Next month finds us attending a couple of conferences in Michigan for a chance to explore the state's "quiet water" sports and history.
First up is the 18th Annual Quiet Water Symposium on Saturday, March 2 at the Michigan State University Pavilion for Livestock and Agricultural Education in East Lansing.
The symposium features a day-long schedule of presentations, exhibits and demonstrations for those who cherish outdoor, non-motorized recreation like canoeing, kayaking, camping, hiking and more.
Tim and I have several canoes that haven't seen a lot of action in recent years due to illnesses and death in the family, but we're hoping to rectify that situation this year. Plus I'm hoping to get inspired to do a bit more hiking this year, instead of walking around the city all of the time.
Some of the presentations that look particularly interesting to me include a lecture from Michigan guidebook author Jim DuFresne about Isle Royale, a presentation from Indiana's Mary Catterlin who circumnavigated Lake Michigan in a hand-made dugout canoe with a friend, and a session with Steve Nelson of Spirit of the Wilderness about what happened during the Pagami Creek Fire of 2011 and how the Boundary Waters Canoe Area continues to recover from it.
The symposium also includes information about outdoor recreation clubs and environmental groups, as well as demonstrations of various outdoor and traditional skills like wooden canoe re-canvassing, fly tying and model boat painting.
This will be our first time at this particular conference, and we're looking forward to it. Have any of you attended this symposium in the past, and did you enjoy it?
Hours are 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 2. Admission is $10 for adults, $5 for students with ID and free for children under 12 years old.
Visit www.quietwatersymposium.org for more information.
We're also attending the 2013 Local History Conference staged by the Historical Society of Michigan during the weekend of March 22-23 in at the Holiday Inn Conference Center in Livonia, Michigan.
This will be our third time at this particular conference aimed at local historians, genealogists and history enthusiasts.
Tim has a special interest in history as he is working to complete a graduate degree in history at Wayne State University, and I enjoy writing stories about regional history and historic sites in the Midwest.
This conference alternates between Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties in metro Detroit and always includes a tour of a local history site. We've been to the Edsel and Eleanor Ford House and the Troy Historic Village with this group in the past, and I'm looking forward to this year's trip to the Plymouth Historical Museum.
Other presentations that look particularly interesting to me this year include: a breakfast keynote by Blanca Alvarez Stransky, superintendent of Perry's Victory & International Peace Memorial, about the Battle of Lake Erie during the War of 1812; a panel about several newly published books about Michigan's history; a presentation about the Underground Railroad in Southwest Michigan; and a luncheon lecture about the survival of newspapers in today's digital environment from Paul Keep of the MLive Media Group.
The conference registration is $39 by March 13 ($49 for late registration March 14-18). Meal tickets for the conference are optional and will bring your total cost for the weekend to $100 as a commuter, but we've found that attending the meals and receptions well worth it.
We also end up with at least a few books from vendors in the conference's exhibition center as many regional college presses are there and offer discounts for conferences goers.
Call 1-800-692-1828 to register or visit www.hsmichigan.org for more information or to register online.
© Dominique King 2013 All rights reserved
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