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www.mlive.com 75¢THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2010

A day of fi shing along the channel in Holland State Park felt like the Tim Allen-voiced Pure Michigan commer-cials that haunt the Cincinnati man between his visits to the state. It’s the fourth trip this year to Michigan — and there’s a chance the family might get one more in this fall.

“I’m a dirt and woods person. I hate sand. But there is something about the sand here I love,” Snyder said.

“I love this lake, but it’s freezing. There’s something about when you get in there and your body acclimates. We love it.”

With Labor Day weekend ap-proaching, the fi nal data isn’t in yet. But comments from those in the tour-ism industry suggest the summer of 2010 will turn out to give the state a bigger economic boost than previous summers, especially compared to last

year’s chilly season.The state’s Pure Michigan ad cam-

paign is hitting its stride in its third year. And this summer’s record-set-ting temperatures are delivering those picture-perfect days promised in the award-winning ads.

“One thing we are hearing is that out-of-state visits are up, and out-of-state visitors tend to spend more,” said Dan McCole, a tourism analyst at Michigan State University.

It will be a few months before Mc-Cole collects the data he uses for his annual Driving Michigan Tourism report. But he is hearing from those making their living on the tourism trade, from charter fi shing boats to hotel managers, that business is up.

There are some early indicators ofTOURISM, A2

What a differencea year makesSummer temperatures recorded by the National Weather Service at Gerald R. Ford International Airport:

NUMBER OF DAYS 60 DEGREES OR COOLER2010: 17 days2009: 55 days

NUMBER OF DAYS 85 OR HOTTER2010: 37 days2009: 12 days

AVERAGE SUMMER TEMPERATURE2010: 73.3 degrees2009: 68 degrees

HIGHEST SUMMER AVERAGES ON RECORD:1921: 74.6 degrees1901: 73.4 degrees

1933:� 73.3 degrees (tie)2010:� 73.3 degrees (tie)

SOURCE: National Weather Service data for June,

July and August

2009 AVERAGE SUMMER TEMPERATURE: 68° 2010 AVERAGE SUMMER TEMPERATURE: 73°

5 DEGREES OF VACATIONWARMER WEATHER HELPS TOURISM SEASON HEAT UP

BY THE NUMBERS

PRESS PHOTOS/MARK COPIER

Smooth sailing: A sailboat cruises past the Big Red lighthouse and into Holland Harbor last week.

BY SHANDRA MARTINEZ

THE GRAND RAPIDS PRESS

HOLLAND — With a gentle breeze at his back, Jim Snyder patiently helped his 11-year-old son, Ben, ready his fi shing rod while younger sons Jack, 9, and Owen, 4, played in the sand.

Busy summer: Macatawa Boat House attendant Kylie Sluiter works weekdays at the Lake Macatawa business, which rents paddle boards, kayaks and canoes. The Grand Valley State University graduate student said it has been a busy year for rentals.

WALK IT OUTGrand Rapids

joins other West Michigan

communities on a Labor Day

walk.The Weekend

BY BARTON DEITERS

THE GRAND RAPIDS PRESS

GRAND RAPIDS — When Bethany Christian Services interviewed Joy Heaven about her desire to become a foster parent, the licensing specialist wrote to the Michigan Department of Human Services recommend-ing Heaven be allowed to care for three chil-dren as young as 5, with a spectrum of special needs.

“Her patient, lov-ing and compassion-ate personality will be a tremendous asset in her caring for children,” the worker states in a foster home evalu-ation dated March 3.

Wednesday’s hearing in Kent County District Court presented a much different Heaven, 30, — a fos-ter mother accused of infl icting fatal brain injuries on a foster child. Au-thorities say Heaven was frustrated with 5-year-old Emily Meno’s behav-ior in mid-July and violently shoved the girl, causing the injury.

During the hearing, forensic pa-thologist Dr. Stephen Cohle reported Emily’s injury was consistent with someone hitting her head on a hard object with signifi cant force.

He said his investigation indi-cated this was no accident. It was homicide.

“I don’t think that with a typical shove ... that there would be that type of injury,” Cohle said. “It would take an adult person using all the strength they could muster to lift a child off the fl oor.”

Before the probable-cause hear-SEE TESTIMONY, A2

BY TERRI FINCH HAMILTON

THE GRAND RAPIDS PRESS

KENT CITY — Kerry Hutchins spent most of her life struggling to breathe, but a church full of loved ones Wednesday imagined her breath-ing easy in heaven, dancing and run-ning and drinking in the air.

