The Post recently took a trip to South Dakota with Katie and Daniel Porter, and Brandon and Sara Donaldson, of Pierson, Michigan, and Camilla and Glen Thornburg of Dover, Delaware. “While there we stayed in the scenic Custer State Park, visited Crazy Horse Memorial, and Mount Rushmore, along with many other things,” said Katie. While in Custer State Park, she said they saw a lot of wildlife, including buffalo, deer, pronghorn antelope, prairie dogs, and donkeys.

It sounds like you all had a great time! Thanks for taking us with you!

Are you going on vacation? Take the Post with you and snap some photos. Then send them to us with some info to news@cedarspringspost.com or mail them to Post travels, PO Box 370, Cedar Springs, MI 49319. We will be looking for yours!

TOM & SHIRLEY SHARPE 

Tom and Shirley (Porter) Sharpe of Cedar Springs will celebrate their 60th Wedding Anniversary on July 10, 2014.  Tom and Shirley have lived on Algoma Avenue since 1987, when Tom retired from Peerless Cement Company, and the couple moved to the Cedar Springs area from River Rouge.  Their children are:  Sheila and Steve Mencerelli of Pierson, Rodney and Judy Sharpe of Newaygo, Lori and Michael Tichvon of Vicksburg, Patrice and Richard Wesche of Crestview, Florida, and Leisa Mahanic and Scott Knecht of Pierson.  They have 18 grandchildren, 18 great-grandchildren, and 1 great-great-grandchild.  A family dinner is planned to celebrate the occasion.

Judy Porter, of Nelson Township, sent us these photos of birds eating grape jelly from her back deck last summer. She said they are two different types of Baltimore Orioles, and that she also feeds them orange halves.

Judy said she feeds the birds from early fall to late spring. “We have pine, wild cherry, young maple and wild crabapple trees, with a pond in back, so get a big variety of birds,” she explained.

They also get a variety of food, including wild bird seed, plain sunflower seed, cracked corn, peanut butter, suet cakes, old bread and nuts.

So how do birds know what’s good for them to eat? Click link for Ranger Steve’s article, “How birds know.”

Send your bird photos to news@cedarspringspost.com.

Hank Porter won the long jump for the Red Hawks.

Alex Hemry won the 100m and 200m runs for Cedar Springs

The Cedar Springs boys track team was finally back on the track to open their defense of the OK Blue title. After two cancelled meets due to snow, rain, and wind the boys defeated a strong Forest Hills Northern team 86-51. This was a key meet as the Huskies are a legitimate contender for the 2011 OK crown. Rust was evident as the Red Hawks were not particularly sharp, but with improved field event performance and a strong distance and sprint crews, they were more than up to the challenge.
The Cedar Springs field event members started the meet off with victories that Northern could not recover from. AJ Olszewski won the pole vault (13’), Dan Sagorski won the discus(128’9”), Hank Porter won the long jump(20’1”), and in first ever attempt at shot put, Justin Balczak won in a put of 44’3”. Connor Mora led the Cedar distance crew against the strength of the Husky team, their distance crew, with victories in the 800m, 1600m, and 3200m. Alex Hemry won the 100m, 200m, member of the winning 400m relay, and anchored the thrilling 800m relay race. Justin Balczak added victories in the 110m and 300m hurdles to his shot put and 800m relay victories. With the strong distance crew of Northern, the sprinters stepped up with key contributions from Ryan Austin (800m and 400m relay wins), Ron Fisk (800m relay win), Aaron Dault (hurdles), and the return of state qualifier James Putnam from his knee injury during the football season.
Starting this week, the Red Hawks start the meat of their schedule in their drive for the OK Blue championship. On Thursday the 28th they finally have a home meet against the Redskins of Belding. We all pray for the weather to break so the boys can get on the track to shake off the rust and show off the championship talent this team possesses.

