Paddling the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland, 50 Years After in Burned

Laura Johnston reports from the scene this past weekend of two big river-oriented events in Cleveland last weekend: the Blazing Paddles Race and the Extinguish Torchfest party. Each event was designed to celebrate the 50-year anniversary of the last of the Cuyahoga River fires.

Saturday is the actual anniversary of the 1969 fire that horrified the nation and spurred the modern environmental movement. Today’s celebrations -- which began at dawn with the Blazing Paddles paddlefest and a Western Reserve Rowing Foundation regatta -- are the culmination of decades of hard work and the collaboration of hundreds of organizations.

The city got out to celebrate the river and their successes in recovering it for their enjoyment, with many more events that the two mentioned here.

The happy stories have been flowing freely on the Cuyahoga River. In March, we picked up news that fish were safe to eat on the river again, and in 2015 we also picked up news of a group of rowers who played a role in the river's rebirth.