Township officials recently celebrated the opening of the Park Place house at
Community Homecoming Park on Angola Road.
Attending the ribbon-cutting ceremony on June 14 are, from left: Gary Leasure, park board member; Bob Bethel, Springfield Township trustee; Marilyn Yoder, township trustee and Holland-Springfield-Spencer Historical Society member; Debbie Carpenter, fiscal officer; Rheo Rouillard, park board member; Gary Horn, park board member; Andy Glenn, Springfield Township trustee; Rory Oates, park board member; Sally Newman, office coordinator; Andy Hohlbein, township road/maintenance department; and Leslie Kohli, Township administrator.

Crissey Elementary recognized for character education practices
Crissey Elementary School is among more than 130 schools nationwide, in Canada and Mexico to be awarded “Promising Practices” in character education.
The school will receive an award for the “Teach To’s” and will serve as a model for other districts to replicate and integrate into their character education initiatives.
This is one of several awards won by the school this year. The Character Education Partnership (CEP) presents the annual awards to schools and districts with unique and exemplary practices that encourage the ethical, social, and academic growth of K-12 students through character education.
By publicizing these awards, CEP hopes to recognize educators for their efforts and encourage others to learn from and even replicate those successful initiatives.
Winning practices included creative ways to engage parents and community members, encourage student voice and leadership, and offer students opportunities to serve others.

Holland Chamber of Commerce hosts annual golf outing
Beautiful summer weather accompanied area golfers who participated in the Holland-Springfield Chamber of Commerce golf outing last Tuesday. More than 45 men and women took to the fairways at Swanton’s Valleywood Golf Club in an attempt to win this year’s tournament.
In addition to the competition, the outing featured lunch, dinner, 50/50 raffles and prizes.  Winner of the morning 50/50 raffle was Cathy Mossing. The afternoon raffle was won by Chris Haley.
The 2008 tournament winners were the Wolverine Steel team which took first place this season after finishing second last year. They walked away with a pot of $200. Second place went to Huntington Bank, which collected $100.
Marcus Newbern of Huntington Bank was the sole winner at the betting hole, landing his ball within the designated circle.
back to top

Metroparks board presenter poses green ideas
At the Toledo Area Metroparks, going green means far more than the beauty of each park’s wooded environment. Russ Schifferly, project manager, has been leading the staff toward finding and using products that are better for the environment.
As part of that project, Mr. Schifferly introduced James Matzinger of the Northwest Ohio Green Products Center (NOGPC) to the board of commissioners at the June 25 meeting.
Mr. Matzinger pointed out that Metroparks throughout the state have been leaders in the green initiative. He encouraged the commissioners to continue leading the way, in part, by encouraging companies to produce biodegradable products.
“We’re trying to create a new industry in northwest Ohio,” he said, adding that the NOGPC helps companies produce soy bean or corn oil products to replace those traditionally manufactured using petroleum oil.
“We can help with the start-up of a company. There’s quite a bit of money out there,” he said.
A not-for-profit organization, the NOGPC is a collaborative effort among area businesses and entrepreneurs to produce, green or biobased products.
back to top

Council revisits Holloway Road quiet zone
At the June 17 meeting, Holland Village Council tabled action to apply Holloway Road for a railroad quiet zone until the July meeting.
Peterman and Associates representative Charlie Dodge presented council with the new application requirements for Holloway Road, since McCord Road did not qualify as a quiet zone.
“McCord’s out simply because of the equipment there,” Mr. Dodge explained. “There’s a problem with the Amtrak station and that the railroad has, so that’s out for the consideration of the quiet zone at this time; however, Holloway Road will meet the criteria.”Council needs to resubmit an application specifically for Holloway, along with a $2,800 administration fee, Mr. Dodge said.
The possible worst-case construction scenario could encompass: the adding of a power-out indicator, a light that runs on an alternative energy source that tells motorists the power is out; the delineation of the center lane island—a 12” to 18” elevated concrete strip to accommodate the brightly lit poles; milling down an inch-and-a-half of asphalt in the whole area, roughly 70 feet of the north side and 100 feet on the south side, and repaving.