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Hastings still considering park smoking ban

Board misses chance to fix animal shelter issue

Gold medal winner teaches local wrestlers

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THE HASTINGS

VOLUME 159, No. 26

BANNER Devoted to the Interests of Barry County Since 1856

PRICE 75¢

Thursday, June 28, 2012

Larry Neil given Rotary Club’s Red Rose award NEWS

BRIEFS

Trombone quintet returning to fountain series Fridays at the Fountain will feature a return appearance by the Quintessential Bones June 29. This group of five trombones with rhythm section will be back to entertain audiences with a diverse repertoire of music arranged specifically for their medium. The Battle Creek-based ensemble continues to perform for audiences throughout West Michigan with works from the American Song Book, as well as patriotic arrangements to get audience members in the mood for the upcoming Fourth of July holiday. All concerts take place on the lawn of the Barry County Courthouse near the fountain. In the event of rain concerts move to the community room of the Hastings City Bank, 150 W. Court St. Concerts begin at noon and are completed at 1:30 p.m. Patrons are also reminded that the Seasonal Grille offers take-out lunches and donates a portion of the proceeds to support the series.

Monday is deadline for Country Showdown entries Anyone wishing to compete in the WBCH-Texaco Country Showdown at the Barry County Fair has until 5 p.m. Monday, July 2, to submit registration forms. The country music talent search is open to vocal and instrumental performers. The local winner will go on to the state competition and vie for a $1,000 case prize and a chance at the regional competition in the fall. Five regional winners will be awarded an allexpense paid trip to the national final in Nashville, Tenn., where they will compete for the $100,000 grand prize. Entry forms are available at Bosley Pharmacy, Thornapple Valley Community Credit Union, Walker Music and Textiles, Family Fireworks, or by calling 269-9453414.

City Band celebrating America on July 4 Hastings City Band will present a special patriotic musical tribute to America during its fourth concert of the season Wednesday, July 4, at 7:30 p.m. on the Barry County Courthouse lawn. The free concert will also include some special guests. Guest conductor will be Robert C. Oster, artistic director and conductor of the Lakewood Area Choral Society. Making their debut performance with the Hastings City Band will be sopranos Kristen Kennedy, Anna Williams and Cindy Olson, along with tenors Neal Johnson, Jon Cleveland, Randy Masterson and Marty Snoap. They will perform four selections with the band, including “God Bless America,” “I Love a Sousa March,” “God Bless the USA” and “America the Beautiful.” In keeping with the patriotic theme, the band will also be featured in a salute to the music of Irving Berlin, a medley of songs from the branches of the nation’s armed forces, as well as several well-known marches, including Sousa’s “Stars and Stripes Forever.” Guests are encouraged to bring lawn chairs or blankets, patriotic spirit and American flags. In case of inclement weather, the concert will be held indoors at Leason Sharpe Hall in the former Presbyterian church on the corner of Church and Center streets. The final concert for the Hastings City Band will be Wednesday, July 11.

by David DeDecker Staff Writer Longtime resident and businessman Larry Neil is this year’s recipient of the Hastings Rotary Club’s Red Rose award. The Red Rose award has been given to Hastings Rotary Club members since 1949 for their community service. Red Rose committee member Randy Teegardin said, “It would be very easy to poke fun at Larry because he was an insurance salesman. There is never a shortage of comments to be made about insurance agents, but the fact of the matter is, in all my time in Hastings, I have never once heard a negative comment about the way Larry conducted business. That’s a real tribute.” Neil graduated from Woodland High School in 1956. He now lives on a farm between Woodland and Hastings with his wife of 52 years, Jan (Smith) Neil. They raised a son and two daughters, and now enjoy the hectic life of attending the activities of 10 grandchildren. When not at a sporting event, Neil enjoys maintaining and driving his 1929 Model A Ford, fishing, hunting and horseback riding. He joined Hastings Rotary in 1990 and was Hastings Rotary Club president in 2001-02. Prior to Rotary, Neil was involved in the Hastings Jaycees and served a year as its

president. He has also been president of the Barry County Chamber of Commerce. “He has been a very involved Rotarian,” said presenter Carl Schoessel during Monday’s club meeting. Schoessel said Neil has been involved on several committees and is a devoted pancake supper volunteer. In 1998, he said, no one was a more faithful volunteer to the Books for Africa project than Neil, who sorted and categorized thousands of donated books before they were shipped to schools in Africa. Out of high school, Neil worked at a factory in Ionia, then at E.W. Bliss and Sunoco gas station in Hastings. The insurance career for which he is best known began in 1968 when he joined Farm Bureau. After nearly 40 years, he transitioned into semi-retirement n 2007, but continues to sell insurance on a part-time basis. Teegardin said Neil won many awards and trips during his 39 years with Farm Bureau, including trips to Hawaii, Switzerland, Ireland, Australia and the Caribbean. Another member of the Red Rose selection committee, Fred Jacobs, referred to Neil as a superstar. “So often today we look at heroes as superstars on television and movies, in sports are-

See AWARD, page 2

Larry Neil and part of his family celebrate his receiving the Red Rose Award. Pictured are (from left) grandsons Dylan Buresh, Seth Buresh and Ethan Buresh, Neil, granddaughter Sarah Buresh, wife Jan Neil, daughter-in-law Kim Neil, daughter Kathy (Neil) Buresh, son Matt Neil, son-in-law Bob Buresh. (Missing are daughter Sue Neil, grandchildren Kendra Neil, Logan Neil, Grant Neil, Ellary Neil, Tyler Buresh and Cody Buresh.)

