Latest / Sidewalk Talks / Brian Keenan-Lechel
Transcript
- RS_Brian_v1 === [00:00:00] I am gonna do it better. Ha. That kind of hurt my hands. I got baby hands. I got dead hands holding all the babies. Brian King Lele. Good morning. Good morning Phil. Um, let's. Let's get caught right to the chase. Where are we? We are at Saginaw newest County Park, Saginaw River Headwaters Wreck Area. Woo. The Western Banks of the Saginaw River, just north of the Confluence, tib, wase and Chie Rivers forming the Saginaw 23 miles from the Saginaw Bay. Goodness gracious. If so, that I don't forget to do this part, if people are like. I've never been here before. I want to go see this. Go. I mean, like you look behind us and you've got a pond. You've got the water tower, you've got the silos, you've got nature. Um, like I, we were talking before we recorded. Uh, I come here [00:01:00] for, for walks when I need to. Decompress a little bit, and without fail, there's herds of deer walking around. You were showing me pictures of bucks, um, like snakes on the path, bald eagles, like, and, and all of this nature. Butterflies. I'm watching this, this gorgeous butterfly right here. Like all of this nature is right here. In the city of Saginaw, it, how does somebody get to here? Like what, what's the address or like, can they type it into Google Maps or like how do they get here? Absolutely. We're Googleable Headwaters Rec area, Saginaw River Headwaters Rec area. The actual address is 77 West. Center street, not center road. We are in the city of Saginaw and yeah, we're, we will pop right up on Google. It'll take you right here with the southernmost bridge over the Saginaw River. Okay. So one, one bridge south of the M 46 YMCA silos bridge. Uh, absolutely. I, I wanna be honest with you, um, there is. Uh, always been part of me that has been reluctant to promote [00:02:00] this place because 'cause it's so peaceful, it's so calm. Like it's, it, you can have a full parking lot out there and you still, like, you're not gonna run into people. But there's always been a part of me that's like, yeah, but what if there's like a hundred people there and then we lose this? But it's amazing. Like people, you, you need to be here. You it. It's an amazing gift. Uh, to the city. I, I, I do wanna come out and ask something. 'cause this is a question whenever we do promote it, um, what used to be here and how did this park come to be? And is it, is it safe to be here? Yeah. Talk to me a little bit about the history and. And the current status. So first, recognizing that, uh, this property has been inhabited for more than 10,000 years of documented usage, uh, from indigenous peoples. Utilizing this with its location on the waterways critical sacred space. Um. You know, provided for and to the Anishinaabe people, and it was taken from them in the Treaty of 1819. So I wanna [00:03:00] recognize that. Land acknowledgement. Yes, please. In respect for that. And after that treaty, the next 200 years, or a little over, this became like a microcosm of industrialization. If you think about any industry in the Saginaw Valley region. This property had an impact. So from lumbering to coal and salt mines. And then most recently, a hundred years or nearly a hundred years as Saginaw, malleable Iron, a General Motors factory. Awesome. So how did it go from being the site of General Motors malleable iron? To this park. How did it get here? Through the General Motors bankruptcy, and a entity was established called Racer Trust, revitalizing Auto Communities Environmental Response. This property and 83, like it were assigned specific remedial funding to essentially clean up the contamination from the industrial uses. And some of those properties are being converted back into industrial use. But given this one's proximity to the river, uh, and its lack of rail connection [00:04:00] now and mm-hmm uh, proximity to the highway, a number of things. It's not a great property for industrial use anymore. And so some great partners at the Nature Conservancy and Racer and others. Came together and said, what about a passive recreational space? I mean, the former factory was on 40 acres of this 340 plus acre preserve out here. So the industrial use was relatively minimal compared to the wetlands and established features of the property. Um, I. So, yeah, the uh, racer Trust, the Nature Conservancy, and then the Department of Natural Resources State of Michigan came to the table to acquire it. We applied for, this is great. In 2016, a $30,000 grant from the Saginaw Community Foundation. We were the Community Impact Initiative Award