Hundreds of family members and friends filed past Hutchins’ white casket covered with pink roses, then sang, prayed and remembered the vi-brant, funny, faith-fi lled woman who died Saturday after a long wait for a double lung transplant.

They also talked of her legacy. Af-ter a Press story last month in which Hutchins talked openly and honestly about her three-year wait hoping for a transplant, hundreds who read about her signed up to be organ donors.

“She’ll live on — she made a differ-ence,” said Hutchins’ grandmother, Norma Chapman, standing near her granddaughter’s casket before the fu-neral at Kent City Baptist Church.

“This isn’t how it was supposed to end,” said Betsy Miner-Swartz qui-etly as mourners wrote messages to Hutchins on big scrapbook pages in aqua ink. Miner-Swartz works for the organ donation organization Gift of

Life Michigan.Everyone hoped Hutchins would

get new lungs.Hutchins, who was 33 and the moth-

er of two sons, struggled to breathe but loved to laugh.

At the University of Michigan Health Systems, where she spent the last four months waiting and hop-ing for a transplant, she taped foam

SEE REMEMBER, A2

Foster mom’s license review glowed

PRESS NEWS SERVICE

KALAMAZOO — An 18-year-old Portland woman was critically injured early Wednesday at a fraternity house party, resulting in a crackdown against the fraternity by city and Western Michigan University offi cials.

Jordyn Sanderson remained hos-pitalized in critical condition late Wednesday after falling 9 to 10 feet off a second-story balcony early that morning during a party at Sigma Pi fraternity house, less than a half-mile from the WMU campus.

Sanderson, a student at Lan-sing Community College, was in Kalamazoo for the day to stay with friends, said high school friend Paul Fuller, a sophomore at WMU.

The fall happened as police offi -cers were walking up to the frater-nity house to break up a party the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety said was attended by about

200 people. Offi cers then saw a large group of people standing around Sanderson, who was unresponsive with a skull fracture from the fall.

Police believe Sanderson may have fallen through gaps between the balus-ters that support the balcony’s railing, Assistant Chief Brian Uridge said.

Uridge said alcohol was being consumed at the party, but police did not know whether Sanderson was drinking.

The city of Kalamazoo on Wednes-day condemned the rented house, and Sigma Pi members living there were ordered to leave immediately.

Tim Meulenberg, city code ad-ministration manager for the city, said inspectors dispatched Wednes-day found the structure “unsafe for continued occupancy” based on the condition of fi re alarms and a fi re sup-pression system.

WMU on Wednesday issued a cease-and-desist order against Sig-ma Pi. It called for the letters on the fraternity house to be covered and barred the frat from doing any of its normal functions, such as recruit-ing, social events or meetings, WMU spokeswoman Cheryl Roland said.

Joy Heaven

Testimony on murder charge paints different picture

Fraternity party injury brings rush of sanctions 18-year-old who fell from

balcony in critical condition

PRESS PHOTO/EMILY ZOLADZ

Goodbye: Lee Roby gives a kiss to his sister, Kerry Hutchins, during her memorial service Wednesday at Kent City Baptist Church. Hutchins died Saturday after battling cystic fibrosis all of her life. Press photos were taken with permission of the family.

‘This isn’t how it was supposed

to end’Family, friends remember

Kerry Hutchinswith smiles, tears

A2 THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2010 THE GRAND RAPIDS PRESS

CONTINUED FROM A1

increased business. Compared to last year:

Vehicles crossing Mackinac �Bridge climbed 7.2 percent in June and 2.7 percent in July.State park camping reserva-�tions are up 4 percent this summer.Revenues at Kent County �hotels climbed a combined 6 percent in June and July over June and July 2009.After an unseasonably cold

summer last year, this summer has had more than its share of sweltering days. It’s the hot-test summer in more than a half-century, with an average temperature in Grand Rapids of 73.3 — fi ve degrees above last summer, according to the National Weather Service.

Bill Marino, a meteorolo-gist with the local NWS offi ce, said it hasn’t been this hot since 1933, making this summer the third-hottest on record . And these higher temperatures have warmed up the Great Lakes, from Michigan to Superior.

In addition to good weather, Michigan has had a run of good publicity. USA Today spotlight-ed the state’s Pure Michigan campaign on its front page, crediting the ads for going beyond bolstering tourism to rebranding Michigan.

Kathie Lee Gifford gushed during the “Today” show that she was “smitten with the mit-ten” after making a visit to the Harbor Springs area.

