WHITEHALL — The Friends of Fruitland Township Trails gathered Saturday morning to dedicate the first of the three pedestrian bridges they plan to add to the Duck Creek Natural Area.
The bridges have been funded by donations and a grant from the Community Foundation for Muskegon County, said Dave Rice, a spokesperson for the Friends of Fruitland Township Trails.
“This area’s got a lot of potential and we’re going to keep that going, because we’re not done yet, not by a long shot,” Rice said in public remarks introducing the new pedestrian bridge.
A group of a few dozen gathered at the natural area, which is located directly next to White Lake Fire Authority Station 2, to commemorate the occasion. Among those in attendance were several family members of the late Richard Hain, a former Fruitland Township supervisor and a champion of Duck Creek’s preservation when some in the area expressed interest in developing or building homes on the land.
“The saying is, you can’t grow more land,” Rice said. “So what we’ve done here is we’ve dedicated this property. People have tried to buy it, develop it, build homes on it. (We think) this is a much better use for this property. When you walk back through these trails, I think you’ll agree with us.”
The new bridge enables walkers to traverse Duck Creek, and two more are planned once funds are secured. Rice credited Westshore Engineering for help securing the permits needed to construct the bridge and a team of volunteers for the help actually constructing it; after all, the funds for the bridge only covered materials, not labor. That necessitated volunteer help. Luckily, Rice said, he and the Friends had plenty of that.
“We had a bunch of guys show up, and one of them...is John Lundell Jr. of Lundell Excavating,” Rice said. “He donated his time and the use of his equipment, and it was very key to getting that bridge in place. The things he did and his can-do attitude made (it) ideal for the rest of us volunteers. I can’t say enough good things about him, and I have to because I’m going to be talking to him about bridge #2 one of these days.”
Rice joked that his son Dan was among the volunteers and “threw our age quotient all out of whack,” because he was easily the youngest of the group helping to get the bridge put together. A group of retired former coworkers of Rice’s at Brunswick, who he said have a standing breakfast meeting each Tuesday to catch up, also pledged support. Rice also credited current Fruitland leadership for its aid in the endeavor, including supervisor Jeff Marcinkowski, clerk Breann Fagan and trustee Lori Lundell, the latter two of whom were on hand Saturday.
Rice said the Friends have a five-year permit to install the other two bridges once funds are available. He said the first bridge cost about $9,000, and with inflation he estimates the other two will end up getting into five digits each to construct.
Rice added that starting Monday, May 6, Ryerson Brothers Excavating will begin work on upgrading the trails to make them easier to walk. The work will take about two weeks.
“Stone is going to be coming in here,” Rice said. “They’re going to go through and level these off because there’s dips and there’s swells and hiding roots and stuff like that. They’ll clear all that out.”
The trails also have four benches, three of which were credited by Rice to local Eagle Scout Micah Witham, who did the benches as part of his project. Rice said the Friends would love more benches to be added, whether through donation or construction. A kiosk, constructed by funds donated from the Whitehall-Montague Rotary Club, was officially dedicated Tuesday.