that year. The state wanted to see local buy-in first before they brought funding in to develop paths and trails and other partners who, it was critical to have that early, which we got from the Saginaw Community Foundation. Thank you. Thank you. S Community F. Yeah. Let's give them a plug. I got my water bottle. Yeah, there it is right [00:05:00] there. People like, like SCF, like Thank you. Thank you. Like you obviously did not do all of this, but you were such a critical piece to saying like. The community wants this, is willing to support this and it, it took some time. Of course, we've been open a little over two years, but that $30,000 has now been leveraged. Total project funding to date sits at $3.13 million. Goodness gracious. That does not account for the remedial activity and cost of that, that is just park development and ultimately reclamation. So, uh. Focusing on habitat and, and things like that, and wild flowers and converting, uh, some of these areas. This fall, we're gonna plant 550 trees with the Saginaw Basin Land Conservancy. We're gonna do another 550 in the spring. Awesome. That's a thousand trees going in the ground out here. Focused on wetlands and, uh, invasive species removal, all sorts of great stuff like that. Um, but yeah, ultimately, uh, the Nature Conservancy brought the DNR and racer to the table, and a long list of partners, uh, maybe too long to get into, [00:06:00] um, but more than 10 years in the making, we have this absolutely beautiful space for Saginaw, uh, for the city, for the county, for the region. Mm-hmm. That's a great space. I, I love what you're saying because it really. Highlights how if you're, you're taking small actions and those small actions can lead to bigger actions, which lead to more people, which lead to really huge transformational actions. Like, uh, when, when we look out into the community and we see like. That one building going up or that one park, little Park being built or investment being made over there. It can be very easy to look at it and say like, like why? Like why are we spending money on that? Like it's just a one acre park or it's just one building, or we should have done that and. Dead. When you look at an example like this, like Saginaw Community Foundation initially invested $30,000, which turned into more than $3 million, which turned into all of this, which turned [00:07:00] into like hundreds of acres of property that were unusable to the city. We can now just drive down the road and experience nature in all of its glory and it it. Took that first little step, that first person who was like, you know what we could do with this? And then somebody said, yeah, yeah. And so I I, it really highlights how incremental steps lead to transformative action. This is a, a great project that describes that perfectly, um, you know, a long time in the making and between the state and the county, that lease agreement. 400 pages of baseline environmental assessment and things like that. Yeah. That were attorneys in the room and like, here I am 10 years ago, ready to swing the gates open. Uh, it definitely takes some time. Uh, but a worthwhile project that's just been so well utilized the, the broad base of users we have out here from folks at Sunrise with, you know, giant birding scopes to Yeah. Uh. Little kids with learning to bike ride out here on our half mile paved loop or, yeah, seeing a [00:08:00] deer for the first time right in the city, so close to home. Uh, it's just, it's incredible. Um, I, I had to restrain myself last year because last year is when I first really started using this park, and it was like every time I came across a new animal, I would take a picture and I would text it to you on messenger. Brian, there's deer out here, or look at this snake. Look how big this snake is. And, and that was an amazing experience for me. And it's not hard to get to, like, you literally drive down the road and now you're, you're here in this and it's so incredible. Um, so thanks everybody, like everybody who had something to do with this place 'cause it's an absolute gift. The snake photo was incredible though, like right after we completed the paths, which are a nice like bright, crushed limestone. This like seven foot long snake just sunning himself there. Yes, and that might scare some users away. Yes, it will there too. I protect my solitude. Um, before we move on from this, where I was going with with that earlier, um, you, [00:09:00] this used to be the site of the, the GM factory, and people are like, ah, like, is it safe to go there? Like, is it like, am I like, is it gross to go