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Wish her a Happy
80th Birthday!
80th
Birthday
January
8th
Ann Hannapel-Nolan
The Clothier brings new
touch to downtown Hastings
Benjamin Simon
Staff Writer
As a high schooler in central Illinois,
Melissa Gillons worked in a clothing store.
Ever since then, it has been her dream to start
her own clothing store.
And after decades of waiting, Gillons
opened The Clothier, downtown Hastings’
newest business, this past month. The store
features two storeys’ worth of men’s and
women’s clothes, Gillons said – anything
from denim to dress attire to high-end brand-
name clothes.
Before becoming a business owner, Gillons
spent years in other professions. A large part
of her career was spent as a surgical assistant.
Then, in 2015, she moved to the city of
Hastings and joined forces with her husband,
building up their family company, Advantage
Plumbing & Drain.
Still, she didn’t lose hope of opening her
own clothing business. And Gillons, who
calls herself “a huge supporter of local,”
couldn’t help but notice that Hastings was
missing a clothing store.
“Where does everyone go? They drive out
of town. They need a pair of pants, they need
a shirt, funeral, wedding, special occasion –
they have to drive out of town,” she said.
“Well, when they drive out of town, they’re
probably eating out of town and getting gas
out of town and doing everything else at a
town.”
After her daughter graduated from Ferris
State University, Gillons trained her to take
over the office at their plumbing company
and, in the spring of 2021, Gillons set her
sights on securing a lease in Hastings.
In August 2021, Gillons bought the lease at
117 S. Jefferson St. with the intention of turn-
ing it into a clothing store. Shortly after, she
started traveling to shows all across the coun-
try, from Chicago to Las Vegas, where she
walked through a thousand vendors in search
of clothing lines to purchase.
“That was probably the most difficult
product is finding the quality lines that I
wanted and name brands that people are
going to recognize,” she said.Gillons aimed to open the store in late
fall, but quickly learned that wasn’t possi-
ble.
With the supply chain delayed because of
the COVID-19 pandemic, she found herself
waiting weeks to receive a shipment of
clothes.
But the clothes eventually arrived and,
now, she estimates she has thousands already
in the store.
Gillons held the store’s grand opening on
Dec. 11, and she was surprised to find peo-
ple streaming through her doors during the
first few weeks. So many people visited,they sold out of most of their men’s products
before Christmas.
She called it a “whirlwind.”
“The business that we had and the support
from the community just far surpassed any
expectation I even had,” she said.
Gillons has already begun thinking about
the future. She has ordered all of their prod-
ucts for fall 2022 and intends to continue
expanding the store, most notably the men’s
section.
“The more business we bring to down-
town,” she said, “the more successful we’ll
be as business owners.”Health board gets
two new members
Greg Chandler
Staff Writer
Barry County’s representation on the
Barry-Eaton District Health Department
board will experience a bit of a shakeup this
year.
Two new county commissioners – Bruce
Campbell and Catherine Getty – will join the
board, replacing Dave Jackson and Jon
Smelker, county board chairman Ben Geiger
said after Tuesday’s committee of the whole
meeting at the county courthouse.
“2021 was a trying year for public ser-
vants, especially those serving on the Board
of Health,” said Geiger, who also is chairman
of the BEDHD board. “Commissioners Getty
and Campbell were willing to step up.”
Jackson had served on the health board for
more than six years, while Smelker joined the
board last January, replacing the late Dan
Parker. Both agreed to switch committee
assignments, with Jackson replacing
Campbell on the Solid Waste Committee and
Smelker taking Getty’s place on the
Community Mental Health Authority board.
“It’s one of these boards that people always
have questions about,” Jackson said. “I think
it’s good for us to get new people on board.
Different perspectives are helpful.”
The health board consists of three commis-
sioners from Barry County and three from
Eaton County.
Health board meetings were among some
of the most contentious in the county last
year, boiling over at a Sept. 22 BEDHD meet-
ing where there was an attempted citizen’s
arrest of Health Officer Colette Scrimger,
five days after she had issued orders mandat-
ing the wearing of masks among kindergarten
through sixth-grade students throughout
Barry and Eaton counties to prevent the
spread of the COVID-19 virus. The order
enraged some county residents who believe
decisions on masking children in school
should be left to parents.
Both Campbell and Getty are in their first
term as county commissioners. Campbell
represents the southeast corner of Barry
County – Assyria, Baltimore, Johnstown and
Maple Grove townships. Getty represents the
village of Middleville, the portion of
Thornapple Township west of M-37 and the
portion of Yankee Springs Township north of
M-179.
“I am looking forward to joining and learn-
ing more about the BEDHD board,” Getty
said.
The BEDHD board typically meets the
fourth Thursday of every month at 9:30 a.m.
