Bits & Pieces

Numbers

By Rhonda Westfall

Numbers play a part in several of the stories and submitted articles which appear in this week's edition.

Some of those figures are simply mind-boggling - at least to my simple mind.

Belize: In this week's Extension Lines column, Clinton County Cooperative Extension Service Director provides a quickie word tour of his recent trip to Belize as part of his involvement with the Partners of America organization.

If you haven't read it yet, be sure to check it out.

One of the facts he mentions deals with the population of the small nation in Central America. Giles writes that one-half of the Belize population is under the age of 20. That's half - as in 50 percent. Can you imagine the challenges that number implies? Think about it - what if half of the people in Clinton County were 20 years old or younger? The resources that would be necessary to care for such large numbers would be incredible.

Mind-boggling.

Meijer: A whole lot of numbers have been whirling in the wind for months regarding the possibility of having a Meijer retail store locate in the area.

Now that a rezoning request is set to go before the Clinton County Board of Commissioners that paves the way for the development of the project, countless other figures will be forthcoming.

As indicated in the preliminary design, this is obviously a multi-million dollar project - that already has $$ spinning in the eyes of some folks.

No one is so naïve as to think that change and 'progress' will not happen in our little community - the US-27 bypass almost surely guaranteed development. We all knew it was coming.

I am curious, though, about how the existing property owners near the planned development feel about their potential new neighbor. Not everyone is always happy to see those huge financial numbers enter into someone else's ledger books.

MSU: No, I am not making a numerical prediction on the outcome of State's game(s) this weekend. By the time this is distributed, Spartan fans will either be continuing their delirious trip through March Madness - or crying in a beverage of choice somewhere between here and St. Louis, Mo.

Numbers and the Spartan hoop team come into play for the purpose of this column as a result of a conversation I had with Clinton County Commissioner Larry Martin for the Meijer story in this issue.

Anyone who knows Larry understands he's a pretty busy guy - always running to one meeting or another. When he finally returned my telephone call last Thursday afternoon during his hectic week, it was from a car phone - enroute to you-know-where to see you-know-who. Not only were Larry and his wife St. Louie bound, but 10 other Spartan fans had the good fortune to attend thanks to Larry's procurement of a dozen tickets. Needless to say the commissioner was a very popular guy last week. And, if MSU happens to win this weekend, there's no limit to the 'friends' who will make his acquaintance in hopes of securing a trip to St. Petersburg.

Charlie Silm: This has absolutely nothing to do with numbers, but I couldn't resist throwing it in. Prior to my moving this past fall, a former Price Road neighbor and I have waged a running 'friendly' feud involving two college teams.

As noted above, his green-and-white cagers are involved in a little contest called the NCAA tournament. No big deal. My maize-and-blue team, however, opted to sit the Big Dance out this year. In fact, they basically were no-shows for the entire regular season. There's always next year - maybe.

Anyway, here's what I'd like all our readers to do. Give Charlie a call and congratulate him on the Spartan's success. As I'm writing this on Friday morning, my plan is to call Charlie several times tonight - say between 8 and 10 p.m. I think he'll be home, and I'm sure he'll appreciate talking to me during that time.

If MSU wins, you all could do the same thing on Sunday after you read this column. Again, I'm sure he'll be happy to chat with you - what else would he be doing?

One tip - make sure you ask to speak with Charlie. Theresa is an innocent bystander in this Spartan-colored home, and for her sake, I am not printing their telephone number.

But, it's in the book - St. Johns exchange - Charles Silm on Price Road. Go Green?