there? Is it, is it safe? And I'm gonna ask you this, but I'm just gonna come out and say it before anybody clicks away from this. Yes, it is absolutely safe to come here and enjoy this park. Brian, is it safe to come here? Absolutely, it is. It's one of our safest county parks now, in terms of the, it's not a formally contaminated property. We were talking about this earlier too. It is a contaminated property, but the remedial solutions they put in place, essentially capping, you know, kind of burying harmful things like, yeah. So there are some restrictions, right? You can't, uh, metal detect. Out here and put a shovel in the ground. And it's not like if you did, you're gonna have green ooze from Ninja Turtles popping up. Yeah. But um, if you were to dig down and find that former factory foundation and then take a jackhammer to that and release some particles or thi, you know, so there are some restrictions, but in terms of coming out for this passive recreational use for hiking, [00:10:00] for biking, for birding, wildlife observation, fishing, it is absolutely safe. And it's a beautiful space. To your point earlier. If this space wasn't developed back into public ownership and public usage, what would it be? Fenced off, overgrown, inaccessible at such a critical part of our watershed. It's unbelievable out here. It's 600 miles of streams and waterways for more than 10 counties in Michigan. Come to a head. Yeah. At the Confluence there informed the Saginaw River. I mean, you think about the scale of that watershed, the biggest in the state of Michigan. Yeah. It's such a sacred space to be out here. It's unbelievable. I and I, and I want to give a shout out to, uh Johnny Panther adventure request. Yeah, because if, if you are a person who lives in Saginaw and you have not been at the confluence of all of those rivers, you need to go to Facebook and you need to type in Johnny Panther Adventure Quests, and you will go on a boat with him and he will tell you amazing stories. He's an amazing person. [00:11:00] He's charming. Funny. He cares about nature of Saginaw nature in the river more than anybody I knew. He grew up on those rivers. He will tell you every little nook and cranny, it's an incredible like corporate. Like you wanna take your team of 10 people, he's got a boat for you, you wanna take your classes, he's got a boat for you. Like my mouth was open the entire time. He took me on a tour and I got like the. The 60 minute quick version. And so what he's exploring, essentially from here to St. Charles directly to the southwest. 20,000 acres of US Fish and Wildlife Refuge and then the, uh, state game area with the DNR, literally 20,000 protected acres come to this big like pie piece. And then this is kind of that last natural transition point to what we see behind us. Yeah. Old town downtown Saginaw. Uh, so incredible. Absolutely. Get out there on the shy wase if you can. Yeah. A new group form Kayak Saginaw? Yes. Are you following them? Yeah. Yeah. I'm interviewing them. Yep. That organic. Yep. [00:12:00] Popup. 30 kayakers a a night, all of a sudden, like, and it's gonna grow and grow. It's gonna be counter Cruise soon. They're gonna have big, they're gonna need bigger parking lots. I, and, and I love what Kayak Agonal is doing because, um, I started training for a canoe race a couple years ago, and my brother lives right off the Cas River. And so I would always, I'd, I'd get out on the boat launch there and I'd, I'd paddle up the casts and where everybody, the confluence. And I was just thinking like. Why am I the only person out here paddling this? Because like, I kid you not one of those, like, I think it was the second time I was paddling. Um, I hear behind me, I'm out on the river and all you hear is like the, the paddle in the water. And I hear, and I look up above me and no joke, this bald eagle is like two feet over my head just flying. I'm like, ugh. Oh, and then I see another one, and I see another one, and they're just following [00:13:00] me down this river. And that is right here in the city of Saginaw. Like it's a completely different side of Saginaw that stretch from M 13 launch on the cas. Yeah, to Wix Park is like a little over four miles maybe. But with the current, the whole way it's like a three hour float. Yes. Two and a half hour and a half paddle. It's an awesome paddle. That is the premier one. And just. Yep. You know, easy launch when you get done here. If you have a car to site, that's perfect, but you can also paddle both ways. None of these rivers are flowing too fast. Yeah, I will, I will tell, tell folks that are thinking