A parade in Lakeview was held on Friday afternoon to commemorate the dramatic increase in ACT scores at the school over the course of the past few years.

Lakeside Park is about to receive $200,000 worth of improvements thanks to a private donation and a contribution from the Lakeview Downtown Development Authority. Lakeside Park, located on the banks of the Tamarack Lake, will see a host of proposed improvements, including a new fishing and boat pier, parking enhancements and a professional amphitheater to host the annual Music in the Park series. There will also be upgrades to park lighting and walkways so that the entire park will be handicap accessible, including the new pier.

Imagine a school that operates almost entirely without tuition or tax dollars, one that is self sufficient. That’s a scenario likely to remain imaginary, unfortunately, but Dave Albert’s Lakeview High School shop class comes close.

Things are definitely looking up for students and staff at Lakeview High School, both in the academic and extra-curricular areas. At Monday evening’s school board meeting, board members got a chance to hear firsthand from some of the students who — for the fifth year in a row — brought home the CSAA League Championship. The forensic program, under the leadership of Chris Bayne and Carolyn Gleason, consistently shines in competitions.

Lakeview High School and Middle School both received a financial boost Monday evening when area farmers Johanna and Eugene Rentschler donated $2,500 to each school. The donation comes as a result of Johanna Rentschler being selected as a winner in America’s Farmers Grow Communities, a program sponsored by the Monsanto Fund.

Winter was back in force for this year’s Winterfest in Lakeview, where more than 100 snowmobilers gathered to show their sleds, swap and sell, and compete in BEVRA vintage snowmobile racing on Tamarack Lake. The two-day event also featured food booths, courtesy of the Lakeview Lions Club, and a beer tent with live music, sponsored by the Lakeview Area Jaycees.

A large crowd of residents from Trufant and surrounding areas gathered at the village’s community center Thursday evening in the hope of getting answers from the U.S. Postal Service as to why hours will soon be severely curtailed at the post office there. They left 90 minutes later with most of those questions unanswered; nobody from the postal service showed up. However, U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow’s representative, Mary Judnich — along with state Rep. Rick Outman and state Sen. Judy Emmons — were there to hear the concerns of the residents.

A family of six is resting peacefully at a nearby friend’s home today after firefighters successfully contained and extinguished a fire in the basement of their Trufant home. Melissa Portell and her husband, Jeremy Portell, along with their four children, were home at their residence at 115 W. First St. when Melissa discovered a fire in the basement.

Alternative education led the Lakeview Board of Education’s agenda Monday evening as board members heard presentations on behalf of Montcalm Community College and West Michigan Virtual, a learn-at-home program for at-risk students. Career Center Principal Selena Mills also made a short presentation on various programs there.

In an era of bag-your-own, robo-teller grocery shopping, where customer service is little more than a quaint memory, there are still locally owned stores that serve old-fashioned, in-person customer service, like Leppink’s. With locations in Belding, Lakeview, Stanton, Howard City and Ferrysburg, Leppink’s represents a throwback to a better time, when service was king and the customer’s needs came first.