Picture left to right: Andy DiPiazza, Hank Porter, Coach Busen, Jake Fisk & Conner

The Cedar Springs football team recently competed in their seventh annual “Lift-a-thon” to raise money for Cedar Springs football. According to a letter that head coach Brian Busen sent out, the event brought in $7,000 in donations.
He said this year’s lift-a-thon was a “Bench Brawl” competition with Comstock Park. Competing athletes were divided in to 5 groups based on weight class. Cedar Springs’ lifters were victorious in 4 out 5 weight classes.  Individual champions for Cedar Springs included Jake Fisk, Hank Porter, Connor Burrows and Andy DiPiazza. The combined weights from the top lifters in each class were added together to determine an overall champion and Cedar Springs took home the trophy, out-lifting Comstock Park by over 500 lbs.
Coach Busen thanked those who supported the event. “With your donation we will be able to buy needed equipment, help pay coaches, defer the two-a-day costs of the athletes that participate in the lift-a-thon and do the necessary things to make this a quality program,” he said.
“WE will again be playing in the very competitive OK Blue and opening with non conference opponent and neighbor Tri County,” added Busen. “Our league was well represented in the playoffs last year not only with a playoff berth of our own, but with West Catholic earning a state championship and Comstock Park making it to the semi-finals. I can assure you that WE are working hard toward being the last team standing and will continue working hard throughout the summer to prepare for the upcoming season. This year’s group of athletes has already begun training and is eagerly awaiting their opportunity to put all their work into motion.
“Thanks again for your support. GO HAWKS!”
Please visit www.cedarfootball.com to keep up with your Red Hawks.

Alec Hanmer scores against Muskegon. Hanmer was voted to the OK Blue All Conference team.

Hanmer and Porter voted all conference

The Cedar Springs boys varsity basketball team was eliminated from state tournament play last Wednesday after being defeated by the Muskegon Big Reds. The Red Hawks kept the game within reach until late in the third quarter, but the relentless trapping and pressing by the Big Reds defense proved to be too much for Cedar Springs and Muskegon went on to win by a score of 64-42.

Muskegon got out to an 18-8 lead after one quarter. The Red Hawks traded punches with the Big Reds and tied the 2nd quarter, but Muskegon still led by 10 at the half. Midway through the 3rd quarter, Cedar cut the Big Red’s lead to 7 on a Ryan Dines 3-pointer. Muskegon responded with a 9-0 run to end the third quarter and held a commanding 49-33 lead going into the fourth.

Junior Hank Porter goes to the hoop against Muskegon. Porter was chosen All conference honorable mention.

With 4:30 to go in the game and Cedar trailing by 22, Coach Secor put the five healthy seniors in the game (Andrew Klompstra is injured and was unable to play). The five seniors—Tyler Baker, Kyle Chaney, Alec Hanmer, Jake Holtrop, and Tyler Hinton—finished the game, playing together for the last time for Cedar Springs. During that time, Alec Hanmer hit two free throws and a jump shot, and then Kyle Chaney drove the lane for a lay up. Then Alec Hanmer hit Tyler Baker on a long pass and Baker made the lay up for the final Red Hawk basket of the season.

Ryan Dines led the Red Hawks with 12 points in the game, and Hank Porter had 10. Alec Hanmer had 9 points and a team high 7 rebounds. Tyler Baker had 6 points. Kyle Chaney and Derek Ash had 2 points each, and Jason Gingrich had one. The Red Hawks finished the season with a 9-13 overall record. The Red Hawks finished 3rd in the OK Blue with a 6-6 conference record.

Head Coach Andy Secor reflected on this year’s Red Hawk team after the final game of the season. “Our entire coaching staff really enjoyed working with this group of student-athletes and parents. This group came to practice everyday, ready to work hard and improve. One of the things I am most proud when it comes to this group, is how they re-established the way we like Cedar basketball players to act as role models. It is a great group of young men who have the chance to be very successful in life.”

Senior Alec Hanmer earned a spot on the OK Blue All Conference team, which is chosen in a vote by the league coaches. He led the Red Hawks in scoring for the season with 170 points. He also led the team in defensive assists (20). Alec was second on the team in rebounds (78), blocked shots (14) and steals (21), and 3rd in assists (25).

Despite missing 5 games with a knee injury, Junior Hank Porter was second on the team with 143 points and voted OK Blue All Conference honorable mention.

