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With Lake Superior being the largest body of fresh water in North America, many have taken part in spreading awareness of its environmental care.
Copper Harbor was the location of the recent Lake Superior Day celebration, bringing information and hands on activities to those who attended.
“It’s important to have the lake be clean and all we’re trying to do is foster some relationship with the environment of the lake via this environmental awareness picnic activity. So far it’s been a pretty good success over the years,” said Captain Don Kilpela of the Isle Royale Ferry Service who initiated local involvement of the festival that originated on the Canadian shore of the Great Lake.
“It started in Thunder Bay twenty years ago and then it moved into Minnesota and Wisconsin and I read about it and wanted to have a day of celebrating Lake Superior,” he said.
With many hands on activities for children such as street chalking, and a boat painting activity where kids used a ten foot mini vessel to express their artistic qualities, the primary focus is informing and engaging them.
Kilpela said, “We have Michigan Tech’s research vessel right over here. The Agassiz is taking people out with a scientist on board explaining various things of lake biology and that type of thing. We’re just trying to make it fun and interesting.”
The celebration is now in its sixth year and also included a canoe race and a picnic as well as several speakers who read memoirs and shared geological facts with the audience.
“Maybe we’ll encourage one of these great children that we have here today to maybe make a career of saving the lake environmentally” said Kilpela.
Next year’s event is slated for the third Sunday in July.