Here in Grand Rapids, one of the indicators of better days has been the spike in visitors to the Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, West Michi-gan’s biggest tourist attraction. The exhibit of work by glass-

sculpture artist Dale Chihuly is credited for generating its record attendance.

An informal survey of 3,000 visitors to the gardens since May 1 shows that they have hailed from 42 states and 12 countries, spokewsoman Amy Sawade said.

“This is the only place in the Midwest you see Chihuly work through the end of summer and into the fall,” Sawade said.

Along with its accolades, the Pure Michigan website contin-ues to be the most-visited on-line travel site. In August, it logged more than 46,000 hits daily — up from 39,000 a day in August 2009. Those numbers, said Dave Lorenz of Travel Michigan, prove the campaign has been key to turning around the state’s tourism numbers.

“If you haven’t made people aware of the potential experi-ence they can have with the right weather, it doesn’t mat-ter if you have good weather,”

Lorenz said.Lorenz said he hopes the

summer results will inspire lawmakers to restore full funding to the Pure Michigan campaign. Most of its $15 mil-lion budget was spent buying spring and summer ads.

“We trying to figure out something for the fall and win-ter,” Lorenz said. “If we don’t get more funding, I don’t know what we are going to do. Fall is critically important, and winter is getting stronger and stron-ger. We can’t back off. It’s all about jobs.”

Occupancy is up 28 percent at the Beechwood Manor Inn and Cottage in Saugatuck over last summer, said co-owner Greg Smith. Guests have come from California and Texas, lured in

part by Pure Michigan ads. He’s not sure what to attribute to the surge in international guests who have hailed from Spain, Cyprus, London and Italy.

And guests haven’t minded the weather, even when it has been sweltering.

“Our guests say, ‘We love this. This is exactly what we are looking for,’” Smith said.

Next year could be just as busy.

“We have weekends in June and July 2011 that are already full,” Smith said.

Among those drawing a pay-check from the summer tour-ism season is Kylie Sluiter, a Grand Valley University grad student. She spent her summer working at the Macatawa Boat-house, owned by her cousins, Aaron and Andrew Steenwyk. The seasonal shack on Lake Macatawa rents canoes, kayaks and the latest rage: stand-up paddle boards .

“It’s been busy,” Sluiter said.

This summer, the Pastrano family was determined to squeeze in as much fun as they could. They recently rented a canoe on Lake Macatawa, marking the last day of their long-weekend trip to Holland.

“We are just trying to fi t it all in,” said Debbie Pastrano, 44, as she settled into the canoe with her 5-year-old daughter, Shannan, and husband, Robbie Pastrano, 44.

E-mail: smartinez@grpress.com

TOURISM IN ADDITION TO WEATHER, PUBLICITY GETS CREDIT

PRESS PHOTO/MARK COPIER

Hooked on Holland: Jim Snyder assembles tackle for his sons, from left, Ben, 11; Jack, 9; and Owen, 4; while fishing the channel at Holland State Park on Monday. The Cincinnati family was on its fourth trip this year to Michigan.

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FOR THE RECORDThe Press sometimes makes mistakes, and we want to set the record straight. We publish corrections and clarifications in this space. If you find a factual error, please call 616-222-5481 or fax us at 616-222-5409.

Scott Buhrer is the chief financial officer for the city of Grand Rapids. An incorrect photo was published in Wednesday’s Region section.

A photo caption in Wednesday’s Business section should have made it clear the Kool Toyota dealership has relocated to 3780 Plainfield Ave. NE. Its former location, 4575 Plainfield, shown in the photo, is for sale. A second photo caption should have identified the former lot of Pfeifer Lincoln Mercury at 4140 Plainfield.

The age of Jeannette (Duflez) Van Der Veen — France native, local artist and owner of Jan’s Interiors — was incorrect in a story in Tuesday’s Region section.

MICHIGAN LOTTERYHere are the results from Wednesday:Midday Daily 3: 039Midday Daily 4: 7804Daily 3: 472Daily 4: 5970Fantasy 5: 2, 23, 33, 36, 37Classic Lotto 47: 5, 9, 10, 12, 19, 46Keno: 2, 3, 9, 13, 15, 18, 20, 21, 24, 31, 34, 35, 37, 42, 44, 45, 46, 48, 54, 55, 74, 79 Powerball: 17, 20, 21, 40, 51Power Ball: 19 Power Play: x3

Scott Buhrer

CONTINUED FROM A1

ing began, Assistant Kent County Prosecutor Helen Brinkman offered Heaven the opportunity to plead guilty to second-degree murder. If she agreed, the felony murder charge would be dismissed, giving her the possibility of parole at some future date.

