The Vicksburg varsity football team suffered its first loss of the season against Edwardsburg in a 44-7 blowout on Bulldog home turf.
The Bulldogs struggled to get anything going on either side of the ball as they were consistently forced to punt. “We’ve got to look at the film, lick our wounds and get better,” head coach Tom Marchese said.
He noted how the inexperience in the team’s front five defensive linemen showed in the game. The Bulldogs just couldn’t come up with an answer for the trap running plays Edwardsburg burned them with all evening. “They won both lines of scrimmage,” Marchese said.
The one bright spot for the Bulldogs came near the end of the second quarter. With time running down, senior quarterback Brenden Lovell was able to hit multiple receivers for big plays to keep the chains moving. A few hard runs by junior running back Garrett Ketelaar helped push the ball down to the Edwardsburg one yard line.
Lovell capped off the drive himself with a one-yard scoring run. Sophomore Joe Brady tacked on the PAT. Fortunately for the Bulldogs, Marchese said the players will get a little time off this weekend to rest and recover from the rough loss before they take on Allegan at the home community tailgate game next Friday, September 9.
Workers prepare the walkway for the Trailhead opening day.
Ken Schippers kneels by the plaque installed on a boulder at the Trailhead entrance.
Donors to the Vision campaign attended the Trailhead dedication. From left to right: Bill Adams, village president; Gail Reisterer, village council trustee; Ted Vliek, Vision campaign chairman; Bill Oswalt, Vicksburg Foundation president.
By Sue Moore
The Trailhead in Vicksburg was dedicated in a ribbon cutting ceremony on Friday, August 26 to honor Ken Schippers, Vicksburg’s former village manager. Henceforth it will be called “Schippers Lane.” Donors to the project which helped to pay for construction work that has taken place at the corner of S. Richardson and North Streets were listed in an additional plaque and commended by the speakers at the dedication ceremony.
The cost of the design work and construction was the result of a “Go Fund Me” campaign through the Michigan Department of Economic Development. Over $32,500 was donated locally and the state of Michigan matched that for a sum of $65,000 that it cost to purchase the property, demolish the car wash building on the site, build a parking area, a greeting arch, and landscaping the whole thing.
The trail head already connects to the existing 1.3 mile trail that parallels Sprinkle Road up to TU Avenue. In the village it is planned to continue along the north side of the railroad tracks to N. Main Street, cross to the north of Family Fare, run through Clark Park, through the mill property up to Angels Crossing golf course.
The trail extension has been a project of the Vicksburg Downtown Development Authority (DDA) led by Kathleen Hoyle, executive director. The Vicksburg Vision campaign has been collecting donations to fund the trail project with matching dollars to what is hoped to be a Michigan Department of Transportation grant. The Vicksburg Foundation has offered up to $170,000 to match whatever is raised locally through the Vision campaign.
Enough money was raised in a second “Go Fund Me” campaign to construct Liberty Lane East, the second project of the Vision campaign. Hoyle expects to break ground in the alley between Jaspare’s and Aaron’s Music shop in September to spruce up this part of downtown Vicksburg.
The roads leading to the Point on East Indian Lake Drive were flooded for many days. These children from Iowa were visiting their grandparents and having lots of fun splashing in the street.
By Sue Moore
The rains finally came, not just in Louisiana but in southwest Michigan too. Particularly hard hit were the east and south shores of Indian Lake, where homes sit only a few inches above the water table. It didn’t just rain, it poured about five inches in a matter of a few hours, stopped and came again a day later and then in another few days.
Word had it that Road Commission repairs on U Avenue where Indian Lake flows into the creek were a possible pinch point for the water from the lake to drain. Randy Smith, Brady Township supervisor, said that plenty of water was coming over cement walls erected by the Road Commission to help them repair the bridge, so this was not a factor.
The flooding around Indian Lake on East Indian Lake Drive which has not subsided as fast as usual has affected the sewer system ringing the lake. The South County Sewer and Water Authority (SCSW) noted that its wastewater pumping station that handles 292 homes, including the 187 connections within the Indian Lake Nazarene Camp, was up to the task. Rich Pierson, director of the Authority, said they had the help of a booster pump to keep up with the floodwaters that entered the pumping station as a result of the significant rainfall that started the second week of August. At first, it was necessary for pump trucks to temporarily assist with hauling storm and wastewater from the station, but then the City of Battle Creek was able to loan the Authority a spare generator and pump that allowed the Authority to keep up with the flows.
Storm water is supposed to be kept out of the sewage disposal system. Pierson was asked how floodwaters enter the wastewater pump station. He explained that during a flood, storm waters enter the public sewer from a number of sources, be it a basement or crawl space floor drain, through manholes in the flooded streets, and through any underground sewer pipes, public or private, that may not be properly sealed.
The other major inflow that occurs is from homes that have improper basement groundwater sump pumps connected to the public sewer (such as B-dry “type” systems around basement foundations). Pierson and Smith believe there are 10 to 20 of these connections on East Indian Lake Drive that contributed and are still contributing significant storm water to the lift station at the corner of East Indian and South Indian Lake Drive. These connections are illegal. The staff of the Authority will be performing analyses of the system and inspections of the suspect homes. The Authority board will then determine to what extent these property owners are liable for their portion of the excessive costs incurred, Pierson said.
The two local officials, Pierson and Smith, responsible for the Authority and the township, applauded the Village of Vicksburg’s Department of Public Works who assisted the Authority through this emergency to date, including the recently retired Manager Ken Schippers who also provided volunteer assistance.
