June 10 BRCS - Shumsky to Beitner
Lois Goldstein | Published on 6/10/2023
We had six experienced river-pickers and one newbie out this morning to clean up one of the most heavily used sections of the Boardman. Participants were Mike Rodenberg, Michael Caruso, Jacqui Morgenstein, Jocelyn Trepte, John Heiam, Linnaea Melcarek and Lois Goldstein, utilizing 4 kayaks and 3 solo canoes. Thanks to Michael C and John for shuttle service, and Jocelyn and Lois for cleaning the parking lot while the shuttle was run. We found a full red mesh bag of empty beer cans in the trash bin at Shumsky, so Mike R took them along and later we gave them to some guys who were waiting at the end and helped us haul our boats up the landing at Beitner.
We saw some deer cavorting in the woods and also some mallards enjoying the sunshine. Our take for the morning included the usual suspects: very old beer cans, shoe insoles and flip-flops, chip bags (dug out of the mud by another passing kayaker), a hunk of fencing, two broken paddles (one kid's kayak and a very old wooden canoe), several unidentifiable hunks of plastic), a large rubber ball (about 10" in diameter), and nineteen golf balls. The latter were kind of tough to pick up, since they would slip out of our grabber sticks if we didn't grab them just right. Sometimes you had to take the surrounding mud with them!
We had nice weather, if a bit on the cool side, but no rain. There were no mishaps and we had great teamwork. Normally this section is paddled in about an hour, and it took us 2.5 hours to clean. Several of us reconvened at Bergstrom's Burgers for lunch afterwards.
Report by Lois; photos by John & Jocelyn
At the start: Michael C, Jacqui, Lois, John (kneeling), Mike R, Jocelyn, Linnaea
Beauty abounds with wild iris
High Bush Cranberry
Linnaea
Lois stabbed an old beer can (who knows what brand?) and a flowerpot
Michael with golf balls and insoles
John
Lois hoists up an aluminum roasting pan - filled with mud
It made a bit of a mess in her canoe
Michael was impressed with the grabber he borrowed from L&J
Lumber, flipflops, and 19 golf balls
Our takeout at Beitner; note the juggler and the dodgeball
This project was partially funded by:
The Consumers Energy Foundation
MICORPS
Adams Chapter Trout Unlimited
The National Cherry Festival
And private donors like you.