CAMERA BUFFS—Clarence Blakeslee and photographer and camera expert Ellis White with cameras Clarence brought back from Germany during World War II. White has been inventorying and pricing hundreds of cameras for a sale coming up of Clarence’s collection. Below is one of the thousands of political photographs taken by Clarence over the years. The picture features Vern Ehlers front, Gerald Ford middle, and future Michigan Governor Jennifer Granhom at left. IF CAMERAS COULD SPEAK—These would tell some stories. At left is Clarence Blakeslee with President Jerry Ford. Right, Ellis White cleans and identifies hundreds of cameras for Clarence’s sale of his life-long collection.

In the lower level of the home Clarence and his bride, Lois, began building in lieu of a honeymoon in 1936, there are scythes, a World War II army helmet, old Coleman lanterns and a lifetime of other items. Also find Seneca, Kodak, Kamera Werkstatten, Eho—cameras going back over 100 years of photographic history—on sale to the public September 15 through 17 from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
by BETH ALTENA

Clarence Blakeslee, aka Mr. Rockford, aka The GOP shutterbug, author of the book A Personal Account of WWII by Draftee #36887149, founder of Blakeslee & Son Plumbing, Heating and Cooling, has been taking pictures in Rockford and beyond for over half a century. He is never without at least one, sometimes several, cameras.

At one Sweetheart Splash, the weather was so cold the Squire photographer’s camera froze and wouldn’t work. Clarence opened his jacket and offered loan of a spare, saving the day.

The veteran, who will be 94 this year on October 30, said he had a camera as a boy, but became a collector during WWII. He tells how part of his soldier’s duties was to clear out the towns his unit captured.

“They wanted us to find every gun, every knife, and gather them into a pile in the center of the house,” he explained. At that time he began what would be a life-long passion—collecting cameras. Clarence’s collection includes some grand old beauties. Some are the German-made pieces he brought back from the war. Some are nearly 100-year-old gems built by Kodak and Seneca. Rare Eho and Hit brands are among the collection, as well as the cameras used more recently. Find the camera he used to photograph would-be (and future) president Gerald R. Ford or the ones he took on the nationwide-tour of the campaigning Grand Rapidian. For this Clarence received a plaque from Ford in recognition of “Outstanding Achievement in the Scatterblitzers 1976 Ford presidential campaign.”

Clarence and his camera met nearly all the dignitaries to come to west Michigan during his years as GOP shutterbug. He has taken pictures of all the Republican presidents since he began his political photography with Michigan Governor Milliken—right up to the current president. years, as well as famous musicians (including Ella Fitzgerald), movie stars (including Liz Taylor) artists, several kings, queens and other royalty. He said back in his heyday he was the envy of other photographers who had to wait their chance to shoot the important people while Clarence walked among them.

On August 8, 1984, an extensive tribute to Clarence was published in the Grand Rapids Press titled, Clarence Blakeslee Rockford’s Public Servant. The story reads that the people of Rockford held a surprise party to recognize Clarence. “Despite the fact that Blakeslee is probably known to more people in Rockford than anyone else there, no one tipped him off,” the article reads.

At that time Clarence’s varied collection of cameras topped one hundred. Over 200 have been professionally appraised and priced for the Living Tag sale.

Ellis White is a professional photographer and camera expert who has been spending his recent days in the Blakeslee estate at 17 River Street. He also has been snapping shots since he was a child and has been inventorying the collection prior to sale, He said there are plenty of rare and valuable cameras in the home. One was the same brand as White’s first camera—a Hit mini sold for $1.50 out of comic books. It’s priced at $25 in great condition and with the case included. Another is an Eho, a rare brand favored by collectors. A Brownie Hawkeye is similar to White’s childhood camera that made him “the terror of my eighth grade class,” he said.

Clarence donated to the Rockford Historical Society their pick of the collection. For that, member Joan Bunn chose a modest camera and tripod of about 100 years in age, not as pretty as the others in the group, but a fine specimen for display. Bunn is also organizing the sale through her business, Joan and Associates. She said in 30 years she has never seen a camera collection to equal Clarence’s.

Clarence, in addition to his fame as author, is a former Mayor of Rockford and father of two sons, Neil and Rodd, who have also been mayor. Clarence is a former Kent County Commissioner and served for 17 years on the Rockford City Council, where son Neil is wrapping up his own long career as public official.

