Page 4 — Thursday, June 10, 2021 — The Hastings Banner
Have you met?
Do you remember?
Did you see?
Whether she’s assisting families in inter-
preting a will or organizing the Thornapple
Players Youth Theater Club, Carol Svihl is a
helper.
Helping others is what motivates the
Gladstone native to be active in the commu-
nity, with organizations like the Thornapple
Players, and it’s the most rewarding part of
her work as a trust officer at Highpoint
Community Bank.
Svihl, who has a bachelor’s degree in
accounting and a master of business admin-
istration from Davenport University, has
been in the financial services industry for 35
years, working at HCB since 2014.
As a trust officer, she assists families and
individuals with trust planning or settle-
ments, end-of-life situations, investing and
other issues.
Outside of work, Svihl continues to pro-
vide care as the Algonquin Lake Community
Association secretary since 2007 and through
her three years of service on the St. Rose of
Lima Education Trust Board.
She also assists with the church bazaar,
volunteers at the annual Thornapple Arts
Council Auction for the Arts and participates
in the Spectrum Pennock Hospice Embracing
Hope flower project, which delivers flowers
to hospice patients, since 2013.
Serving as the Thornapple Players secre-
tary and treasurer since 2003, as well as
group’s youth theater coordinator, has been
one of Svihl’s most rewarding community
involvements because she’s seen young thes-
pians blossom through the youth theatre club
and summer drama camp, which she organiz-
es.
“They have gained so much, building
self-esteem and things like that,” she said,
based on feedback from parents. “It’s amaz-
ing. And so, it’s been really rewarding from
that standpoint that it has given those kids an
outlet to not just really perform, but to get
over their fear of being in front of people andspeaking.”
A performer herself, she also has played
tenor saxophone with the Thornapple Jazz
Orchestra since 2006 and, since 2002, has
volunteered as a Master Gardener in the
demonstration gardens at the Barry Expo
Center.
Svihl was the 2019 Barry County Athena
Leadership Award recipient. The Barry
County Chamber of Commerce presented the
award which is given each year to a woman
who assists others in reaching their leader-
ship potential.
In her free time, Svihl enjoys gardening,
traveling with her husband of nearly 35
years, Dale Svihl, and visiting her father in
the Upper Peninsula.
For the many ways she provides care to
the local community, Carol Svihl is this
week’s Banner Bright Light.
Favorite TV programs: “Jeopardy,”reruns of “Cheers,” “Frasier,” “Seinfeld”
with a little bit of “Dennis to Menace”
thrown in.
Favorite season: Spring – the season of
renewal and hope. I love to see the flowers
and trees starting to blossom.
I am most content when : I am in my
garden. Our backyard is full of flowers, so
there is always something to do. It’s a great
place to reflect and plan for the future.
Greatest thing about Barry County :
Community oriented. There are so many
caring people and resources for those in
need.
Person I’m glad to have met : My friend,
Norma Jean. She has taught me so much
about our community and leadership.
Personally, she and her husband, Doug, and
have been very influential sharing their liter-
ary, musical and theatrical talents with my
husband and me. We have traveled together
many times to see stage plays, musicals and
concerts and appreciate them so much. We
have shared many family events together
both happy and sad, and are there for each
other.
Favorite vacation destination: Prague,
Czech Republic. We visited for our 25th anni-
versary. It’s a lovely historical place which
dates back to the 1400s – prominent cultural,
literary and religious history.
Favorite dinner : Friday pizza nights with
my husband. It’s our time to decompress,
talk about our week and plan for the week-
end.
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, for the stories he or she has to tell or
any other reason? Send information to
Newsroom, Hastings Banner, 1351 N. M-
Highway, Hastings, MI 49058; or
email [email protected].Carol SvihlDeveloping (and saving)
small-town America
Small-town America just can’t catch a
break, it seems.
Already engaged in the decades-long bat-
tle of losing population to bigger surround-
ing cities, small towns are emerging from
the pandemic stupor to find even bigger
smoke clouds on the horizon. A once-de-
pendable patron base that supported down-
town businesses and schools, community
events and social causes has been severely
eroded in both cities and rural places.
