11-05-2020 Many national ballots still uncounted; most local millages issues passed; mayoral upset

MANY VOTERS WAITED IN LINE to cast their ballots in the national general election for President, congressional offices, state office, local officials and millages, like those pictured at Watervliet City Hall. Local polling places reported a huge turnout, with lines forming before the polls opened at 7 a.m. and right up to closing at 8 p.m. (TCR photo by Amy Loshbough)

By Annette Christie As expected, as the minutes of election night 2020 ticked on into the post-election morning, there were some election results that weren’t even available unofficially. One of which is the Presidency. While both President Trump and his opponent Joe Biden spoke to supporters in the early morning hours of November 4, they could speak only of how they saw the results coming in but could not claim victory over defeat. National news media spent the evening and early morning guessing and speculating what-ifs, without any concrete information either way. Michigan was among those states that were yet to be called for either of the two as the tabulating continued into the night. The ballots that were tabulated at the local level with official tallies, showed President Donald Trump victorious over Biden: Watervliet Township 1,038 Trump, 469 Biden; City of Hartford 501 Trump, 379 Biden; City of Coloma 503 Trump, 254 Biden; City of Watervliet 468 Trump, 256 Biden; Keeler Township 706 Trump, 344 Biden; Bainbridge Township 1,191 Trump, 413 Biden; and Hartford Township 818 Trump, 350 Biden. In the race for U.S. Senator, the Berrien County results (with 97.58% of the precincts reported) showed John James leading Gary Peters 44,431 to 33,833 and in Van Buren County (with 100% of precincts reported) James led with 21,816 votes to Peters’ 15,941 votes. For the Congress Representative, Fred Upton was leading challenger Jon Hoadley 44,971 to 31,362 in Berrien County and 23,237 to 13,726 in Van Buren County. Preliminary results show incumbents Pauline Wendzel and Beth Griffin (Representatives in the 79th and 66th Districts, respectively) holding on to their office for another term. Wendzel was leading by quite a margin with 25,238 votes over challenger Chokwe Pitchford with 18,730 votes. Griffin was leading over challenger Abigail Wheeler 22,820 over 15,358. Voters in the Tri-City area voted in favor of Statewide Proposals 2020-1 and 2020-2. Local Races District one Berrien County Commissioner Dave Vollrath was facing challenger Kevin Holmes. District one includes Coloma City, Coloma Township, Hagar Township, and the portion of the township north of I-94. Vollrath brought in 4,505 votes to Holmes’ 1,887. Watervliet School Board Unofficially, Kimberly Adams, Bill Spaulding, and Matt Clay were appointed (re-appointing Spaulding and Clay) to the Watervliet School Board. However, Clay, an incumbent, has resigned from the board due to a career change. He will be unable to fulfill the obligations of the position. It is likely that the board will appoint someone to fill that vacancy. Brian Gruszczyk, who had been on the ballot of the general election, could likely be appointed. It is believed that Wendy Hart was written in for a partial term. Hartford School Board Voters in the Hartford School District were asked to consider two candidates out of four for the Hartford School Board. There are four individuals seeking two positions for Hartford School Board, two of which are incumbents. The unofficial tabulation resulted in Morsaw (1,161 votes) and Fidel Mireles II (955 votes), as the top vote getters. Townships and cities Watervliet Charter Township voters, or at least 881 of them, re-elected Dan Hutchins to the Supervisor position for the Watervliet Township Board. With the passing of Hutchins prior to October 23, two candidates declared their intent to be a write-in candidate. Voters elected Joe Stepich as the new Supervisor. Rich Quinn was also a write-in candidate. It is likely that the board will appoint an individual to fill the vacancy left when Stepich, who is currently a trustee, assumes the Supervisor position. Re-elected were Patt Bambrick as Clerk, Tom Scheid as Treasurer, and trustees Bob Wallace, Glen Giannetti, and Karl Bayer. Ken Parrigin, Coloma Charter Township Supervisor, held off Jeff Weber in this general election challenge. Parrigin had 1,816 votes to Weber’s 722. Parrigin will be alongside a relatively new board for Coloma Township including new Clerk Sheila Hickmott, Treasurer Jim Fulton, and Trustees Bryan Duffield, Jerry Willmeng, Kendyl Adams and Lance Becht. Voters did approve the Road Millage proposal (1,351 yes; 1,000 no) and the Public Safety Millage (1,466 yes; 856 no). In the City of Coloma election, Marsha Hammond was selected as the Mayor (410 over Jason Hicks Sr. 260). Roseann Clements received 569 votes for treasurer. Clerk Martha Darling had intended to run again and she would have been the only candidate for the position, however, she passed away earlier this month as well. She had served the City of Coloma and its residents for 31 years. The top three vote getters for the trustee positions were Kent Churchill, Julia Smith, and Jamie Balkin. There will be a new Mayor at the Watervliet City Commission’s table … Deah Muth (a current Commissioner) won the general election over the current Mayor, Dave Brinker. Watervliet City Commissioners Duane Cobb and William Whitney Jr. were both renewed for a 4-year term. Both Watervliet Charter Township voters and the City of Watervliet voters renewed the Watervliet District Library Millage. In the city there were 454 yes vs. 220 no and in the township there were 921 yes vs. 414 no. Hagar Township voters elected Susan Broderick Herrmann to the position of Treasurer. She received 599 votes over Kimberly Schmuhl who received 501 votes. Voters also renewed the operating millage with 1,000 yes votes vs. 713 no votes. None of the other offices were contested. Keeler Township, Bainbridge Township, Coloma School Board and Hartford Township ballots did not have any contested races during the general election.