Readers of Clarence’s book, or anyone who takes the time to spend a little bit of time with Clarence on the subject will know how life-changing and heart-rending his time in World War II was. Clarence is the first to point out that his life has been a blessed one. Not a day goes by that he doesn’t appreciate the chance he was given to survive combat and return to a long life in Rockford and an amazing journey, often viewed through the lens of his cameras. Perhaps the good fortune Blakeslee so appreciates is passed on to his family. Son Rodd said he has been spending long weeknights in the home on River Street preparing for the sale of a lifetime of collecting and care. He shared one antidote.

“Dad is always looking for something I’ve moved or thrown out,” he said. He told how one large filing cabinet was completely filled with issues of the Rockford Squire. Rodd considered the full drawers, decided the pile was expendable since the issues are now all stored at the library on microfilm (a project Clarence began, saving each copy of the 100-plus years of history) and tossed the lot.

“Dad came in muttering something about a newspaper article with Judge Servaas and DeVos, and started looking through file cabinets.” Rodd described. He said he knew he was about to be in trouble. “Dad, the newspapers were in this cabinet, but I threw them away,” he told Clarence. Clarence opened the cabinet drawers anyway, only to find of the hundreds of newspapers Rodd had tossed, one was overlooked and remained. “It was the one with the article he was looking for,” said Rodd. “There’s a story. I knew someone upstairs was looking out for me.”

This deer in the state of Wyoming was infected with Chronic Wasting Disease. A deer at a breeding facility in Algoma Township was recently diagnosed with the same disease, the first in Michigan.Photo courtesy of the Chronic Wasting Disease Alliance. Taken by Dr. Terry Kreeger, Wyoming Game and Fish Department.

The MDA and DNR announced on August 25 that a three-year-old white-tailed doe from a privately owned facility in northern Kent County had tested positive for Chronic Wasting Disease, a neurological brain and nervous system disease found in deer, elk and moose. It is the state’s first case.

The samples from the deer tested positive at both the Michigan State University Diagnostic Center and the National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa.

Within days of the news, all 40 of the remaining deer at the farm were shot and killed, then tested for the disease. All the test results came back negative. They then tested four other deer, which had been moved from the farm to farms in Montcalm and Osceola counties. Those test results came back this week, and they were also negative for the disease.

While the results are surprising to investigators, Halstead said there are other possibilities they are investigating. “It is possible that it (the disease) came in through an animal that was hunted and killed that was from another state,” he said. He specifically mentioned taxidermy as a possibility, and noted that the deer farm where the animal was found also had a taxidermy shop. “In Wisconsin there have been cases connected to taxidermy. It’s not something novel, it’s happened before,” he explained.

CWD was first discovered in 1967 in captive mule deer in a wildlife research facility in Colorado.

The disease belongs to a group of diseases known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs). Within this family of diseases, there are several other variants that affect domestic animals: scrapie, which has been identified in domestic sheep and goats for more than 200 years, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in cattle (also known as mad cow disease), and transmissible mink encephalopathy in farmed mink.

Infected deer may not show any symptoms for a long time. In later stages they may stagger, stand with head and ears lowered, become emaciated, and drool. Infected animals often have excessive thirst and will be found near water. Experts say that CWD can be transmitted through saliva, and other bodily fluids, and can live for a long period of time in the soil.

The disease has also been found in commercial game farms in Colorado, Nebraska, Minnesota, South Dakota, Montana, Oklahoma, Kansas, Wisconsin, New York, Saskatchewan and Alberta, Canada. It has been found in the wild in Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, South Dakota, Illinois, New Mexico, Utah, Wisconsin, New York, West Virginia, Kansas and Saskatchewan.

To keep the disease from spreading in Michigan, officials put a ban on deer and elk baiting and feeding in the Lower Peninsula, and quarantined all of the state’s 559 deer farms. And all hunters who take deer in Tyrone, Solon, Nelson, Sparta, Algoma, Courtland, Alpine, Plainfield and Cannon Townships this fall will be required to bring their deer to a DNR check station for a mandatory deer check.

Halstead said that in light of the latest negative test results, they are working on a proposal to release herds from quarantine that are at zero percent risk. “We should have that ready this week or early next week,” he said. “We recognize that it’s a hardship, and we want them to be able to get back to business as soon as possible.”

Morrow says she has been overwhelmed by the number of people who have expressed disappointment in the outcome of the election and believes she lost due to factors that can be overcome.

