Helms Haven Recreation Area
Many people who drive to and from work through Edward Hines Parkway have no idea that the Rouge River was an important source of water for farmers.
More than half a century ago, my grandparents, Gus and Minnie Helm, farmed the area of the parkway between Warren Avenue and Outer Drive which is now called “Helms Haven”.
My grandfather had a pump house next to the Rouge River to water his crops on the flats (where the play area is now). He grew eggplant, peppers, tomatoes and corn to sell by the bushel at Eastern Market. The water was also pumped up the hill to his crops near their home, including pear, apple and peach trees. My grandparents also grew flowers and made bouquets to take to Eastern Market.
The river has always been a flood plain. There would be so much water that you couldn’t even canoe under the Warren Avenue Bridge. When the flood water wasn’t quite so high, you could canoe all the way to Northville. In the winter, we could ice skate for miles. Unless, of course, we would fall into the water, after which we could only hope to get home in time before our clothes froze on us.
Thanks to the “Friends of the Rouge” the river getting back to its cleaner state, free of all the junk people throw into it.
The Rouge River has always been a part of my life, even now, living only half of a block away from it.
Janet Helm Sebok
Celebrating 25 Years 
As the Rouge River has touched so many lives throughout the years, so has Mrs. Janet Sebok. In response to Friends of the Rouge’s call for articles, Janet was delighted to share this personal history, written just two months before her passing. She was a very caring woman who, even now, is making a positive impact to help raise awareness. In Loving Memory.