Meet us at Mill Point Park in Spring Lake to spend a beautiful June afternoon enjoying the Grand River and its Bayou’s. There are a limited amount of kayaks and paddleboards available, so reserve yours ASAP. You can always BYOK (bring your own kayak).
We will be entering and exiting at the same point so there is no need for shuttling!
Join us on the Grand Lady River Cruise to sight see and enjoy the Grand River to help make connections to the natural resource we work to preserve. Light snacks will be provided and local Michigan beer, wine, and soft drinks will be available for purchase. Please register below on Eventbrite.
Join us at City Built Brewing Welcome Center to celebrate 20 years of working to improve the Lower Grand River Watershed. This celebration is open house style, so stop in with your friends and family. LGROW is providing light snacks and there will be City Built Beverages for purchase. Stick around because there will be door prizes for attendees! Registration is recommended for a general head count, but not required.
Explore this beautiful stretch of the Grand River with LGROW staff to celebrate the ending of our 19th annual Grand River Spring Forum. This ~2.5 hour paddle from the DNR Park boat launch at Northland Drive NE to Riverside Park in Grand Rapids is a great way to end your weekend. Kayaks will be provided for a $20 fee or you may bring your own. There will be transportation provided.
More details on logistics will be provided at a later date to registrants.
Join us for our annual IMC Cleanup! This is a trash cleanup along the creek in Richmond Park on Saturday, May 21st from 10 am to 1 pm. Show up with long pants and work gloves to help clean up the creek. This portion is wadable if you want to bring your waders to get in the water and remove trash. We will be meeting in the far parking lot off the corner of Tamarack Ave., NW, and Thornapple Ct, NW. Refreshments will be provided.
From curb-cut rain gardens and water quality “islands” to large bioswales and stream daylighting projects, Grand Rapids has been an innovator in Green Infrastructure in recent years. Join this bus tour with stops around the city to learn from local water professionals about these projects that protect our streams and lakes in the Lower Grand River watershed. Join colleagues for lunch afterwards at the Downtown Market to continue the discussion. (Lunch is on your own)
Our Green Infrastructure tour starts at the Amway Grand Plaza and ends at the Downtown Market. If you want to stay there for lunch, you can hop on the Dash bus line, which will take you back to the Amway Grand Plaza. Otherwise, the bus will take you back to the Amway at 11:15.
Grand Valley State University Sustainable Agriculture Project is hosting a tour on their farm to highlight their many sustainable practices. Learn about their active beekeeping, composting, and low impact farming methods and how they help the environment. Following the informative tour, there will be a hands on farming experience assisting with seeding, transplanting and/or general farm work. There will be options to purchase honey and other products created by their bees. Refreshments will be provided.
May is a terrific month to go birding, and the headwaters of the Coldbrook Creek watershed is an excellent place to experience it! Reeds Lake, the creek’s headwaters, offers a diverse habitat where migrating birds can thrive. Come join us as experienced birders from The Coldbrook Creek Community and EGReen Sustainability Initiative lead you on a walk to look for a variety of songbirds, warblers and waterfowl.
Items needed for the bird walk.
Binoculars
Merlin Bird app by Cornell University (free)
Appropriate footwear and attire for walking on paths outside in May
Explore this beautiful stretch of the Grand River during this 6 mile paddle (~2 hours) from Riverfront Park in Lowell to the MDNR boat launch in Ada. Bill & Paul's will be providing kayaks and shuttle service. Kayak rental is $10/kayak.
For those with their own kayaks or canoes, meet at the MDNR boat launch in Ada end-point (621 Fulton St, Ada) 30 minutes before the start of the event. A shuttle will transport you and your boat to the drop-in site at Riverfront Park in Lowell.
All Spring Forum events will follow current Michigan Department of Health and Human Services guidelines which can be found here.
