Jul
16
FLINT, MI — Can’t make it up north to the lake this weekend? Don’t worry.
In case you missed it, Flint has its own lakes.
And if you did miss it, you’re not alone. Until about a year ago you couldn’t even see one lake while standing in its adjacent park, the overgrowth was so bad.
Over the past year, however, that has changed.
“You couldn’t see the lakes before, there was so much overgrown. There was no place to sit,” said Lauri Elbing of the Flint River Watershed Coalition. “Now, there’s dock at Flint Park Lake. You can sit, you can go fishing, you can go boating, you can go sit out there and have a picnic.”
The Flint River Watershed Coalition is one of the organizations involved in two upcoming parties celebrating the work done through a partnership between the city of Flint and Genesee County Parks and Recreation.
Just over a year ago, Genesee County Parks took over maintenance of four city parks, three of which were on or near lakes. Flint Park Lake is near Max Brandon Park and McKinley Park and Cummings Park (separate, but connected) both border Thread Lake.
About two years ago, the Watershed Coalition began to figure how to make better access to the lakes. Since then, Amy McMillan, director of Genesee County Parks and chair of the Flint River Watershed Coalition board, said they have been transformed.
“I don’t want to sound immodest, but the results have been phenomenal,” she said.
“Particularly at Flint Park Lake, it had been difficult to access the lake. It was really difficult to access the lake because the shoreline had not been maintained for a long period of time,” she continued. “Last year was really the first time in at least a decade that people were able to see the lake from the park.”
To celebrate, there will be two “Love Your Lake” celebrations. The first will be at Flint Park Lake on Thursday, July 16, from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the pavilion off Winthrop Boulevard.
The second, for Thread Lake, will take place Thursday, July 23, from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at McKinley Park near the Vista Center.
Each party will consist of a picnic with food, a bounce house for kids, the For-Mar Turtle Van, and (tentatively) kayaking on the lake.
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