A Celebration of Lakes, Loons, and Love

By Polly Sheppard, Board Member, Event Chair, Friends of Seney NWR (MI)

Last August the Friends of the Seney National Wildlife Refuge (MI) hosted Loonapalooza, an evening to celebrate Seney National Wildlife Refuge’s world-famous Common Loons. Members and their guests gathered at Erickson Center for the Arts (the local arts center and important Friends partner) to enjoy a reception with refreshments, music, student art and photo exhibits, and silent and live auctions and raffles. A public presentation after the reception featured speakers from the refuge, Common Coast Research and Conservation, and Michigan DNR and their efforts to monitor and protect Common Loons in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and Northern Lower Peninsula.

Results of this evening of fun and science? 200 attendees, 71 new members, and 11 business sponsors!

A banding station and mock nest gave Friends and their guests a “loon experience” at Loonapalooza.