Join the Rockford Sustainability Committee, the Rogue River Watershed Partners, and the Wolverine Community Advisory Group for a paddling trip of the Upper Rogue River following a PFAS update presentation. We will start at the newly-renovated Rotary Pavilion (across from Arnie's on Squires Street) with an update on the PFAS cleanup by Karen Vorce from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE). For those interested in kayaking, AAA Livery will drop us off at the Friske Ave put-in point. We will kayak back to the dam (about 1 1/2 - 2 hour paddle) and meet up again in the Rockford Outdoor Refreshment Area (RORA) for your favorite refreshments! See our FB event page for pricing and registration or contact us for more information.
All Spring Forum events will follow current Michigan Department of Health and Human Services guidelines which can be found here.
Let’s clean up The Sag! We will remove trash and debris from this part of the Grand River from Ottawa Sands. Please be sure to register for the cleanup by land or by water:
-Ottawa Sands - Cleanup on land: volunteers will clean up the shore of The Sag (meet at Ottawa Sands County Park 18153 N Shore Dr, Ferrysburg, MI 49456.)
-Ottawa Sands - Cleanup in water *Double Kayak*: volunteers will cleanup The Sag via double kayak. These kayaks seat 2 volunteers. Kayak, paddles, and flotation devices will be provided free of cost by ODC Network (meet at Ottawa Sands County Park 18153 N Shore Dr, Ferrysburg, MI 49456. .)
-Ottawa Sands - Cleanup in water *Single Kayak*: volunteers will cleanup The Sag via kayak. These kayaks seat 1 volunteer. Kayak, paddle, and flotation devices will be provided free of cost by ODC Network (meet at Ottawa Sands County Park 18153 N Shore Dr, Ferrysburg, MI 49456.)
This event is in partnership with the Macatawa Area Coordinating Council, Ottawa County Parks and Recreation, the Ottawa Conservation District, and the Outdoor Discovery Center Network. These organizations recently received a Trash Free Waters grant from the US Environmental Protection Agency to support beach and river cleanups in Ottawa and Allegan Counties. The amount of trash removed from the river and riverbank will be calculated and reported. More information can be found here.
This event requires walking and/or paddling. Ottawa Sands County Park has natural surface trails and may not be universally accessible.
All Spring Forum events will follow current Michigan Department of Health and Human Services guidelines which can be found here. Please wear a mask, and bring gloves. Trash bags, cleanup instructions, and kayaks will be provided onsite.
By registering for this event, participants agree to the Release and Waiver Form for the cleanup of The Sag.
Paddle the Thornapple River through Hastings Michigan!
Take a scenic trip down the Thornapple River with the Thornapple River Watershed Council as your guide. Start at Bridge Park in Hastings and end at U-Rent-Em Canoe Livery.
Meet on-site, U-Rent-Em will be providing kayaks and shuttle service. Kayak rental is $10/kayak if you need a kayak.
All Spring Forum events will follow current Michigan Department of Health and Human Services guidelines which can be found here.
Grab a notebook and take yourself or your entire family anywhere in your watershed, to write! Between the dates of June 10 and June 18, find at least three locations to visit in your watershed. Using a variety of creative writing prompts provided by local writer, Natalie Tomlin, sit at a location for at least thirty minutes and write what comes to mind. Then, choose 2 new locations and write again. By June 19, you’re invited to email your writings to LGROW. Natalie will select three writings to be featured in LGROW's summer newsletter!
All Spring Forum events will follow current Michigan Department of Health and Human Services guidelines which can be found here.
Movie: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Friends of Grand Rapids Parks are excited to bring Movies in the Park; the free, family-friendly summer series, back to five neighborhood parks this summer!
Feel free to bring along lawn chairs, blankets and snacks, but please, no alcoholic beverages. No registration needed.
7:00 pm – Community partners will be providing yard games, music, dance, entertainment, as well as recreational activities for all ages
9:00 pm – Movie starts!
The Movies in the Park series is generously supported by Lake Michigan Credit Union, the Community Media Center, and the Grand Rapids Parks and Recreation Department.
