Saving the Great Lakes Forever” Conference kicks off May 6

People from around the entire Great Lake Basin will be gathering for the 2011 Conference “Saving the Great Lakes Forever” which kicks off on Friday, May 6, at 6:50 p.m. at the historic State Theater in downtown Traverse City.

Hosted by the Flow for Water Coalition, the Great Lakes Water Studies Institute at Northwestern Michigan College and Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation, the conference will focus on learning about the abuses and threats facing the Great Lakes. The conference will also provide solutions to stop these threats and to protect the citizens, communities, local agriculture, and businesses who depend upon the waters of the Great Lakes Basin.

Friday night's kick-off will feature a presentation by Maude Barlow, internationally recognized water advocate and former Senior Advisor to the President of the United Nations General Assembly. Ms. Barlow is the author of 16 books. Her address will offer a unique perspective on how each of us living within the Great Lakes Basin need to come together to protect the waters of the Great Lakes.

A screening of the award winning documentary “Tapped”, an unflinching look at the plastic bottled water industry, will follow Ms. Barlow's presentation and the evening will conclude with an afterglow party in the “Dome” at the Park Place Hotel for networking, live music, and refreshments.

The conference continues on Saturday, May 7, at Milliken Auditorium and Scholar Hall on the campus of Northwestern Michigan College. Registration opens at 8:00 a.m. Welcome and introductions begin at 8:45 a.m.

Wenonah Hauter, Executive Director of Food and Water Watch and one of the world's leading experts on water, energy, food and the environment, will speak at 9:00 a.m. Her address will be followed by breakout workshop sessions on a variety of water-related hot topics. The event will conclude with an expert roundtable discussion: Solutions for Saving the Waters of the Great Lakes Basin.

Tickets are $25 per person for the 2-day event or $40 for two.

Tickets can be purchased on-line at http://www.flowforwater.org./

FLOW Showing Sunday to Benefit ISEA

The Bay Theatre in Suttons Bay will show the movie Flow on Sunday December 21 at 2pm. A portion of the proceeds will be given to ISEA to further our work of education and stewardship of the Great Lake's waters. For more information go to: http://www.leelanau.com/thebay/nowplaying.html

Irena Salina’s award-winning documentary investigation into what experts label the most important political and environmental issue of the 21st Century – The World Water Crisis. This cautionary documentary is determined to stir things up. Water, the quintessence of life, sustains every creature on Earth. The time has come when we can no longer take this precious resource for granted. Unless we effect global change, impoverished nations could be wiped from the planet. Roused by a thirst for survival, people around the world are fighting for their birthright.

Showtime: Sunday, Dec. 21 - 2:00 pm

After the film, Q & A with Jim Olson, environmental attorney and Holly Wren Spaulding, film contributor and water activist.

FLOW is being underwritten by Leelanau Cheese Co., Tamarack Craftsmen Gallery, Bill Rastetter & Cary Weed, and The Bay Theatre. A portion of proceeds will benefit the Inland Seas Education Association. Advance Tickets at Bahle’s and Brilliant Books (Suttons Bay) and Higher Grounds (Traverse City).

"Flow makes the case against the privatization of water, which is happening in gazillions of impoverished communities around the world, not to mention North American backyards."- Jennie Punter, Globe and Mail