These two pileated woodpeckers were spotted in Cedar Springs last winter, by two different people. Send your bird photos to news@cedarspringspost.com.

Calling all bird lovers!  The National Bird-Feeding Society (NBFS) is pleased to announce that February is National Bird-Feeding Month!  The theme for 2011 is “Most Wanted–America’s Top Ten Backyard Birds.”

Throughout the month, the NBFS will highlight the joys of bird feeding by providing tips and techniques to create a successful bird feeding and watching experience.

“While many of the top ten birds can be found year round, others may only visit during spring and fall migration or during the breeding or wintering season,” commented Dr. David Horn, director of the NBFS and associate professor of biology at Millikin University.  “By providing bird seed and bird feeders year round, offering alternative bird foods and water, putting up bird houses, and making your yard safe for birds, you can enjoy America’s ‘Most Wanted’ backyard birds.”

The Top Ten Backyard Birds east of the Rocky Mountains are the American Goldfinch, Chickadee (Black-capped/Carolina), Dark-eyed Junco, Downy Woodpecker, House Finch, Northern Cardinal, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Tufted Titmouse, and White-breasted Nuthatch.

With the exception of the hummingbirds, who feed on nectar, the top ten birds eat bird seed.  Among their most preferred bird foods are black-oil sunflower, Nyjer^® (thistle), sunflower hearts, and white proso millet and are attracted to tube, hopper, and platform bird feeders.

“Whether you live in a rural, suburban or urban environment, there are always birds that can be attracted to your yard,” continued Horn.  “Having the right combination of food and feeders is the key to a successful bird feeding experience.”

“Whatever the reason you feed wild birds, bringing America’s ‘Most Wanted’ backyard birds to your yard will be an enjoyable experience,” remarked Stacey Johansen, manager of the NBFS.  “It’s an entertaining, educational and inexpensive pastime that can be enjoyed by people of all ages.”

National Bird-Feeding Month was established in 1994. Over 55 million Americans over the age of 16 feed birds around their home, making bird-feeding the second most popular hobby in the United States behind gardening.

For more information on National Bird-Feeding Month, visit www.birdfeeding.org.

Airman Jacquelyn M. Champion, a 2010 graduate of Cedar Springs High School, graduated from basic training at Lackland Air Force Base, on January 13, 2012, and is now at Sheppard Air Force Base, in Texas, doing her technical school.

Jacquelyn is the daughter of Jim and Theresa Champion, of Cedar Springs.

“We are difference makers” is the school wide theme for Cedar Trails Elementary School in Cedar Springs. This year young students in preschool, kindergarten, and first grade joined together to build some important “Habits of Mind.”

Kindergarten teacher Cheryl Tacoma helped coordinate the effort and shared her thoughts with the staff at a recent staff meeting.

During the holiday season 15 classrooms took the challenge to make a difference with their kind hands and kind hearts. They chose to raise money to help other children around the world. The Cedar Trails students did extra jobs at home to earn dimes and quarters. The parents were delighted with their children’s enthusiasm to do extra jobs.  What fun the families had earning, “Dimes for Ducks, Quarters for Quackers,” or “Change for Chickens!”

These young students stepped up to the plate and took their commitment to help other children very seriously. They truly wanted to help and make a difference.  Kindergarten student Brielle Sarniak explained how our Dimes for Ducks worked.

“You see, we kids do jobs at home and get dimes, then we bring them to school and add them all up and then we send the money so the poor people can have the ducks.  Then they eat the duck’s eggs for food, but they can’t eat all the eggs, so they sell the extra eggs and get some money so their kids can go to school like us.”  Kindergartner Nolan Myers summed it all up by saying, “and that’s called kind hands kind hearts!”

In less than 2 weeks the Cedar Trails staff, students and families were able to make these amazing donations to World Vision for 312 ducks, 10 chickens, 1 goat, 2 children able to attend school for a year; $115 to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital and $100 for food for children in Hand of Hope. The combined gifts totaled approximately $2500.

There is no doubt Cedar Trails Elementary is “making a difference!”

