RAYMOND SCHERER, A 92-YEAR-OLD Owosso resident, volunteered during the annual Friends of the Shiawassee River (FOSR) Cleanup on Saturday, July 27. Scherer is shown helping to clean up the landscape along the river walk in Owosso. A considerable amount of overhanging vegetation was being thinned out from the walkway on the south side of the river.
The FOSR event, organized at three different river locations including Owosso, Corunna and Vernon, had an enormous turn out of volunteers – the largest ever, in fact with 175-plus individuals signed up. Phil Hathaway, who has been involved with FOSR since it was created in 1997 and has a passion for the Shiawassee River, spoke to a crowd of volunteers on Oakwood Avenue in Owosso just prior to the start of the clean up. Hathaway shared that the river is part of the state-designated river trail and it is important to maintain it and keep it healthy. Obviously, the community agrees with Hathaway, based on the number of people willing to work to take care of the Shiawassee River.
Along with a number of landscaping projects, debris was removed from within the river and along the shores. Because of the odd climate this summer, the river was more murky than usual, so volunteers had a tougher time finding trash from their canoes. For the most part, it did not seem to hinder productivity. A bike, assorted tires, a wallet from the 1970s, furniture and plastic debris of almost every imaginable kind, was collected – removed from the unique waterway that is very much a symbol of the Shiawassee County area. A contest held just after the crews met for lunch for the strangest items found included a television, a deer skull and a large piece of metal.
Volunteers were treated with a commemorative t-shirt and lunch for their effort.
More on FOSR is available at www.shiawasseeriver.org or by calling (989) 723-9062. FOSR Executive Director Lorrain Austin handled the busy sign-up table at the event early Saturday morning.
(Independent Photo/Karen Mead-Elford)