May
Clinton County Democratic Party hosts Spring Fundraiser
The Clinton County Democratic Party will hold their Spring fundraiser on Friday, May 4 at Hawk Hollow Banquet Center – Lakeview Room 15101 Chandler Road, Bath, MI.
Come celebrate the “Blue Wave” with many of your congressional, statewide and local candidates, including gubernatorial candidates Gretchen Whitmer and Abdul EI·Sayed.
Special guest Tessa Link, St. Johns H.S. Sophomore, will share I Stand Here, a statement on gun violence in school.
Eat Healthy Eat Local Festival is May 12
The 2018 Eat Healthy Eat Local Festival will take place on May 12, and it will be located in beautiful downtown St. Johns
Six city streets and one parking lot will be filled with local vendors specializing in healthy food, natural remedies, nutrition, and physical/mental wellness.
The EHEL Festival is a place where the community can meet and shop local farms, health food stores, handmade items like soaps/oils, lip balms, cleaning and self-care products, massage therapists, nutritionists, chiropractors, wellness spas while enjoying healthy selections from Michigan-Made food trucks.
This event is free to the public.
Retiring teachers recognized
Last Monday night the St. Johns Board of Education recognized this year’s retirees. We thank them for their years of dedication to the students and families of St. Johns Public Schools.
Front Row (L to R): Jill Loznak, Renee Lewis, Cindy Irish, Rita Dambrun; Back Row (L to R): Marcia Schauer, Pat Steinhoff-Lokey, Julie Kochensparger, Ann Den Herder; Not Pictured: Sally Stone, Patricia Karek
Clinton County Veterans Memorial receives donations
Pictured with Dennis Scott is Cole Bartlett, former Builders Club member, and Dillon Bartlett, current Builders Club member, who assisted Dennis with the replacement of all the flags at the Memorial on Armed Forces Day.
The Clinton County Veterans Memorial, located in downtown St. Johns, recently received generous donations from the St. Johns Middle School Builders Club and the St Johns Kiwanis Club. The money is to be used for the purchase of replacement flags at the Memorial. The Memorial Committee sincerely appreciates these donations and all the work volunteers do to help maintain the Memorial.
June
SJHS Top Ten named
The St. Johns High School Class of 2018 will graduate on Friday evening, June 1.
City of St. Johns to hold Ribbon Cuttings
The public is invited to the ribbon cutting ceremonies for the Veterans Memorial Bathhouse Building and The Rotary Park Trailside Restroom Facility on Friday, June 1st.
The first ribbon cutting will begin at 9:30 am for the Veterans Memorial Bathhouse Building, located in the Main City Park next to the St. Johns Community Spray Park.
Improvements to the bathhouse include: three universally accessible family bathrooms, new windows and doors, new roof, sidewalks, soffit lighting, security camera and storage room. Funding for the Veterans Memorial Bathhouse project came from the City of St. Johns, Michigan Department of Natural Resources Trust Fund grant, the Laura Jane Musser Fund and a donation from the St. Johns Kiwanis Club.
The second ribbon cutting for the Rotary Park Trailside Restroom Facility will take place at 10:30 am. The Rotary Park Trailside Restroom Facility is located east of the Train Depot, at 205 E. Railroad Street.
The Rotary Park Trailside facility includes two universally accessible unisex bathrooms, benches, picnic tables, wayfinding sign, sidewalks, LED lighting, security cameras and renovated parking lot. Funding for the Rotary Park Trailside Restroom Building came from the City and the Federal Land and Water Conservation Fund Grant administered through the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.
The City of St. Johns would like to thank all the organizations and businesses that were part of the projects. They appreciate all of the work that was put into these projects.
City acquires building for Police operations
The City of St. Johns has recently acquired what was the former Free Methodist Church building located at 409 S. Whittemore St., Business US-27, in the City of St. Johns for the purpose of housing police operations.
The city has recognized for several years that the current police department building established in 1981 was no longer meeting operational needs for the department, and physical limitations prevented the possibility of remodeling or expanding it to accommodate the needed modifications. With that in mind, a new facility or relocation was placed as a priority on the city’s critical infrastructure plan.
A search for potential sites which took into consideration square footage recommendations from two former studies completed by the city in 2002 was re-initiated in late October of 2017. Several properties were toured and considered prior to a formal presentation being made to the City Commission regarding the S. Whittemore St. property. In the end the selected building was uncannily close to the square footage recommendations and was able to be purchased at a fraction of the cost of a similarly sized new building.
Cooperative efforts are ongoing between the Police Department, City Administration and the newly formed Law Enforcement Advisory Committee to create a strategic transition plan into the building. It is hoped that the transition to the new facility will be complete and operational by September of 2018.
Local gallery restoring VFW mural
Tiny by Design Art & Whimsical Party Gallery owners have been commissioned to restore this amazing mural, half painted and half wood burned. The mural was donated to the VFW Hall by local artist Warren Anderson in 1954.
They were working in the studio throughout the week on the restoration process involving many steps including cleaning, stripping, retouching and re-varnishing.
Free Breakfast and Lunch this summer
St. Johns Public Schools is offering free food for all kids this summer.They are offering this through the federal program called “Meet Up and Eat Up.”
The Summer Food Service Program was created to ensure that children in lower-income areas could continue to receive nutritious meals during long school vacations when they do not have access to the National School Lunch or School Breakfast Programs. The SFSP, also known as Meet Up and Eat Up, is operated at the local level by program Sponsors and is administered in Michigan by the Michigan Department of Education.
