Jeff Schrier - award-winning community photojournalism

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Saginaw High School football player Rashaan Williams appears to be on fire while taking a break during a game vs. Midland High School, October 19, 1990. The athlete's sweat and the cold night air produced a full head of steam.

Flames explode through the front of Winters Floor Covering on State near M-47 in Saginaw Township, while a Saginaw Township firefighter works to move a hose away from the intense heat. Firefighters could not extinguish the flames that were burning between the building's two roofs. They evacuated the business and kept the blaze from spreading to neighboring buildings.

John Cudworth pushes his daughter Ema through blowing snow in the Kroger parking lot in Green Acres Plaza on State Street in Saginaw Township, Monday, Jan. 6, 2014. Heavy snow overnight caused the closing of government offices, cancelation of local schools and other services. Bitter cold air and blowing snow moved into the area Monday.

Mary E. Grover of Davisburg tearfully embraces her nephew LCpl. Jesse Anderson of Imlay City after he and about 20 Saginaw-based Marines arrived by bus at the Saginaw Training Center on August 21, 2008. The Marines are part of the 1st Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment, Fourth Marine Division based out of Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Mount Clemens. They are returning home after nearly a year of service in Al Anbar province of Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

A rooster keeps his distance as firefighters from several departments pour water onto a fire that destroyed a home at 10535 Dorwood in Taymouth Township Wednesday afternoon, Dec. 13, 2012. Fire departments from Taymouth Township, Maple Grove Township, Albee Township and Birch Run responded to the scene about 1 p.m. They had to truck water in by tanker to fight the fire.

Latasha Owens looks at the bullet-riddled mirror in the living room of her house where her 12-year-old nephew Tamaris "T.J." Steward Jr. was shot and killed about 1:30 Thursday morning June 7, 2012. Someone fired more than 10 shots into the house at 2142 Whittier on Saginaw's East Side.

Hans LaRock isn't really swimming through a load of cucumbers. He's spreading them out so they will fit better in the11-foot deep wooden tank to process into pickles at Hausbeck Pickle Co. in Saginaw, July, 1993.

A Kochville Township firefighter talks to a towtruck operator about how to move two delivery trucks involved in a crash at the intersection of Mackinaw and Pierce Rds. in Kochville Township on March 31, 1999. The UPS truck, right, was traveling northbound on Mackinaw when it collided with a Federal Express truck that was going eastbound on Pierce. The driver of the FedEx truck was taken to the hospital with minor injuries. According to the Saginaw County Sheriff's Department, the FedEx truck might have run a stop sign.

A tug breaks up ice around the barge McKee Sons, stuck in the ice in Saginaw Bay 15 miles north of Bay City in December, 1995.

Justin Owens, 17, of Madison Heights, holds his cousin Alex Owens, 5, of Clawson, as they soak in the mist from a "cool zone" cooling unit. The Detroit Lions provided an area with four cool zones for fans to use to cool down from the high-humidity and 90-degree heat during the first day of training camp at SVSU in 1999.

Saginaw firefighters remove a kink from a hose as they extinguish a fire that damaged a house at 417 S. 15th in Saginaw just before noon on Thursday, Jan. 12, 2017. The residential roads in the area were all ice-covered making driving difficult and footing slippery.

Numerous lightning strikes accompanied Tuesday morning thunderstorms that rumbled through Saginaw and Genesee counties. A huge bolt struck near West Forest United Methodist Church on Farrand Road at the corner of Taylor Road in northeast Genesee County in August, 2000.

Olatunji Kean sits in Chief Circuit Court Judge Leopold P. Borrello's courtroom by a picture of former judge Fred J. Borchard during a recess on June 17, 2005. Kean was gagged with duct tape during his armed robbery trial after he was continually disruptive.

Saginaw High's Dion Smith, right, knocks the ball from Mount Pleasant's Cody Weisenburger after Weisenburger caught a pass during their football game at Saginaw High's Laeding Field on Sept. 5, 2008. Saginaw recovered the fumble.