Hank led the team in scoring average with 8.94 points per game. He was 2nd in “charges taken” (7), and 4th in assists (24).

See more player stats on our website at www.cedarspringspost.com.

Judy Porter sent us this photo of Cousins Kalab Palmer, 8, and Nicolas Hernandez, 8, making snow trails waist-deep after the recent blizzard. It was a snow day from school, and a play day at grandma’s!
If you have winter fun photos you’d like to send us, email them to news@cedarspringspost.com.

Trey Reed goes up for 2 as Kyle Chaney (21) and Andrew Klompstra (right) battle for position.

For the first time since game two of the season in early December, the Cedar Springs boys’ varsity basketball team is healthy. The team welcomed back Hank Porter last week. Porter had undergone knee surgery and missed almost a month of the season. Porter responded with his best game of the year, scoring 15 points, as Cedar Springs defeated Belding 53-32.
The game didn’t start off well for Cedar Springs as Belding got out to a quick 7-0 lead, scoring 3 field goals and a free throw in the first minute of the game. The Red Hawks got the offense going with a Jason Gingrich jumper followed by a Hank Porter three-pointer. Alec Hanmer hit a put back lay up, then Porter made a free throw to cut the Belding lead to 9-8. Hanmer canned a three-pointer to give Cedar the lead 11-9, but Belding responded with a 4-0 run to retake the lead. Kyle Chaney tied the game with a driving lay-up and the score was 13-13 after one quarter.
“Belding is very physical and really pressures you on defense,” said Cedar head coach Andy Secor. “I think they were very prepared and got off to a great start. I am just happy with how my guys responded.”
A Chaney put back lay up gave the Red Hawks the lead 15-13 early in the second. Belding tied it up again at 15. Then Chaney pulled in an offensive rebound, made a dribble move in the lane and hit a short fade away jumper to give Cedar a lead they would not lose. Then Hank Porter took over, scoring 7 straight points, including a mid-range jumper, a three-pointer, and a put pack lay up. Andrew Klompstra got in to the act with a strong inside move for an “and one” lay up. Klompstra made the free throw to complete the 3-point play and the Red Hawks led 27-20 at halftime.
Cedar extended its lead with an 8-1 run to start the second half. Hanmer hit a couple of free throws and a jump shot, Gingrich hit a jumper, Porter hit a jumper, and the Red Hawks led 35-21. After two Porter free throws, Gingrich scored another field goal. Then Trey Reed grabbed an offensive rebound in traffic, and hit a short jumper over the defense. A Klompstra lay up gave the Red Hawks a commanding 43-25 lead after 3 quarters.
In the fourth quarter, Ryan Dines made 3 free throws, Reed hit a baseline jumper, and Gingrich made 2 free throws to extend the Cedar lead. Then Brandon Slater scored on a nice reverse lay up and Tyler Hinton made a free throw and Cedar Springs had a 53-32 victory.
“It was a much-needed win.” said coach Secor. “We responded well from some early adversity and played 3 of our best quarters of the year.” The Red Hawk defense held Belding to only 32 points and held their star post player, Gil Corder, to only 8 points. “We really hang our hat on half-court defense, and our defense was great,” said Coach Secor. The Red Hawks have held their opponents to an average of only 40 points per game this season.
Porter shot 5-7 from the floor on the way to his game high 15 points. Hanmer scored 9 points, had 5 rebounds and 3 blocked shots. Gingrich had 8 points and 4 assists. Chaney had 6 points and a game high 7 rebounds. Klompstra had 5 points and 6 rebounds. Trey Reed had 4 points, Dines 3, Slater 2 and Hinton 1 point.
The Red Hawks improve their record to 4-7 and 2-4 in the OK Blue. Comstock Park is threatening to run away with another league title with a 6-0 record, but all the other conference teams are either 3-3 or 2-4, so the Red Hawks are very much in the hunt for second place. Cedar Springs travels to Sparta Friday for another big rivalry game against the Spartans. Game time is 6 p.m. Then on Tuesday, February 8, they travel to Howard City to take on the Tri-County Vikings at 7 p.m.