Local bluegrass
event takes flight
Photos by Jordan Thatcher and Lisa Eady
Jeff Rose of the northern Michigan bluegrass band Detour tossed a
disc around with some young fans on the front lawn before his group took the stage at the
Pickin’ On Cystic Fibrosis bluegrass festival, an eight-hour event held on Saturday
at the Dogwood Center for the Performing Arts. After Detour closed the show, Rose and his
group went back outside to play.
The April 19 event was “Round 2” for organizer Jim
Kittle of Hesperia, who said that attendance was considerably higher than it was for the
October event. He said that he hopes to organize an even more successful “round 3”
next year. Proceeds from the event are earmarked for cystic fibrosis research.
Lead singer Toni Erskine and Hardline Drive
drove from the Livonia area to be part of
Pickin’ On CF. The Mike Adams Band also
came from the Detroit area, and members of
Windy Mountain Express came from southern
Michigan.
The local band Lonesome Journey opened the festival. The
group featured (left to right) Larry Brown, Tia Brown, Mike Crofoot, Gary Fountain, Ben
Crofoot and fiddler Ace Briggs.
Dan Yother of Native Wood Music in Hesperia joined his prize
pupils, the Kleiners, on the Dogwood Center stage. Yother and Ace Briggs have been
teaching the siblings from Shelby for a year. The photo includes (left to right) Colin,
Austin and Alex Kleiner, Dan Yother, and Hanna and Sydney Kleiner.
Photos
by R.C.Wheater Sr.
Young child dies after crash
A young child died after a
two-vehicle crash at the intersection of Luce Ave. and 24th Street north of Fremont.
Bryce Edward Plotts, a year
and a half old, died on Saturday, April 12 at Devos Children’s Hospital in Grand
Rapids.
According to Michigan State
Police from the Newaygo Post, Chad Edward Plotts, 26, was traveling southbound on Luce
Ave. at approximately 4:55 p.m. on Thursday afternoon, April 10 when the vehicle he was
driving was struck broadside by an eastbound vehicle. Police said that it is believed that
Plotts failed to stop at the signed intersection at 24th St.
The collision knocked Plotts’
vehicle into a field on the southeast corner of the intersection, and it came to a rest on
the vehicle’s passenger side. Police said that young Bryce Edward Plotts, Chad Plotts’
son, was in a child restraint seat, fastened to the rear passenger side of the Ford SUV.
Chad Plotts (the driver), his girlfriend, Natasha Fout, 22, (the front seat passenger),
and three-year-old Alexzandra Plotts, (rear
driver’s side passenger), all received injuries requiring hospitalization. They were
transported to Gerber Memorial Hospital by Life Ambulance before being transferred to
Spectrum Health in Grand Rapids.
The driver of the eastbound
vehicle, a 38-year-old Hesperia woman, did not seek medical attention, but her five
children in the vehicle were all treated at Gerber Memorial Hospital. Her 14-year-old son
suffered a broken jaw and was transported to Grand Rapids for surgery. He is now
recovering at home.
Both drivers and the
passengers were wearing seat belts or child restraints at the time of the incident.
Neither of the vehicles’ air bags were deployed at the crash. Alcohol does not appear
to be a factor. Police said that it was raining in the area and that the weather may have
contributed to the crash.
Troopers were assisted at the
scene by the Fremont Fire Department and Life Ambulance.
The accident remains under
investigation.
Gerber Memorial receives national
award
In an announcement dated
April 16, the National Rural Healthcare Association (NRHA) named Gerber Memorial Health
Services its 2008 Outstanding Rural Health Care Organization.
The award recognizes GMHS as
an organization that has improved access to healthcare services and information for rural
people through innovative, comprehensive approaches. Factors considered by the judging
committee included outreach, preventive health and education, quality and efficiency of
care and strong community support and involvement.
In notifying GMHS about the
award, National Rural Health Association officials noted that the award was very
competitive, with many nominations, but that the award committee felt “the GMHS
contribution to rural health services is exceptional and should be recognized.”
The narrative which
accompanied the nomination form told about how GMHS, along with Newaygo County agencies,
led in forming a new vision of healthcare in the community, seeking to provide the best in
sick care while also helping people stay healthy.
GMHS officials said that the
organization’s new vision reflects this goal: to be the source of renewal in sickness
and in health. The change in vision is currently embodied in the creation of GMHS’
new, free-standing medical wellness facility: Tamarac, The Center for Health and
Well-Being.
In order to improve the
health of the community, those who enter the GMHS organization at any point along the
continuum of care are treated for illness or disability, rehabilitated to the best
possible outcomes and then encouraged to stay healthy through lifestyle changes which
embrace healthier eating, smoking cessation and adopting physical exercise, among others.
Much of this “healthiness” takes place at Tamarac.
“Our associates have a
long history of being involved in the community and being committed to providing the
highest quality of care for our patients,” said GMHS President Ned Hughes. “As
the only hospital in Newaygo County, we feel it is our mission to be the source of renewal
by improving the health of all our citizens, whether they are ill or disabled, or whether
they are relatively healthy and want to achieve even greater levels of wellness.”
Representatives of GMHS are
scheduled to accept the award at the National Rural Health Association’s annual
conference on May 9 in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Gerber Memorial Health
Services is a 77-bed, acute care hospital and health care organization which serves the
entire community of Newaygo County. Recognized as one of the 101 Best and Brightest
Companies to Work for in West Michigan, GMHS services include a 24-hour Emergency
Department, Women’s Health Center, Cancer Center, modern Surgical Suites and
accompanying ICU Unit, Birth Center, Tamarac The Center for Health and Well-Being, and
Continu-Care Home Health Services.
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