Community leaders and business people are
now scrambling to find new and creative –
and, hopefully successful – ways to provide
services, education and entertainment.
That’s why I’m happy Hastings and sur-
rounding towns are among the hundreds of
communities turning to downtown revital-
ization experts for guidance on what needs
to be done to make our communities more
attractive to shoppers. My concern is that
our downtown development authority is
tilting at the wrong windmills after a May
20 meeting with its consulting firm.
Experts from the Kalamazoo-based archi-
tecture and design firms Wightman and
McKenna recommended an update to the
30-year-old downtown streetscape master
plan with a continued focus on such beauti-
fication efforts as wider sidewalks, benches,
trees and flowers, bike racks and trash cans.
The premise is that sprucing up the town
will attract more visitors and shoppers. The
flaw is that these efforts and the develop-
ment plan itself do not address business
expansion and the addition of more and
wider variety stories as the key factor in a
community’s growth.
The DDA and its consultants maintain
that more stores and business growth will
come as a result of beautification efforts.
But there are small towns across the state
where local governments and downtown
development groups worked to change the
face of their communities with wider streets,
trees, flowers, benches and more with little
or no results. What the experts don’t want to
admit is that people don’t go to communi-
ties because of those amenities; they go to
towns for the shops and restaurants.
Today’s shoppers are looking for unique
shopping experiences in a town that has a
distinctive character and is clean and safe.
Sure, the amenities can be part of an overall
plan, but we have to be careful not to put the
cart before the horse.
Virtually every community in human his-
tory began and grew because of its location
and economic activity. Hastings is a prime
example, blessed with a strong industrial
base that continues to grow and prosper.
Agriculture also has been a major asset to
the area, being the county’s second largest
industry. So, the general vitality of our com-
munity is strong, which makes the possibil-
ities of growing our downtown more likely.
But to become successful, small commu-
nities must always be on the lookout to
bring new opportunities for shoppers. Last
week, the City of Hastings established a
neighborhood enterprise zone to spur pri-
vate investment in the downtown area. The
district will allow for a partial abatement on
property taxes for commercial redevelop-
ment, such as apartment projects, which the
city desperately needs.
Plenty of research available on the impact
downtown dwellers bring to a main street.
Yet Hastings has lagged in attracting a big
apartment, townhouse or condo project to
the downtown area.
To make it happen, we need to bring
together all the local officials as “code
teams” to streamline the process making
Hastings a pro-development community.
Hastings already has a historic presence that
can be an important asset to help spur
growth. History helps define a community’s
identity through distinctive, historic archi-
tecture, where shops and restaurants can
take advantage as they plan their renova-
tions while contributing to the community’s
sense of place.
If Hastings leaders really want to make a
difference without spending thousands on
downtown renovations and amenities, they
need to turn their attention to attracting
more retailers to the community. These new
businesses will bring jobs, taxes and growthto our community for years; it’s an invest-
ment that pays dividends.
Prior to COVID-19, the former Kmart
Plaza owner announced two possible ten-
ants for the empty building, Family Farm
and Home, which opened in 2020, and
another business that was never identified.
Word on the street was that the unnamed
business was either Marshalls or TJ Maxx,
but, due to the pandemic, new store open-
ings were curtailed.
So now, Hastings officials should focus
their attention on putting together a propos-
al that might attract one of these major
retailers. It would bring more shoppers and
diners to Hastings where retailers and
restaurants up and down State Street will
benefit, as well.
Last weekend, my wife and I traveled to
Rockford, which was filled with people who
were shopping, eating and just strolling up
and down the streets. Even the local library
was busy with its annual book sale that
appeared to be quite successful. They’ve not
done a major street renovation; they’ve not
added a lot of amenities. The biggest city
expansion has been a new parking lot in the
downtown area, just a block off the main
street, to accommodate all the shoppers and
visitors.
In comparison, we have a lot to offer in
Hastings, with two jewelry stores, an appli-
ance store, a women’s apparel boutique and
at store that sells gently worn women’s
clothes and accessories, a large hardware
store, several top-notch gift shops, a craft
store, two flower shops and much more.