Take a "Spin" scooter tour along the river walk in downtown Grand Rapids with Andy Guy, Chief Outcomes Officer with Downtown Grand Rapids, Inc. Meet at Fish Ladder Park, and Andy will take you to several opportunity sites along the Grand River that will eventually become home to recreation and public spaces for all to enjoy. You will have to sign up for Spin and open an account, but we will reimburse you the total fee charged at the end of the tour. Please bring you own helmet.
Macroinvertebrates are an important part of any aquatic ecosystem. Learn more about the life history, sampling techniques, and identification of aquatic macroinvertebrates in the Rogue River. By understanding what types of aquatic macroinvertebrates are in our rivers, we can determine the water quality of our rivers just by seeing what bugs are present.
All Spring Forum events will follow current Michigan Department of Health and Human Services guidelines which can be found here.
Join Matt Chapman from Grand Rapids Whitewater and Tonya Lewandowski from ECT, Inc., as they take you on a tour to learn about the effort to return the rapids to the Grand River with this 3 mile walk along the river and across several bridges.
All Spring Forum events will follow current Michigan Department of Health and Human Services guidelines which can be found here.
Join our partner Plainsong Farm at their weekly farm work volunteer day on their property in Rockford to take part in their sustainable agriculture practices. Tasks may include but are not limited to preparing garden beds, weeding, hoeing, moving compost and wood chips, irrigating, trellising tomatoes, seeding or transplanting. This is a great opportunity to learn about what farmers in our watershed are doing to protect water quality and to determine if you actually enjoy farm work! Sign up through Plainsong’s registration form here.
Why did the turtle cross the road? How can wolf urine help protect turtles? We’ll answer these questions as we share what John Ball Zoo is doing to study and protect the native Michigan turtles that call the pond and park home, and how you can help!
David Marquardt, Director of Grand Rapids Department of Parks and Recreation, and John Morrison, Executive Director of West Michigan Trails & Greenways Coalition, will lead a tour of the riverside property between Ann Street and Leonard Street describing the coming development of the property giving residents and visitors access to the Grand River. The first phase of the project creates a trail connecting the City of Grand Rapids to Riverside Park and numerous regional trails, followed by the creation of a park that will truly make the Grand River a river for all.
Virtual Event
A pipe that runs under the Grand River carries 3.5 million gallons of wastewater per day from the Village Spring Lake to the treatment plant in Grand Haven. Learn about how this forcemain was replaced under Michigan's longest river and join us for a Q & A session with the project engineer. Learn more about this project here. Register below to attend this virtual presentation.
This webinar is sponsored by Prein & Newhof.
Cost is $20
This one-day workshop will train educators to incorporate nationally recognized Project WET (Water Education Today) activities into the existing curriculum and to adapt generic Project WET activities to a place-based format. Participants will engage in fun, hands-on indoor and outdoor learning activities appropriate for K-12 students and learners of all ages!
Educators across the country use Project WET to:
Improve student skills in science, math, reading, writing, and social studies.
Integrate environmental education methods in indoor & outdoor classrooms.
Help address Michigan academic standards.
Introduce fun and effective learning.
Participants will receive:
Project WET K-12 Activity Guide
Giveaways and supplemental resources
Coffee, Tea, and snacks (bring your own lunch)
Five (5) SCECH's through Kent ISD
Bring your Household Hazardous Waste, things that you can’t put in the regular trash can, to a SafeChem Dropoff during the Spring Forum for free LGROW swag! No registration needed.
A product is considered hazardous if it has one or more of the following properties: toxic, flammable, corrosive, or reactive. Bring household hazardous waste to county disposal events or drop off locations. Learn more at www.reimaginetrash.org/events/
Hazardous waste should be from homes, NOT businesses, farms, or schools.
