Page 2 — Thursday, February 3, 2022 — The Hastings Banner
Haney said he had been considering
retirement for several months, but held off.
He didn’t want to leave during the height of
the COVID-19 pandemic and had hoped to
stay through the construction of the new
Harvest Pointe assisted living center that is
expected to create 50 new living units this
year.
Haney, who expects to stay through the
summer, will continue to serve as adminis-
trator until the board selects a successor. He
decided to announce his retirement in Feb-
ruary to give the board enough time to fill
his seat.
“Thornapple Manor has been blessed to
be represented by Don Haney over the past
decade,” Director of Nursing Liz Bishop
said in a press release. “He has not only
advocated for our residents and staff, but
has also been a trusted voice for the long-
term care community as a whole.
“It has been my pleasure to call him my
fearless leader, trusted adviser, and friend.”
Haney joined Thornapple Manor as the
controller in 2006 and moved into his cur-
rent role as the administrator in 2012.
Outside of his work at Thornapple Manor,
Haney has established himself as a regular
presence in the community. He spent 18
years as a Thornapple Kellogg school board
member and held the chaiman’s position
with the Barry County Chamber & Eco-
nomic Development Alliance board. He is a
current member of Rotary, the Middleville
Hospital Purchasing Service board and theSpectrum Health West Michigan board.
In 2021, he won the chamber’s ROTH
award for outstanding business profession-
als who, throughout their careers, have
proven to be responsive to the needs in their
communities, create opportunity, teach and
lead others, and are a herald of business in
Barry County.
Haney said he doesn’t know what will
come next in his life, but he hopes to stay in
the long-term care industry, whether that is
acting as an adviser for Thornapple Manor
or working on new reimbursement method-
ology projects at the state level.
He does know, however, that he will take
the newfound free time to travel and spend
more time with his wife, Sharon, his three
kids and his grandkids.
“[Sharon’s] been retired for a couple of
years, being grandma. And it’s time for me
to join her and become grandpa and see the
grandkids a little bit more when we’re
babysitting or doing things with them,”
Haney said.
In parting, Haney expressed gratitude for
his staff at Thornapple Manor – especially
during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“[The Thornapple Manor staff has]
impressed me and surprised me on so many
different occasions with their approach to
things and how they’ve all responded to the
COVID pandemic that dealt with it and the
struggles that we’ve had,” Haney said.
“It’s just been a privilege to work along-
side them and to be a part of their team.”COVID case numbers
still high in county
Taylor Owens
Staff Writer
Barry County reported 650 active cases of
COVID-19 Tuesday, a drop from the
record-breaking 843 cases reported last
week.
The percentage of COVID-19 tests that
came back positive last week was 38.1 per-
cent.
Barry-Eaton District Health Department
spokesperson Emily Smale said these num-
bers indicate community transmission of the
coronavirus is at an all-time high.
Another death due to the virus was report-
ed in the county Tuesday, for a total of 146deaths directly attributed to COVID-
since the pandemic was declared in March
2020.
Spectrum Health Pennock had four resi-
dents with COVID-19 in the hospital Mon-
day, but none were in the intensive care unit.
Thornapple Manor reported eight COVID
cases among residents, while Hastings
Rehab and Healthcare Center reported five.
The BEDHD Hastings office was able to
restock its COVID rapid tests at its Hastings
facility week, after it had supply issues for
the last two weeks. But testing on Wednes-
day and Thursday was canceled in advance,
due to inclement weather.TK school shutdown
suspect in court Tuesday
Greg Chandler
Staff Writer
An 18-year-old suspect is expected to be
arraigned Tuesday in Barry County District
Court on charges connected to a social media
threat that led to a Jan. 20 shutdown of class-
es at Thornapple Kellogg Schools.
The suspect, whose name has not been
released pending that arraignment, has been
charged with two counts of making a verbal
threat to a school and two counts of using a
computer to commit a crime, Barry County
Assistant Prosecutor Josh Carter told The
Banner Wednesday.
All charges are misdemeanors and punish-
able by up to a year in jail, Carter said.
School officials learned of a threat thattargeted the high school the morning of Jan.
20, Superintendent Craig McCarthy wrote in
an email that day.
McCarthy wrote that secondary students
were already on buses and heading to the
high school. He said closing only the high
school and transporting students back home
would have disrupted the district’s entire
transportation process. As a result, classes
across the district were shut down for the day.
The suspect was initially arrested on
charges unrelated to the social media threat.
The arrest followed an investigation by the
Barry County Sheriff’s Department and
Michigan State Police.
The suspect is not a student at Thornapple
Kellogg Schools, authorities said.Thursday, Feb. 3 – book sale, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 4 – book sale, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 5 – book sale, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. bag sale day.
Monday, Feb. 7 – Crafting Passions Craft work group, 10 a.m.-1 p.m.; Great Decisions
Foreign Policy Institute, 1:30-3:30; board meeting, 4:30 p.m.
Tuesday, Feb. 8 – Great Decisions Foreign Policy Institute, 1:30-3:30; mahjong, 2:30; chess,
5:30 p.m.
Wednesday, Feb. 9 – Itsy Bitsy Book Club meets via Zoom (monthly story time bag with
link and crafts may be picked up at library), 10:30 a.m.; acoustic jam session, 5 p.m.More information about these and other events is available by calling the library, 269-945-
4263 or checking its Facebook events.THORNAPPLE, continued from page 1 ––––––––––––
Art of encouragement
Rebecca Pierce
Editor
Colorful pictures displayed on the wall
outside Barry County District Court are
part of a special project aimed at engag-
ing the community.
