Grosse Ile Organization Wants Trenton, Downriver to Come to the Island

Opportunity Grosse Ile president Craig Pilkington wants Trenton and all of Downriver to know Grosse Ile is open for business.

"We should be finding ways to support Trenton events and we hope Trenton will reciprocate," Pilkington said.

Opportunity Grosse Ile (OGI) began as way to promote the island on the Internet. The OGI website features information about the island and upcoming events.

Pilkington said the website was created to entice people to move to Grosse Ile, but would now like to expand the idea by encouraging Downriver residents, including those in Trenton, to come to the island for recreational purposes.

"Come see our bike paths," Pilkington said.

Grosse Ile has an extensive series of bike paths that resident and non-residents use for bicycling, jogging, walking and more. The paths cover nearly the entire perimeter of the island.

OGI was instrumental is securing a visit from replicas of the tall ships Nina and Pinta in Wyandotte in July 2012.

Pilkington said the tall ships brought over 6,000 people to the Downriver area. OGI volunteers asked visitors questions during their visit and Pilkington said many of the answers surprised him.

"Over 20 percent of visitors had never been Downriver," Pilkington said.

That translates to 1,200 people visiting Wyandotte who had never been Downriver, which Pilkington said was the main idea for bringing in the ships.

OGI have other events planned for this summer and Pilkington encourages Downriver residents to participate.

Look for event news and information on the Opportunity Grosse Ile Facebook page.

OGI is a non-profit organization that promotes Grosse Ile both on the web and in person. For more information visit the Opportunity Grosse Ile website or "like" them on Facebook.

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