Antifreeze/engine coolant
Automotive fluids
Fuel additives
Gas & gas-oil mix, including diesel
Motor oil
Propane tanks (only small, non-refillable tanks only)
Windshield washer fluid
Other garage and automotive products
Adhesive, caulking & glue
Deck, patio & chimney cleaner
Furniture stripper
Oil-based paint & stain, lacquer
Solvent cleaning fluid
Roof coating, sealant
Thinner, turpentine, removers, or strippers
Other workshop and painting supplies
Fertilizer
Fungicide
Herbicide/Weed Killer
Household Cleaners,Powders, & Sprays
Ammonia, bathroom or kitchen cleaners, bleach, lye, oven cleaner, spot remover, wood and metal cleaners or polish, and more.
Hygiene Products
Body wash, hair products, and more.
Insecticide/Pesticide/Rodenticide
Ant dust, mosquito spray, rodent poison, and more.
Kerosene or home heating oil (call for details on accepted size & quantity limits)
Pool Chemicals
Other lawn & garden products
Aerosol cans/inhalers
Ammunition
CO2 cartridges (paintball, carbonated drink machines)
Fire extinguishers
Fireworks
Fluorescent light bulbs, including CFL bulbs
Inks and dyes
Lighters and lighter fluid
Mercury thermometers & thermostats
Propane tanks (small, non-refillable tanks only)
Rechargeable batteries
Other hazardous waste (flammable, toxic, corrosive, and explosive products)
Alkaline Batteries (now safe for the trash); rechargeable, lithium, and cadmium batteries we still accept
Barrels or large drums – nothing larger than a five-gallon container. Please call us for options for disposal of these quantities.
Friable asbestos – Call the local Michigan Department of Environmental Quality at (616) 356-0500 for proper removal guidelines and disposal requirements and regulations.
Latex paint (water based) – may be dried out and placed in your regular trash. DO NOT place in your recycling bin please.
Materials from farms, businesses, offices, schools or institutions.
Empty hazardous waste can, containers, jugs or tubs
Grab your trowel and gloves and come help LGROW with the spring maintenance of one of our green infrastructure installations. The bioswale and rain garden installed at Kent Intermediate School District funnel stormwater runoff from the road and parking lots to filter out pollutants and absorb stormwater before it has a chance to enter into Lamberton Creek, a tributary to the Grand River. This garden was constructed in 2020 through a grant from the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.
All Spring Forum events will follow current Michigan Department of Health and Human Services guidelines which can be found here.
Take a scenic trip down the Grand River with Bill and Paul's Sportshaus as your guide.
Explore the Grand River as it enters the City of Grand Rapids during this 6 mile (~2 hour) paddle from the MDNR boat launch in Plainfield Township to Riverside Park in Grand Rapids. Bill & Paul's will be providing kayaks and shuttle service. Kayak rental is $10/kayak.
For those with their own kayaks or canoes, meet at the Riverside Park in Grand Rapids end-point 30 minutes before the start of the event. A shuttle will transport you and your boat to the drop-in site in Plainfield Township.
All Spring Forum events will follow current Michigan Department of Health and Human Services guidelines which can be found here.
Virtual Event
The MIC “Dig Once” Project Portal is an interactive, GIS based application intended to assist authorized infrastructure asset owners and managers across the State of Michigan with cross asset collaboration and coordination on future planned infrastructure construction projects.
Take a tour at the CA Frost daylighting project to see where a storm drain was transformed into a creek. Join engineers and educators to learn about how they turned a buried storm sewer on school property into a stream restoration project and outdoor learning space.
All Spring Forum events will follow current Michigan Department of Health and Human Services guidelines which can be found here.
Ron Yob, Tribal Chairman of the Grand River Bands of Ottawa Indians will lead the group on an educational walk through the Indian Mounds. Make sure to dress appropriately for the weather and bugs!
Meet at the gate by the Mounds entrance.
All Spring Forum events will follow current Michigan Department of Health and Human Services guidelines which can be found here.
