Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project

09/02/2026

09/01/2026 - 9 & 10 News - Resident Activist, Carrie Ketterer adds five life rings to Emmet County beach

EMMET COUNTY - Five new life rings are now in place at Emmet County’s Sturgeon Bay Beach as part of an effort to bolster water safety. The new equipment was installed a little more than a year after 14-year-old Jackson McCardle drowned at the beach.

The drowning occurred near Bliss in August of last year when two teenagers struggled in the water. Beachgoers managed to rescue one boy, but McCardle submerged before rescuers could reach him.

Carrie Ketterer, who was present at the beach during the drowning, initiated efforts to improve water safety following the tragedy. Her and Jakson’s families search for water safety solutions led to a partnership with the Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project and the placement of the five life-ring stations along the shore.

“It took about a week, and I wasn’t able to sleep and I was quite emotional about it,” Ketterer said. “And after a week of tears and not sleeping well, I got on the internet and looked for water safety and found the Great Lakes Surf Rescue project. I just realized how we’re surrounded by water and kids don’t know what to do in a water emergency.”

Ketterer noted that seeing the equipment offers reassurance to visitors. “I look down the beach, and I see these orange pops and I smile,” Ketterer said. “It means that maybe someday, if anybody’s in this emergency situation, this equipment is there to save them.”

Bob Pratt, executive director of the Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project, explained that safety equipment can play a pivotal role during rescues. “Had there been this life ring? There’s a distinct possibility that both people could have been saved,” Pratt said.

Pratt highlighted that conditions on the Great Lakes pose significant hazards compared to inland lakes. “The Great Lakes really are far more like the ocean than they are a lake,” Pratt said. “So, yes, there are dangerous currents like rip currents and structural currents. The waves themselves, the water, the temperature of the water is usually much, much colder than it is an inland lake.”

https:
//www.9and10news.com/2026/09/01/great-lakes-surf-rescue-project-adds-five-life-rings-to-emmet-county-beach/

Emmet County has installed five new life rings at Sturgeon Bay Beach to enhance water safety following the drowning of 14-year-old Jackson McCardle.

09/02/2026

Life Ring Dedication Ceremony - In Memory of Lake Michigan Drowning Victim

Part of the process of grief, healing, and hope
To save lives in the future

59 Great Lakes Drownings to date in 2026
32 of those in Lake Michigan
1,474 Great Lakes Drownings since 2010

STURGEON BAY BEACH, MI – Witnesses, first responders, and family members of the 2025 drowning death of Jackson McCardle, 14, will gather to dedicate 5 life ring satiations that were recently installed on the beach.

The dedication ceremony will be Wednesday, September 2, 2026, 6:30 p.m. EDT at Sturgeon Bay Beach, 9680-10498 N Lake Shore Dr, Carp Lake, MI 49718. Accessible from N. Lake Shore Drive where M-119 turns into Sturgeon Bay Trail.

A WITNESS TAKING ACTION IN THE AFTERMATH OF TRAGEDY
“The installation of the life ring stations shows that Bliss Township cares enough to provide safety equipment, so another family won’t have to suffer like Jackson’s family,” said Carrie Ketterer.

“The life ring stations are a reminder to every beach goer that the lake is beautiful, but dangerous. Hopefully every person will think about that before entering the water.”

“And if someone is in trouble, the life rings may offer the chance for people on the beach to rescue a swimmer.”

Ketterer was at the beach on August 3, 2025, when Jackson McCardle, 14, a student at Alanson School, drowned. McCardle and another teen were seen struggling in currents. Bystanders were able to pull the other teen from the water, saving his life, but Jackson had submerged.

Just weeks after the incident, Ketterer contacted the Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project for water safety consoling and consulting.

She raised funds through the Petoskey-Harbor Springs Area Community Foundation the local schools, and organized a GLSRP water safety tour that included water safety education for three school districts K-12 and two First Responder In-service trainings (Alanson, Pelston, and Frankfort school districts, and Emmet County Emergency Operations Center and Frankfort Fire Department.)

“This is how I am dealing with this,” Ketterer said. “Doing this for the children. For peace of mind. I worry about the woman who was only able to rescue the one boy. I think often about the boy who survived, about Jackson’s family, and of course Jackson. And I think about the other local drownings.”

On July 5, 2025, Christopher Houseworth, 16, a Pellston student from Levering, Michigan, drowned alongside his father, Dale Houseworth, 54, in a tragic incident on Burt Lake, and on August 18, 2024, Brendan Wilson, 20, of Burton drowned at Frankfort Beach attempting to rescue his girlfriend.

“I look forward to the day that water safety is in all schools. By teaching our kids what to do in a water emergency, they will hopefully remember to flip onto their backs and float until someone can rescue them. I don’t understand why this isn’t taught in schools, especially in Michigan, where we are surrounded by water,” Ketterer concluded.

A MOTHER’S HEALING JOURNEY
“These life ring stations represent hope – the chance to help someone survive and give their loved ones another day together,” said Megen Sloniker, mother of Jackson McCardle.

“We are surrounded by water in Michigan, yet many children lack basic water-safety education. Knowing how to recognize drowning or a current, and how to Flip, Float and Follow. It can save a life.”

After this tragedy, Sloniker made it her mission to help others.

“Grief has no timeline and no one should have to navigate it alone. My own experience inspired me to become a Certified Grief Educator, so I can help others find support and learn to float through the grief waves together.”

