Hastings Rotary Club

08/10/2026

Thank you to Hastings Rotarian and Executive Director of B.Healthy Barry County, Catherine Getty, for presenting the plan for Pennock Gardens today, which will be installed adjacent to the Corewell Health Pennock Hospital campus on Green Street.

08/03/2026

2026-27 Rotary District 6360 Governor Tim Lee spoke to our club today. DG Lee committed to Rotary Foundation fundraising goals. If reached, he will join President Allison Wiswell with a drop-in to the to-be-renovated Hastings Skatepark 🛹, and will also spend a night in the county jail with Rotarian Judge Mike Schipper!!

07/27/2026

Thank you to Maggie from The Ability Collective of Barry County for sharing an update about all your programming and work in Barry County.

07/16/2026

Thank you to everyone who joined us for the first Hastings Skatepark Community Input Session, hosted by Hastings Rotary, City of Hastings and GrindlineSkateparks.

It was exciting to see such strong community participation as residents, skaters, families, and local leaders shared ideas for what this future skatepark could become. Your input will help create a space that’s fun, welcoming, and built for generations to enjoy.

We’re grateful to everyone who took the time to participate and can’t wait to see this project continue to move forward!

07/15/2026

As a follow up to this story, which received great interest from members and the community, we want to share this video with additional information: https://vimeo.com/1189798122/bb57df5b97?fl=pl&fe=sh

Brandon Holmes, Director of Corewell Health’s School Behavioral Health Telemedicine Program at Hastings Area School System and Thornapple Kellogg Schools spoke to our club today. This program offers mental health counseling services to high school students, has been extremely popular, and has reduced symptoms of depression by over 44% in students at the two districts. Philanthropic support makes this support available to all students, regardless of ability to pay.

07/14/2026

🚨 Final Reminder: Skatepark Community Input Session Tomorrow 🚨

The Hastings Rotary Club and City of Hastings Michigan are working together to reimagine the Hastings Skatepark, and tomorrow is your opportunity to help shape the project before design work begins.

We've partnered with Grindline Skateparks, one of the leading skatepark design and construction firms in the country, and they want to hear directly from the people who use the park and the families who support them. They'll be live on Zoom, gathering your ideas and reimagining them into our new park.

Whether you're a skateboarder, scooter rider, BMX rider, parent, neighbor, or community member, your input matters. The best parks are built with the community, not just for the community.

📍 Barry Community Foundation – Leason Sharpe Hall
📅 Wednesday, July 15
⏰ 6:00–7:30 PM
🍕 PIZZA

This is the first step in creating a skatepark that serves Hastings for years to come. We hope to see you there.

👉 RSVP: https://forms.gle/SjfeJwxkCCLd6vm87

07/13/2026

Thank you to Lori Sunie, Director of Development, and Michelle Boudreau, Community Impact Coordinator, of the South Michigan Food Bank for presenting to the club today. This organization supplied over 800,000 lbs. of food to Barry County agencies and residents in need in 2025. More info at www.smfoodbank.org

07/06/2026

Brandon Holmes, Director of Corewell Health’s School Behavioral Health Telemedicine Program at Hastings Area School System and Thornapple Kellogg Schools spoke to our club today. This program offers mental health counseling services to high school students, has been extremely popular, and has reduced symptoms of depression by over 44% in students at the two districts. Philanthropic support makes this support available to all students, regardless of ability to pay.

07/06/2026

🛹 HASTINGS SKATEPARK COMMUNITY 🛹

If you've ever stood at the First Ward Skatepark and thought:

💭 "You know what this place needs?"

This is your chance to answer that question.

We've already raised more than 💰 $50,000 toward rebuilding the skatepark, and now we're bringing in Grindline Skateparks to help design what's next.

Before a single line gets drawn, we want to hear from the people who use it.

What works?

What doesn't?

What have you always wanted to see?

📅 Wednesday, July 15
⏰ 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM
📍 Barry Community Foundation

🍕 Free food
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 All ages welcome
🗣️ Ideas encouraged

Don't wait until the park is built to tell us what it should have.

We're asking now.

👉 RSVP: https://forms.gle/SjfeJwxkCCLd6vm87

06/30/2026

Yesterday our club paid tribute to our outgoing 2025-26 President, Carole Davis, with a standing ovation for her tireless work to advance our club. We exceeded most of our goals, and have exciting projects ahead that have been set in motion under her leadership. Please join us in thanking and congratulating Carole for her Service Above Self this past Rotary year!

Next, we welcomed our new fearless leader, Allison Troyer Wiswell as 2026-27 President. Her top request to our membership is to “Say YES!” Yes to volunteering, yes to taking on new challenges, etc. If we all are willing to say yes a bit more, our club will accomplish exponentially greater things for our community!

Please thank these two women for stepping up for Rotary!