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Being Inspired by…our Friends of the Rouge during River Cruise

As our neighbor at the PARC
(Plymouth Arts and Recreation
Center), we like to support the
“Friends of the Rouge” (aka Friends)
in their mission to raise awareness
about the need to clean up the River
Rouge -- one of Southeast Michigan's
greatest natural resources.
In October, 2018, the Friends took
members of the Rotary Club of
Plymouth A.M. (and another 100 of
their closest acquaintances) on a
cruise down the Detroit River and up
the River Rouge. The primary pur- Rotarians Phyllis Pulty-Bendrey, Erin Archambault and Jeanne Knopf-DeRoche
pose of this annual event is to raise enjoying a lovely cruise along the Rouge.
funds for the organization. More
importantly, getting out on the River the efforts towards controlling pollu- ing them on this journey again in
certainly raises awareness of “our” tion and conservation efforts along 2019.
river and its challenges. the river. While on board, we even To learn more about The Friends,
While we did not cover the full 24 experienced the delivery of mail from visit their website at
nautical miles of the river, we tra- the Wescott II - the only floating www.therouge.org. You will learn
versed enough to take in spectacular United States Post Office. much about the rescue, restoration,
views of Detroit and Windsor. Along A.M. Rotarians were pleased to education, and monitoring efforts
the way, we were informed of many partner with The Friends in their effort these folks do so well. We hope that
facts about the area - history, econo- to more fully appreciate the benefits you, too, will be inspired to join them
my, industry, wildlife, and of course, of the river. We look forward to join- in their efforts to clean The Rouge.

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