – it’s what every business likes
to see, which is steady growth over time,”
Holley said. “Hopefully this new building
will give us the capacity to keep expanding a
little bit every year and keep on going.”
The move will be a bittersweet one for
Patten’s Michigan Monuments given its rich
history inside the city of Hastings. Currently,
Holley’s father, Ron, serves as president of
the company and his mother, Mary, also
works in the front office.
The company as a whole was founded in
1918 in Grand Rapids before establishing an
office in Hastings in 1929. The company has
been family-owned the entire time, with
direct descendants of the company’s founder,
Maurice Lyman Patten, still running the
show.
When deciding where to move its head-
quarters, staying near Hastings was a
no-brainer, Holley said.
“We’ve been (in Hastings) a long time –
everyone that works here belongs to this
community,” Holley said. “We certainly
didn’t want to move too far from Hastings.
This was about the closest location that we
could get and that we could make work for
us. Staying in Hastings was definitely a prior-
ity. We didn’t want to go anywhere.”Holley said that he is being realistic on the
timeline for the project, given the many
x-factors that come along with a construction
project of this magnitude. Even so, Holley is
eyeing a completion date of sometime this
summer, potentially mid-July.
Holley and his team seem to have no
qualms with being patient with the build. In
fact, after the COVID pandemic shook up
virtually all industries, they’re just happy
with getting settled back into business asusual – for the most part.
“Our (shipping and receiving) timeframes
were pushed way off (during COVID),” Holley
said. “It was taking a year to get granite. We
were dealing with all the shipping disasters and
the major ports – big cargo ships were being
held up for a month. I would say definitely that
stuff has been cleaned up. Even now, though,
we’re still feeling the effects in certain areas.
Everything has just kind of gone up as far as
pricing and labor and all that stuff.”BUSINESS, continued from page 1 ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Patten’s Michigan Monuments has been located at the corner of Green Street and
Cook Road since 1948 but has outgrown the space.Leadership at Patten’s Michigan Monuments is hoping that construction on its new facility will wrap up this summer.Barry County Board of Commissioners
Chair David Jackson gives his “State of
the County” address at Monday’s
Hastings Rotary Club meeting. (Photo by
Molly Macleod)