Volume 1, Issue 29 DECEMBER 15, 2023
Brian Woods
ex p a n d s
Big Skinny’s
YOUR LOCALLY OWNED AND OPERATED NONPROFIT NEWS SOURCE
By Madison Lajewski The Oceana Echo Community Contributor
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Brian Woods’ Big Skinny’s pretzel company in Hesperia has done well enough that he needed more room, so he recently made a move to a bigger location in the village. The operation has moved to 38 N. Division St. The new building gives Woods a larger space to produce his growing number of orders, with an approximate 1,770 square foot increase. “I’ve got friends scattered around the country who want them shipped all the time,” said Woods. “Anyone will be able to place online orders to be mailed. I have a buddy who owns a sports shop in New York that he sells them out of. I also have a bit of a following in Alabama because a girl from here (Sky Milner) goes to school in Alabama. She introduced them to her sorority, and they love them.” Similar to his previous location, the new space is not a retail store but more of a workspace for Woods to make and package orders. However, Big Skinny’s pretzels can be found at numerous locations throughout Oceana County and surrounding areas, stretching from Ludington to Muskegon. A full list will be updated and provided on his new website, bigskinnyspretz.com, which is set to launch in a few days and will be announced on his Facebook page. Customers will also be able to place online orders and have them shipped directly to them through the website. During the past summer, Woods competed in the Pitch North competition in Fremont and advanced to the finals. He also made it to the finals of the MI New Favorite Snack competition in Port Huron. “If anybody wants a fun weekend away, that was a lot of fun,” Woods said. “They put on a heck of a show. There are four different categories of snack foods; you name it, and there’s somebody making a snack out of it. That wasn’t anything I had done before. Both competitions were fun and interesting.” With the growth Woods has seen in the last year and the new changes he’s made recently, he’s been playing around with some possible new flavors he hopes to perfect and introduce soon. Earlier in 2023, he introduced a dill pickle flavor, which quickly became his top seller. “I’ve got a lot of ideas, but nothing has gotten to the point where I’m ready to start bringing it to people yet,” said Woods. “If it isn’t good enough for me, it’s not good enough for the public. A couple of them I get a bit mad at. I can’t figure them out. I get this part, but I can’t get that part of it right. You can only work on them for so long, then you have to put them down because everything starts tasting the same. I have a couple I think I’m getting close to, but we’ll have to see.”
A championship pedigree Jessica Jazwinski earns top 10 All-American National honors By Stacia Erickson The Oceana Echo Community Contributor Becoming a household name as a high school athlete in Oceana County isn’t a feat often accomplished. For Jessica “Jessie” Jazwinski, however, that’s just another feather in the cap of her already accomplished athletic career. Jazwinski is a star harrier in her junior year at Hart High School. She is also an intelligent, straight “A” honor student, who has excellent attendance, is articulate, candid, outgoing. Now, at the age of 16, Jazwinski is a two-time national All-American cross country runner. This past Saturday, Dec. 9, found Jazwinski in sunny San Diego, Calif., running in competition with 40 other girls from across the U.S. She earned her way, for a second time, into the Foot Locker Cross Country National Championship by placing in the top 10 runners in the Midwest region of the country. She earned a ranking of No. 2 in the Midwest this year after placing fourth in the Foot Locker Cross Country Midwest Regionals. The runner who earned the top ranking finished just above Jazwinski in the nationals. Last year, Jazwinski earned 11th place nationally; this year, she took 9th. She is now ranked in the top 10 female high school cross country runners in the country. Her unofficial time for the 2023 national race was 17:45.9 for the 3.1-mile course. Jessie hails from a family of runners. Both her dad, Bob, a Hart Middle School
Jessica Jazwinski special education teacher, and her mother, Katie, a Hart Public Schools physical education teacher, are acclaimed runners. According to Jessie, Bob ran for Western Michigan University, a school that was known for the success of its runners at the Division 1 level at that time. Her mother, Katie, ran for the University of Michigan, and later, as a mother of three, she was an Olympic qualifier in the marathon, 3K steeple, 5K and 10K. After a series of moves, with running kept as a priority, the Jazwinski’s landed in Oceana County. The family now resides on a farm where blueberries are ranked above all else. This family’s credo is “healthy body, healthy mind,” and they practice what they preach. Jazwinski said that family meals are geared toward running, with a focus on protein in almost every meal, along with fruits and vegetables in their general diet. Jessie says she, as well as her mother, love to cook and bake. Love is at the forefront of the Jazwinski family’s values: love of family, love of God and love of running.
The family has never pushed their kids to run. It’s a personal choice, and all sports are encouraged, with running as the example from day one. When she and her brother, Bobby, were young and started running with their mother, Jessie said that they would lag far behind. “She would kick our butts,” Jazwinski said, noting that they would cry and lament while their mother would calmly reply, “It’s okay, you’ll be up here some day,” and she’d keep on running. Now, the two oldest siblings are not only where their mother said they would be, but far past it. Jazwinski is confident that Bobby, a freshman at Hart High School, will finish next year as a Midwest qualifier and run in that national challenge. He is also her training partner now. Younger siblings Johnathan, fourth grade, and Samantha, fifth grade, are too young to run cross country competitively, but both enjoy various sports and do choose to run occasionally. “I love the feeling running gives me, and I feel so great after running, communing with nature, and all that,” Jazwinski said when asked why she enjoys running. “It’s not so much about the running, but it is about the competition. It’s built my confidence a lot.” She added that camaraderie was a big part of the national competition, particularly in the Midwest region. “I know I will run smarter next year,” Jazwinski said. She is keeping her eye on the top with a strong and vibrant focus.
WWC’s generosity surpasses $700K mark In June of 2012, several Oceana women founded an area chapter of a nationwide organization called Women Who Care (WWC). The concept involves area women meeting four times a year for an hour, during which they learn about the good work of several nonprofits serving citizens of Oceana County. Every attendee votes for one, and the highest vote-getter receives $100 contributions from each WWC member, regardless of whether or not they were able to attend the meeting. Membership since then has hovered around 150 women, and the group met Dec. 5 at Farmhouse Kitchen and Market in Shelby. Those who could not attend in person were able to access the meeting via Zoom. The group agreed that each member would
support the Oceana College Access Network (OCAN) with their $100 personal contributions, for a total of $14,800. OCAN is a collaborative effort between local schools and the overall community to promote continuing one’s education after high school. The presentation for OCAN noted that these funds would be used in a 3-to-1 match for the program. More information can be found at oceanacan.org. This brings the WWC group’s total giving to nonprofit causes serving Oceana to $710,000 since its first meeting 11 years ago. “That’s not chump change anywhere, but certainly not in Oceana County,” said Amy LaBarge of Pentwater. “We are so heartened that so many Oceana women have joined together to make a meaningful difference
to a variety of nonprofit organizations that serve the interests of area residents.” On the first Tuesday in March, June, September and December, WWC members meet at an area restaurant from 5:30–6:30 p.m., learn about three worthy causes serving county residents, and choose one that everyone agrees to support with their personal checks. Socializing follows for those who have the time to stay. Membership, currently at 148, is open to any woman who wants to be involved in this unique, joint effort to support Oceana causes. The next meeting will be March 4 at a location to be announced. For more information, contact LaBarge at 313-268-2086, or check online at facebook.com/womenwhocareofoceanacounty.