Coast Guard Festival returns to Grand Haven
GRAND HAVEN, MI – The Grand Haven Coast Guard Festival is back with a week-long event reflecting and celebrating the rescue military service branch.
Grand Haven, also known as Coast Guard City, USA, will be filled with people visiting across the state and country beginning Friday.
“There is excitement for festival starting and you can kind of start to feel the buzz and the vibe around town,” Lt. Paul Larouche, the commanding officer of Sector Field Office Grand Haven, said. “It’s really inspiring to see how much the city of Grand Haven backs the Coast Guard and supports the Coast Guard and it really does have a direct impact on just the morale of those at the unit. You can tell that they know that the city of Grand Haven supports them.”
“Our relationship with the Coast Guard goes back to 1924, which started as a picnic on the far side of the river and then developed into this 10-day celebration celebrating our men and women of the Coast Guard,” Grand Haven Coast Guard Festival executive director Mike Smith said.
To kick off the event, you can check out the lighthouse quilt show from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. at St. Patrick’s Church, located at 901 Columbus Ave. There will be over 100 antique quilts on display, and you’ll get to hear stories about each. The cost of admission is $7.
You can take a ship tour beginning Monday, Aug. 1, and organizers say you can’t miss the National Coast Guard Memorial Service, which pays tribute to personnel who have died in the line of duty during the past year.
Tim Riley, the general manager of Kirby House restaurant, says the festival always gives a boost to the economy. “It’s everything we plan for, for the summer, and it’s an important part of our year,” Riley said.
Riley thinks the designated area for the social district will be beneficial to businesses. “It just adds to the whole feel it give people more options, more places to go while they’re down here,” Riley said.
The festival will run through Aug. 7.
Coast Guard investigating laser strikes on Lake Ontario search and rescue boats
The U.S. Coast Guard and local law enforcement are investigating two recent laser strike incidents against two USCG small boats participating in search and rescue operations in Lake Ontario.
The incidents took place June 11 and July 12. The Coast Guard said the first incident originated from Moon Beach, New York and the second from nearby Oswego. Attempts to locate the suspects remain ongoing.
In both cases, high-powered laser illuminated the small boats numerous times, striking the crew in the eyes. No injuries were sustained, but the Coast Guard warns that these types of actions are illegal and can cause severe effects to its safety and missions, not to mention eye injury.
“In every instance that a U.S. Coast Guard small boat is observed on the water, they are either performing a mission, training, or transiting,” said U.S. Coast Guard Capt. Mark Kuperman, Commander, Sector Buffalo. “As with all emergency responders, the work they do is in the best interests of the public. When struck by a laser, they cannot perform their job, and may in fact have suffered eye injuries.”
Laws have been on the books making it felony to aim a laser pointer at an aircraft, with penalties of fines or imprisonement of not more than 5 years, or both. But a new law was passed in 2021 under the Elijah E. Cummings Coast Guard Authorization Act (CGAA) of 2020 states that aiming a LASER Pointer at vessels is a violation under title 46 U.S. Code, Section 70014, which makes it unlawful to “cause the beam of a LASER pointer to strike a vessel operating on the navigable waters of the United States.’’ The offense carries civil and criminal (felony) penalties as well.
Coast Guard Investigative Service Special Agents are working with local law enforcement to investigate the recent incidents.
“Just as a citizen would not intentionally endanger an ambulance or a firetruck moving at high speed to provide urgent care, Coast Guard boat crews are responding to life-threatening situations on the water,” said Kuperman
Anyone with information about the cases is encouraged to contact U.S. Coast Guard Sector Buffalo at 716-843-9391 or can make an anonymous report through CGIS Tips at the following CGIS TIPLINE website: https://www.p3tips.com/878.
