The Hastings Banner — Thursday, April 8, 2021 — Page 11legals
Vaccine eligibility opening up for those 16 and older
COVID-19 cases on
the rise here and
across the state
Taylor Owens and Sean Bradley
Staff Writers
People as young as 16 may be able to get
COVID-19 vaccinations this month.
Eligibility officially opened up for all adults
on Monday, and Anne Barna of the Barry-
Eaton District Health Department said a
Pfizer vaccine clinic for 16- and 17-year-olds
is planned for later this month.
The rate of vaccinations has slowly, but
unpredictably, increased over the past few
weeks, she added.
“Our vaccine supplies are generally greater
now than they were in February,” Barna said.
“However, the amounts we’ve received in
March and early April have varied greatly
each week. We have received more overall
lately in the county because of the addition of
the Johnson and Johnson vaccine.”
As of Monday, 14,650 Barry County resi-
dents had received their first dose of the vac-
cine, and 9,652 of those people were fully
vaccinated, according to the health depart-
ment.
In the meantime, the number COVID-
infections continues to grow.
The health department reported 286 active
cases in Barry County on Wednesday, up from
144 last week, and 95 the week before.
One death has been reported in the past
week in the county, which has a total of 4,
confirmed cases, 424 probable cases and 52
deaths since the virus was confirmed here
early last year.
According to the state, 21.32 percent of
COVID tests done in Barry County on
Monday were positive. It was the second
highest single day rate since testing was
expanded last spring. The highest positivity
rate was 21.52 percent, which was reported on
Nov. 25.
Bridge Magazine reported that, statewide,
COVID-19 hospitalizations have risen by
more than 1,100 patients in the past week,
with 3,554 hospitalized Tuesday for con-
firmed or suspected cases of COVID-19.
That’s a 45-percent jump in one week and
bigger than any weekly increase that occurred
during the surge in cases last fall.
Spectrum Health Pennock had three
COVID-19 patients on Monday, including
one in their intensive care unit.
The average age of people who are being
hospitalized in Michigan also has dropped
over the past few months.
During the fall surge, the age of people
being hospitalized with COVID-19 was in the
70s. It has since dropped to 61. Health offi-
cials say the change is due to a higher vacci-
nation rate among older people, and the
effects of the more aggressive B.1.1.7 variant
of the virus, which is believed to now be the
dominant strain.
The average daily new COVID-19 cases
among children under 10 has risen 230 per-
cent, more than in any other age group since
Feb. 19, according to data from the Michigan
Department of Health and Human Services.
Those aged 10 to 19 had the second-highest
increase in infections since Feb. 19; cases in
that age group in Michigan rose 227 percent.
Michigan schools also are reporting more
cases of the virus.
The number of outbreaks tied to Michigan
preschools and K-12 schools rose to 296,
from 241 the previous week, according to
Bridge Magazine. Outbreaks have surged 23
percent in one week, and 47 percent over a
two-week period.
According to the health department, 83
people were reported infectious while on
school grounds in Barry and Eaton counties
between March 17 and March 31, a 43-per-
cent increase from the previous week.
Those cases caused about 500 students to
go into quarantine.
The number of cases dropped when many
schools switched to remote learning or went
on spring break. The department reported 49
active cases on school grounds between
March 25 and April 7, which led to the quar-
antine of about 250 students. The majority of
students testing positive were in high school.
The only school with a recent reported out-
break in Barry County was the Barry
Intermediate School District, which reported
four cases at its West Learning Center for
special education. Other districts have report-
ed COVID-19 cases, but that was the only
situation in Barry County in which the virus
was believed to have transferred between peo-
ple on school grounds in the past two weeks.
School districts that are currently on spring
break plan to return to in-person learning next
week, but officials will be watching case
numbers in case a change to remote learning
becomes necessary.
“Unless we get some negative news regard-
ing people having to quarantine or testing
positive, we’re planning on being face-to-
face,” Delton Kellogg Schools Superintendent
Kyle Corlett said.
The district moved to in-person learning
last week; one student tested positive for the
virus March 29.
Thornapple Kellogg High School also
switched to remote learning last week. The
district reported 15 active cases of the virus
among students and staff last Tuesday; 12 of
those cases were at the high school.
The district plans to have in-person classes
when school returns on Monday.
“We would only consider another model as
a last resort,” Superintendent Dan Remenap
said. “Those staff who wanted to be are vac-
cinated and we trust our parents to make the
best decision for their kids and family.”
