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Biologist to speak about fisheries on the Grand River at Loutit District Library May 17

Biologist to speak about fisheries on the Grand River at Loutit District Library May 17

GRAND HAVEN, Mich. -- The Grand River Greenway Celebration program series continues with Grand River Fisheries presented by Dr. Dan O’Keefe at the Loutit District Library, Thursday, May 17 from 7:00-8:30 p.m. in Program Room A.

O’Keefe’s presentation will highlight a variety of fascinating fishes while touching on fishing and fish watching opportunities at Ottawa County parks from rare lake sturgeon and river redhorse to popular gamefish including steelhead and channel catfish. 

He also explains how the Grand River watershed offers diversity of aquatic habitats that are home to over 102 species of fish. He makes clear that the lower Grand River maintains connections with warm water bayous and backwaters, the coldwater environment of Lake Michigan. It is upstream spawning sites are often used by different life stages of fish species.

Adopt-a-Beach – Beach Clean Up

Adopt-a-Beach – Beach Clean Up

Volunteers are encouraged to help clean-up Grand Haven State Park Beach on Saturday, April 28, meeting at the Beach Concession at 10am. Join the Lake Michigan Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation, Grand Haven State Park & the Alliance for the Great Lakes for this Clean-up opportunity.

Register at www.greatlakesadopt.org or contact Jamie Cross at jcross@greatlakes.org or call – (616)850-0745, Ext. 12

Afloat on the Grand River program set for Loutit District Library May 3

Afloat on the Grand River program set for Loutit District Library May 3

GRAND HAVEN, Mich. -- The story of early travel on the Grand River from canoes to steamers and their captains will be the subject of Dr. David Seibold's talk as the Grand River Greenway Celebration speaker series continues Thursday, May 3 in the Loutit District Library’s Program Room A from 7:00-8:30 p.m.

Seibold’s program begins with how the Indians traversed the Grand River in dugout and bark canoes before the arrival of Europeans who then used it as a thoroughfare for fur trading between1630s-1830s.

His program continues with the emergence of larger pole-boats, shallow-draft side-wheel and then concludes with the river’s last steamboat in 1917.

Seibold is a retired dentist, founder of our local Historical Society and author of books on local history.

Free electronics and metal recycling May 4 & 5

First Christian Reformed Church of Grand Haven will once again conduct its electronics recycling event on Friday, May 4 (1-4:00 p.m.) and Saturday, May 5 (9:00 a.m. – 12:00 N).  

First CRC’s FREE Electronics Recycling Event over the past two years has been very successful.  Last year 38,449 pounds of electronics were safely recycled – two semi trailers and a box truck full of TVs, computers, monitors, keyboards, printers, radios, DVD & VCR players, game playing equipment, and more.  Volunteers accepted anything that plugged in or ran on a battery.  

Environmentally safe recycling of electronics requires special handling.  For the E-Recycle Event on Friday, May 4 and Saturday, May 5 First CRC has again partnered with CompRenew Environmental of Grand Rapids, a Universal Waste Handler licensed by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.  

Free Screening of Revenge of the Electric Car

Free Screening of Revenge of the Electric Car

Spring Lake, MI--Celebrate Earth Week by becoming informed about environmental issues at Spring Lake District Library.  There will be a free screening of the PG rated documentary Revenge of the Electric Car on Monday April 23 at 6:30 p.m. The award winning film chronicles the resurgence of the electric car, an option that may be  more attractive as gas prices increase. From 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., representatives from area car dealerships will be in the library parking lot showcasing a Chevy Volt, Nissan Leaf, and Ford Focus and will answer questions about the vehicles.

Free Shredding Services at Spring Lake District Library

Spring Lake, MI--Shred Docs will be at Spring Lake District Library on Saturday, April 21 to provide free shredding services for the community. The Shred Docs mobile unit will be in the library’s parking lot from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Individuals may bring up to 100 pounds of paper to have shredded.

This “Free Shred Day” is an excellent way to protect and preserve the environment as Shred Docs recycle the documents they shred.  Shredding sensitive personal documents like cancelled checks, tax records, and credit card statements is also a good way to help prevent identity theft and credit card fraud.

For more information about this event, call the library at (616) 846-5770, ext. 107.  The library is located at 123 E. Exchange Street in Spring Lake.

Outdoor author to speak at Loutit District Library

Outdoor author to speak at Loutit District Library

GRAND HAVEN, Mich. – The public is invited to join PBS-Featured Michigan author Doc Fletcher as he presents his Paddling Michigan's Hidden Beauty program at the Loutit District Library on Thursday, April 12 from 7:00-8:30 p.m. in the Library’s Program Room A.

The program will be an hour-long photographic journey down rivers selected from his canoeing and kayaking books. Program attendees will find out what makes each of these rivers uniquely fun. Histories of riverside towns along the way are also shared.

At the end of the program will be a drawing for a free canoe or kayak trip, good for a day trip down one of Michigan Rivers. After the drawing, Fletcher will sign and sell copies of his books.