Beating the heat
This is the fourth in a six-part series showcasing ways to have summer fun in Mount Pleasant.
There are only a few avenues of escape in the Mount Pleasant area when Mother Nature unleashes 90-degree temperatures.
Often those avenues include beer and water.
Evan Puruleski spent his Saturday afternoon at Chippewa River Outfitters getting as much use as he could out of both.
And it was cheap, too.
“What else can you do for $10 and a 30-pack (of beer)?” the Sterling Heights senior said.
Puruleski is one of many students and residents who venture out on inner tubes, canoes and kayaks on the Chippewa River every summer.
He said it’s a fun and cheap way to beat summer heat, and Mike Anderson, owner of Chippewa River Outfitters, 3763 S. Lincoln Road, agreed.
“For $10 it’s cheap entertainment on a hot day,” he said.
Anderson said the majority of the college students who come use a tube rather than canoe or kayak. The latter two activities are utilized more by families.
On average Puruleski said he and his friends return to the river four or five times during the summer.
“Usually we get everybody out together on the weekends,” said Midland junior Kyle Winters.
The group of friends came prepared for the three- to four-hour trip with more than just bathing suits and grinning faces.
They brought 72 beers for the eight of them as well.
“Beer is food,” said Macomb sophomore Tony Smith.
Although drinking alcoholic beverages is common among college students while tubing, there are rules that every river-goer must abide.
State laws enforced on the river include no disorderly actions, no littering, no possession of alcohol by minors, no trespassing and no possession of controlled substances.
Area rental places also have their own rules, as they prohibit glass, Styrofoam and Jell-O shots or plastic cups.
“People step on the glass in the river bed,” said Nick Zeien, manager of Cracker Barrel General Store/Canoe Delivery, 20 E. Remus Road. “We’re just trying to keep that from happening.”
There are other problems involved with drunk students on the river.
Zeien said he has gotten complaints about students yelling and using profanity, as well as using lawns that line the river as public restrooms.
“Most people are pretty good about listening to the rules,” Anderson said.
If people are caught violating the rules, they are banned from future renting of equipment from all Isabella County liveries. Usually it happens a couple times a summer, although no one has been banned yet, Anderson said.
When Mount Pleasant junior Molly Brehm goes tubing with her friends, she said she comes prepared with sunscreen, lip balm, bug spray and salt. The salt is in case she picks up a leech.
“Every time I go, one person gets one,” Brehm said. “I know I’m due.”
Leeches aside, Brehm said she made sure to bring her cooler/radio to store drinks and listen to music.
Anderson said CRO is usually busy on the weekends, and the only way to guarantee getting a tube is with a reservation.
“Sometimes you have 30-to-40 people waiting to go tubing,” Zeien said. “It makes it a really interesting job.”
Both CRO and Cracker Barrel turned away numerous potential tubers Saturday afternoon because they were booked.