The Cedar Springs Varsity Competitive Team has been showing what they’ve got this season, finishing usually in the top two.  After losing many seniors last year the team has had their struggles, however using their team motto of never settle, they have shown that they can and will overcome. Their season started when they finished 2nd at the Cedar Springs Invitational on January 7, losing to Kenowa Hills. On January 12, they went on to fight for another 2nd place finish at the OK Blue Conference Tournament at Belding, falling short of a 1st place finish by only one point to Comstock Park. The Red Hawk Cheer Team achieved another 2nd place finish on January 18 at The OK Blue Conference Tournament at Comstock Park, again falling to Comstock Park’s 1st place finish. The Red Hawks continued to show their determination, clinching another first place finish at the Red Hawk Invitational on January 26.

Changes in the team’s line-up have also been an obstacle for the Red Hawks. It showed in last week’s competition, where they placed 6th out of 11 at East Kentwood. “This season has definitely been a season of lessons learned about perseverance and the will to overcome obstacles, “ said head Coach Pam Ingles. “This team has shown that they will do what it takes to get the job done for any given competition.” Ingles went on to say, “We will continue to work on cleaning up our rounds and working towards our goal of advancing out of the district competition in three weeks.  I know that they will push and work hard to get the job done.”

The Red Hawk Competitive Cheer Team will continue to fight for those top finishes when they travel to Sparta on February 1st and again when they travel to Lowell on February 4th.  Please come and cheer on these hard working girls and show them they are supported.

By Judy Reed

Six fire departments worked together Saturday night to put out a fire at a Solon Township business.
The Solon Fire Department got the call at 7:04 p.m. January 21 that Quality Formica, 2396 17 Mile Road, at the southwest corner of 17 Mile and Algoma (across from Huck’s Corners),  was on fire.
According to Solon Fire Chief Joyce VanderMey, the fire started after someone had been doing some soddering on a copper water pipe earlier in the day. She said it was in a back room, close to the ceiling, and fire got into an attic space.
Algoma and Sand Lake Fire Departments were called for their tankers, Kent City was on full assignment, Cedar Springs was called for pump help, and Rockford was called in for their ladder truck.
Vandermey said they cleared the scene about 12:36 a.m. “We did a lot of salvaging and hauling out brand new stuff they had just purchased while we were fighting the fire,” she explained. Two vans and hi-lo were included in that. “We tried to save as much equipment for them as we could.”
The extreme cold and ice on the ground made it harder for firefighters to get around, but no one was injured.
The two-year-old business specializes in sales and installation of Formica countertops for both homeowners and businesses. The owner says he plans to rebuild.

CS grad on mission with Jamaican deaf school

Rachel Hunt (left center), her husband, Josh (right center), and other members of the Jamaica mission team and friends.

By Judy Reed

Rachel (Reed) Hunt loves kids and they love her, too. And now, for the fourth time, the 2003 graduate of Cedar Springs High School has taken that love, along with a team of Cornerstone University students, and shared that love with deaf children in Jamaica.
Hunt graduated from Cornerstone University in 2008 with a BA in Accounting, and with an MBA in 2011. She is also staff accountant at the university.
She was in her senior year (2008) at Cornerstone when she heard there was a mission trip forming for Jamaica, in conjunction with Jamaica Link Ministries, based in Grand Rapids. She joined the team and handled their finances on the trip. The small mission team stayed at Fairhaven Ministries, and worked at the Jamaica Christian School for the Deaf for 10 days, redoing their library. “We stripped it down, catalogued books, set them up by genre, set up the computer and scanners, made it like a real library,” recalled Rachel. They also played with the kids at the school during downtime, did devotions at public schools, and visited an orphanage for the severely disabled.

Team members help mix cement for addition.

After the first trip, she was hooked. In 2009 she went with a team to Mexico, but in 2010 she co-led the next trip to Jamaica, and then headed up the trips in May 2011 and January 2012. Each time they’ve worked with the Jamaica School for the Deaf and Robin’s Nest orphanage.
Rachel said the goal was to foster a relationship and build connections with the children and people there. “A lot of teams go to the school for a day and then are gone,” she explained. “So when a team comes and stays, they get very excited. Some of the kids recognized me as soon as I got there,” she said of her most recent trip.
In 2010, Rachel and the team helped with construction on the school’s kindergarten building, by filling in the foundation, and mixing and pouring cement for the ceiling. Last spring they bought windows for the entire kindergarten building and helped with painting. On the most recent trip, they helped with the addition of a second floor to the kindergarten building by mixing and filling cinder blocks with cement. “We helped them get ready for the bigger teams that will be going there this summer,” she said.

