Post photo by J. Reed.

It looks like voters in Sand Lake will have the last word on whether the village should be disincorporated. Judge Dennis Leiber ruled last Friday, March 5, that a petition filed with Nelson Township to disincorporate Sand Lake met all legal requirements.

“We are extremely disappointed in his decision,” said Sand Lake Village President Kirk Thielke. “We feel he missed the point we raised and didn’t speak on that at all.”

Two Sand Lake planning commissioners filed the petition with Nelson Township in December. The petition states that “residents of the Village of Sand Lake, in the County of Kent, State of Michigan, respectfully petition the disincorporation of the Village, thereby transferring all its usages to the Township of Nelson.”

The Sand Lake Village Council then filed a lawsuit against Nelson Township and clerk Laura Hoffman, questioning the “sufficiency” of the petition. Thielke said last month that it wasn’t enough to verify the signatures; the clerk was also required to decide whether it was “facially” defective. He maintains that since all usages cannot be transferred to the township (lights, roads, etc.), the petition was defective. But Leiber ruled in favor of Nelson Township.

“I feel that the judge upheld the law, which the clerk’s office followed,” said Nelson Township Clerk Laura Hoffman. “I followed the statute that says what I need to do when I receive a petition.”

What’s it like to cheer in front of a sold out crowd of nearly 2,000 fans screaming for the top 8 teams in the State at the Competitive Cheer State Finals?  According to Freshman Katie Maka, “Going to State was an experience of a lifetime. Hopefully this will be the start of a new tradition for Cedar Springs because I want to go back to the State Finals again next year!”

The Red Hawks had competed at the Delta Plex on February 13 to get the experience of competing at the State Finals venue, however, Coach Ingles knew the actual experience would be totally different.  “When we competed there in February, there were many seats left open,” said Ingles. “I tried to prepare the girls by telling them it would be packed with standing room only and the experience of being one of the top 8 teams in the State would also add to the excitement!”

It was a day that this team will never forget. At 12:30, the team and their families met at the Middle School to have a luncheon to celebrate this momentous occasion. At 2:00 they headed to the Delta Plex to get ready for their competition that started at 4:30. The team of 17 arrived at the Delta Plex and entered their first ever competition at the State Finals.

When the doors opened for the spectators to enter, it did not take long for every seat to be filled and you could hear the fans cheer when they saw their team of girls on the Delta Plex floor. As the girls came out of the warm up area and saw their crowd, they were so excited to see how many people from Cedar Springs were there to support them. “It was amazing to see our crowd and all of the supporters there for us. I’ll never forget that day, and I can’t wait to fight for it next year!” said Junior Brittany Lenardson.

The competition started at 4:30 with a parade of teams to introduce the top 8 teams in the State followed by the National Anthem. “It didn’t really occur to me that we were competing at State Finals until we walked out during the Parade of Teams. When we got on the mat, and I saw how many people from our community were there to support us, it hit me that all of our hard work had paid off. We were at state finals, and it was the perfect end to an absolutely amazing season,” said senior Jessica Lewis.

The Cedar Springs Varsity Team would be the last team to go in round 1.  Back in the warm up room, teams were stretching one more time before they went out to be judged for the last time. Girls were practicing their motions with the whole team or with a partner. This was no different for the Red Hawks. They were running through round 1 as a team with a few quick reminders from Coach Ingles. Once they finished warming up, they got in line behind Kenowa Hills since they would be following them for round 1.  Before they knew it, it was their turn to approach the mat. As the team huddled together in a circle, they did their last “fire up” for round 1.  This would be the last time they would be judged on round 1 for the season.  They know they have to leave everything they have on the mat for the judges. The Red Hawks scored a 225.5 in round 1.

Round 2 included tumbling from all the teams.  Each of the 8 teams competing would be throwing back tucks in round 2. The difference would be the number of girls on the mat.  GR Christian had 10 girls, Cedar Springs had 11, Brandon and Mount Pleasant had 14, Kenowa Hills had 15, Carlson, Allen Park, and Divine Child each had 16 girls on the mat. The more girls on the mat the higher the competitor multiplier, which is factored in after the score for each skill.  However, the skills would need to be executed cleanly and the skills needed to look the same from each of the girls on the mat. This is the round that usually starts to separate the scores. CS had a round 2 score of 231.4926 and would remain in 6th place ahead of Kenowa Hills and GR Christian.