Plus, there’s a great selection of restaurants
that continue to attract many to the down-
town area.
To be successful, downtowns need to
concentrate on what’s appealing to custom-
ers: great food, great shopping and lots of
friendly service, not just a streetscape proj-
ect. It’s what you have to offer that does the
attracting. Experts warn that if small towns
expect to survive and grow, they must create
a downtown that combines culture, enter-
tainment, restaurants and walkability – an
experience today’s consumers are seeking.
We’ve done our best to preserve our rural
landscape and open spaces, while promot-
ing places for recreation and events that
attract people to our community. Our suc-
cess is, in part, due to our willingness to
support and collaborate on business promo-
tion and growth. That just doesn’t happen; it
takes people, money and a strong desire to
make it happen. Planning for and ensuring
growth, community strength and quality of
life is in our genes.
Back in the late 1800s, a small group of
men led by bankers Chester and Richard
Messer, realized that, for Hastings to grow
and prosper, the community needed to
invest in industries that provided jobs and a
stable economy. Due to their determination
and vision they were able to attract to
Hastings industrialist and inventor Emil
Tyden who built an industrial infrastructure
and legacy we still enjoy today.
We’ve got a lot going for us; we just need
to focus on business expansion as the
Messer brothers did nearly 140 years ago
when their motivation was industrial expan-
sion. Their efforts paid off, and many of the
companies that came from their efforts are
still with us, employing thousands of people
who make our community what it is today.
If you have thoughts or ideas on how you
believe our community can grow, contact
me – I always love to discuss possibilities.
Email [email protected] or call me at
the number listed in today’s Banner.Fred Jacobs, CEO,
J-Ad Graphics Inc.Tennis champs
Banner May 28, 1959
League, regional champs – Hastings
High’s tennis team successfully defended
its West Central B Conference and
regional championships this season,
winning seven matches and tying two in
the season’s play. The team gave up
only 1 point in league competition,
winning 35-1. Pictured (seated, from left)
are Mike Youngs and Bill Damson, the
No. 2 doubles team, and Terry Sheldon
and Chris Kaechele, the No. 1 doubles
team; (standing) Coach Bruce Withers,
who has guided the Saxon net team
since 1948, and Dennis Cleveland, the
Class B regional singles champion; Don
Vahlsing, captain, holding the regional
trophy; and Ron Bartholomew, the other
singles player. Cleveland goes to
Kalamazoo again, seeking the state
singles crown. Mike McMillan and Tom
Baty, who comprised the third doubles
team, were not present when this photo
was taken. (Photo by Barth)Why turtles
cross the road
If this little fellow looks a bit pugna-
cious, he may have a good reason.
Now’s the time when turtles tend to
travel. June is typically the month when
they move from wintering areas to sum-
mer waterways and nesting areas.
Soon, baby turtles will be out and
about, too. Roadway mortality is
believed to be a major factor in turtle
population declines across the U.S.
And that’s a concern, since some spe-
cies of turtle take 12 to 20 years to
reach reproductive maturity. So the
death of even one female turtle takes a
toll. So please take care on the road –
and drive carefully around turtles.Looking back at his time at the department,
Pence said the people he worked alongside is
what he remembered most.
“I’m most proud of my men,” he said, “The
dedication that they put in; the sacrifices that
they made.”
Pence expressed optimism about the future
of the department.
“We’ve got a bunch of new kids coming
on,” he said. “...This group of new people we
got looks very promising.
“That’s been the bugaboo of all fire depart-
ments is getting enough people to put the time
in to do it.”Pence’s fellow firefighters spoke highly of
their chief’s passion and commitment to the
department.
“He was kind of the common thread, the
glue that kept everything together,” depart-
ment Capt. Don Haneckow said. “He was
always there to help, and ready to work.
“He will be missed.”
Assistant Chief Brian Uridge is currently
serving as acting chief.
For more on the event, and Pence’s reflec-
tions on his career, see this Saturday’s edition
of The Reminder.FIRE CHIEF, continued from page 1