about that. Like if you put in at the ca and you go to Wix Park, you can absolutely paddle both ways and that's, that's what I did. Of course it'll take you a little bit longer, but you can, you can go with a friend. You don't have to worry about a car picking you up. It is absolutely palable both ways. So put it at the cast, put it at the Wix. You can go both ways down the river, it's not a huge deal and. Berman on the Twas. We have a small boat livery there and we always tell folks, paddle upstream first. Yes. Just in case you decide you've had enough, at least the current's gonna be [00:14:00] floating in the right direction. Yeah. There's no pit stops on the river if your, if your arms, arms get tired. Um, I want, I wanna shift gears a little bit 'cause I, I sent you a message and I was like, Brian, what do you wanna talk about? And of course we, we had to talk about this place and then I was like, um, do you, is there anything random. And you said, I can juggle. So I want you to be the very first person on Sidewalk Talks to juggle. I want you to be the first juggler on Sidewalk Talks. Do you, can we do that? I mean, can you, you think I'd just travel around with my juggling balls on me at all times. A little stage, but I'd be, I'd be honored. I'd be honored. I'm gonna take this gear off, if that's okay. Yes, you can do that. I, I could give you the play by play. Okay. If you're listening at home, Brian is going behind his chair and picking up two, three random, very professional looking, juggling. Okay, here we go. It's amateur at best, but I got a few, I got a few [00:15:00] tricks here. We'll run 'em by You ready? We're gonna go for the first one here. Yeah. Okay. Oh my goodness. Alright. Under the leg gonna go this way, huh? Huh? Yes. Huh? Behind the back. Oh my goodness. And this one might not look as cool, but it is. It's really difficult to go upside down maybe with one hand and then you go upside down with both hands. No. Yeah, that's about all I got. Um, da da da da. Well, and you're actually good at that. I mean, I don't, I don't wanna say like, I wasn't expecting you to be good because I figured you were good. I didn't expect you to be that good. So in 11th grade, I had, uh, it was to meet girls, right? Isn't it like. I gotta meet girls. I had a dream to attend clown college. No. In 11th grade I had a, a spinal fusion to correct scoliosis in my back. I got a couple rods back there, all the way up and down. They straightened me out. I grew two inches in [00:16:00] 24 hours. Wow. And then for 10 weeks I was outta school and, uh, couldn't lift more than 10 pounds, but they wanted me up and down and standing and whatever. So I did that a lot. I just kind of practiced juggling. My brother had juggled in like the Latin banquet at school a couple times and I was like, I can learn this. And so that's where I had some free time on my hands. Is it, is it a skill like, like once you learn how to ride a bicycle, you never forget, like once you learn how to juggle, is it like a never forget thing or do you have to hone your craft? No, I, I, I mean, it is kind of like riding a bike, especially the sim I mean, the simple stuff that, the stuff I learned, like, yeah, it comes back to you. Some days you're more on than others. It's a weird, uh, you know, whatever. Some days are good juggling days and some days, yeah, it's a, yeah, it's a gut feeling. You just kind of know if you're gonna have it or not. It's a cool party trick. I've always wanted to learn how to juggle, but I stop at like just one. The, yeah. I didn't juggle, um, a lot in college, but I had a [00:17:00] party trick. A buddy, a roommate, he worked for the high school newspaper. He memorized every high school's mascot in the entire state. And I'm talking class A through however far down they go. So you can imagine being in a room with 50 people. Yeah. And they're like, okay. Yeah. Well, Midland Dow. Course, right? Yeah. Like that's a huge school. But then it'd be like, uh, epi Fet. You'd be like, oh, the Raiders, you mean go Raiders. You'd be super into it and it, yeah. Anyway, we're into wild. Yep. Um, I, I wanna ask you this question 'cause I've always been curious and I, I've never had the chance to ask you. Your name is Brian Keenan Luck. Yes, sir. You have a hy, a hyphenated last name, and, and I've always like, I wanted to know there's gotta be a story behind that. Yeah. Can I ask you like, why, why do you have two last names? Yeah. Well, I, I mean, my wife and I, uh, we, she's actually a. Heritage High school grad as well. Yeah. We didn't really know each other in high school. We, we