Fountain + Park Party + Landing Ship + Goonies =

Hint...

You've got it! Love Muskegon Day. (For Non-Port City Readers: Love (Your City) Day.) A Love day inside of a Love week: How can you not feel the Love? (The love above is at the Monet Garden - of Muskegon. It's a pretty good replica, as I'm sure my French readers will agree. Bonjour, les francais! :) More about the Monet Garden another day...) Today is full of events, listed below, for you to share the love…

If you're still not feeling it, or if you are and you’d like create an even deeper tie to your community, there are some pictures below to help you start, and I have a suggestion. Actually, it’s a request - from me, Imaginer, to you, my fellow traveler, wherever you are: I would like you to spend five minutes thinking about one thing that you’d like to experience in your city. Just one thing that would make it better, make you proud, make you excited about Muskegon/Your Town again. Maybe you’d like to see another Summer Celebration-type event. Perhaps some more businesses downtown. Or maybe you just want a gathering place in your neighborhood...

Whatever it is, it’s possible … in time. Here’s the wonderful thing about Muskegon (and many other places): It’s on the upswing. There’s room (literally and figuratively) for development and dreams and ideas to come to life. So it’s not perfect now – far from it, actually. Well, I can tell you this, Muskegon: You don’t want a perfect place. You really, really don’t. I have lived in a perfect place, the kind where all of the houses are just right and the businesses similar and the tree- and flower-lined streets beautiful and perfectly spaced. Yes, it’s refreshing at first, but then it gets old. And there’s no space for creating something new, something different…

We’ve got that here, Muskegon. This is a place full of natural beauty, and the city and its surroundings are endearing, too. Do they need work? Yes. But that’s better than the alternative … A stagnant place. An unoriginal place. An unimaginative place. Love Muskegon. Love its quirks. Love its imperfection. Love its possibilities … They really are endless. What do you want to see?

While you’re thinking about that, there’s plenty for you to do, free, throughout the day and night, including the following events:

A highly energetic celebration of the work of the Women’s Division and the turning on of the Alcoa Children’s Fountain at noon at Celebration Square in front of the downtown Post Office. The Community Foundation for Muskegon County promises treats and plenty of splashing…

A “Love Your Community” interactive workshop from 2:30-5 p.m. with Peter Kageyama, the co-founder and producer of the Creative Cities Summit. Need some help imagining the possibilities for Muskegon? Check out this 2 ½-hour free workshop.

A Love Muskegon Celebration at Parties in the Park, from 5-9 p.m. in Hackley Park downtown. Peter Kageyama will be here, too, sharing thoughts about Love Muskegon week. Four Finger Five will play the tunes while you hear about loving Muskegon and take in the park’s new landscaping.

The Goonies! (exclamation point added by me) at 10 p.m. on the LST at the Mart Dock downtown. This Movies on Deck season’s first film is the family classic from the ’80s … and it holds up. It’s also a lot of fun to watch outside in a community setting. I did this last year in a “Movies in the Park” event, and there were families, young and old couples, groups of friends of all ages – all having a great time. Movies on Deck is free, but donations are needed to keep the program going. Bring your own chairs or blanket.

Okay, Muskegon and everyone else, as you can see, there’s plenty to love. Thanks for reading. See ya out and about…

--Imaginer

Stop and Love Muskegon...

...And smell the roses ... It's worth it, even if there're some thorns in your side.