Women’s March set
SAUGATUCK — The fourth annual Saugatuck and Douglas Women’s March will take place this weekend with additional events planned in partnership with the Douglas Downtown Development Authority leading up to the Saturday march.
“We’re putting our toe in the water and expanding, and are hopeful that it catches on,” said Holly Leo, one of the march organizers and a Saugatuck native. “We want people to come together and focus on the goal of becoming more involved in their community.”
The activities planned in conjunction with the Women’s March will kick off at 6 p.m. Friday, Jan. 17, at the Saugatuck Center for the Arts. There will be sign-making and a voter registration drive for an hour before a 7 p.m. screening of the Netflix documentary, “Knock Down the House,” which features four women running for Congress.
On Saturday morning a new, community-wide event called Meet Me in Douglas will take place in downtown Douglas shops and restaurants where people can come together to network and exchange ideas about different social issues, especially those focusing on women.
“Our idea was to have speakers before the march — local women who we asked to partner with restaurants and have informal conversations,” Leo said. “We want to make things approachable and meaningful.”
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“Toast to Tenacity” brunches will take place in Douglas 10 a.m.-noon, featuring Sue Fleming at 10 a.m. at Everyday Peale Cafe; Lauri Birkholz at 10:30 a.m. at Borrowed Time; and Glenna DeJong at 11 a.m. at Alley’s.
Participating businesses throughout town will be spotlighting women and women-made products 10 a.m.-1 p.m. in recognition of the march.
A pre-march intention setting service will start at noon at the Douglas United Church of Christ, featuring the Persisterhood Choir. Fire pits at Beery Field in downtown Douglas will serve as network gathering spots starting at noon, leading up to the march at 1 p.m.
The Women’s March will start at 1 p.m. at Beery Field with keynote addresses from Michigan Supreme Court Candidate Elizabeth Welch, and Michigan Democratic Party Chair Lavora Barnes.
Marchers will continue on from Beery Field across the Blue Star Highway Bridge, ending at Coast 236 Restaurant & Bar in Saugatuck.
“It’s a very inclusive march,” Leo said. “It’s for everybody.”
They have asked the city to close off the block in front of Coast 236 for about two hours, Leo said, because they are throwing a block party with DJ Christa Schrupp.
The block party will let people be social and network, Leo said, and they can also head into Coast 236 to get a drink, or dance at the block party.
“There has really been a lot of community excitement to put this march on and a lot of people that have stepped up to help,” Leo said.
The focus of the march is getting women to think of how they can get more involved, Leo said, and part of that is running for office.
Leo herself got the idea and was asked to run for office partly because of her involvement with organizing the march of the years. She recently ran for a Saugatuck City Council seat and won.
More information can be found online on the event’s Facebook page.
— Contact reporter Kate Carlson at kcarlson@hollandsentinel.com and follow her on Twitter @SentinelKate and @BizHolland.
