Kalamazoo Downstreamers Canoe Club (Mich.)
Biography
The Kalamazoo Downstreamers Canoe Club was founded in 1967 by Bill Carnes and Carl Bennett. The club was formed to encourage family fun on area waterways, participate in local river cleanups, and promote water sport safety. The Downstreamers took part in two or more river runs every month. The group offered canoe rentals and low dues-rates to encourage participation. The Kalamazoo Downstreamers regularly trekked to rivers across the Midwest where they canoed, camped, and participated in river cleanups.
In 1976 the Kalamazoo Downstreamers Club lobbied for the passage of the Michigan Bottle Bill, which raises money for community cleanups and pollution prevention by creating a bottle deposit. The deposit encourages consumers to recycle their products. The passage of the Bottle Bill was a victory for the Downstreamers and environmentalists across Michigan.
The Downstreamers Club remained active into the 2000s. The club held public canoe clinics and an annual Club Picnic. In 1967, there were fifty families actively involved with the Downstreamers Club.