Courtesy Photo A kayaker wearing a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) cap paddles in the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary. The inaugural Pride Paddle and Poetry event will be held Saturday in Alpena.

ALPENA — Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary is excited to be partnering with the Poetics Lab, Alpena Kayak Tours, and the Susan Lane Foundation to host the inaugural Pride Paddle and Poetry event on Saturday in Alpena.

This free experience, for ages 12 and up, will include paddling to a shipwreck, a poetry workshop, and lunch. Enjoy an exciting shipwreck paddle and a haiku workshop focusing on the intersection of identity, the Great Lakes, and poetry.

This is an $89 value covered by these partners, and a great way to experience Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary. The event will be held from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, starting from the Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center, 500 W. Fletcher St., Alpena.

Mitchel Dipzinski, co-executive director and program facilitator for the Poetics Lab, explained that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reached out to its National Marine Sanctuaries, and Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary was one of the locations to organize a pride-themed event that allows for a community atmosphere while engaging with the natural resources of the sanctuary.

“What’s really cool about this is it’s a system-wide event to celebrate pride,” said Stephanie Gandulla, resource protection coordinator for Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary. “Other sites across the system are also doing pride paddles. We’re really excited to be a part of this national event to support inclusivity in our National Marine Sanctuaries, and of course, we’re also proud to be bringing it to our community of Alpena, here. Sanctuaries are for everyone, and we want everyone to feel welcome in our National Marine Sanctuaries.”

The addition of the haiku workshop elevates the event to allow for individual creativity to shine in an inclusive and supportive atmosphere.

“We want to get people out on the water and promote DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) in nature,” Dipzinski said, referring to NOAA’s objective for events like this one. “Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary … wrote us into their grant, and they got it, and as we discussed what our event might look like, it turned into an excursion, plus a haiku poetry event.”

The nature of this event ties into the Poetics Lab’s mission statement.

“The Poetics Lab facilitates inclusive spaces for communities to engage with identity through poetry and performance of the self,” the Poetics Lab’s mission states.

“We’re really excited,” Dipzinski said. “The theme of nature drove the haiku idea forward.”

The Poetics Lab decided to focus on haiku poetry for this workshop, because it is a more simple form of poetry following a “five-seven-five” structure. The format may be simple, but that does not mean haikus are easy to write.

A haiku is a form of poetry originating in Japan that has three lines and 17 syllables, with five syllables in the first line, seven in the second, and five in the third.

“The Susan Lane Foundation is working with us to do the workshop,” Dipzinski added.

Register for the Pride Paddle and Poetry event at tinyurl.com/AlpenaPridePaddle2024.

“You do have to register to be a part of the event,” Dipzinski said. “We do have a limited number of seats.”

He noted the importance of events like the Pride Paddle at this point in time.

“With everything going on in the world, it is really important to find different ways for communities, particularly minority communities, to come together,” Dipzinski said. “The party atmosphere, the club atmosphere, the drag show atmosphere, might not be for everyone within the queer community, especially here in Alpena, where people come to be in a small town, be in nature, and do all these things.”

He is grateful that NOAA encourages events that promote inclusion.

“It’s really cool that NOAA has given this opportunity to the queer community for us,” Dipzinski said. “I think it’s a really cool opportunity for us to get out, hang out with some people that we wouldn’t necessarily get to hang out with, and for community members who might feel ostracized … to come out into a smaller, queer space and still feel included and still feel safe in this community.”

Call 989-884-6200 for more information.

Reach Darby Hinkley at dhinkley@thealpenanews.com, or call 989-358-5691.