Marsh Tower Dedication
by Emmitt B. Feldner of the Review staff
The new Broughton Sheboygan County Marsh Park observation tower will be formally dedicated Sunday, May 16.
Before then, it will be officially donated to Sheboygan County this week by the Friends of the Marsh group.
Meeting at the marsh Thursday, the group decided on the May dedication for the 80-foot tall wooden observation tower.
The tower, which opened in late December, is the tallest such structure in the state of Wisconsin.
The Friends of the Marsh decided to take advantage of the opening ceremony to showcase some of the educational opportunities available at the marsh as well, in conjunction with Camp Y-Koda.
“This will be a great opportunity to educate people to what is available out here,” Scott McMurray, operator of the Three Guys and a Grill restaurant at the marsh, commented.
Jeremiah Dentz and Sarah DeZwarte from Camp Y-Koda, which operates a number of nature education programs at the marsh as part of their overall programming, told the group that they would be able to provide a number of displays, tours and activities for visitors to the grand opening.
“The tower is already in our new curriculum for programs at the marsh,” Dentz told the Friends, as part of Camp Y-Koda’s Wetland Ecology program.
The Friends decided to hold a brat fry in conjunction with the dedication ceremony, to run from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the tower.
The formal dedication of the tower will take place at 2 p.m., the group decided, with state and county legislative officials to be invited to take part.
The Friends of the Marsh will be formally donating the tower to the county, which owns and operates the marsh park, this week at the meeting of the Planning, Resources, Agriculture and Extension Committee Thursday.
McMurray noted that the tower has been drawing a large number of visitors since it opened shortly after Christmas, despite the snow and winter weather.
He added that it has already been the site of one marriage proposal, with a young man proposing to his fiancée at the top of the tower, explaining that he wanted to propose to her as close to her late father as possible.