Lakewood Public Schools Superintendent
Steven Skalka said the district will assess its
situation at the end of next week, after enough
time has passed that they can determine if
staff and students picked up the virus over
spring break.
The district had five cases of COVID-
among staff and students last week, and five
cases the week before. On March 26,
Lakewood announced two of those peoplehad contact through the school, which meant
the cases were defined as an outbreak.
Barna said school outbreaks in BEDHD’s
coverage area tend to be “fairly small,”
because schools have been quick to respondto positive cases and quarantine contacts.
“Our school districts do a good job of miti-
gation,” Barna said.
She added that if people travel for springbreak, they should get a COVID-19 test as
soon as they get home, to avoid spreading it in
their community.‘You know, we need an interscholastic
program here.’
“And they were kind of dragging their feet
saying, ‘Well, how about GA?’ — which was
Girls Athletic Association – and it was kind of
like an intramural program after school for
girls.
“I said, ‘No, no, no, no, no.’ I said,
‘Interscholastic.’ ”
Anderson was joined in her efforts by
fellow high school physical education teacher
Patricia “Miss Murph” Murphy (1936-2016)
and middle school physical education teacher
Cynthia “Cinny” Robbe (1926-2021).
Jim Atkinson, Hastings’ athletic physician
at the time, bore firsthand witness to the
women’s determination.
“Pat and Cinny, you know, were [at HASS
already]. But Judy came in here with the idea
that it was time [for girls’ athletics]. And she
was in the principal’s office every day,”
Atkinson said. “Literally almost every day in
every vacant period, Judy was down there.”
Anderson, who sat next to Atkinson in an
interview last week, chuckled and responded,
“I was just selling my program.”
It took Anderson, Murphy and Robbe more
than a year, but eventually Hastings’
administration agreed.
“They just kept saying, ‘Well, you know,
why we don’t think about GA?’
“And I said, ... ‘Look, you don’t have to
pay us. All I want is your OK. Give us the OK
to start the program. You don’t have to worry
about a thing. We’ll do it all. We’ll schedule
our games. We’ll get our buses. We’ve got
equipment from the boy’s teams, and we’ll
wear shorts and a T-shirt [for a uniform]. You
don’t have to do anything. Just tell me I can
do it.’
“And so, they finally did,” Anderson said.
In the fall of 1971, the first Hastings girls’
basketball season began with Anderson and
Murphy as coaches. Some of the neighboring
schools had already established girls’ athletics
programs.
“We didn’t have good record because
they’d never played any sport. And the schools
around us had been playing probably at least
five years,” Anderson said.
Then, coached by Anderson, the Hastings
girls’ softball team played its first game
against Lakewood High School exactly 50
years ago this spring in 1971. Hastings lost,
19-33.
All three women coached the Hastings
girls’ volleyball team during their first five
games in the winter of 1972.
Murphy also coached girls’ track and
cheerleading. Robbe coached tennis and the
girls’ golf team, which had its first season
during the 1973-74 school year.
Overall, it was a rocky start. With no
budget, the girls’ athletics program had no
way to pay for equipment, uniforms or even
their coaches.
“It was rudimentary beginnings,” Anderson
said. “The baseball team gave me equipment
[because] we didn’t have any budgets. We
didn’t have uniforms. We didn’t have
equipment. So, the boys’ programs loaned us
equipment to get us going. And then Pat,
Cinny and I — we didn’t get paid for the first
two years. We just said, ‘Let us get the
program started.’”
Although the three women had succeeded
in getting the program underway, many more
challenges were in store for them. The
Hastings Banner (then under different
ownership) was reluctant to give the girls
recognition. Even the officials at games and
tournaments attempted to trivialize girls’
sports.
Once, at a district basketball tournament in
Charlotte, an official attempted to run the
game in 6-minute quarters instead of 8-minute
quarters and use a running clock.
“The officials said, ‘Well, since this is the
first year [of girls’ basketball] we’ll have a
6-minute running clock.’ And I said, ‘No,’”
Anderson recalled. “You know how you play
basketball to 8-minute quarters so, when the
ball becomes dead, the clock stops? Well, [a
running clock] doesn’t stop. [They did it] to
get the game over with.”
Anderson jumped up, rulebook in hand,
and demanded the officials let them play
8-minute quarters without a running clock.
