www.mlive.com 75¢WEDNESDAY, JULY 21, 2010

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BY HOWARD MEYERSON

PRESS OUTDOORS EDITOR

F rom Lyons to Grand Haven, with the exception of the Fourth Street dam in Grand Rapids, the lower Grand River is open for passage.

It was once the unobstructed province of Indians and French fur traders and, later, steamships .

Today, the watery thoroughfare meanders through a changed landscape . The savannas and forests that once lined its banks have been replaced by modern features — a checkerboard of commerce, agriculture, homes, parks and playgrounds.

Over the next six days, the Grand River Expedition members will see much of it up close: its beauty, its bounty and its unsightliness.

“I don’t go downriver from where I live because the entire energy of the water changes,” said Bruce Ling, of Comstock Park. He has lived along

the river for years.Ling prefers to fi sh

upstream where, he says, the waters are cleaner. His favorites are catfish, small-mouth bass, walleye, northern pike.

“I know that part of the river like the back of my hand,” said Ling, a professional fi ddler and licensed electrician. “There’s a great blue heron rookery we like to check on and a bunch of great swimming holes.

“But downstream there is no vi-brancy. The river is fl at. There are a lot of (factories) in Comstock Park and lots of impervious surfaces where the oil and anything on them washes into the river.”

Scientists and others who study the river say the Grand is a mixed bag of good and bad. Beautiful naturally, scenic in many places, but communi-ties along its length struggle with the byproducts of development.

Andy Bowman, planning director for the Grand Valley Metro Council and staff coordinator for the Lower Grand Organization of Watersheds program, said the lower river is bet-ter than it was. Progress has been made controlling pollution, but sedi-mentation and E. coli remain serious problems.

The E. coli comes from farm runoff SEE LOWER, A6

PRESS PHOTO/REX LARSEN

Looking upstream: Many bridges cross the Grand in the urban landscape of downtown Grand Rapids. Visible here, from top: Ann Street, railroad bridge, Leonard Street, Sixth Street, eastbound and westbound I-196, Bridge Street, the Gillette pedestrian bridge, Pearl Street, Blue Bridge (pedestrian), Fulton Street, U.S. 131.

The river we know

THE GRAND TOURDISCOVERING OUR GRAND RIVER

As expedition enters Lower Grand, the West Michigan landscape comes into view,and threats to health of the water become more complicated

Bruce Ling

Back on the water:

Participants in the Grand River Expedition 2010

pass under a railroad trestle

in downtown Portland on Tuesday as

they set off in the morning,

headed 18 miles downstream to

Lyons.

PRESS PHOTO/REX LARSEN

HUNGRY GIRL DELIVERSInternet weight-loss

goddess figures out ways

to fill you up.Your Life B1

BY JOHN TUNISON AND NATE REENS

THE GRAND RAPIDS PRESS

GRAND RAPIDS — Hank Schriever disagreed with authorities when they put his 5-year-old twin granddaugh-ters in foster care in February, but assumed they would be safe.

He was distraught to learn police think a foster care mother is responsible for caus-ing the death of one of the girls, Emily Marie Meno.

“My feeling is this never should have happened,” the Ce-dar Springs man said. “That’s why I’m so cot-ton-pickin’ mad about the whole system.”

Emily died Saturday at Spectrum Health Butterworth hospital from a traumatic brain injury that happened late Thursday or early

Friday. Police did not release the fos-ter mother’s name.

“She had blood on the brain,” Schriever said of his granddaughter. “The family went to the hospital late at night, and they stayed there over-night and all through the next day.”

The death is the second blow to the family in two years. Meno’s half-sister, 10-year-old April Kirtley, was

SEE DEATH, A2

Foster mom

accused in girl’s

death

CONNECTLatest on �

possible arraignment at mlive.com/gr

BY JIM HARGER

THE GRAND RAPIDS PRESS

GRAND RAPIDS — State Rep. Jus-tin Amash says he’s being “principled, consistent and conservative” when he votes “no” on bills with which he disagrees or has not read.

The Cascade Township Republican, now seeking the 3rd District Congressional seat, has been the only “no” vote on 59 bills in his fi rst term in the 110-member Michigan House, more than any other state lawmaker.

His opponents in the GOP primary say Amash, 30, is an ideo-logue and libertarian

whose aversion to compromise will hurt the 3rd District if voters send him to Washington, D.C.

They point to Amash’s “no” votes on bills that toughened penalties for

SEE AMASH, A2

5-year-old died of traumatic brain injury, police say

Emily Marie Meno

‘No’ votes spark

controversy for Amash

In first term, he was sole lawmaker opposing 59 bills

Justin Amash

BY JEFF COUNTS

THE GRAND RAPIDS PRESS

Day 6: Portland to Lyons. 17 miles. 8 hours. It was one dam day — actually four of them that we had to get around.Morning: The paddle looked easy

as we left Portland, but the river soon turned sluggish and wide, warning us a portage was near.

The talk was of Verlon Kruger, the late legendary paddler, for whom a ceremony was held the previous night at his newly unveiled statue in Port-land. His ghost has hovered over the trip, with people talking about him in hushed tones.

But not everyone is a top paddler. Joe and Marilyn Peckins, of Lyons, joined in, even though he can’t swim and doesn’t like being on the water.

“My wife and I lived our entire lives

near the Grand and didn’t know much about it until we read the stories in The Grand Rapids Press,” Joe Peckins said. “Those stories made me want to get involved.”

