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CRYSTALANA
by Dr. Stacy Leroy Daniels

ABOUT DR. DANIELS

   


Dr. Stacy Leroy Daniels (29 Aug 1937- ) [BSE 1960 (ChE); MSE 1961 (EnvE); MSE 1963 (ChE); PhD 1967 (ChE); The University of Michigan], is a professional chemical-environmental engineer, who was employed in diverse environmental assignments with The Dow Chemical Co. (1955-1993); taught as an Adjunct Professor at The University of Michigan (1970-1995); directed indoor air quality research for Ingenuity IEQ, a small business (1995-2010); served as member/chair on National and State science advisory committees for U.S. EPA and MDEQ (EGLE) (1970s-1980s); and directed educational programs and water quality studies for the Crystal Lake Watershed Association and predecessor nonprofit organizations (1967-2017). He is an amateur historian, a member of the Historical Society of Michigan and the Midland Historical Society, and Board Member of the Benzie Area Historical Society. He is a member of Alpha Chi Sigma Fraternity and alumnus of the University of Michigan Marching Band.

His diverse interests in environmental sciences and engineering technologies include: adsorption of bacteria to surfaces (PhD thesis); water/wastewater treatment; watershed hydrology; distribution/fate/toxicity of chemicals in the environment; water quality of inland lakes; industrial hazardous waste management; household hazardous materials collections; recycling; sustainability; environmental infrastructure; improvement of indoor air environmental quality; and the histories of both Midland, MI, and Crystal Lake (Benzie Co.), MI. He was a cofounder of Midland Volunteers for Recycling (1988) now Midland Recyclers. He is the author/coauthor of over 400 papers and presentations, and has written many letters and poems on environmental subjects. He has been a longtime member of the Crystal Lake Watershed Association (CLWA) and its predecessors since the 1960s, serving as Chair of the Water Quality and Education Committees, directing field studies and educational programs. In 1993, he created the “Crystal Lake “Walkabout”, a program of observational monitoring and environmental exploring of selected sites within the watershed interpreted for young adults by volunteer professionals.

His Web site at www.CrystalLakeComedy.com promotes the self-publication of his book: "The Comedy of Crystal Lake" (2015, 496pp) – Part I. The Lowering of Crystal Lake, Part II. The Biography of Archibald Jones, to tell the story of the attempt to build a canal from Crystal Lake to Lake Michigan in NW Lower MI in August 1873, which resulted in “the largest inundation from an inland lake due to an anthropogenic cause (a dam breaching) in U.S history !” — a record held 147 years until 2020. His parallel Web site, “Crystalana”, at www.Crystalana.com is a Journal of Historical Reflections and Current Perspectives of Crystal Lake, Its Watershed, & Benzie County

The precipitous lowering of the level of Crystal Lake, and the unexpected creation of some 2,000 A of new beach, was an epochal event that led to the future development of Benzie Co. As chronicler and author, he assumes the role of his alter ego, Archibald Jones, Jr., as "President pro tem of the Benzie Co. River Improvement Co., Est. 1873". Stacy has portrayed his alter ego since inaugurating “Archibald Jones Day” with an historical marker in 2010 et seq., reenacting “the pulling of the plug”, and promoted the celebration of the 150th anniversary “SESQUI-CENTENNIAL — The Lowering of Crystal Lake (1873-2023)”, see: www.crystalana.com/sesqui.htm. Stacy and Carol sponsored the Archibald Jones Historical Research Center (AJHRC) addition to the Benzie Area Historical Museum to facilitate archival storage, research, library, and display (to be completed and dedicated (2025).

Stacy is an original "Townie"-"Lakeie" of Frankfort and Crystal Lake (Benzie Co., MI), where his family has had cottages for five generations. His father was the Superintendent of Schools, and his mother was a former English teacher. In 1944, he moved with his parents to Midland, MI, where he grew up, and attended Midland High School (Class of 1955). After graduating from The University of Michigan in 1967, he and wife, Carol Yvonne (Parker) Daniels (13 Sep 1935-), a high school science teacher, returned to Midland. Their family includes: their daughter, Julie Lyntha Cavanaugh, a former elementary school teacher, now an estate planning attorney, married to son-in-law, Thomas Paul Cavanaugh, also an estate planning attorney, and beloved grandsons, Tommy, Drew, and Brock.

Carol and Stacy have lived in Midland for the past fifty-five years in the same house they designed and built themselves in 1969. They became eyewitnesses to the Tittabawassee River (Four Lakes) “disaster” (ne’ flood) which unfolded (19 May 2020) near their own back yard ~1,000 ft from, but 21 ft "higher and dryer", than the floodplain of Sturgeon Creek, a major tributary! This event surpassed the prior record “inundation” at Crystal Lake (23 Aug 1873) to become “the largest inundation from an inland lake system due to dam breaching in U.S history”! They also recovered from the aftermath of a severe lightning strike on their house (12 Sep 2021). They recently celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary (18 Jul 2024), and look forward to future adventures — living in their house, by the side of the road, by a river, with smiles and tears, as friends to man!

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and
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