“Out of 23,000 registered voters in Plainfield Township, only 3,000 went to the polls in August,” Morrow states. “We expect a turnout of over 20,000 in November and we believe that will be enough to change the vote.”

Morrow, who lost the election by 400 votes, confessed that she did not do enough to mobilize those who share her views. The Concerned Citizens of Plainfield Township, a special interest group formed on the heels of heated debate over bringing a Family Fare grocery store to the northeast corner of 7 Mile and Rogue River Road, actively promoted Harvey and three other candidates for Plainfield Township Trustee. The four could control the majority vote on the seven-member board come November.

“In 24 years of service to Plainfield, I have never seen anything like it,” Morrow states. She is concerned that this type of divisive attitude and politicalization of the Plainfield Township Board will curtail the progress that has been made over her two decades of service there.

“This is about much more than me keeping my job,” Morrow states. “I believe this has the potential to do much more harm than good.”

Morrow expressed disappointment in the conduct of her opponent during the primary election. Citing comments made by Harvey in the Election Issue of the Rockford Squire that imply that Plainfield Township will be bankrupt by 2010, Morrow states, “That statement like many others is completely unfounded, yet it leaves doubt in the mind of the uninformed voter as to the fiscal responsibility of the Plainfield Township Board.”

Morrow says that she is not interested in mud-slinging or running a negative campaign, but that she will do all she can to make sure voters clearly understand the issues based on documented facts.

“We have a tough task ahead of us,” she says of the write-in efforts, “but we believe this is worth fighting for and that it can be done. We have put together an organized plan to make it happen.”

Genesis Salon and Day Spa and Brieden Orthodontics co-hosted a very successful Chambers After Hours on Monday, September 8. Despite the very gracious and spacious offices, people filled the two businesses, enjoying visiting and sampling from a tremendous spread of hors d’oeuvres from D&W and dessert by Arnie’s. Pictured are Annette Willard, owner of Genesis (back), Michelle Wohlin of Genesis, Dixie Brieden and Mark Brieden.

While carrying a backpack to school every morning may seem harmless, over 70 percent of orthopedic doctors feel they are a clinical problem for children, according to a recent study conducted by the American Academy of Orthopedics. Backpacks are carried by 40 million children to school each year—many of those backpacks are overstuffed and too heavy.

“Young people are putting themselves in danger by carrying too much weight, and I think it is essential for children and parents to learn more about backpacks and how to carry them safely,” said Dr. Stanton.

Backpacks can cause painful back and neck problems and injuries that can lead to long-term medical problems. In fact, a recent Simmons College research study found that 55 percent of fifth- through eighth-grade students surveyed are carrying loads that are too heavy. Safety guidelines for backpacks advise children not to carry anything on their back in excess of 15 percent of their total body weight. For example a child weighing:

• 50 lbs should carry no more than 7.5 lbs.;
  
• 80 pounds should carry no more than 12 lbs.;
  
• 100 pounds should carry no more than 15 lbs.;
  
• 130 pounds should carry no more than 19.5 lbs.;
  
• 150 pounds should carry no more than 22.5 lbs.
  

“There is growing evidence that backpacks may be a threat to spinal development,” said Dr. Stanton.

An Auburn University study reports that nearly 70 percent of the children it surveyed suffered muscle soreness, 50 percent experienced back pain, 25 percent numbness, and another 15 percent shoulder pain from toting backpacks. More than 3,300 children ages 5 to 14 years old were treated in emergency rooms for injuries related to backpacks (these numbers do not include students who went to family physicians or doctors of chiropractors).

Dr. Sandy Stanton and ChiroHealth Rockford will be providing a free, comprehensive program to help further educate students, parents and teachers about the health issues of backpacks and how children can safely and correctly carry them. Also, Jan Hoogenstyn, CNHP, will be speaking on how to build immunity and prepare your family to successfully fight the cold and flu season. She will be teaching the truth about label-reading and the importance of our children fueling their bodies with the right foods. Studies show that concentration and the ability to learn and focus are directly affected by a child’s nutrition.

Join them on Tuesday, September 23 at 7 p.m. at 6769 Courtland Drive, Suite 100, Rockford.

Chris Ackerman and Chari Huston with Huston’s indoor tanning certification.