Frustration builds over Walldorff named best Animal Control issue microbrewery in state by Doug VanderLaan Editor Like a dog chasing its tail, Barry County Commissioners spent their meeting Tuesday running after a solution to the increasingly frustrating Animal Control and shelter issue, but again caught no consensus. A resolution amending the Animal Control Enforcement Ordinance to establish an Animal Control department, to hire a director, and to reassign Animal Control jurisdiction from its current authority with the sheriff’s department to the newly created department failed on a 4-4 vote. At last week’s committee of the whole meeting, commissioners provided approval on a 5-3 vote to move the matter forward as a recommendation for formal adoption at Tuesday’s official board meeting. However, Commissioner Ben Geiger reversed his stance, leading to Tuesday’s tie vote which, by commission rules, negated adoption of the resolution. “We cannot lose sight of our budget deficit (projected for 2012),” said Geiger. “I cannot support spending money for a new director with new money that we do not have.” That became the fulcrum for much of Tuesday’s discussion. Commissioner Robert Houtman, who proposed the original amendment to the Animal Control ordinance allowing the hire of a new director, laid out a financial scenario supporting his stance built on $32,717 not yet spent in the current fiscal year due to an Animal Control officer position that has been frozen from new hire. “On December 31, that money gets carried over to the new fiscal year,” pointed out Houtman, “so we don’t have an issue this year. Next year, if we had to find $10,000 or $15,000, or even $20,000 — I don’t know, that’s up to this board and this administrator to tell us what he needs to hire somebody for this county. “I don’t think we can jump out there with a number, but let me remind you that this board will decrease by one member next year due to reapportionment. The cost of one commissioner this year is somewhere between $12,000 and $26,000, money that we will not spend. That’s No. 1. “No. 2 is, we have been advised by our county administrator that our revenue stream is looking a little better ... I don’t think there’s a pot of gold out there but we’ve got a budget process coming up and that is where this needs to go ... This is a quality of life issue.” That scenario could not overcome the reticence of fellow commissioners, however, who worried about possible costs that might spin off a framework headed by a new director. “There’s a lot of concern about the current

staff being overworked right now with just one animal control officer,” Commission Chair Craig Stolsonburg brought up. “If we have a new director in place are they going to be able to accomplish everything? My concern is that, first thing, a new director is going to come to us and say we need a new animal control officer. So there’s more money that needs to be spent.” Which only raised the frustration of Commissioner Joe Lyons. “I’m here to tell you that there are going to be different sides to this and they’re going to hear what they want to hear,” said Lyons. “This has gone on long enough ... you’re going to vote they way you want to vote, it’s obvious that there’s different factions and, when you’re sitting here telling me that it’s the monies involved, that’s a cop-out.” Commissioner Dan Parker related for commissioners his conversation with a member of

See ANIMAL CONTROL, page 3

Readers of Michigan Travel and Vacation Magazine have voted the Walldorff Brewpub and Bistro Michigan’s Best Microbrewery in a recent online poll. Walldorff won the top honors among more than 100 microbreweries located in the state. The annual “Michigan’s Best” contest is sponsored by the magazine to determine winners in categories, such as best microbrewery, travel destinations and more. “The Best Michigan Microbrewery votes go to the Walldorff Brewpub and Bistro in Hastings,” wrote Sheri Frey in the July/August issue of the magazine. “This cute brewpub and restaurant is familyowned and family-operated. Stop by, enjoy the home brew and delicious foods, and see why people voted this the Best Michigan Microbrewery.” The restaurant and microbrewery in

downtown Hastings will celebrate its sixth anniversary this summer. “We feel very fortunate to have received such an award,” said owner Mike Barnaart, crediting the teamwork of the Walldorff employees. “We are lucky to have two topnotch brewers on staff in Sam Sherwood and Brett Hammond, whose beers have won numerous awards, including Best of Show out of over 400 beers from around the world at the 2010 World Expo of Beer in Frankenmuth,” he said. “The Michigan craft beer industry continues to be recognized worldwide for highquality products,” he added. “Several Michigan breweries, including Founder’s, Bell’s and Dark Horse Breweries, consistently have beers that are ranked among the best in the world. To be a top 10 finalist

See MICROBREWERY, page 3

Portion of West State Street closed to traffic Cones and barricades were erected on the east side of the intersection of Broadway and West State Street in downtown Hastings Monday afternoon. The portion of State Street just east of Broadway (right) will be closed for approximately two weeks to allow the Michigan Department of Transportation contractor to do extensive storm sewer work and for AT&T to work on telecommunication cables beneath the street. State Street traffic is detoured north on Broadway to Apple, east on Apple to Michigan and south on Michigan back to State Street. The additional closure adds to the traffic and construction which includes closure of Michigan Avenue and lane reductions on Broadway.


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