re-met, um, in 2015, early 2015 and, [00:18:00] uh, you know, fell in love. Right? Yeah. The rest is history, but those are things you talk about. And, um, at the time she was doing her PhD program at Michigan State University and she was already a published author under Sarah Keenan. And so that was one of the reasons, and I guess I should preface this to say. You know, to each their own and folks make choices and uh, you know, so it's, no, no offense to anyone who takes the name or doesn't or stays separate, you know? Yeah. Keeps their own name, all those things. But we kind of, uh, had decided early on that if we were to get married, yeah. We would hyphenate and kind of share both of our family's legacies and that way, uh, children in the future would have both of our names as well. I mean, she grew 'em, right? Yeah. That was, uh, a main point. Uh, creating a new dynasty. That was always a funny thing. Um, uh, there's a lot of hyphenated names on the back of NFL jerseys. Yeah. So it's like, maybe that's part of it. I don't know. I, I, I love it. Love it. It's a, it's a way to show that you value something. Yeah, absolutely. And I love the way that you phrased it. It is like, like we're, we're not. Judging other people [00:19:00] who don't like, it's just a way to say like, no, this is important to both of us, so let's do it. And honestly, it is something that I've thought about. 'cause I have three daughters and, um, like, like, where does that last name go? Like, I've just got a kind of hope. My, my brother has, uh, sons. Um, but with a different last name. My, my other brother, he's got a daughter as well. And so it's like you, we could be potentially looking at the end of that last name and that's, I mean, it feels like a big deal. So I love, I love this. It's like saying, well, we, we want to carry on both our family's legacy in this way. A couple other ideas we had jumble all the letters together and try and, uh, anagram it. Um, create a new one. Yep. Uh, I will say though, into, uh, a lot of, you know, uh, women that take their husband's last names, it is incredibly difficult in a challenge to change your last name. We're still dealing with it in a hilarious. Story is we went to, you have to go to a lot of places, but our trip to the Social Security Administration, yeah. To get the new soc card was one of the first [00:20:00] stops, if I remember correctly. And you have to go into separate, you can't go in together. It's like, are you being forced to do this? You know, all these questions. And we came out and I had a hyphen and she did not have a hyphen on the Kenan Leco. And so we go back to the counter and we show 'em like, well no, it's the same. And we. Well, yeah, but it's not the whole idea of this. Yeah. So back she went in to get her hyphen on there. Yeah, yeah. We're still dealing with like student loan stuff. They're like, like, well, we have you down as, hi, last night, my wife, and like, this is what we have. She's like, yeah, but I got married like eight years ago and everything else is fine. They're like, yeah, but, and we're still dealing with it. So I feel that. Yeah. Um, we were talking before outhouse races. This is a big year for outhouse races this year. It absolutely is what happened at Outhouse Races. We got some, uh, bikers coming up behind behind us here to check out the view. Yes, gentlemen, come on up. Yes. You can roll over these cords if you want and show us. Yes, yes. Come [00:21:00] on through. Bikers. Come on through. Yeah, we got two bikers coming. Wow. You guys are very fit. Getting it like coming up this hill, like it's hard enough walking through this hill. Yeah. This is awesome. Do you guys come here a lot? Yeah. Every day at lunch, every day At lunch, you come here? No, not every day at lunch. Okay. How, how far do you bike? Like do you bike a lot? Like a long distance? A seven mile loop? Yeah. Wow. See. Fantastic. Look at this park bikers. This is awesome. Well, thanks guys. This is very cool. Take care. Yeah, those are nice bikes. You're very fit, you're, you're both very fit and healthy. Okay, we will. Riverfront Saginaw, Facebook. Okay. The way down's. Way more fun. Yeah, I was gonna say though, the way down, you can see 'em in this camera, I'm sure. Oh yeah. Look at them. They're going. Um, so [00:22:00] outhouse races. Was a big year. What happened this year? We got contacted by E-S-P-N-A production company, ESPN. Awesome. Yeah. They wanted to come film the outhouse races and put it on national television. That's so super cool. What, for people, like if you're living in. In the city, you should know what the