The bright sunshine and the warmer temperatures were a perfect mix for a group that took a chilly plunge last weekend. On Saturday, Feb 22, around 30 brave jumpers plunged into the icy water of Pine Lake to raise funds for North Kent Community Enrichment (formerly Cedar Springs Area Parks and Recreation).  

Individuals jumped for the cause and local businesses sent teams to jump as well.

“This year’s success is credited to having great sponsors and great community involvement,” said Executive Director Jaime Gunderson. “With the help of our sponsors and all of the donors we raised around $5,000. This money will help maintain affordable pricing for programming in our community for youth and adults.”

If you did not get a chance to donate to this fundraiser, email Gunderson at director@mynkce.com for details on how to donate. Or call her at 696-7320.

Fire consumed this Nelson Township home last Friday evening, April 13. Photo from Bruce Duncan.

By Judy Reed

An old home at 8147 19 Mile Rd, about ¼ mile east of  Pine Lake Rd, was destroyed in a fire Friday evening, April 13. 

According to Bruce Duncan, who lives nearby at 19 Mile and Pine Lake Rd, the house was under renovation and had recently received a new steel roof and had other repairs done.

“We don’t know how it started, but we were still up when the firefighters started to arrive,” said Duncan. “I walked out to the corner to look and counted 7 fire trucks, 2 ambulances and 2 tanker trucks that were bringing in water from Pine Lake. It was pretty involved by the time the first trucks started to come in. The house on the corner was damaged some from the heat of the fire.”

There wasn’t much left of this home at 8147 19 Mile Rd. Post photo by L. Allen.

Duncan said that years ago the home belonged to a Gladys Hicks, who was his girlfriend’s grandmother. “She remembers visiting and playing in the old house growing up. She was from the Gillespie family and with family ties, it was sad to watch it burn down. There’s a lot of history in that old house. The house on the corner next to it that received some damage was smaller back then and was a tenant house for the field workers,” he explained.

Some of the fire departments on scene included Spencer, Sand Lake, and Cedar Springs Fire Departments. The Post put in a call to Spencer Fire and Sand Lake Fire for some official information, but did not yet have that info by press time. 

Recently we have received several photos of bald eagles in the area. This beautiful photo was taken by Tim Hindenach on April 4, when he spotted a bald eagle in the trees overlooking Pine Lake, in Nelson Township. Bald eagles tend to stay in areas where water is close by (fish is a favorite food), but will also prey on small rodents. They became rare in North America in the early to mid 1900s, and were added to the endangered species list in 1978. They were removed from that list in 2007.

To read about another bird that has made a dramatic comeback, go to our Outdoors section.

This car missed the stop sign at 17 Mile and Pine Lake Avenue Wednesday evening and drove into Pine Lake. Post photo by L. Allen.

Another driver took the “Pine Lake plunge” Wednesday evening, September 28.

A call came across Kent County Dispatch at about 9:20 p.m. saying that a car had driven into Pine Lake at 17 Mile, in Nelson Township. They then reported the driver was crawling out of the car.

According to the Kent County Sheriff Department, Clinton Felkner, 57, of Oakfield Township, was traveling eastbound on 17 Mile Road when he failed to stop at the stop sign at Pine Lave Avenue and drove his 2009 Buick LaCrosse into Pine Lake.

The driver was not injured and was able to exit the car.

Cedar Springs Fire and Rockford Ambulance also responded to the scene.

Alcohol is believed to have been a factor in the crash, which is still under investigation.

Tim Hindenach sent in this photo of the eagles at Pine Lake.

Randy Johnson snapped this shot of an eagle at Sand Lake

We continue to get eagle photos from area readers. This week we received clearer photos of an eagle sighting at Pine Lake that we ran last week (thank you Tim Hindenach) and a new sighting at Sand Lake. Randy Johnson took his photos on Friday morning, April 22. “I was able to get a few reasonable photos (low light/foggy conditions) from the north shore of Sand Lake, of this beautiful bird,” he wrote. Thank you, Randy!

We have gotten photos from Algoma, Solon, Nelson, and now Sand Lake. The Post asked Ranger Steve Mueller about whether there were now quite a few eagles here, or whether these could be the same birds.

“Eagle numbers have increased significantly during the last several decades due to the Clean the Water and Clean Air Acts and the discontinuance of chlorinated hydrocarbon pesticides like DDT,” explained Mueller. “It is likely that some eagle pictures may be the same individuals by different people because eagles are wide ranging.”

Eagles can often be found near bodies of water, since fish make up over half of their diet. They also consume other birds, mammals, and small prey.

Do you have wildlife photos you’d like to send us? Email them to news@cedarspringspost.com, along with your contact info and some information about the photo (what’s in it, where it was taken, etc.) We will print as space allows.