July
Farewell to Radio Shack
by Maralyn Fink
Jim Sytsma, the owner of Clinton Electronics, a Radio Shack dealership in downtown St. Johns, says that for various reasons, after 37 years of serving the greater St. Johns community they are finally closing their doors. They are having a going-out-of-business sale that began on Saturday July 7, and which will run for approximately 6 weeks.
Soapbox Derby coming back to St. Johns
If you were around St. Johns in the 60s and 70s, you may remember the Soap Box Derby races that took place in early June of each year on Clinton Avenue in downtown St. Johns. The races started in 1963 in St. Johns, and the last one was held in 1975.
Dan Matson, a St. Johns native and past derby racer, has decided the races should come back. Matson, along with others like Chris Patterson and Jeff Feldpausch, would like to invite people who are interested in seeing the races come back to attend a meeting on Monday, July 23 at 7 p.m. The meeting will be held at Bob’s Auto Body, which is located at 1005 N US 27 in St. Johns. For your comfort, please bring a chair.
The plan is the first race will be in June of 2019 on Clinton Avenue in downtown St. Johns. It will be open to boys and girls between the ages of 7-17.
Stars and Stripes over Clinton County
The Kiwanis Club of St. Johns will display a quality 3 x 5 foot American flag on a 10-foot pole in front of your home or business on six patriotic holidays.
The system is rather simple. People subscribe to the service of having Kiwanis install a pvc pipe into the ground which is covered with a cap when not in use. Then they put up a flag pole and flag on several different holidays.
Kiwanis volunteers will put it up and take it down. The customer has to do nothing but subscribe.
The subscription for a full year is $40 for a residence and $50 for businesses. Discounts are available for multiple flags at the same address.
August
Office Housewarming scheduled for Friday, September 14
The Voice for Clinton County’s Children welcomes everyone to join them for an Office Housewarming on Friday, September 14th from 5:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m.
In conjunction with the Clinton County Arts Event, Arts Night Out, they will be giving tours of the office which is full of beautiful murals generously donated by the community and created by Tracie Davis. The wonderful murals create a welcoming, warm space for children to be heard.
The office is located at 1207 N. US 27 in St. Johns, just to the west of Sundance and next to the bowling alley.
St. Johns landmark opening for business again
In the Spring of 2019 the former Oakland Place historic home will open as The Nordic Pineapple Bed and Breakfast.
“Several people have asked about how we came up with The Nordic Pineapple as the name for our B&B,” say the new owners. “We really wanted something that people would remember, and Kjersten is Norweigian and Greg is by marriage. We also have some friendly banter with our BFFs that involves pineapple exchanging. During a brainstorming session with said BFFs someone threw this combo out, and it stuck. It is also great that the pineapple is the symbol for friendship. We love that it is quirky, and we hope it is memorable.”
For now owners Greg and Kjersten Offenbecker have announced that they are ready to start accepting reservations through Air BNB beginning the weekend of Aug 24th. There is a special discount for the first several reservations, so don’t miss. Be aware that they are not a full service B&B yet; so no breakfast, but they have great rooms and that amazing front porch to share. The plan is to open a room or two in the Air BNB space this fall and do a full launch in the spring.
Dairy Processing Campus marches forward
On Monday, August 27 the St. Johns City Commission approved the site plans for both Spartan Michigan and Proliant Dairy Michigan and authorized E.T. MacKenzie Company’s work on the drain relocation project. This is now just pending approval of a purchase and development agreement between the City and Glanbia, a global nutrition group based in Ireland and who has partnered with Select Milk Producers Inc. and Dairy Farmers of America to form Spartan Michigan LLC.
Announced by LEAP on August 9, the new dairy processing campus is expected to dramatically improve the production, profitability, and long-term prospects for one of Michigan’s top agricultural products.
“The City of St. Johns has strived for years to create a business-friendly atmosphere and specifically created the Business Park to showcase all that St. Johns has to offer,” said St. Johns Mayor Dana Beaman. “St. Johns’ ideal location, friendly residents, and strong business community makes it an ideal location for any type of business.”
Construction for both facilities on the 146-acre industrial park site is expected to begin in September of this year and be completed by October of 2020. When complete, the Lansing region’s site will be among the largest dairy processing facilities in the country.
August
Mint Festival Grand Marshal Mark Palmer: commitment to kids, community
By Rhonda Dedyne
Working with young people and being involved in community service has been a priority for St. Johns Public Schools Superintendent Mark Palmer throughout his career as an educator and administrator. Those attributes make him a perfect choice to help lead the 2018 Mint Festival as Grand Marshal of the Mint Parade, says Mint Festival General Chairperson Brenda Terpening.
“We are very excited to have Mark as our Grand Marshal for 2018. He has a great interest in seeing that kids excel in our community, and the Mint Festival is a lot about kids in many ways. The Committee’s choice of Mark for Grand Marshal was a unanimous decision.”
SJPD celebrating 150th anniversary
St. Johns is celebrating the 150th anniversary of the St. Johns Police Department.
To commemorate the event they had some t-shirts printed up. These made their debut and were sold at National Night Out on Tuesday night.
Shirts are $10 each and we have a variety of adult sizes on a first come, first served basis. The back of the shirt has all five patches that have been worn by officers over the years.
Mint Pageant Royalty named for St. Johns Mint Festival
Tuesday evening’s Pageant gave us the lineup of Mint Royalty for 2018. They are:
Little Miss Mint: Dianna Manas, 10
Junior Miss Mint: Lauren Schafer, 14
Mint Queen: Morgan Leavitt, 17
First Runner Up, Anna George, 17; Second Runner Up Olivia Maurer, 18