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When Tom Kelly, John Elder and Peter Doren founded the Inland Seas Education Association in 1989, they were no doubt pleased it served over 1,100 students on the chartered schooner Malabar that first year. In the three decades since, the organization’s popularity has soared. According to the history timeline on its website, the ISEA has impacted 150,000 individuals since its founding. “It’s the story of our growth, the result of 36 years of doing the work,” says ISEA Executive Director Fred Sitkins. Today, the demand for its programs has outpaced its capacity. Rather than scaling back its mission, the ISEA is pushing forward with the Campaign for the Future of Great Lakes Education, an $11 million initiative to expand its campus, capacity and capabilities to meet the needs of tens of thousands of underserved urban and rural youths around the Great Lakes states.

Inland Seas Education Association recently announced that Leo Creek Preserve has been gifted to them to serve as an outdoor learning laboratory for educational programming. This donation will allow ISEA to provide shoreside watershed-focused educational experiences while continuing to keep the property open to the public for all to enjoy. Leo Creek Preserve is a nine-acre outdoor learning laboratory, nature preserve, and botanical garden located south of Suttons Bay along the Leelanau Trail. It features more than 1,000 feet of waterfront along Leo Creek, a groundwater stream that feeds into Grand Traverse Bay.

Who among us in Leelanau has not walked our lovely beaches and often pick up an interesting rock or two? We may have sometimes wondered just what the seemingly endless array of rocks strewn on the beaches exactly are. What are they made up of, how did they get here, and where did they come from? Most importantly, what stories might they tell us?

Visit the Glen Lake Community Library in Empire on Feb. 23 at 7 pm to learn about the environmental health of our Great Lakes in a presentation by the Inland Seas Education Association. ISEA staff will describe the various monitoring activities they perform during their excursions on Grand Traverse Bay, and demonstrate some of the specialized equipment they use in this work. You can also learn about the various volunteer opportunities available with this dynamic local organization.

The Suttons Bay Marina and Park is located just steps east of the engaging village of Suttons Bay on West Grand Traverse Bay. Here, where the attraction to water means just about everything to visitors and locals alike, you will find Harbor Master, Edie Aylsworth overseeing the ongoing operations of this 174-slip marina. It is a highly responsible position, and one she has been entrusted with well. As Harbor Master, Edie is the person officially designated to enforce the regulations of the harbor, the one who makes final decisions as to ensure the safety of navigation in nearby waters, the security of the harbor itself, and the correct operation of the marina’s facilities. It really can be compared to the nautical version of an air traffic controller, and one just as responsible for keeping peoples’ lives safe.