Back in the warm up room, teams are warming up stunts and tumbling to get ready for round 3.  Stunt groups are doing extensions, one leg extensions, basket tosses, twist cradles, double twist cradles, and pyramids.  Girls are doing standing tumbling and running tumbling passes.  Everything that is in round 3 is being warmed up for the last round 3 of the season.  This would be the last time the Cedar Springs Varsity Team would take the mat together and compete for round 3.  As they wait for their turn, the excitement of finishing the competition starts to build.  “Cedar Springs, you may approach the mat!” says the announcer.  This is it!  13 girls run out of the waiting area and approach the mat to finish their first ever State Finals Competition.  As they finished round 3 and ran off to be with the rest of their team, tears of joy are seen as they realized they had just finished competing at the State Finals for the first time in Cedar Springs history.  Some tears of sadness were also shed as they realized that was the last time this team would be together as 5 of them are seniors and will be graduating.

“State Finals was an amazing experience!  I’m so glad that we finally reached our goal and were able to compete with the big dogs!  This was the best way to end my senior year!” remarked senior Dakotah Dombak. They finished round 3 with a score of 307.4.

The competition had finished and 8 teams returned to the main floor to be greeted by their amazing fans that had traveled from all over the state to see their team of outstanding athletes compete at the State Finals Competition.  The Red Hawks rushed over to their crowd and continued to cheer for their fans.  Once the final results were tabulated, they returned to the mat to hear the final scores.  Sitting in their team circle with their coaches standing on the outside of the mat looking at their girls with so much pride, the arena of nearly 2,000 fans becomes eerily quiet as the announcer begins to read the final scores of the competition.  8th – GR Christian, 7th – Kenowa Hills, 6th – Cedar Springs, 5th – Brandon, 4th – Mt. Pleasant, 3rd – Divine Child, 2nd – Carlson, 1st – Allen Park. The Cedar Springs Red Hawks had finished their first ever State Finals competition and ended the season as the 6th team in the State!

“This has been an amazing season and I am so proud of everything this team has done,” said Coach Pamela Ingles. “They have raised the bar for future teams at Cedar Springs and I know that they are already planning for next year’s season. They will continue to make history for their school and community in the years to come!”

By Judy Reed

Post photo by Judy Reed

The secret is out—WOOD TV8’s Maranda is bringing her park party back to Cedar Springs on June 24! And not only is she bringing it back, the park party will be the kickoff event for Maranda’s summer full of fun!

Maranda will once again rock six parks throughout West Michigan in bigger and better ways than ever before. Working in conjunction with local parks and recreation departments and city officials, Park Parties will go to strategic geographic locations based on financial needs.

“I’m thrilled that we are once again able to offer Park Parties to families in West Michigan. I know many appreciate the fact that it’s a day of free fun with no worries of cost or commitments,” said Maranda.

The first Maranda Park Party here was in 2008. “She has some staple communities that she goes to every year, and some that she rotates to,” explained Amanda Gerhardt, with Cedar Springs Area Parks and Recreation. “To have her back a second time is a true honor. They had such a great time in 2008 that they wanted to come back again.”

Gerhardt said that a lot of the things they did in 2008 would be the same. It will be held on the Cedar Springs Public School grounds near Cedar View Elementary; there will be free parking at Beach, Cedar Trails and the High School with a shuttle to the party; there will be free lunches, and lots of fun!  Maranda’s staff and the Cedar Springs Area Parks and Rec planning committee will work on finalizing many of the details, such as coordinating with local organizations, getting volunteers to work the party and marketing. More details will be announced about the party this spring.

For the past 16 years, Maranda has hosted free Park Parties around West Michigan. The concept is simple, everyone’s invited and everything is free. In 2009, over 40,000 kids and families attended the Park Parties and enjoyed an afternoon of fun in their own neighborhood.

Dreams do come true.

Is it possible to make school history for Cedar Springs High School athletics two weeks in a row? When you have a team of 17 competitive cheerleaders with a team goal of advancing to the Competitive Cheer State Finals, you better believe it’s possible.

The Red Hawks won their first District Championship on February 20 at GR Christian and the girls were honored at half time of the boys basketball game on Friday night, February 26. They also advanced to the Regional Competition at Kenowa Hills on February 27, where the top 4 teams would have the honor of advancing to the State Finals to be among the top 8 in the State of Michigan for Division 2 schools.

It gave this team another week to work on cleaning up more of the small details in all 3 rounds before seeing the judges again at the Regional Competition. This competition would be much harder than the District meet since they would be competing against the top 4 teams from 2 other district competitions.