But Heaven’s attorney, Mat-thew Smith, said his client would not take the deal.

This was good news to Lori Meno, Emily’s biological moth-er, who attended the hearing, weeping throughout.

“I want her to pay,” Meno said after the hearing. “She needs to be locked up without parole.”

On July 15, Heaven sought treatment for Emily, who was comatose. She told medical personnel the girl — one of a set of twins Heaven was car-ing for in her Gaines Township home — seemed to suffer an epileptic seizure.

But when the girl died at Spectrum Health Butterworth Hospital, an autopsy showed a brain injury.

It was only then that Heaven admitted she abused Emily out of frustration for wetting her pants and “being in the way,” detectives said in a statement made in court.

Kent County Sheriff ’s De-tective Randy Kieft described how Heaven admitted harming

the child in her home, at 6212 Fordwick Drive SE in the Southland Village mobile home complex.

Kieft said Heaven told police during a 90-minute interview that she was holding Emily’s twin sister in her arms, getting her ready for bed, when she tried to get into the kitchen and Emily refused to move from a doorway.

Kieft said he asked Heaven to demonstrate and she pushed him fairly hard. He then asked her if she had pushed the child harder than she had pushed the detective.

“She said ‘Oh yeah,’” Kieft said, adding that Emily was briefl y unconscious after the

injury.Heaven managed to get Em-

ily to wake up and sent her to bed, but the girl woke up two hours later and vomited. She then fell to the ground, unre-sponsive, police said.

Heaven allegedly told detec-tives she tried to revive Em-ily and called 911 when Emily would not wake up.

The hearing was interrupted so Judge Steven Servaas could listen to the 90-minute inter-view between detectives and Heaven. The hearing is to con-clude on Sept. 15.

Heaven remains free on a $10,000 bond.

E-mail: bdeiters@grpress.com

CONTINUED FROM A1

cups to her hospital equipment, instructing the staff to pay ev-ery time they listened to her lungs.

She charged a sliding scale, from 25 cents for nurses up to $10 for doctors who, Hutchins fi gured, could afford it.

It made sense that there was laughter at her funeral.

Her husband, Matt Hutchins, told how their fi rst date was to see a “Star Wars” movie. With her head covered in little spiky pigtails, he recalled how she looked like the sinister char-acter Darth Maul.

When Hutchins’ 84-year-old Grandma Norma slowly walked from her seat, up the stairs and across the risers to the podium to offer her memories, every-one waited in silence.

“We might have had a little

organ interlude while I was getting up the steps,” she quipped.

Kerry would have cracked up.

Then Chapman told how her granddaughter set up a lawn chair by the family’s chicken coop and kept the chickens company.

When Hutchins saw that one chicken had a crooked beak, she especially bonded with that one, Chapman said. It had trouble eating. Because of cys-tic fi brosis, so did Kerry.

Her husband, Matt, said he and Kerry knew when they married seven years ago that cystic fi brosis, a chronic dis-ease that affects the lungs and digestive system, might end her life early.

“But we decided it would be better to have a family for a short time than to not have one at all,” he said. “I said I’d be hers forever. She said she’d be mine forever. Unfortunate-ly, forever isn’t as long as we’d hoped.”

Their 4-year-old son, Aiden, snuggled on his dad’s shoul-der as they followed the fl ow-er-covered casket down the church aisle.

Hutchins’ dad, George Roby, usually wears a T-shirt that reads “Donate.” Wednesday, he wore a gray suit coat. But when he talked about his daughter, he told of her hope that people would consider signing up to be organ donors.

“Please have that conversa-tion with your family,” Roby told the church full of people. “Talk about the tough things. Then maybe you can meet that emotional time with a bit of logic, and let your loved one live on through transplant.

“I have two hearts,” he said, patting his pants pocket, where his wallet held his driver’s li-cense with its heart sticker.

People who register through the secretary of state’s offi ce or at giftoflifemichigan.org will receive a heart sticker signifying a registered organ donor.

Hutchins had one and hoped to offer her organs to give someone else life.

Unfortunately, Roby said, infections Hutchins battled made her organs unsuitable for transplant.

“I was disappointed about that,” he said, “and Kerry would be, too.”

E-mail: thamilton@grpress.com

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