DeWitt Twp, MI ---  Logjambee 07

Members of Friends of the Looking Glass spent Sunday the 14th cutting and partially clearing a dozen logjams in the Looking Glass River in DeWitt Township. Volunteers with chainsaws, ropes and waders met at River Trail Park pavilion in DeWitt at 9AM, split into three teams and set off to three pre-determined sites. River access was granted from private landowners Mark Khol, Jim Williams and Ken Hasper.  Several jams were located between the mouth of the Remy Chandler and the Old 27 bridge.  The majority of the jams clogged the river over a half-mile stretch downstream (westward) from the Old 27 bridge, according to organizer Bob Bishop.  He said several jams contained multiple logs and tons of debris in which case openings were cut and chunks cleared deep into the wetlands to prevent their reentering the river during prevelant fall and spring flooding.  The cuts allow ample flow and safe canoe and kayak passage.  Much woody debris was left for fish and aquatic habitiat improvement.  The logjambee teams devoured a hearty brats and fixins' lunch at the pavilion at 12:30, and finished up the worked at 4PM. Long time DeWitt resident and former auto dealer Pat McCrackin donated a check for $200 to FLG to cover lunch expenses, with the balance going to FLG's general fund. Special thanks to Mr. & Mrs McCrackin and FLG members Jon Morrison, Jackie Campbell, Mike Gray, Gary Kohlhepp, Susan Jones and Kathy and Bob Bishop.

Downstream of the township log jam activities, DeWitt teachers Mark Servis and Larry Arbanas cleaned up seven bags of broken glass bottles along with other metal junk from the historic DeWitt village dump, on the north bank of the Looking Glass River opposite Riverside Park.  Senior citizens have related to Arbanas that they recall village dump trucks unloading trash down the bank many years ago, a somewhat customary practice in times past, prior to the advent of community recycling and trash removal services and the rise of community environmental groups like Friends of the Looking Glass.  Permission for the first phase of the clean up -- the source of many bottles in the river according to Arbanas -- was given by the LeFever family who live at the corner of Washington and Market St. in DeWitt.  Arbanas was recently pictured in the LSJ with over 300 bottles he'd collected from the river in just a few days while kayaking downstream of the site.  Arbanas said:  "We took a lot of glass right out of the edge of the river among the rocks. The most difficult job was carrying the glass up the steep bank in buckets. Most of the glass bottles were broken but with the amount of glass we removed, it made my 300 bottles look like a drop in the bucket."  Arbanas and Mike Gray returned to the site two days later and completed the clean up by removing 4 more bags of glass and junk from the riverbank site.  FLG reminds readers that anyone interested in becoming a member can do so by visiting their website:  www.lookingglassriverfriends.org

To sign up for next year's FLG logjambee, email: rjb60@comcast.net