Page 10 — Thursday, November 4, 2021 — The Hastings Banner
Veterans Day tributes planned in Barry County
Greg Chandler
Staff Writer
James Gemmell
Contributing Writer
Ceremonies are planned throughout Barry County
next week in observance of Veterans Day.
In Hastings, a Veterans Day observance will take
place at the Veterans Memorial in Tyden Park at 11
a.m. next Thursday. The main speaker will be Steve
Carr, a member of American Legion Post 45 who
currently serves as Fourth District commander for
the American Legion.
Carr oversees American Legion posts in Barry,
Allegan, Berrien, Cass, St. Joseph and Van Buren
counties.
The ceremony will include the traditional rifle
volley, said Marvin Mason, who is the sergeant at
arms for Post 45. It will be followed at 12:30 p.m.
by a cornbread and bean soup lunch at the Legion
Hall, 2160 M-37.
In Yankee Springs Township, the tribute is
planned for next Thursday at 11:11 a.m., marking
the time the armistice was signed that ended the
fighting in Europe in World War I. The observance
will take place at the township Veterans Memorial
that was dedicated earlier this year. The memorial is
located next to the township fire station at 1425 S.
Payne Lake Road at the corner of M-179.
Thornapple Kellogg High School in Middleville
will hold a virtual Veterans Day ceremony next
Thursday. Students will watch the video in their
classrooms at 10 a.m. The video of the ceremony
will be made available on the TK website (tkschools.
org) and on the district’s Facebook page, spokes-
woman Julie Makarewicz wrote in an e-mail.
Jerry Welch, a local veteran who was instrumen-
tal in the development of the village’s Veterans
Memorial, will speak at the event as the communi-
ty’s Veteran of the Year.
In Delton, the Delton Kellogg High School
Marching Band will host its annual Veterans Day
tribute next Wednesday in the high school audito-
rium, 10425 Panther Pride Drive. It will featuretwo presentations and performances. The first one
is a veterans special presentation that will begin at
1 p.m., and the second one is the public presenta-
tion, which will start at 6 p.m. Both are free to
attend.
“The 1 o’clock performance is our main feature
for local veterans and their families, or any armed
forces members who are in the area,” Delton
Kellogg High School Band Director Sara Knight
said. “It’ll feature the band and there will be some
students from a fifth-grade class singing. The Fort
Custer (National Cemetery) Honor Guard will be
there to present the colors and do a lot of patriotic
music. The 6 o’clock performance is more for com-
munity members or parents, but we won’t have all
of the things that we’ll have at the 1 o’clock
(event).”
Knight said the traditional Veterans Day Tribute is
being divided into two separate performances this
year to limit audience size because of COVID-
precautions.
“Traditionally, we’ve done a really huge-scale
veterans’ event involving the entire study body in
the gymnasium. But this year, we can’t have every-
one all in the same room due to precautions still. So,
we’re doing it in our auditorium,” she said.
Also, Delton Amateur Community Theatre will
be performing a free veterans tribute at a separate
event next Thursday at the Delton VFW Post 422. It
will get underway at 6:30 p.m. inside the VFW Hall,
10353 Stoney Point Drive.
“We’re singing a number of patriotic songs, and
we’re going to have some of the local veterans speak
and share their experiences. It’s just a nice time to
show our appreciation for our veterans,” said Will
Eichelberger, ACT president and a local veteran.
Becky Ramsey is the Delton VFW post’s canteen
manager and events coordinator. She said the cele-
bration will honor veterans.
“It’s family-oriented,” Ramsey said. “A couple of
veterans will speak. It’s a good chance for kids to
hear actual veterans; maybe they’re thinking about
enlisting.”HHS drumline to perform at Red Wings game next week
Benjamin Simon
Staff Writer
On a random day in early September, Jen
Ewers received a phone call from a Detroit
Red Wings event coordinator.