The goal is to encourage and even
inspire the people who take part in it,
while offering positive thoughts to those
who view the artwork.
Specialty Courts Manager/Administra-
tor Tammi Price said Judge Michael
Schipper created the “We Start, You Fin-
ish” project.
“The project mimics, in some ways,
the idea of a pen pal, but with pictures,”
Price said. “Judge Schipper thought the
residents at Thornapple Manor might
enjoy finishing a picture that another
person (a stranger) started coloring.”
“Each of the coloring sheets depicts an
inspirational saying; these specific color-
ing pages were chosen with the hope of
inspiring someone – giving them a word
of encouragement as they colored,” she
said. “Coloring is also known to reduce
stress for some folks and, during these
very trying times, we thought coloring an
inspirational coloring page might offer a
bit of relief from the stress.”
Judge Schipper said he was pleasantly
surprised at how participants responded.
“I wasn’t sure. They all were really excit-
ed to see what their mystery partner
would add to the picture. And our partic-
ipants were excited to think that they
might make someone smile.
“It’s a great lesson about how easy it is
to connect with and make someone else
happy.”
The art is on display in the hallway on
Level 2 of the Barry County Courts and
Law Building in Hastings.
“Our residents really enjoyed finishing
coloring the pictures,” Thornapple Manor
Director of Life Enrichment Tara Beach
said. “They liked the idea that they would
be shared with the community down at
the courthouse.
“We had discussed us starting the col-
oring pages and sending them to the
courthouse and then displaying them for
our residents and their families to see
when they were completed. Doing color-
ing and water color paintings has been
something that everyone seems to really
enjoy.”
“It is our hope that patrons feel inspired
when they view the art,” Price said.
“Judge Schipper is always thinking of
new ways to engage people in the pro-
gram, but this project also engaged folks
in the community.
“This is a project that we may continue
at different times throughout the year.”
Price added that if anyone is interested
in partnering with them to complete the
next round, they would be happy to hear
from them.
As for folks at Thornapple Manor,
Beach said they’re looking forward to
doing this again.
This artwork project was done in coop-eration with the Michigan Office of
Highway Safety Planning and U.S.
Department of Transportation, National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
(Price noted that the following dis-
claimer is required as a part of their fed-eral grant: The opinions, findings, and
conclusions expressed here are not nec-
essarily those of the Michigan Office of
Highway Safety Planning or the U.S.
Department of Transportation, National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration.)Jazz vocalist
to perform
with trio here
on Feb. 18
The third in the Hastings Performing Arts
Center/Thornapple Arts Council performance
series will happen Friday, Feb. 18, featuring
Edye Evans Hyde and the Terry Lower Trio
performing songs from the American Song-
book.
Evans Hyde was named the 2011 West
Michigan Jazz Society Musician of the Year.
She entertained, singing jazz, blues and pop
music for nearly 40 years, both across the
U.S. and internationally.
Lower Trio has been performing for more
than 30 years, including at the Detroit
Montreux International Jazz Festival.
The concert will take place in the Hastings
High School Performing Arts Center, 520 W.
South Street, Hastings, Mich.
The 2021/2022 HPAC/TAC series is spon-
sored by the Douglas A. and Margaret E.
DeCamp Foundation and presented by the
Friends of Hastings Performing Arts Center
and the Thornapple Arts Council of Barry
County.
To purchase tickets, visit http://www.hassk12.
org/HPAC or call the Thornapple Arts Coun-
cil at 269-945-2002. For more information,
call 269-945-2002 or visit thornapplearts.org.The “We Start, You Finish” project is the source of the artwork on display in the
hallway on Level 2 of the Barry County Courts and Law Building. (Photo by
Rebecca Pierce)Bizon pre-trial set for Feb. 17
Taylor Owens
Staff Writer
State Sen. John Bizon, R-Battle Creek,
is scheduled for a pre-trial hearing before
Calhoun County District Court Judge
Michelle Richardson at 1:30 p.m. Feb. 17.
According to a Marshall City Police
Department report, Bizon, 70, grabbed a
nurse practitioner around the waist while
she was discussing medication with him
during an examination he had sought at
the Oaklawn After Hours Express inMarshall on Aug. 14.
Bizon was arraigned on a misdemeanor
assault charge on Jan. 14. The charge is
punishable by up to 93 days in jail and/or a
fine of up to $500.
His attorney, Martin E. Crandell of
Detroit, told The Banner they had no plans
to issue statement on the case.
After the Calhoun County prosecutor
recused himself, Barry County Prosecutor
Julie Nakfoor Pratt was assigned to prose-
cute the case.CORRECTION
The Freeport water supply and
tower project, for up to $839,000 in
American Rescue Plan Act funds
from Barry County to rehabilitate the
current water tower and replace an
undersized 1,560-foot water main,
was requested by the village of Free-port, not Irving Township. The
“County ARPA projects at a glance”
on Page 2 in the Jan. 27 Banner
incorrectly reported who made the
request. Irving Township officials
wrote a letter of support for the proj-
ect, but they did not request it.HASTINGS PUBLIC
LIBRARY SCHEDULE
Jazz singer Edye Evans Hyde will entertain here as part of the third in a Hastings
Performing Arts/Thornapple Arts Council performance series. (Photo provided.)