ROTARY VISIT… Orchard Hills Landfill hosted the Paw Paw Lake Rotary Club. Chris Phillips, Public Relations at Orchard Hills presented how the landfill was created and is maintained. He showed how the refuse is turned into methane gas which in turn runs generators to make electricity. The electricity generated supplies enough power to run both Watervliet and Coloma. The Rotary members also toured the gen-rator facility and saw how the process works. Pictured (from the left) are Chris Phillips, Public Rela-tions, David Moss, Paw Paw Lake Rotary President, and Chip Shaw, Operations Manag-er at Orchard Hills Landfill.

Coloma Public Library benefits from book drive to remember Millie Hesch

 “Libraries-the vault for the future!” That is the title of a short story that Mildred “Millie” Hesch wrote several years ago about her love of reading, possibly in commemoration of the opening of the new Coloma Public Library.  Born in Cicero, Illinois in 1916, she reflected upon her childhood, during which she had no books of her own. She recalled “listening with joy” while at a friend’s house where the parents read to the whole family.  She remembers listening with absolute awe, as a Catholic school nun read “The Secret Garden” to her 6th grade class.   And then, in 8th grade, she was given the first book of her own.  She received Louisa May Alcott’s “Little Women” as a gift; a gift which brought tears to her eyes, and opened the door to her life-long love of reading.  From that point forward, she read everything she could get her hands on.  As a young woman, she read to her nieces and many other youngsters, and later to her own children and grandchildren. She even taught a young immigrant from Greece how to read using the Golden Picture Dictionary.  In 1957, Millie married Robert Hesch, and moved away from her beloved Lake Michigan Beach to Flint, Michigan where she raised her family.  In the 1970s her passion turned into a second career, first as a “Story Hour” reader and then as a teacher’s aide for the Flint Board of Education.  Upon her retirement, Bob and Millie returned to Lake Michigan Beach to enjoy the quiet country life, sunsets on the beach, and of course hours of restful reading.  Her books took her away to places she could only dream of, and toward the end of her life, became a “way of thinking outside of her own limited living.”  She always said that when she could no longer read or write, it would be time for God to take her home.  And so it was, in the winter of 2015 at the age of 98, no longer able to read or write that Millie passed away peacefully in her sleep.

MILLIE HESCH… pictured at her 90th birthday party with grandsons Tommy (behind) and Daniel (in front).

In the fall of 2016, in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of her birth, her family and friends held a book drive called “100 Books for Millie’s 100th Birthday”.  Donations were made to the Coloma Public Library, with a goal of purchasing 100 children’s books.  The goal was quickly surpassed and 108 new books are now on the shelves of the library for children of all ages, some even with CDs.   Each book has a book plate in it which reads, “Donated in Memory of Millie Hesch in Commemoration of her 100th Birthday”.  Her family hopes that her love of reading will live on in the lives of the children who benefit from this generous gift from her family and friends.

International Drone Day 2017 in Watervliet May 6

 Great Lakes Drone Company (GLDC) is excited to present International Drone Day in Michigan’s Great Southwest in partnership with the Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA). International Drone Day event activities vary by team and include drone racing, aerial photography and videography instruction, and search and rescue demonstrations. All events are open to the public and press, with photographs, filming and interviews welcome.

Locally, Team Michigan represented by Great Lakes Drone Company will hold their event at Watervliet Municipal Airport from 3 – 7 p.m. on Saturday, May 6.

International Drone Day takes place around the world also on May 6, 2017. This marks the third year of this annual event since its inception after successful involvement from around the country the past two years.  Over 150 countries take part with the primary goal to spread the message outside the drone community of “Drones are Good.”

It is a worldwide partnership to support and educate society by showing the many positive ways in which drones can be used. Drones continue to be a controversial topic, and so International Drone Day 2017 is set to be even larger than previous years. Hundreds of teams throughout the world will hold events to

support the message and be part of the mantra of “Drones are Good!”

GLDC invites you to attend International Drone Day, a free event. The full list of events is located at www.internationaldroneday.com.

International Drone Day is supported by the Academy of Model Aeronautics

http://www.modelaircraft.org and Wildly Creative Marketing; locally sponsored by Great Lakes Drone Company, EAA Chapter 585, Watervliet High Flyers R/C AMA Chapter, and DroneLaw.Pro.

International Drone Day was founded by Sarah and David Oneal of “That Drone Show” http://www.thatdroneshow.com. They comment, “International Drone Day is hosted by the drone community for the public. It’s an opportunity for people that have heard of drones to find out more about them. As a result of International Drone Day, vast numbers of people now understand that drones are used in good ways – from being used to save lives in search and rescue, to providing more efficient ways to monitor crops, to producing beautiful photographs. International Drone Day also highlights the much needed economic boost provided by drones, and shows that drones are fun!”

