LANSING, Mich. – Governor Rick Snyder Wednesday (March 30) signed legislation authorizing $102.1 million in grants from the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund (MNRTF). The bill funds 117 recreation projects and land acquisitions that were recommended by the MNRTF board in December.  Among the grants are two for the Village of Constantine to expand Riverview [...]

CONSTANTINE – Thursday (November 8) marked the fifth anniversary of the death of 11-year-old Jodi Parrack, whose body was discovered at 10 p.m. alongside her bicycle at Constantine Township Cemetery. Jodi’s death was ruled a homicide. More than 60 friends and family of Jodi held a candlelight vigil for her at 7 p.m. at the [...]

The Born to Learn trail is now in place as an additional feature of Constantine’s Riverview Park. The trail was recently installed and is part of a park improvement grant from the State of Michigan.  It offers outdoor learning games that build pre-literacy skills critical to school readiness. Source:  Story and photos contributed by Angie [...]

Nature’s Fuel, the Fort Wayne, Indiana-based company with an interest in the former Rexam plant in Constantine, is reportedly closer to finalizing its acquisition of the facility. For an update on the topic through a Sturgis Journal story by Jef Rietsma, click on the following link:  Nature’s Fuel closer to deal

Investigation of the location of an Underground Railroad site in Constantine was one topic discussed at the Tuesday (October 18th) meeting of the Governor John S. Barry Society (GJSBS) held at the museum. Brent Stevens, owner of the home at 200 Locust Street, spoke to the group on his surprise at discovering evidence his home was at [...]

As a way to cope with a personal tragedy, Natasha Burch put on a brave face and she and her two children, Caitlyn and Ryan, came up with ideas to give to the community. “After my husband Gary passed away unexpectedly in April of this year, showing the children the benefit of doing things for [...]

Constantine resident Jim Eley is planning to show a historic quilt he claims is “one of a kind” at an upcoming Quilter’s Exhibit in Constantine. Historic quilts, including the Eley quilt, will be shown from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 23 at the Gov. John S. Barry Museum, located at 280 N. Washington Street. [...]

Members of the Gov. John S. Barry Historical Society have decided to help with a project to renovate the Village Memorial Pergola.  The determination came at a meeting held Tuesday (January 17th) at the Constantine Township Library. The Pergola is located at the juncture of Florence Road, Mill Street and White Pigeon Road, also known [...]

Dear Editor, This poem, “The Farmers’ ‘Undeveloped’ Land”, by Joyce Lambert of Kouts (IN) appeared in the January 11 issue of my Farmer’s Exchange.  I think it expresses how people in charge of our natural resources feel.  Look at how much of our forests are being cut down, which our wildlife are using as their [...]

What would the Gospel say about current events? How would Jesus vote? Church members enjoyed coffee and politics at an open forum discussion held Monday (January 9th) at Messiah Lutheran Church (MLC) in Constantine. Moderators were Rev. Dennis Smith and Council President Andy Rockwell. It was the first of four discussions. Subsequent ones will be Monday, [...]

Mark Voege and his wife, LeeAnn Farmer, have collected a wealth of information on their lovely historic home located on South Washington Street in Constantine, and are always interested in acquiring more. Voege is an art teacher at Kalamazoo Central High School and he does pottery. LeeAnn teaches special education at the middle school in Marcellus, and is president of the [...]

The Village of Constantine has been awarded a Blight Elimination Program grant that will help fund demolition of an unoccupied and deteriorated building at 1005 South Washington Street. As reported earlier this week in the River Country Journal, the village is among 34 municipal, township and county entities statewide that will share in $15 million in [...]

“Hometown people and homemade pies” is the slogan for the Village Inn Restaurant, located in downtown Constantine, which was recently opened by owners Gary and Tammy Kufeldt. “We reopened on July 11th last week, right after the big storm hit,” Tammy Kufeldt said. “We bought the Village Inn eight years ago. It was open for [...]

In spite of the rain, a hundred people came out Friday evening (March 23) to attend the 5th annual Constantine Public School Staff vs. Area Police basketball game, a fundraiser for Michigan Concerns of Police Survivors or MI-COPS. The event was held in the Constantine High School gym and sponsored by the Constantine Community Fitness [...]

An eight-year-old Constantine boy has a ‘hero’ after his narrow escape from being seriously burned in an incident three weeks ago. Dave Keifer, who owns Dave’s Quality Lawn Maintenance, was working at Vaupell Midwest Molding & Tooling on Florence Road when he observed the youth in distress. Keifer had just finished mowing and was getting ready to [...]

The construction of the US-131 bypass around the Village of Constantine, a project slated to begin on February 4th and be completed in November, will be the focus of a Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) open house Monday evening (January 28th) at Constantine High School. MDOT representatives will be on hand to discuss the project [...]

More than 50 volunteers worked installing Kentucky Bluegrass sod from Constantine Turf Farm, at Sweetland Stadium at Constantine schools on Saturday (May 18). Included in the group were past and present members of the football team, and a variety of other members of the community. Football coach Shawn Griffith said the event was “a long [...]

Arthur E. Stears American Legion Post 223 in Constantine conducted a “9-11″ memorial ceremony Sunday (September 11th) at the post, prior to hosting a steak dinner for members. Guest speaker was Mike Wilson, a retired army National Command Sergeant Major with 27 years of active military duty. Wilson served in Desert Storm and Iraqi Freedom, [...]

Plans for the US-131 bypass of Constantine were in the spotlight Monday evening (January 28th) during a Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) open house at Constantine High School. The two-hour event – from 5 to 7 p.m. – offered the chance to learn more about the project and pose questions to MDOT representatives.  It came [...]