Josh Hunt holds a sleeping Jamaican child.

The teams from Cornerstone are usually small—only 5-11 people. But the smaller size helps the relationship be more intimate. And that growing relationship is what Rachel likes best about the trips. “We have been able to make such an impact on the people in such a consistent way. Our picture from two years ago is still up on their file cabinet (at the JCSD). It’s a special connection.”
While the team sees some change in members from year to year, one special addition to the team this year was Rachel’s new husband, Josh. The two got to work together, and he got to see firsthand what she loves about the place. “Josh was the muscle of the team,” she said with a laugh. “But really, I liked showing him a place that was like a second home.”
It was Josh’s first mission trip. “I liked that it was an opportunity to connect with another culture, and that we were invited to work and help them,” said Josh. He also expressed an interest in going back.
The group did have some down time. After working they played with the children, and had their own bonding times as a group in the evening, playing cards, board games, uploading their daily blog, and sometimes swimming in the ocean, which was right across the street. They also saw some of the sights and visited the marketplace.
Rachel said one of the neatest things is to see what some of the students that were on the team in the past are now doing because of their experience. “We had one guy lead a trip from his church to Jamaica, and a girl who went on the trip in the spring and this month is going back to Jamaica this summer to live and help out at the Jamaica Christian School for the Deaf. Another went on the trip to see if she liked being out of the country, and then went to Korea for a semester to study. For those who think they might want to be a missionary, it’s a good way to see what it’s like,” she said.
Rachel said that her goal is to continue the trips, and build on the relationships they’ve established with the people. But she’s confident that can continue with others, if for some reason she can’t go in the future. She said the trips are sometimes open to others, and if other organizations are interested, they can also contact Jamaica Link at www.jamaicalink.org to set up their own trip.
For more info on Jamaica Christian School for the Deaf, visit www.jcsdeaf.org, and for Cornerstone University, visit www.cornerstone.edu.

On January 7th, in keeping with a longstanding tradition, the Cedar Springs American Legion, Glen Hill Post 287, presented State Department Commander Dick Chatman, Auxiliary Department President Carrie Bowerman and S.A.L. Detachment Commander Dwaine Verville with their very own pair of red flannels from the Red Flannel Capital of the World.
Every year at our annual Early Bird Dinner, we have a fine meal for those members who have paid their dues early.  Invited to the dinner are the State level officers of our organization, as well as past dignitaries.  After the dinner, the present and past Department officers graciously wear their Red Flannel attire and perform the Chicken Dance.
Back Row:  Past Detachment Commander David Mennel, Past Detach. Commander Pat Pustay, Past Detach. Commander Greg Price, Detachment Commander Dwaine Verville, Past Dept. Commander John Skinner, Past Department Commander John Mella, Past Department Commander Jerry Dennis, Past Detach. Commander Skipper Townes.
Front Row: Past Department President Mary Goller-Kilts, Past Dept. President Brenda Dees, Honorary Junior President Chelsea Kovacs, Department President Carrie Bowerman, Past Dept. President Donna Fueling, Past Dept. President Jackie Skinner and Past Dept. President Ivy Lee Reinhardt.

