Monroe Falls resident Mike Schnellinger has 30 years of paddling the Cuyahoga Valley National Park’s stretch of the Cuyahoga River under his belt. The former math teacher started out with his children and watched the pastime grow in popularity. Now that he’s retired, he spends his time volunteering to help fellow paddlers navigate the park’s main waterway. This year, Schnellinger won the National Park Service’s George & Helen Hartzog Individual Award for his volunteer service, which includes helping set up the Cuyahoga Valley Volunteer River Patrol, a team of volunteer paddlers.
When I retired, I wanted to do something entirely different. And I really like nature and being outside. [I joined] the Cuyahoga Valley National Park’s Trailblazer program. Just to be a help for the visitors [on hiking trails] and to give directions. If somebody gets lost, I hand out maps. We’re trained in first aid.
There are no other volunteers in this capacity in the National Park Service in America. This was a pioneering adventure, to have volunteers paddle the river.
I joined up, like first in line to become a river rover and then sort of took on a leadership role just because I had a lot of experience. I’ve paddled all different sections of the river at different times of the year, and different water levels.
Paddling is more of a peaceful enjoyment — of a slow-moving river. It’s just so much fun to be able to share that with other people. Because I was just [paddling] on my own for myself. But it’s a lot more fun when you get to share that with other people.
I’m still kind of dumbfounded that I won that award. You do these things, and you don’t know whether they matter or not. You don’t know if it makes any difference. And obviously it did. — as told to Abigail Cloutier
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