“And I said, ‘We’re not doing the 6-minute
running clock.’ And there was some other
stupid rule that they thought they were going
to pull the wool right over my eyes on,”
Anderson said.“I said, ‘No.’ I said, ‘This is a state
tournament.’ I said, ‘We’re playing by the
book.’”
Back at her own school, Anderson continued
to face pushback from the administration.
Funding for everything from buses to
clothing was a continual battle.
“I had wanted softball jackets for my
softball team. I mean, I tried to order them for
like three years — never enough money. So,
being the patient person that I usually am, I
think next year we’ll have enough money. But
no,” Anderson said.
“So finally, the athletic director says, ‘Well,
how about let’s just order for half the team?’ I
said, ‘OK. You tell me you’re going to order
half the jackets for your football team. Tell me
what players are going to wear those jackets?’
“I said, ‘That is totally unfair.’ I said, ‘We
either order none or we order them for the
whole team.’”
Despite the struggles, a tremendous amount
of excitement surrounded the girls’ athletic
program, at least among the female student
population.
For the first several seasons of girls’
volleyball, which had three separate teams,
about 120 students tried out for the team,
Atkinson recalled.
“There was a tremendous draw. They
wanted to be part of something that was
brand-new – 120 kids? You’d probably get 30
or 40 going out now,” Atkinson said.
Atkinson, too, was excited about the girls’
athletic program. In the early 1970s, he had
two rambunctious daughters — Paula and
Amy — and he saw athletics as an opportunity
for them to express and develop themselves.
That’s why he decided to provide Hastings
with his services as a doctor.
After he was offered the position, Atkinson
discussed it with his wife, Mary, who worried
he’d be adding too much to his plate by
accepting the job.
“I went home and discussed that with
Mary,” Atkinson said. “She said, ‘Jim, you
don’t need to do this.’ And I said, ‘Need has
nothing to do with it. I have two daughters,
and I think this is a step into things that are
going to benefit my daughters.’
“So, I did it.”
Atkinson accepted the position in 1972.
And, when his daughters were on the softball
team in the 1980s, Atkinson volunteered as an
assistant coach.
He and Dr. Larry Blair, who also as a
volunteer assistant softball coach, were some
of Anderson’s best supporters, she said. They
came to all the practices and bought the team
uniforms and equipment.
“From raising money, to the docs buying
uniforms and equipment, and offering
assistance in practices and games, theirunwavering support and kindness went way
above and beyond,” Anderson said. “They
were incredible. They were my sidekicks.”
As his daughters grew into multisport
athletes, Atkinson saw firsthand the benefits
of providing athletics opportunities for girls.
“What I saw in my daughters was a desire
to share the intensity of your emotions through
athletics. Because you didn’t get that in math
class, and you didn’t get that in history class,”
Atkinson said. “They wanted to share in that
camaraderie, in that sphere, in that intensity of
emotion with the girls that they grew up with.
“I think all of the country – they
underestimated the power and the emotional
impact that sports make.”
Through athletics, Atkinson said he saw his
daughters build friendships, develop their
interests and personalities, gain physical
strength and learn self-discipline.
As a coach, Anderson saw her athletes
develop a deep sense of discipline to balance
their homework, practices, games, weekend
tournaments and other extracurricular
activities.
She also saw her athletes learn to handle
high-pressure situations.
“If you’re the one at the foul line that’s
shooting and you, you know can tie it up with
your free throw. And you’re the one on the
line. I mean how do you handle that? It’s just
situations — life situations — that teaches
you how to handle stuff,” Anderson said.
Anderson’s athletes learned other life skills,
too, like how to be OK with making mistakes
and working as a team — win or lose.
“Maybe the opponent’s winning run is
coming across home plate and the throw
comes in to the catcher and the catcher
bobbles it or misses it. And they’re hanging
their head. And I’m like, ‘You guys, you’re
high school players. The Detroit Tigers —
professional teams — are making errors. I do
not want you saying that this error caused our
loss.’
“I couldn’t stand to see players beating
themselves up. And I said, ‘We’re all in this
together,’ ” Anderson recalled, tears welling
in her eyes.
While many of the challenges Anderson,
her fellow coaches and athletes faced in the
early 1970s continue to exist today, they are
less pervasive, thanks to cultural change and
the passage of legislation like Title IX, which
was signed into law June 23, 1972, by
President Richard Nixon.
