Caution signs reinstalled in St. Joseph, drowning victims remembered

 

ST. JOSEPH, Mich.-- Living near the beaches of St. Joseph, Chris Siriano couldn't stand all the drownings in his backyard.

"I heard all the sirens and watched all the ambulances and police cars drive out on the pier, the lifeboats and helicopters. It's a terrible feeling because you know somebody drowned," he recounted. "I thought, 'You know what, I don't understand why nobody's ever put a warning out that you shouldn't jump off the piers.' They're dangerous. The water is dangerous. There's ledges."

So, he took it upon himself and installed signs along St. Joseph's piers, showing the faces of several drowning victims.

However, the signs had been lost to the lake, like the hundred or so drowning victims Siriano has tracked from the past century. So on Friday, Siriano re-installed brand-new pier safety signs, at both the north and south piers in St. Joseph.

The signs are a sobering reminder that the waters of Lake Michigan can be deadly, and of those who did not survive, like Travone Shannon, who was only 17 when he drowned in 2016 at Silver Beach.

"You could just jump off of there and think, 'Oh I'm going to come back, I can swim.' Just like my son did, my son could swim. But that current is no joke," said Trevone's mother, Tonya Towns.

His name and photo are now on display for all beachgoers to see, but Towns can't bring herself to go near the pier, let alone the beach.

"I feel honored that his name is still alive out here," Towns said. "It happened seven years ago and it's still getting talked about to this day, so that's an honor for us."

It's also a reminder of victims like Brandi Mannino, who drowned off the north pier back in 2015.

"When she didn't come home that night, I didn't think anything of it. She was 24, living at home," said Brandi's mother, Beth Mannino.

She said she appreciated the signs.

"I think they need to see it and see the life that was taken," she said. "What Chris is doing and whoever else is behind the signs, I think it's a wonderful thing that they're doing to raise awareness."

Siriano fronted the cost for the original signs, but this time, he got a steep discount, plus donations from the St. Joe Rotary and Kiwanis clubs.