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Up North
Voice Vol. 12, Issue 10
Trick or treat
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Strengthening the communities of Northeast Michigan
October 2021
REGION – Many communities across the Up North Voice coverage area are celebrating Halloween with different events with the same goal: Satisfying the sweet tooth of area children, and allowing them to wear costumes while “haunting” the area in search of candy. A partial schedule of Halloweentype events includes: ▪ See TRICK OR TREAT on page 5
Harvest Moon rising in Comins
COMINS – Looking for an outdoor event with live music? Grab your lawn chair and come check out Pumpkinfest at 5 p.m. at the Skyline Event Center. The Harvest Moon Concert will start shortly afterward.
FESTIVAL FUN – Maggie Deponio, 4, has a blast on the slide at the Hale Live 65 Fall Festival. See more photos on Page B-8. ~ Photo by Kristi Major
▪ See HARVEST MOON on page 4
IN THIS ISSUE: Out & About A-2 Camp AuSable A-7 Firemen's Memorial A-8 Crawford History A-12 Eagle Voice B-1 Hale M-65 B-6 Laughing Buck B-9
Roads and fish benefit from culvert work enjoy,” said Tom Behring, Managing Director of the Montmorency County The Road Commission. Nature At Carter Road, a sturdy wooden of Things bridge now stands where a steel culvert long caused Gilchrist By Creek to flow too fast, contributing Chris to the erosion of a steep and Engle sandy riverbank downstream and sending harmful sediment into the ATLANTA —Gilchrist Creek river. Gilchrist Creek now flows is flowing freely once again since unobstructed under the new bridge, conservation nonprofit Huron Pines and cobblestone arranged around replaced two undersized crossing its abutments contribute to a natural structures at Carter Road and Greasy look and feel compared to the Creek Road, reconnecting more crumbling concrete headwalls of the than 40 miles of coldwater trout former culvert. Carter Road won’t habitat and fixing long be completed until late term issues with road October, Behring said. "The new maintenance. Upstream at bottomless A timber bridge now Greasy Creek Road, stands where Carter arch culvert … a bottomless arch has Road crosses Gilchrist is a dramatic taken the place of two Creek east of M-33 undersized pipe culverts improvement to South. Twenty miles that were a barrier to the roadway and upstream at Greasy fish passage and posed river …" Creek Road, a new a risk of road washout bottomless arch culvert – Josh Leisen, during times of high Senior Project Manager allows brook and brown water. for Huron Pines trout access to vital “The new bottomless spawning, nursery and arch culvert at refuge habitat. Both Greasy Creek Road is a dramatic structures virtually eliminate the risk improvement to the roadway and of erosion issues and road washouts. river over the severely undersized “From a road commission culverts that were there,” said Josh standpoint, we gained two new Leisen, Senior Project Manager for structures that should be very low Huron Pines. “Fish and floodwaters maintenance for years to come can now safely pass through this new and enhance the natural beauty (of structure and this project has fixed all the river) for the public to see and
A significant amount of sheeting was necessary a Greasy Creek Road. Inset: Culvert construction at Carter Road.
the issues of the old crossing.” These projects come on the heels of a 2020 project where a trio of undersize pipe culverts were replaced with a timber bridge where Harwood Road crosses Gilchrist Creek. “Well-connected rivers are important for trout and other fish and wildlife that move throughout the
river to spawn, find food and seek refuge,” Leisen said. “Reconnecting 40 miles of one of the highest-quality tributaries in the entire Thunder Bay River Watershed promotes a healthier trout population, restores river function, reduces flooding and erosion, and leads to safer roads and a cleaner river overall.”