The Cedar Springs High School Class of 1959 celebrated its 50th Reunion on Sunday afternoon, September 13, 2009, at Boulder Creek Golf Course. Twenty-six of the 53 graduates attended, along with one of their class advisors, Mrs. Helen McLaughlin.

There was a total of 46 in attendance. Nine classmates are deceased.

After many group pictures were taken, the classmates had dinner and cake, watched a DVD of slides of their school years put to music, spoke about their families, and reminisced about their past adventures. After an enjoyable evening, all left with souvenir coffee mugs and booklets of classmate information.

The Class of ’59 was the last Cedar Springs High School class to attend all 13 grades in the school on the hill, now known as Hilltop Administration/New Beginnings. Since the “new” high school (now Red Hawk Elementary) was built and finished in the spring of 1959, the 53 graduates of the Class of ’59 were the first to hold their graduation ceremony in the “new” high school gymnasium.

Members of the Reunion committee were Sue (Grannis) Harrison, Joanne (Ballard) Cahoon, and Judy (Winter) Rowland.

When people think about crime in the city of Cedar Springs, there are certain neighborhoods that spring to mind as “high crime areas.” But when Cedar Springs Police Chief Roger Parent took a look at the statistics for July 2009, he found something many might find surprising.

“My goal was to see how many calls are related to the two mobile home parks—Cedar Springs Mobil Estates and Northland Estates, and on calls related to our two apartment complexes, Red Flannel Apartments and Meadow Creek Apartments,” explained Chief Parent. None showed crime disproportionate to the number of residents.

They had a total of 273 calls or incidents in July. Fifty-six (20 percent) were at Cedar Springs Mobile Estates; seven (2 percent) were at Northland Estates; and 18 (6 percent) at the two apartment complexes on E. Oak Street.

Cedar Springs Mobile Estates has 216 lots with 190 filled. “Averaging four per household, 760 residents would be very close to 24 percent of our city population, and they had about one-quarter of the calls. That makes sense,” said Parent.

“I also found it interesting that five of the 18 calls at the apartment complexes were fireworks,” noted Parent. Northland Estates had one fireworks complaint while Cedar Springs Mobile Estates had two.

The city of Cedar Springs and its residents will get a helping hand with yard chores this Sunday.

According to Cedar Springs City Manager Christine Burns, members of The Springs Free Methodist Church in Cedar Springs will forego a traditional church service on Sunday, September 27, 2009, and will instead disperse into the community to perform a city-wide clean-up.

“Congregation members will be trimming hedges, washing windows and pulling weeds in public areas along with a host of other tasks,” said Burns. “Pastor Barry Briggs approached the City several weeks ago, requesting a list of items that needed to be accomplished before the Red Flannel Festival on October 3rd. Pastor Briggs tied the concept of community service to a recent sermon, hoping to spark others to give back.”

Burns said the congregation also plans to assist homeowners at Cedar Springs Mobile Estates with basic home repair and maintenance. It is estimated that 200 worshipers will spend 2 hours canvassing Cedar Springs.

“If you see them, please extend a warm ‘thank you’ for their contribution to make Cedar Springs a great place to live, work and play,” she remarked.

Five fire departments battled a blaze in the wee hours of Friday morning that consumed a Cedar Springs home.

According to Cedar Springs Fire Chief Jerry Gross, they were dispatched to the scene of the fire at132 S. Grant, at 3:07 a.m. on Friday, September 11 and were on scene at 3:14 a.m. They had it under control by 4 a.m.

According to neighbors, the home belonged to the Hunter family, and Bobby Hunter Jr. was staying there at the time. He was home at the time of the fire, and escaped with minor burns near his left elbow.

Gross said that construction and additions to the home contributed to the difficulty in extinguishing the fire in the attic area. The cause has not been determined, and is still under investigation.

Courtland, Sand Lake, Solon, and Algoma Township Fire Departments all assisted at the scene.

By Judy Reed

The Michigan State Police are still investigating what may have caused a driver to cross the center line of M-57 Tuesday and crash head-on into a semi-tractor trailer.

A family was left fatherless Tuesday after a vehicle and semi-truck crashed head-on in Oakfield Township Tuesday.

Witnesses Joan and Chuck Carpenter were heading westbound on 14 Mile to a doctor’s appointment Tuesday about 12:08 p.m., near Redmond Avenue, when the accident occurred.

“The car in front of me just swerved across the center line and into that truck,” said Chuck, who was visibly shaken by the accident.

The car in front of them, driven by Kevin Fazio, 41, of Rockford, had hit an eastbound semi-tractor trailer hauling diesel fuel. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

“It was like something out of a wild movie,” remarked Joan. “The car flew up and spun around. I really thought it was going to hit us.” The car did sideswipe the Carpenter  vehicle, but they were unhurt.

According to Michigan State Police Trooper Mike Hall, the truck driver swerved to the shoulder, where the truck overturned and caught fire in the cab. It also spilled its contents.

Shortly after the accident occurred, a Kent City fireman and a reserve officer stopped and checked on the victims, and helped get the truck driver out of the burning cab. Courtland and Oakfield Fire Departments responded to the scene, and quickly doused the flames. The truck driver escaped with non-life threatening injuries.

Trooper Hall said that an autopsy would be conducted to see if there was any medical condition that would have caused the driver to cross the centerline. He is survived by his wife Cathy, and two children, Nate and Megan.

Assisting Michigan State Police at the scene was the fire departments, Kent County Sheriff’s Department, and the Kent County Road Commission. The road was closed for several hours while a Hazmat company and the fire departments cleaned up the scene. The accident is still under investigation.