Afternoon: The fi rst two portages of the day were meat-grinders, both nearly 100 yards, with the water be-tween them basically lakes, making

SEE PORTAGES, A6

AROUND THE BEND: Quiet village of Saranac proud of its history, A7

NEXT LEG: Lyons to Saranac. Launching around 7:30 a.m. from Hazel Devore Park, arriving at Village Depot Boat Launch.

ON mlivehome: mlive.com

More stories and �photos about the

Grand River Expedition at mlive.

com/grandriver

UP NEXT

Portages tough until firefighters come to rescue

THE FALL CONTINUESTigers lose to Rangers, 8-0, Sports, C1

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THE GRAND RAPIDS PRESS WEDNESDAY, JULY 21, 2010 A7

BY TED ROELOFS

THE GRAND RAPIDS PRESS

SARANAC — Just down river from Saranac, Donna Smit believes she owns a piece of paradise.

“It’s wonderful. It’s so peaceful and quiet,” Smit says, looking out from her grassy campground at a bend in the Grand River.

“We have eagles. Blue herons. Cranes. Deer, turkeys, woodchucks, the raccoons, they’re all here. I love to be able to share this.”

So it has been the past 35 years for Smit, who at age 81 still runs River-bend Primitive Campground. That means quiet time at 10 p.m. No rowdy behavior.

“If I can hear ’em down here at the house, then it’s too loud.”

But that’s a rarity, just at it is in the village of Saranac, with its estimated 1,300 residents.

The village traces its history to 1836, when a Grand Rapids judge purchased a section of land where Lake Creek meets the Grand River. By 1841, there was a sawmill. A few years later, a merchant built a warehouse to ship wheat to Grand Rapids. Stores, churches and schools followed.

But its defi ning moment came not so much with the rush of fl owing wa-ter as the blast of a train whistle.

Local lore says the preacher at the Methodist Episcopal Church was in his pulpit in July 1857 when the fi rst train to reach Saranac rumbled through, blowing its whistle. It was

the sound of the future.“Everyone ran out of the church

and left the preacher standing in the pulpit,” said area resident Marilyn Cahoon, 78, a member of the Boston Saranac Historical Society.

She stood in the building that shaped Saranac, the historic Saranac

Depot. Constructed in 1907, it is con-sidered the last remaining structure tied to Saranac’s early growth and prosperity.

Members of the society purchased the deteriorating depot in 1990 and raised funds to refurbish it. It was moved in 1994 to its current location along the railroad tracks at the north entrance to the village. It functions as the area’s museum, crammed with old photographs and mementos of life a century or more ago.

At its peak, the railroad ran eight-passenger and mail trains each day “It was all-important,” Cahoon said. “The village really didn’t start to grow until the railroad came through.”

But the locomotive era would fade in the 1950s, as the automobile sup-planted trains . The community lost its movie theater. In 2001, the only supermarket closed.

Still, Mayor Grieves has hope .“We take a lot of pride in the com-

munity. There’s a lot of families in town that have been here a long time. I can’t see it ever going away.”

Contrary to the image of some small towns, Grieves insists there’s something for young people here as well. He notes its skateboard park is

often alive with boarders trying their latest tricks.

“ Downtown Saranac still boasts a hardware store, two barber shops, a hair salon, a pair of restaurants and a small discount store. It supports a volunteer fi re department and public library. Residents take pride in its an-nual Bridgefest .

And, of course, the river.Poised in a community park at the

edge of the Grand, two workers were putting fi nishing touches on a repair job on a deck overlooking the river. As he put another screw into the deck, Mike Topp, 57, said he had been drawn to the river much of his life.

“I started fi shing with my grandfa-ther when I was 8 or 10,” he said.

“You never know what you are go-ing to catch — catfi sh, walleyes suck-ers, carp. There’s northern pike.

“It’s nice here.”

FACT SHEET

SaranacSome fast facts about this Ionia County community

Area residents once gathered �clams for sale to button makers.First train came through in 1857�Fish: Northern pike, bass, carp, �suckers, catfish, walleye. Habitat: Supports abundant bird �life, including eagles, sandhill crane and blue heron.

PRESS PHOTO/REX LARSEN

All ashore: Donna Smit, owner of Riverbend Primitive Campground in Saranac, relaxes on the Grand River shoreline as several of her longtime campers fish and enjoy the sunset.

AROUND THE BEND: SARANAC

Peace, quiet and a sense of history

The Grand River Expedition is ready to take paddlers on the river’s lower portion. But fi rst,

the group had to work around some human-made obstacles as it traveled from Portland to Lyons, which

also changed the look of the river at points.

OVER THE HUMPGRAND RIVER EXPEDITION PADDLERS GET PAST HALFWAY POINT IN TREK TO LAKE MICHIGAN

Headed for a hike: Paddlers head toward the Portland Municipal Dam for their first portage of the day Tuesday on their way to Lyons.

PRESS PHOTOS/REX LARSEN

Around, not over: Rich Baily, left, of Mason, and Pat Lemson of Grant, paddle above the Portland Municiple Dam to a portage around it.

Anyway you can get there: At

near right, Bob Crawford, of

Lansing, left, and Chuck Amboy, of

Okemos, put up the sail on Amboy’s

catamaran to assist their paddle.

At center, Don Potter portages his

40-pound canoe around Portland

Municiple Dam. At far right, Monica

Day and Larry Luce paddle out of

Portland.

Photos from the series are available for purchase. Call The Press library, 616-222-5475.