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C & G NEWSPAPERS GROSSE POINTE/MACOMB COUNTY SPECIAL EDITION • JULY 5, 2023
Ludington
Edwards
Lighthouse, which stands in Ludington State Park, a few miles outside of the city. The nearly 2-mile trail winds through low-lying dunes along the Lake Michigan shoreline. You can also bike, but no motorized vehicles are allowed on the trail. The climb (130 steps) to the top of the 112-foot tower is well worth the hike. Step out on the catwalk for unmatched views of Lake Michigan and Ludington State Park. Just a few blocks from downtown, Stearns Park Beach on Lake Michigan is popular with beachgoers. The park is home to two concession stands (now operated by one of the owners of Brunch Babes, so expect more interesting menu options), shuffleboard, a skate park, mini golf, and playground and picnic areas. The pier to the North Breakwater Light is walkable and an ideal spot to watch the sunset. What makes Ludington unique among many beach towns is its cultural and historical amenities, including the Port of Ludington Maritime Museum and Historic White Pine Village. I ducked into the maritime museum on a cloudy beach day and was impressed with the exhibits and interactive displays. The museum explores the city’s history on the water, lumbering days, and the steamers and car ferries that once crowded its waters. An extensive exhibit on the Armistice Day Storm in 1940 is mesmerizing. The storm took the lives of 64 sailors on Lake Michigan. Their stories are told with survivor accounts, photographs and video of the shipwrecks at the lake’s bottom. For more information on Ludington or to start planning a trip, visit pureludington.com.
sheer amount of rain and mud.” Edwards originally planned on doing a project for veterans, but the inability to form plans and receive permissions led him to shifting his focus toward helping seniors. “We ultimately went up to the senior center, which was asking for help with their garden area,” Edwards said. “We decided to pick that and help them the best way we could.” Plans began to come into place in 2022 and were put on hold due to winter. Building the standing planters proved to be one of the hardest parts of the project, but Edwards was able to get some help. “Their first garden consisted of five large standing flower beds of an intricate design, which were actually a previous Eagle project that someone had donated there and built themselves,” Edwards said. “They wanted us trying to replicate them as best as possible and produce two more, which we ultimately were able to do almost exactly thanks to a former Scout leader named Larry Shock … We reached out to him to gain some guidance on how we were going about building.” An Eagle Scout from Troop 209, based
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Greg Tasker is a Traverse City-based freelance writer. Greg’s articles focused on northern Michigan travel will appear in C & G Newspapers during the summer.
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at Selfridge Air National Guard Base, named Michael Sherako built the original planters. A marker crediting Edwards’ and Sherako’s work is attached to the garden’s new sign. With the project behind him, Edwards’ road to Eagle does not have too much longer to go. At age 16, he has plenty of time to get the rank, and he’s using that time to go for full honors. “After I do all the paperwork, I’m going to do several extra merit badges to earn something called an Eagle Palm,” Edwards said. “An Eagle Palm is sort of like a next rank for the Eagle Scouts. It’s a metal pin and there’s different levels depending on how many extra merit badges you do. For five extra, it’s a bronze palm, for 10, it’s a (golden) palm, and I believe 15 marks a (silver) palm. I have to complete two more and I should earn all three of my palms.” Edwards plans to maintain a role within Troop 1407 even after he becomes an Eagle Scout. “I may come back as a junior leader at some point to help the new Scouts along their way to becoming Eagle Scouts,” Edwards said. Helping younger members of Troop 1407 achieve Eagle is part of Edwards’ goal to help further the troop’s record of awarding an average of two Scouts with the BSA’s highest rank since 1955.
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