FRIENDS OF THE Shiawassee River (FOSR) Board of Directors President Nick Tereck (right) presented the Care Award to the city of Corunna during the FOSR annual meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 21 “for all their great work on the restoration of the river at the site of the dam.” The dam has been removed and stabilization of the river banks is ongoing, with park improvements and the installation of a new canoe/kayak launch planned. Accepting the award for the city of Corunna was (from left) City Manager Joe Sawyer, Mayor Charles Kerridge, City Council member Mike White and Public Works Director Tim Crawford.
(Independent Photo/Graham Sturgeon)
by Graham Sturgeon, co-editor
The Friends of the Shiawassee River hosted its annual meeting at the Lebowsky Center for Performing Arts on Tuesday, Jan. 21, which was sponsored by The Nature Conservancy. A number of awards were presented during the meeting FOSR Board of Directors President Nick Tereck gave an annual report and look ahead, which was followed by the evening’s featured speaker, Dr. David Gallo, a preeminent oceanographer and deep sea explorer.
President Tereck called 2019 the FOSR’s best year to date, due to the record numbers of volunteers and attendees at the group’s many events throughout the year, including the more than 300 area youth that participated in the FOSR’s Stream Team program in 2019. The FOSR also oversaw the removal of the Shiatown Dam, assisted and consulted with the removal of the Corunna Dam, continued to open access to the river with the addition of canoe and kayak launches throughout the watershed and brought more awareness to the river and environment than any year before.
Tereck continued that, in 2020, the FOSR will use a recently received GLISA (Great Lakes Integrated Sciences and Assessments) grant to conduct an educational series of speakers about climate change and related issues. A full calendar of events can be found online, at www.shiawasseeriver.org, or on the “Friends of the Shiawassee River” social media page.
