Hartford celebrates “A Fair to Remember” at their 2018 Miss and Mr. Hartford contest; Angela Saldana crowned Miss Hartford 2018

By Annette Christie

The first of the Tri-City community Blossomtime contests took place on Sunday afternoon as the community of Hartford celebrated “A Fair to Remember” for the Van Buren County Youth Fair.

The contest which featured eight young ladies and three young men from the Hartford community, played out before a nearly sold out auditorium at Hartford High School.

At the end it was Angela Saldana crowned Miss Hartford and Garrett Brandt crowned Mr. Hartford.

2018 MISS HARTFORD… and her court were crowned Sunday afternoon. They are (from the left): 2nd Runner-up Kaylynn Owens; Miss Hartford Angela Saldana; 1st Runner-up Olivia Ziemer; and Miss Congeniality Arianna Dolge. Miss Hartford will represent her community at the Miss Blossomtime Pageant being held on Monday, March 12, 2018. (TCR photo by Annette Christie)

Angela Saldana, 17, is a senior attending Hartford High School. She is the daughter of Bert Saldana Sr. and Maria Saldana.  The future special education teacher plans to start out attending college locally before transferring to Grand Valley State University to complete her degree.

Saldana is a three-season athlete participating in cross country, basketball, and softball.  In cross country she earned 19 individual medals, was named the most valuable player and made second team all-conference her senior year.  Not just an athlete, Saldana is a member of the National Technical Honor Society, made the honor roll every year and has also been selected as the Student of the Week.

In her free time she enjoys making decorations with her grandmother and spending time with family.

Saldana said the thing she loves most about her community is all the cool activities and festivals.  She noted that the community has so much school spirit and how everyone supports one another.

Selected 1st runner-up was Olivia Ziemer.  The 18-year-old senior attending Hartford High School is also dual enrolled at Southwestern Michigan College.  The daughter of Robert and Michelle Ziemer, she plans to attend the University of Michigan to study nursing.  She hopes to eventually become a physician’s assistant.

2018 MR. HARTFORD… and his court were crowned on Sun-day, December 3 at Hartford High School Auditorium. They are (from the left): 1st Runner-up and Mr. Nice Guy Adam Wheeler; Mr. Hartford Garrett Brandt; and 2nd Runner-up Bobby Johnson. They will represent the community of Hartford at the Mr. Blossom-time Contest held on Sunday, March 11, 2018. (TCR photo by Annette Christie)

In school she is involved in Student Council, National Honor Society, Leadership Training, soccer, volleyball, Science Olympiad, Spanish Club, Pep Club, and is a Student Representative on the Hartford School Board.

Ziemer is ranked number one in her class with a 4.0 GPA and has received numerous Academic Excellence Awards.  She has received the DAR Good Citizen Award and was selected as the 2017 Homecoming Queen.

She has volunteered for a mission trip, as a camp counselor, at blood drives, and as a tutor in Spanish.

Ziemer was selected for the photogenic award and the modeling award.  She also received a gift for selling the most tickets to the contest.

The title of 2nd runner-up was awarded to Kaylynn Owens.  The 17-year-old is a senior attending Hartford High School.  She is the daughter of Robert Owens and Lisa Owens.

Her future plans after high school are to attend Southwestern Michigan College and Western Michigan University to pursue a degree in teaching.  She plans to major in elementary education.

In high school she is involved in cheerleading and softball.  She is a member of the Family, Career and Community Leaders of America.  She has been named the most improved player in softball, has been named Homecoming Princess, and has a one-year certification in Early Childhood Careers and Education.

In her free time, Owens enjoys crafting with her mom, singing, watching Netflix and shopping.

She has volunteered for the homeless shelter, Christmas Shoebox Ministry, Treasures for Teens, food drives, and the Strawberry Festival.

Selected as Miss Congeniality by her sister contestants was Arianna Dolge.  She is the daughter of Ronni Dolge and Tim Mizwicki.

The 17-year-old senior attends Watervliet High School.  Her future plans are to attend college to study social work.  She also plans to serve her country in the United States Air Force.

In high school she is involved in soccer and has received academic awards.  She attends the Road to Life Church and is involved in Bible study there.

The other contestants included   Hailey Marbut who was in the top four, Mariah Chancellor, Adriana Davila, and Cecilia Perales.

The contest began with a video starring outgoing royalty Mariel Hallgren and Hunter Ackerman as they informed those in attendance about the history and highlights of Hartford.

Co-emcees for the event were Ally Sinclair and Timothy Taylor.

The chairperson for the contest was Taylor Prestige. She and Hartford Pageant Organization President Amanda Williamson introduced the judges as follows: Lisa Walters, former Miss Baroda and Miss Blossomtime; Mike Stemm and Shelley Hartman. Mr. Hartford judges were as follows: Ryan Rainey, former Mr. South Haven and Mr. Blossomtime; Joseph Baumeister, former Mr. Hartford; and Rochelle Ulleg.

Prior to the formal presentation, the contestants performed a dance and then took part in a fashion show segment for the girls and a swimsuit segment for the boys.

The family of Venessa Garcia, Miss Hartford 2005, presented a community service scholarship in her memory.  Garcia died tragically in 2008.  The $300 scholarship in her name was awarded to contestant Olivia Ziemer.  Garcia’s mother then received the queen’s sorority sash.  The Blossom Queen Sorority is comprised of former community queens that have completed their reign successfully.  It now has a membership of 325 going back as far as a queen from the year 1952.

It was also announced by Cassandra Goss, 2nd runner-up to Miss Hartford in 2013 that a scholarship would be given in memory of Hali Burchfield, Miss Congeniality of that year.  Burchfield died tragically following a car accident in February of this year.