“We talked about making it difficult for the judges to deduct any points by making everything as clean and tight as we possibly could,” said Coach Pam Ingles. “We wanted to have a good start for the competition after round 1 and we did that. We were in 2nd place by eight-tenths of a point.”

After round 2, the Red Hawks took the lead and was ahead of Mount Pleasant (last year’s State runner-up finalist) by about 4.5 points. With the 3rd round left to go, the Red Hawks looked to have a good chance of advancing to the State Finals, which would be another first for the CS Cheer Team. They were hoping they would at least be in the top 4 so they could advance to State. They had a solid round 3, but would it be enough to keep Cedar in the lead against the team from Mount Pleasant that had 16 girls on the mat for round 3 compared to Cedar’s 13 girls in round 3?

The competition finished and all 12 teams were sitting on the mat with their teams waiting for the scores to be finalized. The announcer reads every team’s round 3 score first and then announces the school name. As he gets higher to the top 4 that would be advancing, the anticipation among the remaining teams grows, hoping that their name is in the top 4. After he read the 5th place team and Cedar Springs had not been announced yet, the girls and their coaches knew that they had made it!

“When the announcer stated that the 4 teams that have not yet been announced have qualified for State Finals, I looked at the seniors’ faces and not one of them had a dry eye,” said Junior Kirstin VanLoo. “We did it! We gave our 5 seniors their well deserved chance to compete at the state finals before they graduate.”

Kenowa Hills finished in 4th place, GR Christian finished in 3rd and the excitement was growing for the Red Hawks as they waited to see how they finished. Had they made school history again by keeping the lead for first place and winning the Regional Championship or had they finished in 2nd place, still very proud and excited to be going to the State Finals?

Then came the announcement. “In 2nd place with a round 3 score of 315.8, the Oilers of Mt. Pleasant. In first place and your Regional Champs with a round 3 score of 314.3, the Red Hawks of Cedar Springs!”  Once again the Cedar Springs Varsity Cheer Team made history for their program and their school. They had advanced to the state finals and they were Regional Champs, both a first for Cedar Springs.

“As a freshman on the team, I think this is an amazing opportunity for me and my teammates. I know we all have worked so incredibly hard to earn our place at school, in the community, and to earn our trip to the state finals,” said freshman Nicole Luevano.

As icing on the cake, Coach Ingles was named regional coach of the year.

The Red Hawks have one more week to prepare for the biggest competition in the state and will be among the top 8 teams.  “I’m so excited for this team to have the chance to compete at the state level,” remarked Coach Ingles. “This team has accomplished some amazing things in the last few weeks and I can’t wait to see how they do on Saturday.”

Junior Brittany Lenardson is excited, too. “All our hard work has paid off! The reality of competing at the state finals hasn’t hit me yet and probably won’t until I see that huge crowd at the Delta Plex,” she said.

Division 2 State Finals is on March 6 at 4:30 at the Delta Plex in Grand Rapids. Doors open at 3:30 for spectators and tickets are $7.00.

Algoma and Sparta Twp. firefighters responded to the scene of a fire on Algoma, just north of 13 Mile Monday morning.

Wiring in need of repair may have been the cause of a fire in Algoma Township Monday morning.
Algoma Township firefighters were dispatched to 10880 Algoma, just north of 13 Mile, just before 9 a.m. this morning on a possible electrical fire. Dispatch said the house was filling with smoke. Sparta Township Fire assisted them at the scene.
According to Algoma Fire Chief Steve Johnson, the fire started between the living room and another room, above the garage, and was most likely due to wiring in need of repair. He estimated it caused about $15,000 in damage.
The couple had several animals, which Johnson said made it out safely.

An argument that started in an area bar spread to the roadway early Friday morning,  sending two men to the hospital.

According to the Kent County Sheriff Department, there was a verbal argument between a 23-year-old man and a 27-year-old man, both from  Greenville, at about 12:56 a.m. on February 26, at the Harvard Bar, on Harvard Ave.  in Oakfield Township. The argument was broken up by several bystanders, and the 23-year-old took off, walking southbound on Harvard Avenue with two friends, a 21-year-old from Greenville, and a 22-year-old from Gowen.

The 27-year-old then got into a vehicle with two friends and took off southbound on Harvard Avenue. As the vehicle approached the three that were walking, it swerved towards the group. The front passenger opened the door, striking the 21-year-old and knocking him to the ground. The 23-year-old was struck by the front passenger side bumper of the vehicle and also knocked to the ground. The vehicle then fled southbound on Harvard Ave.

