For the first time in five years, the Flint River Watershed Coalition’s popular Flotilla event brought dozens of people – some in creative costumes – to the Flint River for a recreational float or paddle between Tenacity Brewing and the Mott Park Recreation Area. But just as important as the people utilizing the river, it was also an important visual for the many people walking through Chevy Commons and other areas along the course who stopped and watched the Flint River being utilized.
“That’s a huge part of what we’re doing today,” said Sam Lazar, director of the Flint River Watershed Coalition (FRWC). “With Chevy Commons and the state park coming in over here, there’s more visibility on the river than ever. So when people see other people enjoying the river, that makes them want to enjoy it too. I think there’s so much perception of the river being dirty or unsafe. And so when people see that other people are enjoying it safely, it’s just gonna bring more people in in the future.”
The Flotilla was a popular annual event that the FRWC started in 2014 as a fundraiser for programming. However, it was paused in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and then a chemical spill from a factory north of Dort Highway in 2022 that needed significant cleanup caused a further pause in the event. However, Lazar said that the community never stopped asking for it to return.
“We’ve had people begging every year for us to bring this event back,” Lazar said. “We’re so happy to be able to do it this year. We’ve had a couple hard years between COVID and then the Lockhart chemical spill. Faith in the river and its health has been at an all-time low. So just to see the number of people show up here who are so excited to get out there and experience nature right in our backyard in Flint is amazing. It means a lot to us to get so much support from the community after being out for five years.”
Paddlers or floaters launch from the banks of the Flint River in Tenacity Brewing’s Beer Garden, off of Grand Traverse Street. The route takes them through Chevy Commons, past Kettering University’s campus, and into the Mott Park Recreation Area where they exit the river near Ballenger Highway. The event also features an afterparty at Tenacity with music, food, and community, all aimed at celebrating the beauty of the Flint River and supporting a wide range of community programming.
The Watershed Coalition is now under the umbrella of Genesee County Parks, and FRWC programming is listed on the Genesee County Parks Calendar. Among those programs is Flint River GREEN, a youth program that has served thousands of middle and high school students annually in Genesee, Saginaw, and Lapeer counties and teaches kids how to study and be stewards of water resources in their communities. They also host a wide range of kayak programs for people of all ages and ability levels, including people with accessibility issues.
“We have an iKayak program, which is for anyone with any sort of accessibility issue, just to get them comfortable in a boat,” Lazar said. “We’ve had lots of people who think just because they have some sort of accessibility issue that they can never get in a boat, and that’s just not true. We have people who have lost limbs or lost function in their legs, and we can still get them out in a boat and get them into recreation. Those are the types of programming, with the education and river monitoring, that we’re supporting with this fundraiser today.”
FRWC’s Facebook page frequently shares information about programs or events.
“We’re just happy to see so many people out here excited to get on the river,” Lazar said.
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