Meetings in odd-numbered months take place
in Barry County while meetings in even-num-
bered months occur in Eaton County.County moves toward expanded sewer
agreement to serve Thornapple Manor
Greg Chandler
Staff Writer
Barry County commissioners Tuesday
moved toward approving an update to a
sewer agreement that serves the Thornapple
Manor medical care facility.
Acting as the committee of the whole,
commissioners voted to recommend approv-
ing an amendment to the sewer agreement
between the county, the city of Hastings and
Hastings Charter Township. A final vote by
the board is expected next Tuesday, County
Administrator Michael Brown said.
It’s the second amendment to a sewer
agreement that dates back to 2006, in which
the city of Hastings supplies sanitary sewer
service to Thornapple Manor, Brown said.
“It is a single-use line. There are no other
individuals that are hooked up or allowed to
hook up, in accordance with the agreement
that was originally struck,” Brown said.
The updated agreement will serve
Thornapple Manor’s Harvest Pointe assisted
living facility, which is under construction.
The facility will have 50 assisted living units.
The agreement boosts the daily capacity of
the sewer line from 30,000 gallons to 40,
gallons, Brown said.
Currently, Thornapple Manor uses about
12,000 gallons per day. Brown told commis-
sioners that even if Thornapple Manor fol-Barry County board
picks leadership team
Greg Chandler
Staff Writer
The leadership team for the Barry County
Board of Commissioners will remain the
same this year as it was last year.
At its organizational meeting on Monday,
the board reappointed Commissioner Ben
Geiger as board chairman for the second
consecutive year, and retained
Commissioner Vivian Conner as vice
chairwoman.
Geiger, whose district includes the villag-
es of Nashville and Woodland, Castleton and
Woodland townships and portions of Carlton
and Hastings Charter townships, is in his
sixth two-year term on the county board.
Conner, whose district includes
Orangeville and Prairieville townships as
well as the portion of Yankee Springs
Township south of M-179, is in her fifth
term.
All seven current county commission
seats are up for re-election this November,
and there will be an eighth board position
added to the ballot this year after the county
apportionment commission last year
approved a new districting map that gives the
city of Hastings its own seat on the board.
Commissioners also approved commit-
tee assignments for this year.
Those assignments are, as follows:
Area Community Services and Training
Council (ACSET): Geiger.
Airport Commission: Conner and Jon
Smelker.
Animal Shelter Advisory Board: Dave
Jackson.
Area Agency on Aging: Conner.
Barry Community Resource Network:
Howard Gibson
Barry County Transit: Gibson and
Smelker.
Barry-Eaton District Health Department
Board: Geiger, Catherine Getty and Bruce
Campbell. (Getty and Campbell replaced
Smelker and Jackson on this board.)
Board of Public Works: Conner, Smelker
and Campbell.
Broadband Expansion Committee:
Getty.
Brownfield Redevelopment Authority:
Jackson.
Central Dispatch Administration:
Smelker.
Commission on Aging: Geiger.
Community Action Agency: Campbell.
Community Corrections Advisory
Board: Gibson.
Community Mental Health Authority:
Smelker (replaced Getty).
Conservation District: Conner.
Conservation Easement Board:
Campbell.Department of Human Services:
Campbell.
Economic Development Alliance:
Jackson.
Grievance Board: Getty, Gibson and
Jackson.
Gun Lake Improvement Board: Conner.
Hastings Local Development Finance
Authority: Gibson.
Joint Planning Alliance: Jackson.
Jordan Lake Board: Geiger.
Judicial Council/Security Committee:
Geiger.
Local Emergency Planning Committee:
Geiger (chairman).
Middleville Local Development Finance
Authority: Getty.
MSU Extension District 7 Advisory
Council: Geiger.
Parks and Recreation Commission:
Getty.
Solid Waste Oversight: Conner and
Jackson (replaced Campbell).
Southwest Michigan Behavioral Health
Board: Geiger
Tax Allocation Board: Jackson.
West Michigan Regional Planning
Commission: Getty.
Board of Commissioners meetings are
slated for the second and fourth Tuesdays
of the month at 9 a.m., with committee of
the whole meetings at 9 a.m. on the first
and third Tuesdays of the month. Unless
otherwise posted, the meetings take place
in the commissioner chambers on the mez-
zanine level in the county courthouse, 220
W. State St.Melissa Gillons, owner, poses on the stairs of her business, The Clothier. The new downtown store opened up Dec. 11 and sells
a wide range of men's and women's clothing.Melissa Gillons, owner, stands in front of The Clothier on South Jefferson Street. A
lifelong dream, Gillons recently opened the business after working in the medical and
plumbing fields.Call for Hastings Banner ads
269-945-9554 or 1-800-870-
Barry County commissioners met
Monday morning in an organizational
session to start the year by selecting
board leaders. Chairman Ben Geiger
and Vice Chairwoman Vivian Conner
were returned to their leadership roles
in unanimous votes by fellow commis-
sioners. (Photo by Rebecca Pierce)See THORNAPPLE, page 5