Kid Rock bumps fists with a fan during his concert at Wendler Arena in The Dow Event Center in downtown Saginaw on Feb. 5, 2008.

A frustrated Saginaw firefighter watches the house at 614 Sheridan burn as aerial ladder trucks were positioned to fight the fire in 2005. It took the fire department a while to bring the blaze under control. The home was heavily damaged. After they extinguished the fire, firefighters brought out some salvageable antiques, paintings and family pictures. The fire department was clearly frustrated fighting this fire. Many of them made comments on their shortage of manpower.

Saginaw resident Anthony A. Kanuszewski rejoices that his pool was not destroyed by falling trees from last night's severe storms. His home, in the background at the corner of Stanley and Grout in Saginaw, was heavily damaged when a large tree fell onto the house and punctured the roof. Kanuszewski was cooling off in the water and keeping his wits and sense of humor about him on June 7, 2008. Severe storms caused a lot of damage to trees and numerous homes in the city of Saginaw where many residents were left without electricity with high temperatures and sweltering humidity.

Karissa Rindhage Schultz, 26, marvels at her three-month-old son Mark Schultz in their Saginaw home on. Jan. 16, 2008. Karissa was diagnosed with hypoparathyroidism when she was very young. The disease caused seizures and confined her to a wheelchair. She also never thought she could have children. Now with the help of medication she can walk and had a healthy pregnancy.

Toughman referee Kerry Roop counts out a Detroit-area fighter while his conquerer celebrates at left during the Original Toughman Contest on Jan. 31, 2003 at Cobo Arena in Detroit.

Army Staff Sgt. Marcus Mueller, of Fort Benning, Ga., holds an American flag during a service for his friend Staff Sgt. Justin C. Jay at Roselawn Cemetery in Saginaw Township on Oct. 1, 2010. Jay, originally from Saginaw, died in a motorcycle crash on Sept. 21 in Ft. Benning, Ga.

Lillian Moreau jumps into the parade and hugs Sgt. Gary P. Germain as the 460th Supply and Service Company marches up Main St. in Midland on April 30, 1991. The parade welcomed home Gulf War Veterans.

Red McRae of Essexville pulls in a 12-inch walleye while fising on the Saginaw River just off 1st St on Jan. 15, 2002. McRae put the fish back in the water since he said the minimum legal size is 15 inches. Fisherman near him said the ice was about two inches thick. Michigan Sugar Co. billows steam into the cold air in the background.

Saginaw Police officer Patrick Shaltry compares foot size with five-year-old Wesley Brown during the African Cultural Festival at Morley School grounds in Saginaw on Aug. 7, 1998.

Studio photo illustration titled "Picking Spring Ties."

Michigan wide receiver Desmond Howard does the "Heisman Trophy Pose" after returning a punt 93 yards for a touchdown against Ohio State, Nov., 1991, at Michigan Stadium. He won the Heisman later that year.

A man sits under an umbrella to keep out of the hot sun while watching a beach volleyball tournament in Muskegon.

"Leelanau Vines, Saginaw Roots," is a story about Saginaw native Dan Mathies, who moved to the Leelanau Peninsula to grow grapes and make wine.

Elm Hall post office officer-in-charge Barbara J. Sheets stands in the doorway of the tiny Elm Hall post office waiting for customers on a slow Saturday morning May 19, 2003. She waves at people as they drive by since the town is small enough for her to know all its residents. The small town of Elm Hall, about 50 miles west of Saginaw in Gratiot County, has what residents believe is the second-smallest post office in the United States (they think there is one smaller in Florida). Many residents still come to the post office six days a week to pick up their mail and chat with their neighbors. Many younger residents are having their mail delivered to their homes.

A grave marker leans against an old tree in John and Myrna Cammin's private cemetery on Hawthorne near Brockway in Saginaw Township on May 5, 2014. John's great-great grandfather, A. H. Swarthout, founded the cemetery in 1835. The Pine Hill Swarthout/Cammin Cemetery is the oldest cemetery in Saginaw Township. Cammin tends graves, mows, leaf blows and plants flags each Memorial Day. Wars represented in the cemetery are the Civil War, Spanish American, indian wars from before Michigan's statehood, WWI, WWII and Vietnam.