outhouse race is and you should be there. But no judgment. No guilt. What? What are the outhouse races? Yeah, so at Hoyt. At Saginaw, winter Gem, the city of Saginaw, winter Gem, yes. Hoyt Park and Saginaw folks have been skating and sledding down there for over a hundred years. Yes. Uh, but the outhouse races are in their 14th year, and it is essentially, uh, you get a group of people together to build an outhouse. Uh, needs to be at least six foot tall, but some are more creative, right? There's a rocket. The fireworks have a rocket, some have more traditional looking outhouses, all sorts of things, but you construct this outhouse with a toilet seat. An individual's gonna ride on that and up to four people are going to either push or pull it down a track. We've been doing it [00:23:00] 14 years. Uh, we've had as many as 15, 16, uh, entries. And this year with the ESPN coverage and some M live and statewide stuff, we had 18 entries. And it just was an absolutely beautiful day down there. Awesome. And actually, ESPN contacted us and said, you can promote it as ESPN will be there, but there's no guarantee it will be on. Oh yeah. ESPN. Okay, but we know now we're recording before this, but we know now. Friday, August 1st, it aired at 7:00 AM on ESPN two during its OCHO crossover. Awesome. August 1st. August 1st, okay. Yes sir. August 1st, baby Saginaw on ESPN. Yeah. Amazing. It'll be out on YouTube. Eventually you'll be able to see it. A neat, kind of produced 23, 24 minute episode of the day. Um, but yeah, the outhouse races, that's. Just part of the thing I love about Saginaw is like silly ideas like that or like Jared and I's kickball tournament that we've been doing for about the same amount of time. Like people just [00:24:00] lean into stuff. Um, we, we are the city that when our waterworks went up, we had a formal. Horse-drawn carriage funeral and buried the last water pump. And it, it lies in state under the ground of our water. Works. Like that's Saginaw. That's always been Saginaw. I, I just saw, I don't know if it was on the city's page or Yeah, it was on the city's page. I just posted that they were pouring buckets of water on it. Like instead of putting flowers in it. Yes. Uh, pouring water on top. Fantastic. Wild. It's, it is in Saginaw, DNA. Like, we're always gonna be a little bit saucy, a little bit weird, but also a little bit saucy. I love it. Talk to me before I let you go about keep Saginaw kicking. What is it, what is it accomplish in the community? When is it? Gimme the det. Yeah. Uh, first Saturday in November, which is a hilarious time to have a kickball tournament. It is, but, uh, keep saginaw kicking adult charitable kickball tournament. So we've been doing this a long time. This will be our 14th year, um, teams, uh, whether it's individuals, friends, or organizations that send [00:25:00] employees down. You form a co-ed. Team for kickball, you pay an entry fee and you come down, all the money raised, goes right back to charity. The winning team donates a thousand dollars to the charity of their choice. Friends of Hoyt Park receives, proceeds the Saginaw YMCA annual campaign sending kids to Camp Timbers and for yeah, swim lessons and things like that, receive proceeds. Um, and just a great day down at Hoyt Park that, uh, is it. Is a great time and something that folks, again, lean into our community loves and plays, and now we have like serious kickball teams that enter it and that's, you know, but so's training all year for this. There's some competitive edge, but also a lot of folks down there just looking to have fun and a good time. And that's been happening a lot at Hoyt Park lately. What a, what a gem. Yeah. Having fun, doing good in the community. Keep Saginaw kicking. But of course what you do at at Saginaw County Parks and Rec is having fun. In nature, providing resources to the city, to the county. Um, doing good for, for, for us. Um, so Brian, Keenan, luck.[00:26:00] I want to thank you for joining us on Sidewalk Talks, but also for all of course all the work that you do, riding around in the trucks with your crew and doing all this stuff for us. And, and we get to just come at the top of this hill and enjoy this nature and deer and bikers and it's. It's awesome. Appreciate you having us so much. It's a, a small but mighty Parks crew that we have and we're so proud to provide, uh, so much for the county and the city and, and everywhere. Uh, we just, I feel incredibly fortunate in my role and, uh, appreciate you having me today. Awesome. We're fortunate to have you. Thanks so much, buddy. Thanks, brother. Awesome. Yeah. Cool.