By Pat Stinson
MANISTEE – Only three days remain to reserve a seat at the Great Lakes Environmental Festival (GLEF) awards dinner to be held Friday, April 19. Payment and menu selections must be made by April 1.
The dinner will take place in the upper level of Blue Fish Kitchen + Bar on 312 River St. Seating is limited, so organizers urge those interested to submit their payment as soon as possible.
The dinner kicks off three days of festival events, with most happening on Saturday, April 20.
Friday’s Blue Fish event includes a meet-and-greet happy hour beginning at 5 p.m. followed by dinner at 6 p.m. In attendance will be GLEF’s Saturday keynote presenter, Dr. Joan Rose, Great Lakes balladeer Russ Franzen, and Guardian of the Environment awardees as well as several festival sponsors.
According to her biography on the Michigan State University faculty web page, Rose is known as an international expert in water quality, water microbiology and public health safety and has investigated waterborne outbreaks across the globe. She leads a laboratory at MSU. Her team has looked at drinking water and water used for food production, as well as wastewater treatment and reclaimed water. She helped develop “a safe, sustainable water system” in Singapore and was named an honorary citizen for her contributions. She is also the 2016 recipient of the Stockholm Water Prize, the most prestigious water award in the world. In her acceptance speech, she said that water quality is one “of the most difficult problems of our century.”
Singer-songwriter Franzen is a former columnist and current historical interpreter. He has recorded five CDs and written two books. His acoustic folk performances include songs about lighthouses, canals and life along the Great Lakes.
Cost of the dinner is $40 per person or $75 per couple. Entree selections include Champagne chicken, grilled salmon, American Wagyu sirloin and a vegetarian Thai curry dish that is gluten free. Menu questions may be directed to Peggy Raddatz at 231-510-3726 or Shirley Madden at 313-478-5347.
Payment for the dinner, as well as the entree choice, can be mailed to GLEF at P.O. Box 203, Manistee, MI, 49660. Credit card payments and dinner selections may be made online at https://glef.us by clicking on the Environmental Dinner link, then on the payment link toward the bottom of the page. There is a $3 fee for online payments.
More information about the festival can be found in a story on the front page of Freshwater Reporter’s current edition (“Planet vs. Plastics: Which will Win?”) now on newsstands and online at https://freshwater-reporter.com/full-issues. Detailed information about speakers, an expo, an electric car rally and a climate film (“Climate SISU”) — and times for all — can be found on the GLEF website.
Pat Stinson is a co-editor of the Freshwater Reporter.
