Meetings

Joint MARP & Midwest High Speed Rail Assoc. Meeting – Aug. 16

Great news everyone!

Our normal MARP monthly meeting will be changed this month to become a joint Midwest High Speed Rail Assoc. and MARP meeting with attendees from both organizations. The details are below:

August 16, 10:15 am
St. Joseph Public Library
500 Market Street, St. Joseph, MI 49085

1. Rick Harnish, Executive Director of Midwest High Speed Rail Association (MWHSRA ) will be our featured speaker. MWHSRA has been very successful in Illinois in adding train frequencies and routes. MARP is working with MWHSRA, along with the Environmental Law and Policy Center and the United Transportation Union, to build a strategy for similar success in Michigan. The discussion will center on how we can work with Amtrak, the state and our communities to add frequencies, new routes and expand the capacity of the Porter (IN)-Chicago (IL) rail corridor to support better transportation options in Michigan.

This part of the agenda is expected to last 90-120 minutes and our goal will be to lay out a specific plan on what we can jointly do to achieve our goals

2. Rick will then share some information about an upcoming trip to Barcelona – 15-30 minutes

3. Following the joint meeting, we will enjoy lunch at Silver Beach Pizza located in the Amtrak Station. Gelsosomo’s award-winning pizza is featured. Salads and sandwiches also available.

4. We will then reconvene for a condensed MARP meeting as John Delora has some important topics he feels we need to discuss – roughly 1 hour

After the meeting, you’re on your own to explore St. Joseph’s many attractions, including:
• Silver Beach – ranked one of the top 10 family beaches in America
• wineries and fruit orchards- there are 7 wineries in the area – the climate of SW Michigan is ideal for growing fruits
• the Berrien County Youth Fair – the biggest youth fair in the Midwest – it runs from August 10 to August 16
• other things to do may be found at www.michigan.org and www.sjcity.com

Folks in the Grand Rapids-Holland area and points south can ride the Pere Marquette arriving in St. Joseph at roughly 9:30 am. We’ll meet you at the train station for the easy walk to the St. Joseph Public Library two blocks away. The northbound train leaves at 8:00 pm, leaving plenty of time to explore the many pleasures of this great beach community.

If you would like to find someone in your area for carpooling, please email Rich Vavra-Musser doottime@ sbcglobal.net

Hope to see you there!