A quick turn into a driveway on Lincoln Lake Avenue to look at a van for sale resulted in a trip to the hospital for four residents Sunday.

Four people went to the hospital after this accident in Oakfield Township Sunday.

According to the Kent County Sheriff Department, Virgil Turner, 53, of Cedar Springs, was southbound on Lincoln Lake Avenue, just north of 14 Mile Road in his Dodge Durango just after 6 p.m. August 30, when he attempted a turn in front of a northbound Ford F150 truck. The vehicles collided, sending the Durango into a tree before it flipped onto its top.

Both Oakfield and Spencer Township Fire and Rescue responded to the scene, and extricated the victims. Oakfield Fire Chief Mickey Davis said he was the first rescuer on the scene, and that the Durango was smoking when he arrived, but he could not confirm another media report that said neighbors had doused flames before firefighters arrived. “No one said anything about that to us,” said Davis.

Rescued from the Durango was Turner, who suffered minor injuries; front seat passenger Carol Fisher, 44, of Cedar Springs, who suffered minor injuries; and rear-seat passenger Edward Fisher, 24, of Cedar Springs, who suffered a head injury. He was not wearing a seatbelt.

Merle Glendon, 67, of Gowen, was driving the Ford F150, and he complained of head and neck pain. All were transported to Butterworth Hospital by Rockford Ambulance.

Alcohol was not a factor in the crash.

Cedar Springs man suffered severe injuries when he crashed his car into some heavy construction equipment last weekend in Algoma Township.

According to the Kent County Sheriff Department, Eric Darling, 25, of Cedar Springs, was traveling northbound on Northland Drive, just north of 13 Mile Road at 3:38 a.m. Sunday morning, August 30, when his 1993 Pontiac Sunfire left the roadway and crashed head-on into a skid steer loader.

Algoma Fire and Rescue responded to the scene and extricated the driver from the vehicle. He was airlifted by AeroMed to Butterworth Hospital, where he remains in critical condition. Rockford Ambulance also assisted at the scene.

According to police, the victim was alone in the vehicle, and alcohol is believed to be a factor. The accident is still under investigation.

By Judy Reed

Post photos by J. Reed

Sheets of rain blew sideways, trees were toppled, fires started and quarter-size hail pelted northern Kent County Sunday, August 10, as a storm with “straight-line” winds blew through the area between 6:45 and 7:15 p.m. When it was all over, thousands were without power, and debris littered yards and roadways.

Storm damage could be seen all across the area. On 16 Mile Road, just west of Northland Drive, a huge tree was pulled up out of the ground by the roots. On White Creek near Indian Lakes, there was a report of two trees down causing at least two accidents, and several large trees down on 17 Mile as well.

Someone reported on WZZM13.com that he and his wife were just turning west on to 17 Mile from Algoma when they had to pull over. “(We) couldn’t see anything but the hood of our cars so we stopped on the shoulder of the road. When the worst of it hit, we had hail the size of marbles, very heavy rain, and winds so strong that my full size 3/4 ton truck was not only rocking but the front end was starting to lift up. When it passed all we saw were trees and power lines down on 17 mile,” he said.

According to the National Weather Service, the worst damage in Kent County occurred in Kent City and Sparta, with winds up to 70 mph. Winds of 60-65 mph were reported in the Cedar Springs area.

The city of Cedar Springs also had its share of downed trees and power lines. The intersection of Maple and Park Street was closed for a couple of days after a large Maple tree blew over, along with top of a big Pine tree. “It busted two power poles that had to be replaced,” said Department of Public Works superintendent Jerry Hall.

The Cedar Springs DPW will be chipping brush this week in response to Sunday’s storm.  Please stack all brush with the cut end facing the street (up to 6″ in diameter).  No vines, stumps or roots will be chipped.

Post photos by J. Reed

Some motorists noticed a problem with water pooling on the newly redone portion of S. Main Street during the storm. According to Hall, it was because there are still silt bags in the storm drains. “They have to stay there until grass along side the road grows. They catch the sand and dirt that gets washed down there and that causes it to drain slow,” he explained. Hall said that the tidal waves of water blown up alongside the road by cars washed a lot of seed and dirt down, and now they will have to reseed there.

Consumers Energy and Charter Communications crews were out in force following Sunday night’s storm. Consumers Energy reported that 48,000 of its customers were without power at one point, with 16,000 of them in Kent County. Most customers were back up and running by late Tuesday evening.

Are you looking for something fun for your kids to do? Do you love good music? Then you won’t want to miss next week’s fun family event, August 20, at Morley Park in Cedar Springs.

The Cedar Springs Area Parks and Recreation and area businesses are bringing not only the last concert in the park for the summer, but a special children’s concert and child-friendly activities as well.

The fun starts at 5:30 p.m., with games and activities for the kids, including three inflatables; the Cedar Springs Fire Department and other Fire Departments will be on hand with their trucks and emergency vehicles (and water hoses!); and 250 water bottles will be given away.

The fun continues at 6 p.m. with a special children’s concert called “Dilly Songs” with Aaron Vanderwege. All inflatables and games will last until 7:30 p.m.

At 7 p.m. Punch n’ Company, featuring Jake Mellema, will perform. There will be door prizes and concessions available.

According to Parks and Rec Director Amanda Gerhardt, they wanted to do something special for area families, since they had such a good response to Maranda’s Park party last summer. “We couldn’t have done this without the additional support from our partner organizations working together to make it happen,” said Gerhardt. “It’s going to be a great activity.”