Smart Tan is a worldwide professional consortium dedicated to researching and promoting the responsible, life-long care regimen of moderate tanning and sunburn avoidance.

Certification requires an individual to be knowledgeable regarding the effects of ultraviolet light, skin types, maintenance of indoor tanning equipment, and a number of other areas critical to professional salon operation.

“We believe, and research has supported, that moderate indoor tanning—for individuals who can develop a tan, is the smartest way to maximize the potential benefits and minimize the potential risks associated with either too much or too little sunlight,” said Joseph Levy, vice president of the International Smart Tan Network.

“As a Smart Tan Certified Indoor Tanning Operator, Chari Huston joins a conscientious group of educated tanning facility owners in holding credentials to best advise salon patrons. Both Sun-Rays Tanning Salon and Chris Ackerman are proud to display the certification diploma.

“Sun-Rays has been in business for twenty-one years,” said Chris Ackerman. “We are proud to offer our services with the best and most educated employees. You and your families will have peace of mind knowing the utmost care and cleanliness is yours while using our facilities.”

Art is on a cart, high school theater is a long way off yet, brain game books get expensive, though they are challenging your student in unique ways. Is there a solution?

Yes, Odyssey of the Mind! Here is a program that rolls everything into one, art, theater, brainstorming, teamwork and so much more. It’s all in here! Come find out more.

Odyssey of the Mind program offers informational 90 minute, hands-on meetings for you and your student to learn and try together. Attend any session or your home elementary school session with your student and find out all about this exciting opportunity.

Valley View and Parkside—hosted at Valley View’s Media Center 7 to 8:30 p.m., September 15.

Belmont and Roguewood—hosted at Belmont’s Media Center 7 to 8:30 p.m., September 22.

Meadow Ridge, Lakes, Crestwood and Cannonsburg—hosted at Meadow Ridge’s Media Center 7 to 8:30 p.m., September 30.

Primary—this session was for kindergarten through second grade, parents and students only. Hosted at Rockford Freshman Center , LGI room, 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. September 10.

A recent courthouse wedding at 63rd District Court in downtown Rockford ended with a ride around town with classic style. The Common Gentry Carriage Company, friends of the couple, surprised newlyweds Chris and Lori Lucas with a ride in a carriage drawn by Pete the Percheron. Pete, at age 10, weighes 2,200 pounds—large even for his breed. Connie Elsasser, owner of the company located near Cannonsburg, said she has been offering the service for 17 years. She and driver Steve Webber said they enjoy offering this “royal treatment.”

SWEETS FOR A SWEETIE—Lindsey Carpenter, 7, second grader at Rockford’s Roguewood Elementary, pays a weekly visit to the Rockford Farm Market’s “Honey Lady,” Theona Gee, to purchase her favorite sweet-—healthy Honey Stix.

Wayne Gee went on to graduate from Rockford High School and today, at age 50, he resides in Hudsonville with his wife, Jane, and daughter, Valerie, 16. Wayne is a road builder by trade but ten years ago, while watching a parade, he struck up a conversation with an elderly gentleman standing next to him. Unbelievably, he learned his new acquaintance was an 80-year-old beekeeper looking to sell his business and retire. One week later, in what seemed meant to be, Wayne was the owner of 15 beehives and the promise from the seller to mentor as long as needed.

Today, Wayne owns and operates 100-Acre Woods Honey Farm, the largest producer of pure, unfiltered, raw honey in Michigan. The original 15 beehives have grown to 1,600 hives housing 60,000 to 70,000 bees in each one. At an average of 65,000 bees per hive, you end up with the astounding total of 104,000,000 (104 million) bees.

At this point in the story, your reporters have to apologize. This was supposed to be a story about a Rockford Farm Market vendor, and it is, but we feel the facts and figures we learned along the way make a compelling story.

Currently, Wayne keeps only Russian honeybees, not the typical American strains. Russian bees are a hearty breed that through evolution have been able to adapt and overcome problems, such as Colony Collapse Disorder, that have beset other strains. Wayne told us that as an added plus, “Russian bees can fly and be productive in twenty degree colder weather and also live and thrive in much larger numbers within the hive than other strains.

“The huge numbers of bees I keep are necessary because, aside from the queen, a bee’s lifespan is only six to eight weeks. In the early weeks bees serve as workers within the hive and only in the last two weeks of their short lifetime do they become pollen gatherers outside the hive. Each bee produces less than one teaspoon of honey in a lifetime! Consider the fact that bees from one hive fly 5,500 miles to gather the pollen from more than a million flowers to make just one pound of honey!”

