The Sun and News

Your Hometown Newspaper Serving Middleville and Caledonia Areas

No. 14/April 3, 2021 Published by J-Ad Graphics, Inc. • 1351 N. M-43 Highway, Hastings, MI 49058 143rd year

New branding unveiled for Middleville village, DDA

Greg Chandler
Staff Writer
“Well Rounded. Perfectly
Centered.” That’s the
proposed branding statement
an urban planning consultant
has developed for the Village
of Middleville and its
Downtown Development
Authority.
Ben Muldrow of the
South Carolina-based
planning firm Arnett
Muldrow unveiled the
proposed new branding for
the village and DDA during a
virtual call Thursday,
culminating a week of
community-input sessions.
The logo for the new
brand includes a wagon
wheel, a nod to the village’s
longstanding stagecoach
logo, as well as a color
scheme of burgundy
(reflecting the village’s color
scheme), orange (reflecting
the main color of Thornapple
Kellogg Schools) and various
shades of blue and green
(incorporating the
Thornapple River and the
Paul Henry Thornapple

Trail).

“You’re this hub. You’re

in the middle of it all,”

Muldrow said. “You’re

focused. You are a family-

friendly community, and you

are supporters of education

and one another. You are

connected. You are connected

to nature, you’re connected

to one another.”

The village hired Arnett

Muldrow in early February

to develop the village/DDA

co-branding campaign at a

cost of no more than $15,500.

Arnett Muldrow has worked

on past branding initiatives

in the City of Wayland and

with the Kalamazoo

Downtown Partnership.

The proposed logo was

well received by those who

were on the call.

“I was pleased with the

product that we got from

Ben,” Village Manager

Patricia Rayl said.

Muldrow met virtually

with a variety of stakeholder

groups and the general public

Tuesday and Wednesday to

get input on what they like

about Middleville as well as

ideas for what is needed in

the village. Tuesday, he met

with elected and appointed

officials, representatives

from local civic clubs and

Thornapple Kellogg Schools,

followed by a design

workshop with the public

that evening and meeting

with business owners

Wednesday morning.

Muldrow also got input

from residents through an

online survey and did

research into the village’s

demographics, which yielded

some surprising findings –

such as the idea that more

people go to Middleville on a

daily basis to work than

leave the village for their

jobs. That flew in the face of

the image some in the village

have as a bedroom

community.

“You are so much more

than a bedroom community.

See BRANDING, page 5

IN THIS ISSUE...

• Kent ISD board suspends search
  for new superintendent


• Kinsey Street sewer work to begin
  Monday


• EGR ends Scots’ boys basketball
  season at ten wins


• Caledonia High School announces
  MYLead nominees

Two TKHS students

qualify for BPA nationals

Thornapple Kellogg High
School students Caedon
Zube and Kaden Hamming
qualified for the national
Business Professionals of
America competition after
achieving high marks at the
state BPA contest.
Zube finished fourth in
extemporaneous speech, and
Hamming placed fifth in
digital media production.
The top five students in

each event qualified to move

on to nationals which will be

held virtually in late April

and May.

TKHS student Gavin

Denman also is serving as a

state officer this year and was

part of the BPA state virtual

conference. He will also be

attending the virtual national

conference as a voting

delegate.

Business Professionals of

America was founded in

1966 and today helps provide

high school students with

opportunities to learn and

compete in a variety of

business-related areas.

The organization has

more than 45,000 members

in 1,800 chapters across the

United States.

TKHS teacher Keith

Hamming is the BPA coach.

Thornapple Kellogg High School Business Professionals of America students (from
left) Kaden Hamming, Caedon Zube and Gavin Denman will take part in the upcoming
national contest. (Photo provided)

Results of community-input sessions helped lead to

a new branding statement for Middleville. (Image

provided by Arnett Muldrow)

100th Street construction

work underway in Gaines Twp.

Greg Chandler

Staff Writer

A $2.6 million project to

upgrade 100th Street in

Gaines Township to a two-

lane all-season road is under-

way.

Construction began

Monday on a mile-long

stretch of 100th Street, from

Kalamazoo Avenue to Hanna

Lake Avenue. The road is

expected to be closed to

through traffic until Aug. 14.

The project includes

rebuilding the road to an

all-season standard, as well

as ditching, culvert replace-

ment, new pavement, pave-

ment marking and resto-

ration.

The project received

$2.05 million in federal and

state funding, with the

remaining funding coming

from the Kent County Road

Commission.

During construction, the

detour route includes

Kalamazoo Avenue to 84th

Street, 84th to Hanna Lake

and Hanna Lake to 100th.

Brenner Excavating, of

Hopkins, is the project con-

tractor.

The detour route directing traffic from 100th Street in Gaines Township is expected

to continue through August. (Image provided)