Kayak Launch Opening

Members of the Mount Clemens Rotary Club attended the recent opening of the Neil E. Dempsey-MacArthur Park Kayak Launch located behind the Family YMCA – directed by club member Steve Krankota – at 6 North River Road, Mount Clemens, on the Clinton River.

Club member and retired managing editor of The Macomb Daily Ken Kish wrote: “Neil Dempsey was a longtime member of the Mount Clemens Rotary Club and a former president. When he passed away on Aug. 9, 2016, he asked that donations be made for the facility. More than $60,000 was donated with Rotarians leading the way with an estimated $5,000. Speakers at the event included Emily Moran, from the Clinton River Watershed Council, which will oversee operations at the launch; Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel, our own immediate past president Larry Neal, and Barb Dempsey, the wife of Neil and longtime mayor of Mount Clemens. Mayor Dempsey mentioned that Rotary was an important part of Neil’s community service, which included coaching youth sports and participating in many Mount Clemens city committees. It was, quite simply, an honor well deserved for a great man and a Rotarian who lived by ‘The Four-Way Test’.”

The launch is accessible to people with disabilities. Larry Neal said he could take his (now deceased) mother, who was an amputee, to the area to enjoy. The launch is part of WaterTowns, a community development initiative created in 2013 by the Clinton River Watershed Council which has committed itself to creating 12 such launches by 2020. The launch cost $160,000. The Mount Clemens Rotary Foundation was one of the key donors