Harrison Township

A new boat for Boat Town

By Julie Snyder
C & G Staff Writer

» click to enlarge « Photo courtesy of Susan Keehn This boat, recently donated by former Harrison Township Supervisor John Hart, is a new sight at the township sign on the corner of Metro Parkway and Crocker. Photo courtesy of Susan Keehn This boat, recently donated by former Harrison Township Supervisor John Hart, is a new sight at the township sign on the corner of Metro Parkway and Crocker.

HARRISON TOWNSHIP — Members of Harrison Township’s Beautification Commission took great pleasure in a recent project at the corner of 16 Mile Road and Crocker Boulevard.

Commission member Susan Keehn said former Harrison Township Supervisor John Hart donated a 15-foot fiberglass boat to replace the weathered miniature wooden boat that had sat for some time in front of the township’s welcome sign at the southeast corner.

“The little wooden boat was there for years and finally fell apart from being in the weather for so many years,” said Keehn. “John wanted to donate his boat to replace it.”

Hart was township supervisor from 1996 to 2000.

Keehn said the Beautification Commission agreed to replace the old boat and plant flowers in its replacement. But first, Dave Axtell, superintendent of the township’s Water and Sewer Department, agreed to provide some of his experienced crew members to move the existing rocks forward in the landscape by the sign and bury the back end of the new boat into the soil.

Keehn said the Fire Department stored the boat at Station 2 on Jefferson until Water and Sewer Department employees could pick it up, drill holes in the bottom for drainage, and haul it over to the site near Mariner’s Pointe Shopping Center on Oct. 1.

The boat was next loaded up with limestone for the drainage, and topsoil filled it in for planting. Keehn and her husband, Jim Keehn, also a member of the Beautification Commission, were there to guide the boat to its location within the landscaping, and they then planted and mulched to prepare it for next year.

“There will be a new, beautiful planting in the spring and for many seasons to come,” said Susan Keehn. “We are excited to have a boat below the Harrison Township entry sign once again for residents and visitors to enjoy. After all, we are known as Boat Town.”
 

You can reach C & G Staff Writer Julie Snyder at jsnyder@candgnews.com or at (586)498-1039.