Additionally, Wayne told us, queen bees lay 1,000-2,000 eggs a day and can live up to five years. The queen’s egg production decreases after one year and in order to keep numbers up, Wayne replaces the old queen each year with a new, young queen.

The 100-Acre Woods Honey Farm places beehives at 26 different locations throughout West Michigan. No location, including that of another beekeeper, is closer than five miles to another. One site, which holds 36 hives, is the original Gee household on Cannonsburg Road, right next door to West Cannon Baptist Church, where Mom, Theona, still resides.

After the first hard freeze of each year, all of the 1,600 hives are collected and loaded on five flatbed semi-trucks to be transported to an almond grove in California to spend the winter pollinating the almond trees in order to produce one of California’s most valuable farm products.

These hearty and hard working bees are “snow-birds” in the truest sense of the word. The trip is reversed the following spring when the bees return to their home in Michigan and the cycle starts again.

Wayne tells us that the lot of a beekeeper is an intensive labor of love. To which he says, “I am addicted.” It’s a family affair in which his entire local extended family is involved. Wife Jane says, “Wayne loves his bees so dearly, he probably knows each and every one by name.”

The production of 100-Acre Woods Honey Farm is sold to bakeries and vended at several farm markets, along with arts and crafts shows and a selected number of upscale retail outlets. Their honey products are also available, all year long, from Theona’s home in Belmont (look for the sign in the front yard) along with the Gee’s home in Hudsonville where the “Honey House” production building is located. Wayne goes on to say, “Nothing is wasted from the production of our hives. Even honey that is spilled on the Honey House floor is returned to the hives as food for the bees.”

100-Acre Woods Honey Farm was one of the original 10 vendors at the Rockford Farm Market seven years ago. Mom Theona, now 80, volunteered from the “git-go” to man the stall. On that first Saturday, Theona called Wayne at 11:00 a.m. and said, “I’m sold out!”

Wayne adds, “Rockford has always been very good to us. We have a great following there. We sell only pure, unfiltered raw honey as opposed to processed honey, which can lose much of its health giving benefits. Our farm market products include bottled pure honey in various sizes, honey combs, spicy honey mustard, all natural honey soap, hand crème, and lip balm, beeswax bars and candles, beeswax furniture polish and our best seller honey stix.

Some of Theona’s best customers are kids who love Honey Stix and call her “The Honey Lady.” The Stix are also prized by outdoor enthusiasts for a burst of energy and diabetics for use in an emergency. Each Honey Stix contains one ounce of pure honey and it is interesting to note that this amount is more than a single bee produces in its short lifetime.

After learning all of this and more, your reporters have come to understand that the colonies inside the hives are dynamic organisms that follow their own life cycle; they colonize, breed, grow strong, then give back to the earth its sweetest of nectars and then ultimately die.

The 100-Acre Woods Honey Farm stall is located, as it has always been, in the middle of the Rockford Farm Market on the east side just south of the Lions Market Master tent. If you’ve never experienced a Honey Stix, stop and see Theona, and for a taste of the nectar of the gods!

State Representative Tom Pearce and local attorney Jim Scales from Blakeslee Fry and Scales argue the merits of their bill in Lansing. The bill was signed by the governor.

Local municipal water and sewer authorities will save thousands of dollars in publishing costs that could be used for vital services now that state Rep. Tom Pearce’s legislation has been signed into law.

Public Act 172 of 2008, formerly House Bill 6121, was signed by the governor last week to change Michigan law and allow sewer and water boards the option of meeting public notice requirements by printing a summary of proposed rules, regulations or resolutions rather than the full document. Pearce introduced the measure after discovering the North Kent Sewer Authority (NKSA) could be faced with a cost of up to $15,000 to comply with existing laws.

“Local government officials are striving to be good fiscal managers of the limited resources they have to provide necessary services and amenities to residents,” said Pearce, R-Rockford.

“That has become increasingly difficult to do under Michiganís current economic climate, for governments as well as families on a budget. Allowing an option that will efficiently use taxpayers’ money while still keeping residents informed makes this law the right thing to do for our communities and state. This new law will help our local sewer authority and others in communities across Michigan.”

