Yesterday, SEMCOG held a “Day in the Park” event at Lake St. Clair Metropark. We thank Amy McMillan, the Huron-Clinton Metroparks Director, and her team for hosting us and thank all who joined us.
Amy McMillan, Executive Director of Huron-Clinton Metroparks
Our day included celebrating the completion of Parks and Recreation Plan and discussed how it can be helpful to member governments in their local parks planning efforts. One of the plan’s policies is to integrate community health and wellness initiatives with outdoor recreation opportunities. We’ve been hearing a lot about community-sponsored walks, runs, and bicycle rides. Another policy is to foster collaboration among outdoor recreation stakeholders. Not every community, for example, needs to have a pickleball court. However, if communities collaborate, they can share each other’s amenities. In the end, residents win as the variety of recreation options increases. We created the ParkFinder® tool to help residents find and know what facilities are available throughout our seven-county region.
The day also included an update on our bike and pedestrian planning efforts. We polled guests at the event and found that most had seen growth in economic and community development in recent years as a result of improving bicycle and pedestrian mobility. The poll also showed that promoting the region’s assets should continue to be a top priority for SEMCOG. You’ll hear more about this plan as it is developed in the year ahead. We anticipate it will be adopted in March 2020.
Our Day in the Park enabled us to have fun, too. After all, isn’t that what parks are all about? Some of opportunities for fun yesterday included biking and hiking, along with adventure golf and field and court games. A unique activity – the voyager group canoe paddle – was a tangible way to implement the regional collaboration policy. Twenty of us worked together to paddle and navigate the canoe around the lagoon. As this was happening, our Metroparks guide shared the history of the area.
There’s still a few weeks of summer left. I encourage you all to have fun in one of the region’s many parks. And you can find them on our ParkFinder® app. Get out and have fun!
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