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Health & Fitness

Fenton, Linden and Holly Jointly Win Community Excellence Award Nomination from Michigan Municipal League

Fenton, Linden, Holly jointly win Community Excellence Award regional nomination during 2013 Michigan Municipal League Capital Conference.

LANSING, Michigan – A joint entry by the Fenton, Holly and Linden communities earned top honors as the Michigan Municipal League’s Region 1 Community Excellence Award (CEA) winner at the Michigan Municipal League’s 2013 Capital Conference in Lansing on Tuesday, April 9, 2013. The region includes all communities in the southeastern portion of the state’s Lower Peninsula.

Under the title “Come Paddle with Us,” the placemaking effort being done jointly by the village of Holly and the cities of Fenton and Linden involves the Shiawassee River Heritage Water Trail. The river trail represents intergovernmental cooperation, recreational opportunities and economic development for the communities in southern Genesee County and northern Oakland County. Spearheaded by Headwaters Trails Inc. and supported by the Keepers of the Shiawassee, the communities have seen increased recreation activity on the Shiawassee River over the last decade. This increase in use is largely due to promotional signs in Holly, Fenton, Linden, and Argentine and Holly townships; mile markers along the river to inform paddlers of their location; promotional brochures; annual clean up events; canoe and kayak races; moonlight paddle events; and many more activities.

“The Shiawassee River is our ‘place’ so we have used it as a way to brand the river as a heritage water trail as a placemaking destination for recreational opportunities and economic development in our communities,” said Linden Mayor David Lossing speaking on behalf of all three communities.

The joint project competed for the Region 1 title against 6 other projects: Rochester’s main street makeover; Eastpointe’s Service Line Affordable Protection Program (SLAPP); New Baltimore’s “Make New Baltimore Your Destination” program; Plymouth’s Northville-Plymouth Fire Agreement; Grosse Pointe’s wellness center and patient facility; and Westland’s core shopping and dining district.

The Fenton/Holly/Linden entry will now go on to compete against the other six regional winners for the statewide CEA at the League’s Annual Convention Sept. 17-20, 2013, in Detroit. The CEA program, affectionately called “The Race for the Cup,” was started by the League in 2007 to recognize innovative solutions taking place in Michigan’s cities, villages and urban townships.

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For additional details contact Matt Bach, director of media relations for the Michigan Municipal League, at (734) 669-6317 or mbach@mml.org.

The Michigan Municipal League advocates on behalf of its member communities in Lansing, Washington D.C., and the courts; provides educational opportunities for elected and appointed municipal officials; and assists municipal leaders in administering services to their communities through League programs and services.

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