HONORING THEIR OWN… Members of the Daughters of the American Revolution (from the left) Patricia Hill, Lois Rosetto, Catherine Ravitchm, and Laura Tito stand with Ramona Nybro (middle) as they celebrate the completion of the National Day of Service project for 2020

DAR serves local member Ramona Nybro of Watervliet

Local chapter celebrates National Day of Service By Angela Widdis Members of the local Algonquin Chapter of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) delivered a chicken dinner complete with a fruit bowl and baked sweet bread to 91-year-old member, C. Ramona (Smith) Nybro of Watervliet. In addition, the members cleaned up Ramona’s beautiful Paw Paw Lake lakefront home, by cleaning out the flower beds, raking leaves, sweeping the decks, and putting away the tools of summer in exchange for the tools of winter.

Day of Service event DAR members across the country celebrate the National DAR Day of Service each year on the anniversary of the organization’s founding which is October 11, 1890. This year marks 130 years of existence of the movement that started with a group of eighteen women and four men from the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR). It was at this meeting where the four men in attendance served as advisors for the group of women to start their own society. The SAR, which was formed on April 30 that same year, excluded women from being members thus prompting the women to start the DAR. One of the DAR Founders, Eugenia Washington, had been noted to say, “We want a society founded on service.” This charge from Washington is the very call to action that can be seen in many of the DAR’s volunteer projects that are supported through the local chapters today. These women have continued to be dedicated to their mission of historical preservation, promotion of education, and encouragement of the patriotic endeavor ever since.

Local recipient Miss Smith, as she was known then, graduated from Coloma High School and later moved to Watervliet with her husband, Ernest “Ernie” Nybro. The Nybros have lived in the same house on Paw Paw Lake for 67 years where they have raised five children. Ramona remembers not knowing how to swim when they first moved into the home in 1953. She quickly realized that learning to swim was a must if you were going to live on a lake. This is when she started swimming lessons at the YMCA. Once she learned how to swim, she then went on to learn how to water ski. She said, “Our first boat was a wooden boat that had a Sears motor on the back, but we needed a bigger one [boat] because that one would not pull us up and out of the water very well.” The Nybros were very active members of the community. Ernie was a veteran and a member of the Watervliet American Legion until his passing. Ramona is a current member of Midway Baptist Church and the Algonquin Chapter DAR where she served as the librarian for 22 years. In addition, she was the DAR Good Citizen Coordinator for Watervliet and Grace Christian School for many years. Pat Hill, the current DAR Good Citizen Chair wrote, “Ramona is an amazing hometown lady and that is why we have chosen her for our Day of Service recipient for this year.” Hill along with Laura Tito, the Coloma Good Citizen Coordinator, Catherine Ravitch, and Lois Rosetto, came to perform the volunteer work for this year’s project. The Algonquin Chapter is one of the oldest chapters in Michigan seeming back as far as 1898.

The DAR today The DAR is a nonprofit, nonpolitical volunteer women’s service organization dedicated to promoting patriotism, preserving American history, and securing America’s future through better education. They consist of over 185,000 members in 3,000 chapters across the world. The common bond of these women is the lineal descent from Patriots of the American Revolution – any woman, regardless of race, religion, or ethnic background that can prove this lineage is eligible to join. Those interested in honoring their ancestors, preserving the past, genealogy, promoting good citizenship, educating our youth, or participating in service projects, might want to contact the local registrars, Raylene Izak, at rayleneizak@gmail.com for more information on membership to the DAR or the point of contact for the Col. J. B. Westnage Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution, Steve Williams, at sarwilliamssa@gmail.com, of Coloma.