How Williamston aims to bring recreation back to the Red Cedar River

• Video shows unveiling of new Red Cedar River Trail Informational Kiosk in Williamston.
• The kiosk part of a larger effort to create a more recreationally accessible river.
• Williamston Rotary Club members spoke about the volunteer efforts of the community to make this goal a reality.

(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)

On Tuesday, an informational kiosk for the Red Cedar River Trail was unveiled to the public.

"They're finally here and they're up so we're thrilled to be able to unveil them this afternoon," said Williamston Rotary Secretary Laska Creagh.

This kiosk provides information on the sights, sounds, and the "must knows" of the river for those who are ready to hit the water.

This is the second river kiosk installed in Williamston, and it's part of a bigger initiative.

Since 2021, Rotary member John Bollman and Secretary Laska Creagh have been leading the community to make the Red Cedar River Trail more accessible for recreational activities.

"We're looking to create an up-north experience in our backyard," said Bollman.

Bollman explained, "Log jams have just choked the river, making it almost impassable except for the most hardy of kayakers, so that's one of the big issues up here. Downstream there are issues with cleaning up trash and that sort of thing. All along the river we need improvements in launch sites and getting information out to the general public."

Spearheaded by the Williamston Rotary Club, this has been a large scale community effort.

Boy Scouts have been doing recon, reporting log jams, while volunteers have helped to remove them, and clean up trash to make the river more accessible.

To help further those efforts, project leaders are hopeful for a $500,000 grant from the Ingham County Parks and Trails Millage.

"Ultimately we would like to see kiosks like this at every launch site along the river," Bollman said.

Community members celebrated this unveiling, hoping this kiosk is one step closer to bringing residents across Mid-Michigan back to the Red Cedar River.

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