THE GRAND RAPIDS PRESS WEDNESDAY, JULY 21, 2010 A7

BY TED ROELOFS

THE GRAND RAPIDS PRESS

SARANAC — Just down river from Saranac, Donna Smit believes she owns a piece of paradise.

“It’s wonderful. It’s so peaceful and quiet,” Smit says, looking out from her grassy campground at a bend in the Grand River.

“We have eagles. Blue herons. Cranes. Deer, turkeys, woodchucks, the raccoons, they’re all here. I love to be able to share this.”

So it has been the past 35 years for Smit, who at age 81 still runs River-bend Primitive Campground. That means quiet time at 10 p.m. No rowdy behavior.

“If I can hear ’em down here at the house, then it’s too loud.”

But that’s a rarity, just at it is in the village of Saranac, with its estimated 1,300 residents.

The village traces its history to 1836, when a Grand Rapids judge purchased a section of land where Lake Creek meets the Grand River. By 1841, there was a sawmill. A few years later, a merchant built a warehouse to ship wheat to Grand Rapids. Stores, churches and schools followed.

But its defi ning moment came not so much with the rush of fl owing wa-ter as the blast of a train whistle.

Local lore says the preacher at the Methodist Episcopal Church was in his pulpit in July 1857 when the fi rst train to reach Saranac rumbled through, blowing its whistle. It was

the sound of the future.“Everyone ran out of the church

and left the preacher standing in the pulpit,” said area resident Marilyn Cahoon, 78, a member of the Boston Saranac Historical Society.

She stood in the building that shaped Saranac, the historic Saranac

Depot. Constructed in 1907, it is con-sidered the last remaining structure tied to Saranac’s early growth and prosperity.

Members of the society purchased the deteriorating depot in 1990 and raised funds to refurbish it. It was moved in 1994 to its current location along the railroad tracks at the north entrance to the village. It functions as the area’s museum, crammed with old photographs and mementos of life a century or more ago.

At its peak, the railroad ran eight-passenger and mail trains each day “It was all-important,” Cahoon said. “The village really didn’t start to grow until the railroad came through.”

But the locomotive era would fade in the 1950s, as the automobile sup-planted trains . The community lost its movie theater. In 2001, the only supermarket closed.

Still, Mayor Grieves has hope .“We take a lot of pride in the com-

munity. There’s a lot of families in town that have been here a long time. I can’t see it ever going away.”

Contrary to the image of some small towns, Grieves insists there’s something for young people here as well. He notes its skateboard park is

often alive with boarders trying their latest tricks.

“ Downtown Saranac still boasts a hardware store, two barber shops, a hair salon, a pair of restaurants and a small discount store. It supports a volunteer fi re department and public library. Residents take pride in its an-nual Bridgefest .

And, of course, the river.Poised in a community park at the

edge of the Grand, two workers were putting fi nishing touches on a repair job on a deck overlooking the river. As he put another screw into the deck, Mike Topp, 57, said he had been drawn to the river much of his life.

“I started fi shing with my grandfa-ther when I was 8 or 10,” he said.

“You never know what you are go-ing to catch — catfi sh, walleyes suck-ers, carp. There’s northern pike.

“It’s nice here.”

FACT SHEET

SaranacSome fast facts about this Ionia County community

Area residents once gathered �clams for sale to button makers.First train came through in 1857�Fish: Northern pike, bass, carp, �suckers, catfish, walleye. Habitat: Supports abundant bird �life, including eagles, sandhill crane and blue heron.

PRESS PHOTO/REX LARSEN

All ashore: Donna Smit, owner of Riverbend Primitive Campground in Saranac, relaxes on the Grand River shoreline as several of her longtime campers fish and enjoy the sunset.

AROUND THE BEND: SARANAC

Peace, quiet and a sense of history

The Grand River Expedition is ready to take paddlers on the river’s lower portion. But fi rst,

the group had to work around some human-made obstacles as it traveled from Portland to Lyons, which

also changed the look of the river at points.

OVER THE HUMPGRAND RIVER EXPEDITION PADDLERS GET PAST HALFWAY POINT IN TREK TO LAKE MICHIGAN

Headed for a hike: Paddlers head toward the Portland Municipal Dam for their first portage of the day Tuesday on their way to Lyons.

PRESS PHOTOS/REX LARSEN

Around, not over: Rich Baily, left, of Mason, and Pat Lemson of Grant, paddle above the Portland Municiple Dam to a portage around it.

Anyway you can get there: At

near right, Bob Crawford, of

Lansing, left, and Chuck Amboy, of

Okemos, put up the sail on Amboy’s

catamaran to assist their paddle.

At center, Don Potter portages his

40-pound canoe around Portland

Municiple Dam. At far right, Monica

Day and Larry Luce paddle out of

Portland.

Photos from the series are available for purchase. Call The Press library, 616-222-5475.