6th Annual Upper Manistee River Cleanup
September 24, 2016
We finally got a wonderful day to do this event after 6 years of doing it in
the rain, wind, snow and sleet.
Five different organizations teamed up to complete the cleanup.
1. TAPC
2. Boardman River Clean Sweep
3. Bethlehem Lutheran Church "Thrivent Green Team"
4. Kingsley High School Outdoor Adventure Club
5. Upper Manistee River Association
It was a group that ranged in age from 6 to 80.
We concentrated on a new section that we have never cleaned before
Shelhaven on M72 to Yellow Trees Landing
We broke into two groups and cleaned two sections of river - About 12 miles.
We all arrived at ShelHaven to meet our UMRA drivers who ran our shuttles.
We took some photos. The early morning sunlight did a number on our photos.
But here they are.
All of us:
The Kingsley crew
The BRCS, BLC, TAPC Crew with PIRATES!
The weather was clear and cool, with a north breeze that blew us down the river.
One car full of pirates joined us to help do this project.
Jagged Jackie, Terrible Tracie, Tragic Terry and Dangerous Doug
We found more trash than we expected but everyone had fun especially the
two youngsters who were better paddlers than some of the adults.
Some old trash was found- This beer can is 50 years old.
I found this dock near ShelHaven that I will work on later.
The kids and adults all had a blast on this gorgeous section of the Manistee.
It wasn't all fun and games. The kids worked, too.
Quinten Branch pulled this 25 pound 4 X 4 out of a logjam and brought it over to me.
The section was longer than I remembered and the kids got tired so
"Tommy Tugboat" offered to help the tired paddlers get home.
After we loaded up at Hole In The Wall Landing, we all headed to the "Barn"
in Grayling where the Upper Manistee River Association had a great picnic
for us and all the crews that worked today. THANK YOU UMRA!!!
Post Script Note:
"Green Team" to buy a recreational river kayak, paddle, first aid kit, and dry bag
to be used for river stewardship and recreation. This was the first time they were
used and it all worked great!
This kayak will be used for many years by our members to make ours a better world.
We at Bethlehem Church want to leave this world better than we have found it.
We feel that we are here to help take care of God's creations.
GOD'S WORK - OUR HANDS is our motto.
We wish to thank Thrivent for the very GENEROUS grant and all the other nice
things they sent to us and the great things they do for so many worthy causes.
LIVE GENEROUSLY!
Here are a few photos of the "Green Team" kayak and how we used it.
To read the short Devotional we did before the event look here:
All photos taken today can be found here:
Respectfully Submitted:
Norm Fred