The 21-year-old suffered cuts to his right knee and right arm, and was transported privately to Butterworth Hospital. The 23-year-old was knocked unconscious. He was listed as having serious but non-life threatening injuries, and was transported to Butterworth Hospital. The suspect vehicle was described as a dark-colored four-door vehicle.

Oakfield Fire assisted at the scene.

By Judy Reed

A young woman lost her home Sunday in a fire at Cedar Springs Mobile Estates.

Firefighters were dispatched to the scene of a possible dryer fire at 385 S. Linda at 3:12 p.m. on Sunday, February 21. When they arrived on scene, they found a singlewide mobile home in flames. The Sand Lake Fire Department also responded to the scene for mutual aid. The Cedar Springs Police Department was also on scene.

The renter and two friends escaped unharmed, and also got the family dog and cat out safely.

According to Fire Chief Jerry Gross, materials behind the dryer caught on fire and then spread. “The fire was knocked down in a short period of time, but we stayed on scene to ensure that there were no hot spots inside,” said Gross.

He noted that because of the close proximity of the home to the doublewide next door, that home also suffered heat, smoke and water damage. Siding on the front melted off.

Flames shoot from windows and doors of home. Photo by Greg Kurylowicz.

Photo by Greg Kurylowicz.

The siding on the mobile home next door melted from the heat. That home also suffered smoke and water damage. Post photo by J. Reed.

Smoke pouring from inside the mobile home. Post photo by J. Reed.

The back side of the mobile home. Post photo by J. Reed.

By Steven Reed

breathe owl breathe opened their national tour at the Kent Theatre in Cedar Springs last Thursday night.

Last Thursday, The Kent Theatre in Cedar Springs hosted the kick-off concert for the national tour of Michigan band Breathe Owl Breathe.
The five-band set opened with Dava Klein, a very talented local guitarist.  Next up was another local, Aura (also known as Pamella Crystal), who displayed her talent by playing a fully acoustic set, accompanied only by her vocals. Previously a drummer in a rock band, this is her first solo project.

The third artist was a man who calls himself The Inner-Astronaut.  He also played a fully acoustic set, in a very quirky, relaxing Jason Mraz-esque style of playing. He was clearly a crowd favorite.

The next band on stage was Gideon Lee, a folksy band that included local musician Robbie Carlstrom. They put on a wonderful show.

Gideon Lee on stage.

Last, but certainly not least, was Breathe Owl Breathe. Breathe Owl Breathe is a folk band founded in East Jordan, Michigan, who decided to start out their national tour at the Kent Theatre. Carlstrom, of Gideon Lee, is a personal friend of some of the members of Breathe Owl Breathe, and was the one to recommend the Kent to them.

Breathe Owl Breathe is a band that knows how to please an audience. They were incredibly friendly and entertaining, often getting the audience involved in the songs. Their lyrics were strange and quirky (they sang about werewolves and a dragon and a princess being pen pals), and their music was fantastic.

Aura (also known as Pamella Crystal) performed an acoustic set.

While things may have seemed a bit rocky early on, the concert overall was a very pleasant experience. We look forward to many more concerts at the Kent in the future!

BlueHippo—it was a catchy name and a great logo. You might have been okay buying their coffee mug or even the boxer shorts they peddled on their website. But the company’s primary business was selling computers and other electronic equipment over the Internet to people with low incomes and impaired credit. If you were one of those customers, you’re probably still regretting it.

The BBB issued our first local warning about BlueHippo in 2004 and the BBB system issued a nationwide alert in 2007. The company was sued by the Federal Trade Commission and numerous state Attorney Generals. At one time, the FTC had over 8,000 pages of complaints about BlueHippo; the number is probably much higher now.  BlueHippo filed for bankruptcy in November when its payment processor froze its accounts after reading an FTC press release that BlueHippo said was “replete with factual inaccuracies.”

Even though BlueHippo is apparently on its way out of business, it offers valuable lessons for consumers who may be enticed by offers from similar companies that are still operating. Two of them are Guaranteed Consumer Funding and Tronix Country, both of which have an F rating with the BBB based on complaints and practices similar to BlueHippo’s. I saw a primetime commercial for Tronix Country on a local TV station recently.