Wescourt Retirement Community resident Charlotte Gaus, center, 84, shows off her coconuts during the prettiest legs and costume contest on Jan. 16, 2002. Other residents are from left, Rose Marie Brieske, 93, Gertrude Caulfield, 95, (Gaus), Pat Murphy, 83 and Marion Affelt, 82. Murphy won the contest. Wescourt held "Jamaica In January" for its residents to help beat the winter blahs. 

Saginaw police officer Jose Deleon gets a kiss from his wife Graciela after she pinned his new badge onto his uniform as Saginaw police chief James Golden smiles in the backround, left. The Saginaw Police Department held a ceremony to swear in 14 new police officers at police headquarters.

Physical therapist assistant Debbie L. Gren works on Courtney Sanders' left leg in her room at Mary Free Bed in Grand Rapids. Gren is working with Courtney to improve the range of motion she has in the leg that was severely injured in a car wreck. Doctors inserted a metal rod and screws in her leg to help it heal but she'll need additional surgery to repair torn and damaged knee and ankle ligaments. Sanders, 17, of Freeland, was in a horrific crash in August, 2004, while she was driving to work on M-47 north of Freeland. She suffered life-threatening injuries and her right leg had to be amputated.

Levi Ecker, 67, and his wife, Lois Ecker, 78, swing at Community Village, 3200 Midland Road in Saginaw Township, where they are residents on June 25, 2009.

A group of hourly and salaried workers from Delphi Energy & Chassis Saginaw Operations in Saginaw holds hands and prays silently together outside the plant during one of their early afternoon breaks in Feb., 2006. They are praying for the future of Delphi as the automotive parts manufacturer works its way through bankruptcy. Tamieka Shannon of Bridgeport, center with "Delphi Chassis" jacket, has worked for the company for six years.

Referee Donnell Thomas, 18, plays around with DJ Evans, 5, after DJ's basketball game at the Saginaw Y on Feb. 2, 1999. Thomas, a senior at Saginaw High School, could have been destined for the streets and gangs, but is not. Through positive mentoring programs, Donnell has become a supervisor for the Y Teen Center and referees basketball games for young children.

While clean laundry still hangs on a line in the backyard, a Tri-Township firefighter douses the flames on a house that burned after a propane clothes dryer caught fire in July, 1997.

Reflected in a downtown business, hundreds of students from Harrison's Hillside Elementary School and residents line W. Main St. in downtown Harrison to pay final respects to Cpl. Todd A. Motley of Clare, who died September 14, 2007 with three other soldiers during combat operations in Baghdad.

Juvenile pheasants sit in the window of an old barn at a farm that raises the birds for hunting clubs.

A migrant family from Mexico waits for their youngest child to pay attention so they can pray before dinner. The family comes to Midland County every year to work area farm fields. They live in a migrant compound that provides shelter and education for their children.

Dr. Thomas C. Spoor, left, and Dr. David P. McCann perform reconstructive surgery on the eyelids of Charlene Zimmer on May 17, 2000. Zimmer's eyelids had become droopy to the point where they interfered with her vision, so the doctors are correcting the problem. Spoor, of Wayne State University, a nationally known ophthalmologist/plastic surgeon who specializes in surgery of the eyelid and eye area, travels to Saginaw weekly to see patients and perform needed surgical procedures.

Birches and maples are ablaze in fall colors at Tittabawassee Park in Tittabawassee Township during the fall of 2009.

A man dressed in fatigues and armor jumps into a bunker to avoid being shot while being chased during a paintball tournament.

The Michigan Bean Company's "Jack Rabbit Beans" neon sign lights up the downtown Saginaw sky in 1998 as the moon shines in the background. The sign atop a tall grain elevator, first lit in 1947, was restored and brought back to light in 1997 after going dark in 1985.

Fireworks light the sky over the Veterans Memorial Bridge and the Saginaw River in downtown Bay City on the final night of the 2012 Bay City Fireworks Festival.