Monday, May 26, 2008

Riparian Corridor Planning


(click on the Shiawassee River Map to enlarge it full size)
Oakland County Planning and Economic Development

The unique opportunity within the river corridor is the ability to protect
significant natural areas before they are destroyed.

The relatively rural character also affords other opportunities
- such as trail development and natural areas management.

http://www.oakgov.com/peds/program_service/es_prgm/rip_green/rg_shiawassee.html

Key partners include Oakland County Planning & Economic Development Services,Michigan Chapter of The Nature Conservancy, Michigan Nature Association,North Oakland Headwaters Land Conservancy, the Townships of Holly, Rose, and Springfield, and the Village of Holly

Saturday, May 24, 2008

River races take place in Holly


By: Anna Troppens, Associate Editor
©Tri-County Times 05/24/2008

Holly - Douglas Lanyk, of Rose Township, doesn't usually get to participate in Headwaters Trails' Holly to Fenton Races and Pleasure Paddle. As a member of the organization, he's helping run the event. This year, Lanyk, who is vice president, was able to take his canoe along the route afterward, cleaning up any trash left behind (there was none) and checking for anyone who hadn't completed the course.

Lanyk's 90-year-old father, Louis Lanyk, (picture) was along for the ride in the same canoe. Louis gave the large canoe to Douglas 25 years ago. Louis taught Douglas how to canoe 41 years ago, Douglas said. His father hadn't been in the canoe for 25 years. "It was nice to get him paddling."

Thirty-eight total canoes and kayaks launched, carrying 47 paddlers. These included the afternoon Pleasure Paddlers. "It was a wonderful day," Douglas said. "You can't beat a day on the water." Participants enjoyed the diverse landscapes along the route and appreciated the trail work and race day support of the volunteers of Headwaters Trails. They spotted animals such as sandhill cranes, blue herons, turtles and muskrat along the way. "Normally, I see lots of critters out on the river," Lanyk said.

Wind was a big factor on the Fenton Millpond, the last mile and a quarter of the course. "It was warmer this year, but much windier," President Sue Julian said.Paddlers struggled against the 30 mph gusts to finish the course. "Nobody really appreciated the big breeze at the end," Lanyk said. Volunteers towed a couple of boats containing children, which were being blown around. But participants were happy. "Everybody I talked to had a big time, and big smiles," he said. "Even the people in the two canoes that tipped over were smiling at the end."

Monday, May 19, 2008

Race Results - May 18th, 2008 Shiawassee River

Race Results - scroll down for pics and videos

Experienced Class: 1st Place: Martin and Hunter Spees with a time of 1 hour, 28 min, 40 sec; 2nd Place: Lennie Brousseau and Collette Simerson with a time of 1 hour, 31 min and 25 sec; 3rd Place: John and Ben Cox with a time of 1 hour, 42 min and 25 secs.

Novice/Youth Class: 1st Place: Matthew Hill and Adam Schneider with a time of 1 hour, 51 min and 40 sec; 2nd Place: Matt Weber and Brandi Whiteman with a time of 1 hour, 55 min and 14 sec; 3rd Place: Louis and Bonnie Nickels with a time of 2hours, 18 min, 05 secs.

Solo Class (Kayak or Canoe): 1st Place: Ken Foss with a time of 1 hour, 29 min, 20 sec; 2nd Place: Justin Davis with a time of 1 hour, 31 min, 35 sec; 3rd Place: Mark Irish with a time of 1 hour, 32 min, 35 sec.

Thirty-eight total craft launched carrying 47 paddlers, including the afternoon Pleasure Paddlers. Everyone enjoyed the diverse landscapes along the route and appreciated the trail work and race day support of the volunteers of Headwaters Trails. The one wish was for less wind which was a big factor on the Fenton Millpond, the last mile and a quarter of the course. We hope 2009 weather will be more cooperative!

Webcam VIDEO & Photos - Shiawassee River Paddle Event 2008

Video of the racers on the Shiawassee River Water Heritage Trail

http://home.comcast.net/~hollywastewater/CANOEvideo.htm

Keep in mind these pictures were taken from several hundreds of yards away - very windy conditions made it difficult to shoot clear pictures.
-- Right click to save pictures.

Webcam photos & video taken alongside the river - THANKS guys !!!!

http://home.comcast.net/~hollywastewater/CANNOE%20RACE.htm

Shiawassee River Paddle Event 2008

With dark clouds and rain in the late morning along with wind gusts topping out at 27 mph at 2:00 pm & a high temperature of only 55 degrees approximately 50 brave souls still showed up to paddle the Shiawassee River on May 18th, 2008.

Many many thanks to all the volunteers who braved the weather to put on this event hosted by HeadWatersTrails Inc. in Holly. Oakland County Sheriff Marine Patrol even stopped by with their boat to take a look around and assist local Police with traffic.

Heavners Canoe Rental once again made canoes available to all people that wanted to paddle and provided a much needed shuttle. .
West Marine donated the use of a very large inflateable race buoy.
REI had granted funds to build a bridge linking the 2 sections of WaterWorks together.
To all the other sponsors I may have missed…a sincere Thank You !

Videos and Pictures of the race are available by
scrolling down the webpage

2008 Shiawassee River Paddle Event Video & Pictures

2008 Shiawassee River Paddle Event





2008 Shiawassee River Paddle Event






Shiawassee River Paddle Event Video 3

Shiawassee River Paddle Event Video 2

Shiawassee River Paddle Event Video 1

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Finding items on the blog

If by chance you couldn't find what you are looking for
-scroll down to the very bottom-- links are on the far right.

I designed the page using an LCD Widescreen Monitor
(16:10 widescreen aspect ratio) and the far right hand side
links may be forced to the bottom of the blog on a standard monitor.

If something doesn't appear immediately - scroll up and down a bit - it's there !

Tuesday, May 06, 2008

Maps WaterWorks Park & Strom Park

Map for Shiawassee River,
Map for Water Works Park in Holly
Map for Strom Park in Fenton

http://shiawassee-river.blogspot.com/2007/10/map-for-shiawassee-river.html#links