When people in our community saw a need for greater water safety, they came together to do something about it. Over the past year, local residents, schools, first responders, and community partners have worked to bring water safety education and new resources to Northern Michigan, including life-ring stations at Sturgeon Bay Beach.

The work follows multiple losses to drowning in 2025, including 16-year-old Christopher Houseworth, who drowned alongside his father, Dale Houseworth, at Burt Lake in July 2025, and 14-year-old Jackson McCardle, who drowned at Sturgeon Bay Beach in August 2025. Their deaths prompted community members to look for ways to help prevent future tragedies.

Carrie Ketterer was at the beach the day Jackson drowned and, in the weeks that followed, reached out to the Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project (GLSRP) to learn more about water safety and drowning prevention. She helped organize a series of trainings with GLSRP co-founder Dave Benjamin, who visited area schools and first responders last winter to teach simple strategies for surviving a water emergency. 

One of those strategies is “Flip, Float, and Follow”: flip onto your back, float to conserve energy, and follow the safest path out of a current rather than fighting against it. The goal is to give children and adults practical information they can remember and use in an emergency. 

Ketterer also worked with Bliss Township on another piece of the effort: installing life-ring stations at Sturgeon Bay Beach. Each station includes a life ring with an attached tow rope and instructional signage, providing emergency equipment for someone on shore to use if a swimmer is in trouble. Bob Pratt, GLSRP Co-Founder, demonstrated how to use the life-rings at the Life Ring Dedication Ceremony held on Wednesday, September 2, at Sturgeon Bay Beach.  

Jackson’s mother, Magen Sloniker, was at the ceremony on the 2nd. “These life ring stations represent hope—the chance to help someone survive and give their loved ones another day together,” Sloniker said. “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.” 

The Community Foundation was able to help support this work through grants to the Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project for water safety education and to Bliss Township for the life-ring stations. Both grants were made possible by the Community Foundation’s Discretionary Fund, which provides flexible funding to respond to needs and opportunities across Emmet County. 

For Ketterer, the work remains closely connected to Jackson and to the people affected by what happened that day. 

“The life ring stations are a reminder to every beach goer that the lake is beautiful, but dangerous,” she said. “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.”