Bainbridge Township finalizes 2016-2017 budget

By Angela Stair

The Bainbridge Township Board of Trustees held their monthly meeting on Monday, April 10.  The Board approved some amendments to the 2016-2017 budget and finalized it.

Township Clerk Patty Hiler-Molter presented the board with a list of amendments that were made to complete the budget by moving monies from function to function.  The movement approved by the board was in the following activities accounts: Construction Board of Appeals – Taxes Construction Board of Appeals; Taxes Assessor – Board of Appeals; Road Maintenance – Taxes Board of Appeals.

The board was also given a breakdown of budget vs. actual for April 2016 through March 2017 which included the amendments.  The total income budgeted had been $421,510.00 and the actual income was $410,480.85 which was 97.38% of the budget.  Expenses budgeted was $621,394.00 and the actual expenses were $472,601.49.  The rest of the amendments had already been approved by the board.

Supervisor’s reports

Township Supervisor Bill Hodge reported on calls and response times by Priority.  There were a total of 12 calls in the month of March and the total average response time was 9:43 minutes.  The Sister Lakes Fire Department reported that for the first three months of 2017 they had a total of 11 calls, with three being in Bainbridge.  One electrical fire in a home, one vehicle in the lake at Pipestone access and one lift assist to Pride.

The Assessing Department just finished their March Board of Review session, turned their work into the county and has been told the county was satisfied with the ending numbers.  The session was slow as about half as many people attended as last year.  Assessor Scott Anderson is preparing to do more field work as part of the township’s 20% review plan.

Supervisor Hodge reported seven building permits totaling $408.94; two plumbing permits totaling $457.20; three mechanical permits totaling $558.00; and two electrical permits totaling $521.00.  The March Ordinance Enforcement activity log showed Ordinance Enforcement Officer David Dent had worked on seven cases.

Other business

The township received approval from the Berrien County Planning Commission to proceed with the rezoning request for west 20 acres of the property belonging to Modern Light Metals to be rezoned from industrial to agricultural.  The board approved the rezoning requested.

The board approved the Shredding Agreement of Service for the township papers that need to be securely shredded with Kent Record Management, Inc.  Clerk Hiler-Molter told the board the rough guess at cost would be approximately $50.00.

A letter was received from Kruggel, Lawton & Company LLC – CPA for auditing the Bainbridge Township year ended March 31, 2017.  The letter stated they were pleased to confirm their understanding of the services they were to provide for Bainbridge Township.  The board approved their hiring.

The board approved the paying of bills for March in the amount of $7,675.42, payroll liabilities in the amount of $2,768.24 and payroll in the amount of $9,903.68 for a total of $20,347.34.

Grace Christian School grad is surgeon with Spectrum Health Medical Group

 Levi Hinkelman, MD, son of Jon and Diane Hinkelman currently resides in Grand Rapids with his wife, Korey and their children, two-year-old Alden and one-year-old Ellaina. Dr. Hinkelman is employed by Spectrum Health Medical Group as an orthopedic hand surgeon.

Hinkelman spent his childhood working on the family farm, Hinkelman Farms. He attended St. Joseph Catholic Elementary School and was valedictorian of the 2002 graduating class at Grace Christian School, both in Watervliet.

After high school he attended Michigan Technological University in Houghton, Michigan and graduated summa cum laude in 2006 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biomedical Engineering.

Hinkelman furthered his education graduating in 2010 from medical school at Wayne State University in Detroit. He completed his orthopedic surgery residency through Grand Rapids Medical Education Partners in affiliation with Michigan State University College of Human Medicine in Grand Rapids in 2015.

Dr. Hinkelman spent an additional year between 2015 and 2016 completing a hand and upper extremity surgery fellowship at Indiana Hand to Shoulder Center in Indianapolis before being hired by Spectrum.

National Day of Prayer

 The National Day of Prayer will be observed Thursday, May 4 at noon in Baker Park, downtown Coloma.  Area pastors will participate and the public is encouraged to attend.  For more information call 463-3195 or 468-8439.

Community Soup & Salad Supper

Friday, May 5

 A Community Soup & Salad Supper will be held from 5-6 p.m. on Friday, May 5, at the North Berrien Senior Center, 6648 Ryno Road in Coloma.

The menu includes soup, salad, bread, dessert and beverage.

The public is invited. Cost for adults is $5; $3 for children up to 12 years of age; and free for children under three.

Proceeds go to the North Berrien Food Pantry located at Coloma United Methodist Church. This month’s supper is hosted by the Coloma United Methodist Church.