In search for possible live, in-game perfor-
mances, the event coordinator typed “best
bands in West Michigan” in an online search,
and Hastings High School popped up. In
2017, Hastings earned the title of West
Michigan’s Drumline of the Year in a region-
al contest and was invited to perform at
Miller Auditorium in Kalamazoo.
After finding this, the coordinator went to
the Hastings school website, tracked down the
phone number of co-band director Jen Ewers
and asked her if the band would want to per-
form at a Detroit Red Wings hockey game.
Ewers accepted on the spot.
“It’s pretty flattering to know that there
was someone out there watching our stuff
without even me really being aware of it and
then being impressed by it and then calling
us,” said Ewers, the drumline instructor.
The Hastings High School drumline will
take center stage at Little Caesars Arena for
the Detroit Red Wings game against the
Washington Capitals at 7:30 p.m. Nov. junior.
It will be the first time Hastings plays at a
Red Wings game, Ewers said.
The drumline, which features 20 members,
will travel to Detroit midday next Thursday.
They will have an early dinner in downtown
Detroit before playing near the concourse as
fans walk in. Once the game begins, drumline
members will sit in their own section andperform for the crowd in between periods.
“It’s cool that they get to see, even after
high school, that they can go on and be a part
of a pro sports team in their entertainment in
their drumline,” Ewers added.
For Hastings band fans, the music won’t
sound any different from a normal Friday
night Saxons football game. But for the
drumline members, Ewers, who played with
the Detroit Pistons drumline, said it will seem
like a brand-new experience.
“It’s just such a huge arena – and not just
like playing for our community or friends and
family. We’re going to be out in the real
world, I guess you could say,” she said with a
chuckle.
Drumline members performing at next
week’s Red Wings game include:
Snares – Ian Dexter, senior; Micah Johnson,
freshman; Grace Kurr, senior; Ashley Norris,
freshman; Evan Porter, sophomore; and
Kailis Snook, freshman.
Tenors – Ashton Rasey, junior; Landon
Steward, sophomore; Allison Teed, senior;
and Ethan VanDyke, freshman.
Basses – Paige Eagle, senior; Alex
Forsberg, junior; Amy Forsberg, senior;
Logan Graham, sophomore; and Jorden Lyke,
sophomore.
Cymbals – Valentina Arias-Franco, junior;
Abigail Byykkonen, sophomore; Michael
Foster, sophomore; JoDee Gaskill, freshman;
and Linda Wright, freshman.
Along with competing at marching invita-
tionals, the band also plays at festivals, and will
be performing at Disney World in the spring.Driver sentenced in hit-and-run deaths
Greg Chandler
Staff Writer
A 46-year-old Grand Rapids man has been sen-
tenced to up to 15 years in prison in connection with
a hit-and-run crash that killed a former Barry
County couple more than two years ago.
Jason Steven McCann was sentenced to 10 to 15
years in prison Oct. 14 in in Grand Rapids by 17th
Circuit Court Judge Curt Benson.
McCann entered guilty pleas last month to two
counts of failure to stop at the scene of an accident
while at fault resulting in death and two counts of
reckless driving causing death.
According to police, McCann was behind thewheel of a car that struck 56-year-old Todd Fuhr and
his wife, 56-year-old Tracy (Curtiss) Fuhr at the
intersection of Oakes Street SW and Grandville
Avenue in downtown Grand Rapids Oct. 19, 2019.
McCann failed to stop at the stop sign and did not
stop after striking the couple. Both Todd and Tracy
Fuhr died of their injuries.
Tracy Fuhr was a 1981 Thornapple Kellogg High
School graduate, while Todd Fuhr was a 1982
Hastings High School graduate. The couple had
married in 2005.