Attorney James F. Scales representing the NKSA joined Pearce to give testimony before the House Committee on Intergovernmental, Urban and Regional Affairs. The high advertisement cost for publishing the authority’s public notice is a combination of the length of the document and the coverage area required.

“The timing couldn’t be better for NKSA,” said Scales, of Blakeslee, Fry & Scales, PLC. “This will save the authority a good deal of money. Tom and his staff deserve a lot of credit for his skill in moving this legislation through so quickly. They obviously have a lot of respect in the House, Senate, and Governor’s office.”

PA 172 allows the option for a shortened version of the document to be printed in newspapers of record. Notification of the time and place full versions of the document can be obtained are required in the summarized public notice.

Scales said of the process and trip to Lansing, “It was kind of fun.”

A PARADISE NEARBY—Volunteers marked pathways in Luton Park this spring. The wooded portions are very beautiful in the fall during folliage color changes.

Luton Park, a 265-acre natural wonderland, nestled between Kies and 10 Mile roads West of town, is named for Harry Luton, a retired Grand Rapids-area dentist, and his wife Josephine. In 1993, the couple, whose son John operates his accounting business in downtown Rockford, donated almost 160 acres of the land that makes up the park, to Kent County. They had owned the land since the early 1950’s. Additional acreage purchased by the county in 2000 expanded the park to its current size.

Harry Luton has always been an outdoorsman who appreciates the beauty of the property which boasts a wide variety of terrain including rolling hills, woods, wetlands, and Rum Creek which runs its length, He wanted to know that its natural beauty would be preserved rather than devoured by future development. Thanks to Luton’s vision and generosity, the land will remain largely unchanged for future generations to enjoy just as John and his two brothers and one sister did in their youth. All four of the Luton children supported their parents’ decision to donate the land o the county..

On Kies Road, the property is marked only by a large barn that sits just off the road about one half mile east of Blakely Drive. The Ten Mile Road entrance, just west of Shaner Avenue, can be identified by a sign prohibiting motorized vehicles and another identifying the spot as the entrance to mountain bike trails. There is currently no parking available at the Ten Mile Road entrance to the park near the trails. On Kies Road there is room for a few cars near the old barn for those who may want to hike onto the property from the south.

The property has old trails that wind through it, created by the Luton family as they used the property. Others have been roughly forged by hikers who have discovered the park since its acquisition by Kent County.

The West Michigan Mountain Bikers’ Association, (WMMBA), in an agreement with the Kent County Parks Department is developing a system of bike trails on the property. According to Rick Plite, the WMMBA Vice President, there will be a series of loops totaling six or seven miles. The loops will provide trails of varying difficulty with some suitable for hikers, runners, and even cross country skiers.

There is an abundance of wildflowers and wildlife on the property. All loops are scenic and many offer views of the two creeks that wind through the property. There are a variety of woodlands, with maple, birch and spruce forest habitats.

Volunteers began work on the trails this spring and have completed three loops in the five work days that have been held. One of the completed trails is the most easily navigated of the planned loops. A second loop follows an old two track road that has been partially kept down by walkers who have discovered the park. The third completed loop, with more obstacles and changes in terrain, is the most challenging of the three.

In addition to clearing the trails, the group has included the replacement of decks on bridges that cross Rum Creek in several spots, with a WMMBA member donating most of the needed materials. No additional work days are planned for this year due to the thick growth of brush and vegetation in some areas.

The WMMBA hopes that their contribution to Luton Park will attract a large number of bikers, hikers, and runners. Plite also sees the trails as possibly being a great training ground for track athletes. He would like to see local schools use them for that purpose.

For more information and to see pictures of the progress of work at Luton Park, check the WMMBA website at www.mmba.org/western. To contact the group to find out how you may be able to help, an email can be sent to western@WMMBA.org.

According to Plite, any individual or group interested in helping should stay in touch with the WMMBA. Additional help will always be welcome for future work days that will each run for about four hours in the morning, followed by lunch for the volunteers.

According to John Luton and Plite, the county has long range plans to develop the park into a well used facility. Those plans could include playgrounds, picnic shelters, recreation fields, an observation deck, and parking for visitors. To date, limited funds and the need to acquire additional property in the county have prevented the Parks Department from moving forward with those plans. Thanks to the WMMBA, however, Luton Park has already become a valuable resource for bikers and hikers throughout the county.

Rockford area residents are particularly fortunate to have this beautiful property right in our own backyard.