Sunday Jordan River "Church" Clean-up, dedicated to Norm Fred
and the Boardman River Clean Sweep, May 31st, 2020.

A "faith" gesture. Attended by Ron C., Glenn B., and Jackie A.

If you are fortunate enough to know Norm Fred, you may be aware that, when on a river, he often tells
his river paddling friends, "This is my favorite river."

Norm says this about many gorgeous Michigan rivers, especially the one he's on. Continuing his monologue
while spinning his open canoe into a difficult eddy, Norm says, "The reason I love the Jordan River so much is
that it was one of the first rivers I cleaned. You know, the Jordan is all spring fed, so it's always this cold."

Reminiscing, Norm continues, "I've seldom had to save people on this river. That surprises me because it runs so
fast, especially after a rain. They used to always dump at the State Road tubes, so we've taken a lot of trash out
just below where the hole used to be."

Repeating what he often says of the Boardman River, he clarifies, "When this river was finally clean, I realized I wanted
all these rivers clean. That's why I founded Boardman River Clean Sweep. I knew I couldn't do all the work, but I
just couldn't stand trash in the rivers."

Norm reaches out with a pair of grabbers and plucks an empty glass bottle from the foam. "Glass. The only thing
worse than glass and plastic is styrofoam!"

Many of us have known Norm Fred for ten years or more. He is a natural leader (he would deny this), and his
conversations often evolve into words of praise for those who've helped him towards his goals in recent years.

Norm praises those who help keep our waterways beautiful, and these caring people come from many walks of his life.

He speaks highly of the Bethlehem Lutheran Church, the Grand Traverse Conservation District, Traverse Area
Paddle Club, Paddle Antrim, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, the Jordan River Action Group,
the Brook Trout Coalition, and the Gates AuSable Lodge, to name a few. Even homeless Traverse City residents help
Norm keep our rivers clean.

The year 2020 has presented major obstacles for Northern Michigan individuals and organizations attempting to keep
our waterways pristine during a pandemic. Many BRCS cleanups require "shuttles," placing vehicles at the "take-out"
of the river.

Placing transport vehicles at the end of a river cleanup is difficult to do while avoiding close proximity to others, so
Norm has come up with a unique partial solution.

To avoid the potential spread of Covid 19, the Boardman River Clean Sweep (BRCS) has requested that small groups of
persons, a.k.a. "pods," of husband/wife, etc., those who already are in daily close proximity, schedule "mini" cleanups
of the rivers and lakes in our area.

These cleanups should be done with as much social distancing as possible, and, at Norm's behest, the Boardman River
and its accesses have already been safely cleaned this year.

Additionally, the BRCS has also spearheaded the cleaning of Elk River, Elk Lake, Birch Lake, and Bass Lake in Elk Rapids,
as well as Lake of the Woods in Mancelona.

Dedicated to Norm Fred, benefactor of the rivers, on Sunday, May 31st, 2020, a small "pod" of paddlers from the Traverse Area
Paddle Club and BRCS cleaned the Jordan River from top to bottom for the first time this year.

Beginning at Graves Crossing, Norm's group, which he affectionately nicknamed the "Elk Rapids River Rats (ERRR)", pushed
hard to clean the entire length of the river.

The majority of the accompanying photographs document these efforts on Norm Fred's behalf.

The final photo is of Norm and I at last year's BRCS celebration. I'm hoping to earn the rewards he has so freely given me.

Oh, and lastly, we agree with Norm. This is my favorite river, as will be the next waterway we clean and admire.
We hope this makes Norm smile.

All the photos are here:

All the photos from this trip