Sons & Daughters Committee - Charles Gould, Chair, mailto:gouldm@msu.edu
Overview
We hope that you will come and bring the kids, or we hope that you will come and bring your folks! Either way, we have a great program planned for kids, ages 6-19 that they will surely enjoy.
And kids, as you plan to come, we want to encourage you to bring pins from your state or town to trade. The more pins you bring, the more you can trade! Pins could be homemade or obtained locally.
The opportunities planned
include just fun to educational as they learn about the Great Lakes shoreline
and waters. And parents, we want you to be assured that we take the safety
of your children very seriously.
Sunday
Get acquainted activities and registration. The get acquainted activities
have not been fully planned yet but will be age appropriate.
Monday
Monday’s activity will be at Michigan’s Adventure in Muskegon. Michigan's
Adventure has more than 60 rides and attractions including six roller
coasters. Since opening in 1998, Shivering Timbers has been consistently
ranked as one of the finest wooden roller coasters in the world. Youth
can get drenched at the WildWater Adventure Waterpark, Michigan's largest
waterpark. The 10-acre waterpark has body slides, tube slides, 3 wave
pools, kiddie play areas, family raft slides, and the Funnel of Fear--a
giant funnel water slide that opened in 2005. New for 2006 will be Grand
Rapids, a 1,500-foot-long rapid river ride that will carry riders through
a rocky canyon filled with geysers and a waterfall. Lunch will be part
of the ticket price and will be eaten at the park.
Tuesday
Youth this day will be split into two groups. Youth up to age 14 or the
sixth grade will travel to South Haven where they will be
divided into three groups and rotate between sailing on Lake Michigan
aboard the Friend’s
Good Will, visiting the Michigan Maritime Museum
and completing a harbor
walk. They will also have an opportunity to swim in Lake Michigan.
Lunch will be served in a park.
The Friends Good Will is a Square Topsail Sloop (the only one of its type operating on the Great Lakes; very rare, even nationwide) with a rig height of 80'. The Sloop has a sparred length (from end of bowsprit to end of boom) of 101’, beam (width at widest section) of 16' 10", draft (depth at deepest point) of 8' 9" and gross registered tonnage of 49.2 tons.
The Michigan Maritime
Museum features exhibits of Michigan maritime history and wooden rescue
crafts used in rescue efforts on Lake Michigan by the US Coast Guard.
The harbor walk features
historic markers along the Black River that provide fascinating and informative
information for your imagination. The harbor walk will end with a swim
in Lake Michigan at the South Haven beach.
Youth ages 15 and older or seventh grade and up will travel to Grand Haven
and Muskegon to take a trip on one of the Grand
Valley State University research vessels, D.J.
Angus or the W.G.
Jackson, into Lake
Michigan and learn about invasive species.
These research vessels ply the Great Lakes gathering information about
the Lakes. Youth will participate in taking sweeps for plankton in Lake
Michigan, help determine water clarity and participate in other research
activities. After their trip they will participate in a hands-on interactive
presentation about invasive species in the Great Lakes. Groups will rotate
between activities. Lunch will be provided at both locations.
Wednesday
On tours with parents
Thursday
Youth will be split into two groups again on Thursday. Youth up to age
14 or the sixth grade will travel to the P.J.
Hoffmaster State Park north of Muskegon. Hoffmaster S.P. features
forest-covered dunes along nearly three miles of Lake Michigan shore.
Its sandy beach is one of the finest anywhere. The focal point of the
park is the Gillette
Visitor Center. This beautiful facility, facing a towering sand dune,
is recognized as one of the top attractions in the Midwest. At the center,
youth will participate in a variety of programs that will help them enjoy
and understand the unique environment of the sand dunes of the Great Lakes.
There is an exhibit hall depicting the ecological zones of the unique
dune environment. Multimedia presentations on the dunes and seasonal nature
subjects are shown in an 82-seat auditorium. The cool thing is that Hoffmaster
State Park is a designated watchable wildlife site. A wildlife viewing
guide for Hoffmaster State Park is posted on the web at www.michigan.gov/miwildlifeviewing
. Click on “Southern Lower Peninsula” and then on “79”.
When the youth have gone through the Center they will eat lunch and spend several hours at the beach swimming in Lake Michigan.
Youth age 15 and up or in the seventh grade or higher will travel to Silver Lake to participate in a safe, fun-filled 7 mile dune ride. As they ride on the dunes, the drivers will talk about the history and environment of the constantly changing sand mountains. The dune ride is a thrilling experience! This group will be split into two groups. While one is doing the dune ride the other will be touring historic Little Point Sable lighthouse. They will swap places when they are done. They will come together for lunch and then spend several hours in the afternoon on a Lake Michigan Beach.
Thursday Evening – Going away activity
There will be dinner and a dance with a DJ and activities for all ages at the Van Andel Museum including planetarium shows and a working old-fashioned carousel.
To
the Top
