From On the River
|
Being given the opportunity to delve into most any topic of Grand Rapids/The Grand I wished, and having the resources of the GR library at my fingertips froze me up a bit. The offered amount of information was overwhelming; after skimming over bits and pieces, I decided to start with something that I felt a connection to, and go from there.
My mom, who grew up in the Grand Rapids area, often speaks of Garfield Park. She gets all wide-eyed at the memory of summer afternoons spent swimming with her siblings. There had been a time where I offered to take her back to visit but she knew it just 'wouldn't be the same'. I did a bit of research inspired by this curiosity, how has Garfield Park changed since then, and what exactly is it anyways?
I found out that it was named after Charles W. Garfield, apparently one of the 'best loved men' in Grand Rapids. At first I thought that may be an exaggeration but after flipping through a thick folder of articles on him, the statement seems to hold a lot of truth. He was extremely into nature/the environment and wanted to donate a big plot of land devoted to the communities enjoyment of the natural world; my mom quite obviously was one of those effected by his graciousness. In 1950 swimming pool was put in, but a few decades later (after my moms childhood had passed) the salvation army attempted to donate a large/improved swimming center, gymnasium, etc. Although my mom wasn't around to hear the debate, others like herself who had enjoyed the park for years, fought strongly against loosing the green space. I have never read or even heard about such a strong negative reaction to a donation. In the end, Garfield Park remained untouched by Salvation, and still remains (although inevitably more worn down) today.
A second topic of research came from the selection which the librarians had placed ahead of time on the tables for us. It was an article named "The River Wild" which I was unable to find a publisher/source for. It documented a 12 day exhibition made by approximately 60 paddlers down The Grand River in 2000. Their goal was to become more aware of the rivers state, document it, and share it with others. Although The Grand was is much cleaner at this time in comparison to most, there was still long descriptions of repulsive trash build up. I wrote down a few of my favorite quotes from the article:
"It takes more than alcoholic refreshment to get people out on The Grand today. For many, the river carries the stigma of a cesspool, an unfortunate misunderstanding fueled by lingering images of abuse."
"The River is full of life, but no one wants to eat fish out of a toilet."
In ways the article and concept both reminded me of this fall's Grand River clean up. It was a way of involving the community in an event while attempting to increase awareness of the rivers state. It was interesting to compare and contrast between the two.