(ARA) – From eating better foods to getting an adequate amount of sleep and exercise, we’re a very health-aware society. So why is it that many Americans routinely overlook one of the cornerstones of good health?
While nearly 70 percent of Americans say they want to be healthier five years from now, just 51 percent recognize that foot health can be a key to achieving that goal, according to a survey from the American Podiatric Medical Association (APMA).
“Nearly eight in 10 adults have experienced some type of foot ailment in their lives. Yet despite the pain, close to three in 10 do nothing about it, simply choosing to live with their pain,” says Dr. Michael King, a podiatrist and president of APMA. “Meanwhile, more than half of those surveyed said they had endured foot pain at some point in their lives but have not sought treatment from a podiatrist.”
So what are the five most common types of foot problems and what causes them? Here are some tips from today’s podiatrists:
* Nail problems are one of the most prevalent foot woes in both men and women. These problems can range from ingrown toenails to fungal infections. Ingrown toenails—a condition in which the corners of sides of a nail dig painfully into the soft tissue of the nail grooves—is the most common form of nail problem. To avoid ingrown toenails, trim nails straight across and don’t dig into the corners. If a toenail becomes infected, see a podiatrist immediately for treatment. Those with diabetes, peripheral vascular disease and other circulatory disorders should seek a podiatrist’s care on a regular basis to help prevent complications.
* Sweaty feet and foot odor are two-foot conditions that are often experienced together. While stinky feet are definitely embarrassing, feet that sweat excessively can lead to other foot problems, even creating an environment conducive to the development of athlete’s foot. Closed shoes make feet sweat, but in the winter you can’t avoid wearing them. Instead, practice good foot hygiene. Wash feet daily with soap and water, keep shoes and socks dry, and choose socks that wick away moisture. Change shoes and socks regularly and consider rubbing cornstarch or applying antiperspirant directly onto the soles of your feet.
* Pain in the ball of the feet. Nearly one-third of adults have reported pain in the balls of their feet. Pain in this location can be caused by over-exertion, injury or ill-fitting shoes. To avoid, always wear well-fitting, supportive and activity-appropriate shoes when walking, running or engaging in other physical activity. If necessary, replace the insoles that came in the shoes with ones that provide additional cushioning.
* Heel pain. This type of pain can have many sources, including weight gain, excessive foot flattening, muscle imbalance, injury or even improper footwear. To kick heel pain to the curb, always be sure to warm up and stretch properly before and after exercise. If wearing high heels, opt for heels that are no more than two to three inches in height. For persistent pain, treatment can range from prescribed orthotic devices and medications to cortisone injections, physical therapy and rarely, surgery.
* Bunions – A bunion is an enlargement of the joint at the base of the big toe. Treatments range from self-remedies such as using a bunion pad around the bony prominence, to ice packs to reduce the swelling, and avoiding shoes that could irritate the bunion and even make the problem worse. For persistent pain, see a podiatrist for a full range of treatment options.
“While foot problems are common, that doesn’t mean people should be resigned to living with pain,” King says. “Consulting today’s podiatrist can help people feel better sooner, and get back to living healthier lives.”

Cedar Springs formed their first 5th/6th grade competitive cheer team this year.  While it’s uncommon in this area to see girls compete at this age level, coaches Amy Arnold, Deb Garza and Barb Chong had hoped their team would gain experience and get a feel for what competition will be like when they reach middle school. The girls, however, had something else in mind.  It was evident they weren’t about to settle for anything less than the best, and their hard work and dedication paid off last Saturday when they placed first at Catholic Central High School finishing ahead of Vanguard Charter and Kenowa Hills. Their performance can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3N7pTAPVz8.
The team performs again this Thursday at Cedar Springs High School and will finish their season this Saturday at East Kentwood High School.

The Red Hawk JV and Varsity Wrestlers exchanged their singlets for ties for their fundraising event on January 14. The teams went from wrestling to serving, when they hosted a black tie event at the American Legion Hall that included a four course meal and a fun night out. The event is a first this year in an attempt to fundraise in a new innovative way. The guests bought tickets that were sold by the wrestlers, and were in turn served by the wrestlers they bought the ticket from, and others. It was a great start this year, and next year the wrestling team is hoping the event will be even bigger and better, making this a new annual event.
The Red Hawk Wrestlers have been working hard this season, with an  overall team record of 13-8.  “We are a young team,” said head coach Scott Troost. “There are only 3 seniors on the team but most of the team consists of freshman. We are always improving.”
The Red Hawks continue to fight to clinch victories, and while not always getting that first, they are finishing usually in the top 3 at tournaments. A few of their places were in Fruitport 3rd, Tri-County 3rd, and Comstock where they took 3rd out of the 18 teams present.
The Redhawks leaders for the team with their own personal records are: Cody Oehme leading the team with his record of 25-5; Austim Wamser (Senior) who is 18-6 so far this season; Barron Lenardson 22-6; Jarred Vodry 17-9; and Dominick Chong with a 20-7 record. The Red Hawks will continue to work hard to build on the team and individual records.
The Red Hawks were scheduled to go up against West Catholic, Coopersville and Belding on Wednesday Jan. 25, and will be traveling to a tournament in St. Johns, who is ranked 3rd in the nation, on Saturday, January 28.