Clean-up along the White Pine Trail and previous storage area belonging to Tony Johnson Lumber at the west end of Maple Street began on a very cold and windy January 10th when a bunch of “supermen” from the area got to work.
Nick Andres, Kurt Mabie, and Dave Ringler from the Community Building Development Team pulled the event together. The West Michigan Hawks, a semi-pro football team in the Minor League Football Alliance league and based in Cedar Springs, brought 10 of their finest guys to help out. Several other men from the community came along for a total of nearly 20 guys, wielding chain saws and basic brawn to cut down trees and brush.
Everyone got started at 9:00 a.m. and had made a huge dent by 11:30 a.m. Dave Ringler and Rose Powell opened the Brewery and Red Flannel Festival offices for a warm place to eat and Little Caesar’s Pizza of Cedar Springs donated enough pizza to feed everyone. Dave provided beer (of course!), Rose provided hot chocolate and there was pop and coffee for all the workers.
CS Manufacturing recently purchased the property from the Tony Johnson Estate and plans to donate a portion to the CBDT. Permission from the appropriate organizations had been granted to the CBDT for a clean-up prior to Saturday’s work.
There will be lots of other opportunities to work together as a community to plant rain gardens and stream buffers, clear land, clean up Cedar Creek and much more. Please join the team of volunteers working under the name of Community Building Development Team and help to make a positive difference in Cedar Springs. The Team meets on the 3rd Tuesday of each month in the Board Room on the 3rd floor of Hilltop School at 6 pm. Facebook fans can also “Like” the Cedar Springs Community Building Development Team to get information as it becomes available.