Mr. Hartford 2018 is Garrett Brandt

The Mr. Hartford contest featured contestants Bobby Johnson, Adam Wheeler, and Garrett Brandt.

Garrett Brandt, son of Gregg Brandt and Laura Burfield was selected as Mr. Hartford.  The 17-year-old attending Hartford High School is a senior.  Following high school he plans to attend either Alma College or Western Michigan University to study engineering.  He hopes to one day become an aerospace engineer for NASA.

He is involved in football, basketball, track, baseball, and Student Council.

Adam Wheeler was a dual title winner Sunday afternoon with Mr. Nice Guy and 1st runner-up. He is the son of Tam Wheeler.  The 17-year-old senior attending Hartford High School plans to attend college to pursue a degree in sports management.

He is involved in baseball, football, band, and National Honor Society.  Wheeler is also dual enrolled at Southwestern Michigan College.

Bobby Johnson was named 2nd runner-up. The 17-year-old senior attending Hartford High School plans to attend college to pursue a career in medicine.  He will attend Grand Valley State University.

Johnson is the son of Bobby and Rachel Johnson.  In high school he is involved in track, football, powerlifting, National Honor Society, Student Council, and Pep Club.

Entergy continues improvements and plans to close Palisades

By Jon Bisnett

Entergy Corporation (NYSE: ETR) hosted an open house on November 29 at their Benton Harbor media center to share public information now that it plans to continue to operate Palisades Power Plant in Covert, at least until the spring of 2022, under the existing Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Consumers Energy.

As reported in a recent edition of the Tri-City Record, “In light of the Michigan Public Service Commission’s order issued September 22, which granted Consumers Energy recovery of only $136.6 million of the $172 million it requested for the buyout of the PPA, the parties have agreed to terminate the buyout transaction,” said Charlie Arnone, site Vice President and Entergy’s top official at Palisades. “This announcement reverses Entergy’s December 2016 decision to close Palisades on October 1, 2018, but Entergy remains committed to its strategy of exiting the merchant nuclear power business.”

Moving forward from that decision, Senior Communications Specialist Valary Gent shared the importance that Entergy wants to be very clear in communicating to the public that the company is steadfast in its ongoing commitment to safety. Additionally the company has recently reinvested millions of dollars of upgrades and planned maintenance during the recent refueling shutdown.

The replacement of cooling tower B was a $36 million project alone which brought over 250 temporary workers to the site. The total investments in safety and reliability topped $70 million in upgrades, inspections, and replacements during the spring 2017 Refueling Outage.

Gent also reminds that the outage comes on the heels of a record-breaking run with a total of over 1,000 temporary workers on site during inspections, maintenance and construction projects throughout the successful outage. The plant is ranked in the NRC’s highest safety category, is recognized as a top performer within the industry and adheres to the most rigorous oversight. Within the past year, Palisades completed the longest run of continuous operation in plant history, setting a net-generation record.

Palisades site VP Charlie Arnone again has emphatically stated, “There will be no shortcuts taken when it comes to matters of safety and reliability.”

The Palisades plant was originally built for the Consumers Power Company. It first went on line in 1971, at which time it was only the second such nuclear facility on the Lake Michigan shoreline, following the opening of the D.C. Cook facility in Bridgman. At peak capacity the Covert plant generates 811 megawatts of virtually carbon-free electricity, powering more than 800,000 homes.

Louisiana based Entergy Corp. purchased the Palisades site in 2007 and owns, operates or manages nuclear units in Arkansas, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, New York and Vermont with reported revenues of $11.4 billion.

Entergy currently plans to complete the provisions of the contract with Consumers Energy continuing plant operations until May of 2022 when the planned decommissioning of the facility will take place under the watchful eye of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Michigan Public Service Commission.

FATAL AFTERMATH… is revealed after victims were extricated from this mini-van at the scene of an early morning collision with a semi-truck and trailer last Friday at the intersection of County Road 687 and 66th Avenue in Hartford Township. Michigan State Police released the name of the 68-year-old driver as Deborah Baier of Watervliet, who was pronounced dead at the scene. Her two recently adopted children, boys ages 8 and 6, were also injured and were taken to Bronson Hospital in Kalamazoo with only minor injuries. MSP stated the initial investigation indicates the van was eastbound on 66th Avenue where it failed to stop for the stop sign and collided with the truck. Alcohol is not thought to play a role. The driver of the semi was unharmed. A WWMT reporter on the scene described the heavy frost and bright sunshine that was conjectured to have possibly affected driver visibility leading to the crash. MSP was assisted at the scene by the Van Buren County Sheriff’s Office, Hartford Police Department, Pokagon Tribal Police and the Hartford Fire Department. The accident remains under investigation.

TRAGEDY AVERTED… Returning home from a Christmas party last Saturday night, Hartford Fire De-partment Captain Mike Chappel was shocked to see his neighbor’s house at 65266 Red Arrow Highway in Hartford Township totally engulfed in flames. While the home itself was a total loss along with a car parked nearby, there were no injuries thanks to quick thinking of a passer-by later identified as Nicole Burrows. She saw the flames and stopped to wake the sleeping residents, a mother and her son, allowing them to escape un-harmed. Hartford, Keeler, Lawrence and Watervliet fire departments responded along with Medic 1 ambulance, Van Buren County Sheriff, Hartford and Tribal police. The fire is officially deemed as undetermined origin and still under investigation. Initial indications are that the cause appears accidental due to faulty electrical wiring to a lighted Christmas tree displayed on the front porch.