Adventure Awaits You!

The idea of Five Mile Creek Canoe & Company was born out of a love for the outdoors and the desire to preserve nature. The Five Mile Creek Greenway was brought to my attention by my wife, Tynette, on a long weekend getaway trip. She asked if I had ever heard of the greenway and I said no but that I would look into it. From that point on, I began to meet many people who were involved in the Five Mile Creek Greenway project. I discovered that my wife’s family owned a large portion of land along the Greenway in Cardiff, Alabama which was once a thriving mining town. My wife’s great-grandfather, Louis “Frenchie” Negron was the mayor of Cardiff during the early 1900’s and her family connection to this land led me deeper into the creation of the Greenway project. My life took on a new meaning the day I meet Roger McCondichie, the Mayor of Brookside which is the adjoining town to Cardiff. Roger had the same vision for Brookside as I had for Cardiff. We began to work on trail development, canoe launches and possible business development. I began canoeing the creek with my sons and friends and discovered that a little bit of heaven was and had always been in my backdoor. I decided that I wanted to make a difference in these small towns and I wanted to share it with the rest of the world. Thus, Five Mile Creek Canoe & Company was created, partly, as a tribute to the hundreds of settlers who sailed across the ocean in search of the American dream and partly out of my love for preserving history and the environment.

Born on October 10th, 1960 I grew up in the West Jefferson Community graduating in 1979 from West Jefferson High School. I hold master plumber and gas certifications and have been employed by the Town of West Jefferson Utilities Department for the past 25 years, now retired as of July 2007. Additional, I have worked with Mike in the residential and commercial landscape maintenance business since 1996. I am married to Sonya and we have one daughter Megan Boshell, one son-in-law Scotty Boshell, one grand-daughter Brinley age 5 months. My hobbies include playing with my grand-daughter, restoring a 1949 Chevy Pickup Truck, and working in my yard. My goal for this new business venture is to retire to a simpler way of life at the creek, stay cooler, spend more time with Sonya, and just enjoy helping folks create memories on the creek. I was elected Town of West Jefferson Mayor in August of 2008.