McCann is being held at the Charles E. Egeler
Reception and Guidance Center in Jackson, accord-
ing to state corrections records.170362HASTINGS CHARTER TOWNSHIP
BARRY COUNTY, MICHIGAN
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING ON THE ROLL FOR LEACH LAKE
WEED CONTORL SPECIAL ASSESSMENT DISTRICT 01
TO: The residents and property owners bordering Leach Lake and all other interested persons.PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that the Township Supervisor has reported to the Township Board
and filed in the office of the Township Clerk for public examination a special assessment roll pre-
pared covering all properties with the Weed Control Special Assessment District No. 01 benefited
by the weed control project. Said assessment roll has been prepared for the purpose of assessing
a portion of the costs for the proposed Weed Control Special Assessment District as more particu-
larly shown on the plans and estimates of costs on file with the Township Clerk within the Township,
which assessment is in the approximate amount of $25,200.00 for five seasons.PLEASE TAKE FURTHER NOTICE that the Supervisor has further reported that the
assessment against each parcel of land within said district is such relative portion of the whole sum
levied against all parcels of land in said district as the benefit to such parcels bears to the total
benefit to all parcels of land in said district. The proposed special assessment as shown on the roll
is in the approximate amount of $25,200.00 for the five seasons, or approximately $5,320.00 per
year ($255.00 per year per parcel) of land in the district. For further information you are invited to
examine the Roll.PLEASE TAKE FURTHER NOTICE that the Township Board will meet at the Hastings
Charter Township Hall at 885 River Road, within the township on November 9, 2021 at 7pm for the
purpose of reviewing said Special Assessment Roll, hearing an objection thereto, and thereafter
confirming said Roll as submitted or revised or amended. Said roll may be examined at the office
of the Township Clerk (at the Township Hall) during regular business hours of regular business days
until the time of said hearing and may further be examined at said hearing. Appearance and protest
at this hearing is required in order to appeal the amount of the special assessment to the State Tax
Tribunal.PLEASE TAKE FURTHER NOTICE that an owner, or party in interest, or his or her agent
may appear in person at the hearing to protest the Special Assessment, or may file his or her
appearance or protest by letter at or before the hearing, and in that event, personal appearance
shall not be required. The owner or any person having an interest in the real property who protests
in person or in writing at the hearing may file a written appeal of the special assessment with the
State Tax Tribunal within 30 days after the confirmation of the Special Assessment Roll.PLEASE TAKE FURTHER NOTICE that the Hastings Charter Township Board will provide
necessary and reasonable auxiliary aids and services, to individuals with disabilities at the hearing
upon reasonable notice to the Carlton Township Clerk of the need for the same at least five days
prior to the aforesaid hearing.All interested person are invited to be present at the aforesaid time and place to submit
comments concerning the foregoing.HASTINGS CHARTERTOWNSHIP
Anita S Mennell, Clerk
885 River Rd
Hastings MI 49058
269-948-Senior Allison Teed has an eventful
night Oct. 8, being crowned homecoming
queen and then battling rain while playing
tenor drums and holding an umbrella.
(Photo by Bob Gaskill)
HHS drumline members (from left) Landon Steward, Amy Forsberg, Ashton Rasey
and Logan Graham play at the West Michigan Drum Bash Sept 26. During the Michael
Jackson song "Bad," the tenor drum players hold up the bass drum players to simulate
the iconic Michael Jackson lean. (Photo by Bob Gaskill)Ashton Rasey, a junior, intently plays
tenor drums during band practice. (Photo
by Bob Gaskill)Freshman Ashley Norris (left) and Micah
Johnson (right), who play snare drums,
will be among the youngest drumline
members playing at the upcoming Detroit
Red Wings game. (Photo by Bob Gaskill)
Michael Foster tosses cymbal during the band’s performance for the Michigan High
School Band and Orchestra Association festival at East Kentwood High School. The
band has received straight Division I ratings, the highest possible, for more than 60
years. (Photo by Bob Gaskill)Sophomore Landon Steward continues
a family tradition, being part of the third
generation to play in the Hastings High
School band. (Photo by Bob Gaskill)