“I still see inequality with the way women’s
athletic teams are treated by their institutions
that they represent. You still see inequality,”
Atkinson said. “But it’s not like when Judy
got this [program] started. I mean, literally
you had athletic directors at some of the high
schools saying, ‘No. No. We’re not going to
have any women running around here. We’re
just not going to do it.’”
But incidents like the NCAA’s treatment of
female athletes are a reminder that equity has
yet to be reached.
Anderson has this advice for the women
who will continue her fight:
“If you believe in something and you feel
strongly about it, go for it. ... Don’t let
anything stand in your way.”The first Hastings girls’ sports banquet was held May 3, 1973, to recognize the girls’
basketball and tennis teams. Pictured (from left) are Lori Cotant, varsity coach Judy
Anderson and Deb Johncock, representing basketball; Jill Cotter, Sue Stack and
coach Cynthia Robbe, tennis; and Martha Panfil, coach Patricia Murphy and Sue
Martin, JV basketball. (Hastings Banner photo)ATHLETICS, continued from page 1
“I think all of the country –
they underestimated the
power and the emotional
impact that sports make.”Jim Atkinson
Will investors change behavior after the pandemic?
The COVID-19 pandem-
ic may end up changing our
lives in some significant ways.
To cite one example, it’s like-
ly we’ll see a lot more people
continue to work remotely,
now that they’ve seen the ef-
fectiveness of tools such as
videoconferencing. Education,
too, may be forever changed in
some ways. Perhaps just as im-
portant, though, is how many
people may now think more
about the future – including
how they invest.
If you work with a financial
professional, you may have
connected with this individual
over the past several months
through a videoconferencing
platform, rather than in per-
son. Some people like this
arrangement because it offers
more scheduling flexibility
and eliminates the time and ef-
fort of traveling to and from an
appointment. Others, however,
still prefer face-to-face contact
and look forward to when such
arrangements will again be
practical and safe for everyone
involved. But if you’re in the
first group – that is, you prefer
videoconferencing – you may
now wish to use this commu-
nication method in the future,
at least some of the time.
But beyond the physical as-
pects of your investing experi-
ence, you may now be looking
at some changes in your in-vestment strategy brought on,
or at least suggested, by your
reactions to the pandemic.
For example, many people –
especially, but not exclusively,
those whose employment was
affected by the pandemic –
found that they were coming
up short in the area of liquid-
ity. They didn’t have enough
easily accessible savings to
provide them with the cash
they needed to meet their ex-
penses until their employment
situations stabilized. Conse-
quently, some individuals were
forced to dip into their long-
term investments, such as their
401(k)s and IRAs. Generally
speaking, this type of move is
not ideal – these accounts are
designed for retirement, so, the
more you tap into them early,
the less you’ll have available
when you do retire. Further-
more, your withdrawals will
likely be taxable, and, depend-
ing on your age, may also be
subject to penalties.
If you were affected by this
liquidity crunch, you can take
steps now to avoid its recur-
rence. Your best move may
be to build an emergency fund
containing three to six months’
worth of living expenses, with
the funds held in a separate,
highly accessible account of
cash or cash equivalents. Of
course, given your regular ex-
penses, it may take some timeto build such an amount, but
if you can commit yourself to
putting away a certain amount
of money each month, you will
make progress. Even having
a few hundred dollars in an
emergency fund can help cre-
ate more financial stability.
Apart from this new appre-
ciation for short-term liquidity,
though, the foundation for your
overall financial future should
remain essentially the same.
In addition to building your
emergency fund, you should
still contribute what you can
afford to your IRA, 401(k) and
other retirement plans. If you
have children you want to send
to college, you might still ex-
plore college-funding vehicles
such as a 529 plan. Higher ed-
ucation will still be expensive,
even with an expansion in on-
line learning programs.
Post-pandemic life may con-
tain some differences, along
with many similarities to life
before. But it will always be
a smart move to create a long-
term financial strategy tailored
to your individual needs, goals
and risk tolerance.
This article was written by
Edward Jones for use by your
local Edward Jones Financial
Advisor.
Edward Jones, Member
SIPCBrandon Wilkins
Financial Advisor
307 E. Green St., Ste. 1
Hastings, MI 49058
(269) 948-Financial FOCUS
Provided by the Barry County
offices of Edward JonesWendi Stratton
Financial Advisor
423 N. Main St.
Nashville, MI
(517)760-Member SIPCA chart of COVID-19 vaccines distributed to Barry County since December.