Volume 1, Issue 36 FEBRUARY 2, 2024
YOUR LOCALLY OWNED AND OPERATED NONPROFIT NEWS SOURCE
More than 50 attend Walkerville Report-Out By Paul Erickson The Oceana Echo Community Contributor
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A group of over 50 concerned citizens gathered Thursday, Jan. 25, at the Walkerville Wesleyan Church for the Walkerville Report-Out. The evening event had participants review the results of the Walkerville Community Assessment Report and previous planning meeting. Pastor Bob Abbott opened the church to this gathering, and enthusiasm was very high. Oceana Community Foundation Executive Director Tammy Carey welcomed the group and introduced Julie HalesSmith of North Coast Community Consultants to review the data compiled through a tour of the area. Five focus groups were created to explore possibilities for the area that encompasses Leavitt, and Colfax Townships, and the Village of Walkerville. Those initial data-gathering groups were part of the Nov. 30 meeting, which also took place at the church. The five areas identified for discussion were: Business and Retail, Development of a Community Center, Human Services and Childcare, Rebuilding Community Pride and Spirit and the Expansion of Housing and Infrastructure. Popular themes were rebuilding the village’s lost retail and dining busi-
Consultant Julie Hales-Smith, above, shares an old advertisement provided by long-time community member Jerry Frick. • Paul Erickson/Echo
nesses, re-energizing the Pioneer Days Celebration, as well as, capitalizing on the recreational opportunities present there. Black Lake County Park, the North Country Trail and the Walkinshaw Wetlands were identified. The development of a community center was very popular, with suggestions of finding a common area, perhaps in a vacant building downtown, that would have facilities like The Ladder in Shelby. Co-oping with the village offices and outreach offices was also discussed. Access to human services and childcare are very much in need. Food pantries, diaper banks, baby pantries and the ability to bring these services to the area were discussed in depth. Working with the Oceana County Council on Aging on transportation to and from a central point, such as the community center or church, was discussed at length. Housing and Infrastructure are in great demand, and ways to provide affordable housing were and are of high pri-
ority. Facilitators working with the group were Hales-Smith, Carey, Hannah Naples and Celia Hopkins of the Oceana Community Foundation, as well as Executive Director Curtis Burdette of the Oceana County Economic Alliance. The Lake-Osceola State Bank partnered with the Oceana Community Foundation to bring Hales-Smith to Walkerville for this important look into the future. Julie spent over 20 years in state government with the Michigan State Housing Development Authority, or MSHDA. She was first the Homeless Coordinator for the Authority and managed neighborhood and downtown revitalization programs. She is now the principal of North Coast Community Consultants, a collaboration of veteran community development and affordable housing experts. A summary and full reports can be found at this link: http://tinyurl. com/walkervillereport
Royal Wildcats
Andrea Rivera and Zeontae De La Paz were honored as Walkerville Homecoming Queen and King during halftime of the varsity boys basketball game Friday, Jan. 26. Brendan Samuels/Echo
Hart Middle School eighth grade student Clinton Hallack won the Countdown round at the 39th annual MathCounts competition Tuesday, Jan. 23. • Contributed photo
Hart has good showing at 39th annual MathCounts By Sharon Hallack
The Oceana Echo Community Contributor West Shore Community College’s 39th annual MathCounts competition took place Tuesday, Jan. 23 after being rescheduled due to weather, and saw nine schools, 170 sixth, seventh and eighth grade students on 45 teams competing from Manistee, Mason and Oceana Counties. Qualifying Oceana County middle school students attended from Hart, Pentwater, Shelby and Walkerville. This year, Hart Middle School (HMS) eighth grade student, Clinton Hallack, took first place overall in the final Countdown round, “out-solving” ten other individual round winners. Eddie Huizenga of Manistee Middle School was runner-up. In addition, Hart Middle School’s team of Robbie Buchanon, Silas Jones, Trevor Vander Kodde and Ryan Nienhuis took second place in the team round, with a second Hart Middle School team made up of Silas Ackley, Elizabeth Barnum, Clinton Hallack and Leonard Udell taking third place. When asked about his win Hallack humbly replied, “I was excited about going, but I didn’t expect to win. I competed last year but didn’t move on to the final. Math is my most favorite subject, mostly because of my teacher. To qualify to go to the competition, we had to take a 30-question test first. It’s a pretty hard test, and people usually only get about 50 percent of the questions right. I got 15 or 16. Students with the best scores got to attend, and most of our class went.” Hart Middle School has been sending students to MathCounts for more than 20 years with algebra teacher Gayla Carskadon, accompanying the students most of those 20 years. “Clinton is a joy to have in class. He has a great work ethic, works well with others and has the ability to do a lot of math in his head.” This year, Carskadon took 27 students to the competition: six teams of four and three alternates. The half-day competition typically involves students completing math problems in four different rounds of competition: - Sprint, Target, Team and Countdown. The Sprint and Tar-
get rounds of competition determine the top 10-15 students who will go on to the Countdown round to determine the overall individual winner. While the Sprint round focuses on speed and accuracy, the Target round focuses on problem-solving and reasoning. The Team round is made up of teams of four. Each school’s size determines how many teams are allowed to compete in the Team round. After the Sprint and Target rounds, Hallack was placed third behind students from Manistee and Ludington, allowing him to move on to the “Countdown” round. The Countdown is run bracket-style, with the top 10 individual qualifiers competing. Students were given a problem and one minute to solve it. If they were successful, they moved on. Asked what was one of the more difficult problems he solved, he said, “One of them that was really hard gave us the diameter of a wheel and asked how many rotations it would take to get to the bottom of a hill of a certain length.” “This has been a great group of algebra students. I’ve enjoyed teaching and working with them for the past two years. They tend to keep me on my toes,” Carskadon said. “Our entire school is so proud of Clinton and all of our MathCounts participants,” said HMS Principal Kevin Ackley. “Other than spelling bees or essay contests, there aren’t many competitions that showcase our kids’ academic talents and allow them to shine outside the classroom. I appreciate all of Mrs. Carskadon’s work in preparing our students and giving them this opportunity.” Hallack, like most eighth graders, spends his time outside of class involved in a variety of activities and interests. He enjoys riding his dirt bike in the summer and his snowmobile in the winter. Raising cattle with his Backyard Livestock 4-H club and helping out on his family farm happen every day of the year. While he’s not certain about his future career path, at this point he says he would love to be able to farm. Yet with the wisdom of an adult and the heart of an eighth grader, he quipped, “Pretty much any job requires math. I’d like to farm, but I also want to make money.”