MICHIGAN WATER SAFETY EDUCATION BILL
House Bill 4477 is currently making its way through the legislative process and it would make water safety a mandatory part of physical education classes at public schools to teach students how to stay safe in the water. Will it get a vote this year?

# # #

WHO
Carrie Ketterer, Life Ring Dedication Organizer
Magen Sloniker, Mother of Drowning Victim Jackson McCardle
Bob Pratt, GLSRP Executive Director
Bliss Township Supervisor
Bliss Township Treasurer
Bliss Township Trustees
First responders
General Public

WHAT
Life Ring Dedication Ceremony in Memory of Jackson McCardle, 14

WHEN & WHERE
Wednesday, September 2, 2026, 6:30 p.m. EDT

Sturgeon Bay Beach
9680-10498 N Lake Shore Dr, Carp Lake, MI 49718.
Accessible from N. Lake Shore Drive where M-119 turns into Sturgeon Bay Trail.

WHY
To educate and save lives on the Great Lakes

09/01/2026

LAKE ONTARIO - - 09/30/2026 - BOATING - Michael Jones, 36-M, of Brighton - Rochester, N.Y. — The Monroe County Sheriff's Office has identified the boater whose body was recovered from Lake Ontario following an extensive multi-agency search over the weekend.

Michael Jones, 36, of Brighton, was reported missing Saturday evening after entering the water about 1.5 miles offshore from the Charlotte Pier. Jones was located around 5:15 p.m. Sunday and his body was recovered later that evening.

The Monroe County Sheriff's Office has identified the boater whose body was recovered from Lake Ontario following an extensive multi-agency search over the weekend.

09/01/2026

LAKE MICHIGAN - 08/31/2026 - ST. JOSEPH, MI - BERRIEN COUNTY - SILVER BEACH - MONDAY, 8:54 PM - John Doe, M-7. Drowned.

8:54 p.m. - First responders were dispatched to the county park at the mouth of the St. Joseph River in St. Joseph Monday for a water rescue involving a boy who was missing and had last been seen in the water.

10:08 p.m. - First responders, along with the U.S. Coast Guard immediately began a search for the child, who was found near shore.

11:15 p.m. - Officials say despite the efforts by medical personnel, the boy died.

Police said the boy went missing shortly before 9 p.m. and was pulled from the water about an hour later.

09/01/2026

A search is currently underway for a missing 7 year old boy at Silver Beach in St Joseph Michigan.The Berrien County Sheriff tells WSBT 22 that the child was la

08/30/2026

58 Great Lakes Drownings to date in 2026
31 of those in Lake Michigan (+4 Critical, Unknown, Missing)
1,473 Great Lakes Drownings since 2010
(Last updated 08/30/2026, 2:00 p.m. CDT)

2026 = 58 (+ 1 Critical, 2 Missing)
Lake Michigan = 31 +1 Critical
Lake Superior = 2
Lake Huron = 6
Lake Erie = 9 (+2 Missing)
Lake Ontario = 10 (+1 Unknown)

National Drowning Prevention Alliance “Lifesaver of the Year” Award 2012 & 2020 “Community Lifesaver” Award 2016 & 2018

08/30/2026

HURON - 08/29/2026 - PINERY PROVINCIAL PARK - LAMBTON SHORES - SWIMMING - John Doe, M-36 - Around 3 pm Saturday, OPP were called to Pinery Provincial Park for a missing swimmer who was last seen in Lake Huron off the beach. Police say Lambton OPP Marine Unit and Underwater Search and Recovery Unit helped in the recovery of the body of a 36-year-old from Scarborough Saturday at 8:20 pm.

The deaths come just four days after a 28-year old Scarborough man drown in the waters off Pinery Park beach. His body was recovered the next day.
There was also a drowning at Pinery on the Victoria Day weekend after a man from Nepal fell of a raft into the waters of Lake Huron. His body was found June 8 in Port Franks.

https:
//petrolialambtonindependent.ca/2026/08/30/body-of-third-swimmer-in-four-days-recovered-at-pinery-park-saturday/

HomeNewsBody of third swimmer in four days recovered at Pinery Park SaturdayFront Page Body of third swimmer in four days recovered at Pinery Park Saturday August 30, 2026 The Independent Lambton OPP’s Underwater Recovery Unit has found the body of the third person to drown in Lambton Shores in th...

08/28/2026

LAKE MICHIGAN - 08/28/2026 - EVANSTON, Ill. (WLS) -- A man was found dead in Lake Michigan near a north suburban beach on Friday morning, officials said.

A City of Evanston Parks and Recreation employee found an unresponsive person in the water south of Lee Street Beach, near 901 Edgemere Court, just after 11:30 a.m.

Evanston police officers and investigators responded and are working to identify the man, whose age was not immediately known. Authorities canvassed the surrounding area.

https:
//abc7chicago.com/post/body-found-lake-michigan-south-lee-street-beach-901-edgemere-court-evanston-illinois-officials/19752637/

08/27/2026

LAKE MICHIGAN DROWNING VICTIM IDENTIFIED - Tirith J. Patel, M-22, OF HOFFMAN ESTATES, IL - Cook County authorities have identified a 22-year-old Hoffman Estates man as the person who died Wednesday after being pulled from Lake Michigan on Chicago’s North Side.

Tirith J. Patel was pronounced dead at 10:34 a.m. Wednesday in the 300 block of West Belmont Avenue, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Patel was pulled from the water near Belmont Harbor at about 10:20 a.m. It was unclear how he got in the water.