BlueHippo is located in Maryland but advertised its offer nationwide via the Internet, TV and newspapers. It sold computers and other electronic equipment on a hybrid layaway and installment payment plan to financially strapped consumers. Its newspaper ads touted “New Computer – Bad Credit? No Credit? No Problem! Guaranteed Approval.” Consumers who signed up to make weekly payments for a year were supposed to receive their equipment after making the first 13 payments.

BlueHippo customers complained to the BBB that they never received their computers after making the required number of payments, that they paid up to four times the price they would have paid at a local store, and that they never received free plasma TVs that were supposed to accompany their computers. The FTC alleged that BlueHippo continued to deceive consumers after it entered into a court approved agreement to revise its practices. The FTC found that 35,000 consumers contracted for BlueHippo’s financing deal during a nine-month period in 2008, but the company only shipped one computer.

Consumers can take away a number of lessons from the long and sordid history of BlueHippo. First, they should ask themselves why a company in a faraway state will lend them money to buy a computer if a local retailer or lender won’t. I’m not suggesting there aren’t legitimate Internet lending deals. But they require closer scrutiny, which brings us to the next lesson. Check out companies like this (actually, any company) with the BBB. While tens of thousands of people were victimized by BlueHippo, many more were saved from grief because they pulled the BBB’s report on the company and saw its F rating and the many government actions filed against it. Finally, be sure you fully understand a company’s refund policy and the terms of any financing agreement.

Ken Vander Meeden, local BBB of Western Michigan P esident, noted, “Free MP3 player, free printer, and free plasma TV if you order a computer with your bad credit should be a red flag to most reasonable consumers. Given the poor performance of numerous companies for these misleading offers, we also alert media to be more selective in accepting advertising from bad performers.”

Visit www.bbb.org for 3.9 million reports.

By Judy Reed

This photo shows the house at First and Maple immediately after the fire was put out. The Cedar Springs Post is on the right. Post photo by J. Reed.

Last week we asked if anyone had any history of the house at 40 E. Maple that was destroyed by fire in the early hours of February 7. As it turned out, we got a small, but significant piece of information.

According to Deb (Riggle) Gates, sister of former Post editor Terri Riggle, and daughter of Janet and Howard (Slim) Riggle (a former city manager), she grew up on the northeast corner of Maple and First, opposite from the home.

“A lady by the name of Vivian, (Sally) Wall lived there,” recalled Deb. “She was the one who established the Francis Lee Red Flannel Factory in the building which now houses the Cedar Post.”

Deb said it was a large, elegant, house with six bedrooms, and a front door that was on an angle at the corner of the house and faced northeast. “She also had a nice porch on the side,” she said.

Both families appear to have moved there in the early 1950s. Deb’s house sat where the parking lot of The Springs Church is now. She said others who lived nearby included the Newlands, who owned the home across the street on the southeast corner of Maple and First; Bert Lewis, who lived east of the Riggles; the Watsons; and Millard Engberg, a former publisher of the Cedar Springs Clipper.

According to the Cedar Springs Story, by Sue Harrison and Donna DeJonge, Sally and her husband, Francis Lee Wall, bought the large home in 1954. She had taken over sewing Red Flannels in 1952 from Mae Oppenneer, who had done it for three years. Sally used the six rooms upstairs in her new home for the shop. Five years later, she and her husband remodeled a barn, located adjacent to the home at 36 E. Maple Street, and called it the Francis Lee Red Flannel Factory. Finished garments were displayed in a showroom up front, and a cutting room was located upstairs. That building is now the home of the Cedar Springs Post.

This shows the Post when it was the Francis Lee Red Flannel Factory, owned and operated by Sally Wall from 1959-1971. Photo from the Cedar Springs Story.

“This place was always busy,” remembered Deb. “Especially on Red Flannel Day. And I remember taking tours of it with other kids.”

The Walls retired in 1971, and sold the business to another group called Cedar Springs Red Flannels. They operated the factory out of 36 E. Maple for two more years before moving to 73 Main Street.

The Wall home at 40 E. Maple was converted to apartments sometime later.

The apartment house property was separated from the Cedar Springs Post property by a chain link fence, but the buildings were in close proximity. Many residents have commented that it was a miracle our building didn’t catch fire as well. “I’m glad we didn’t burn down,” remarked Post publisher Lois Allen.

We thank the Cedar Springs Police Fire Department for doing an outstanding job of controlling and containing the fire. The cause was not determined.

A vacant lot now sits where the old home was, ready to play another part in the history of Cedar Springs.