By Sue Moore
Time to Start Training for the Hearty Hustle
The Vicksburg Hearty Hustle is in its 31st year. It has a new wrinkle for the race this year, one that will directly benefit one of the five school buildings in the district. The School Challenge Incentive provides a $500 prize to the building with the highest proportion of runners to student population, fair considering that the High School and Sunset Lake elementary have the most students in their buildings. Parents, grandparents, sisters and brothers can get in the act when they register for the race that will be held on Saturday, May 12 at 9 a.m. at the high school stadium.
The race was first staged by Bronson Vicksburg Hospital to show the health benefits of running and walking. Three years ago, the Vicksburg Community Schools Foundation board agreed to keep it going by accepting the responsibility of organizing the race on the second Saturday of May. Thus, the idea was to keep the run as a family event, emphasize the health benefits and perhaps make a little extra money for the Foundation.
The challenge is to shake off the winter’s blahs, get out and start training and turn the day into a family affair.
Schoolcraft Teachers Also on a Healthy Kick
Keeping with that same healthy eating line, the Schoolcraft teaching staff is having its second annual “Rehabbing a favorite recipe day” on Wednesday, April 11 in the elementary school library. The challenge is for a cook to make a favorite recipe but change the ingredients to something healthier. For examples: potato salad made with yogurt vs. mayonnaise, spaghetti sauce over spaghetti squash as opposed to pasta, cake made with apple sauce instead of oil, brownies made with black beans in place of some of the wet ingredients, frosting made with simply cocoa and dates vs. sugar, and the list could go on and on.
They are inviting taste testers from the staff to cast votes costing $1 each. The winner will collect $50 and the gratitude of the taste testers. Recipes will be collected and made into an electronic cookbook available at a later date according to Darby Fetzer, school board president.
Bridge Organics Fire
Nobody was hurt in a fire at Bridge Organics but it had to be a little scary for the five people who were still in the building. They heard a loud noise as a small explosion occurred in one of the labs. About two gallons of a flammable solvent were involved in the accident, when the solvent was vaporized under a ventilation hood and ignited after 5 p.m. on March 26. The South Kalamazoo County Fire Authority (SKCFA) was on the job but the staff had quelled the fire almost before they got there. Chief Tracy McMillan said their tests didn’t reveal any air quality problems and thus no threat to the general public.
Fire Authority Meeting
At the board’s monthly meeting, Chief McMillan told the SKCFA board that a car had rammed the fire station doors in Schoolcraft. It damaged a jeep inside and the front end of the tanker to put them both out of service until repairs could be made. Why someone would want to do this is anybody’s guess but the person was apprehended and taken to the hospital for a psychological evaluation, McMillan said.
They also heard from a citizen in Brady Township who was concerned that the fire department was pumping standing water out of a person’s front yard on 29th Street, across the road, causing traffic to be stopped while this was taking place. The chief explained that this was a service the department sometimes offers if a basement is flooding due to the conditions experienced in February around the district. The board is looking at writing a policy that would cover this in the future when flooding occurs.