Dowagiac City Council March 25 approved several upcoming events:

 

Arbor Day

April 27

 

The Dogwood Tree City USA Committee plans Dowagiac’s annual Arbor Day observance in memory of Ed Darr at Riverside Cemetery from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. on Saturday, April 27.

Activities include poster and photography contests for school children, a chili contest, free lunch, tree-planting and tree-climbing demonstrations and guest speaker master gardener Carole Bettig.

 

Day of Prayer

May 2

 

ACTION (Area Churches Together in One Network) will use the south lawn of City Hall at noon Thursday, May 2, to observe the National Day of Prayer, as requested by Pastor John Kasper of First United Methodist Church.

 

Flower basket sale

May 10-12

 

Borgess-Lee Memorial Hospital’s Shared Nursing Governance Committee sells flower baskets as a fundraiser during the first part of the Dogwood Fine Arts Festival.

The hospital reserved Beckwith Park’s gazebo at Front and Beeson streets for Friday, March 10, through Sunday, May 12.

 

Commencement

June 2

 

Union High School Principal Pieter Hoekstra secured permission to block Solomon Street between Chris Taylor-Alumni Field and Patrick Hamilton Elementary School from 1 to 4 p.m. on Sunday, June 2, for parking during graduation.

 

Fishing tournament

June 22

 

Mill Pond Improvement Association’s third annual multi-species fundraising fishing tournament at Heddon Park takes place Saturday, June 22, from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m.

According to tournament director Rick O’Konski, there will be a Port-o-Pit vendor on site.

There is a $45 entry fee for 40 two-man teams. Five teams without boats can fish from shore. Half a chicken costs $10, with 40 percent of proceeds benefiting the tournament.

Teams should sign up starting June 1 at Cranky Hank’s Bait Shop, 24992 Marcellus Highway, corner of Twin Lakes Road; (269) 462-9272.

To donate to or to help sponsor this event, contact O’Konski at (269) 262-2163.

There are $100 first- and $50 second-place prizes in each category — longest bluegill, longest crappie, largest bass by weight and largest combined weight, carp.

The grand prize is a mystery gift, with door prizes for all participants.

 

Niles Shockers

April 8-July

 

The baseball club is starting its fifth season. Three teams play competitively throughout southwest Michigan, northern Indiana and Ohio. For the 13U part of the program, almost half of the players, three coaches and many sponsors are from Dowagiac, according to the request by Jason Alexander, Jay Brackensick and Mike Behnke.

The city is letting the Shockers, who provided a certificate of liability insurance, to use centrally located Rotary Park facilities for practice and games beginning April 8 through the end of July.

The Shockers plan to host games each Monday night in May, bringing in teams from surrounding communities, and a tournament July 12-13 that could bring overnight guests to town to the benefit of local businesses.