I grew up exploring the wonders of this Detroit River island.  I walked; swam; rode horses and later bicycles; watched the tiny wild white deer (penned up the last time I was there); enjoyed the children’s zoo (closed in 2002), conservatory, and aquarium; watched synchronized swimming; toured Dossin Great Lakes Museum; picnicked; and imagined dancing in the 1930s.   I learned of this special report by Detroit Free Press reporters Gina Damron and Brian Kaufman today while reading Great Lakes Echo.  The Echo offers terrific reporting on Great Lakes issues and I check it daily.  Click here to enjoy video, photographs, and other links and resources about the lovely Belle Isle.  It’s fantastic!  The reporters spent a year creating this treasure so make sure you watch to the very, very end to see what they went through to complete the project.

You can help support some of the remaining treasures of this island through the Friends of Belle Isle,  Friends of Belle Isle Aquarium, Friends of Belle Isle Marsh, Belle Isle Botanical Society, and Dossin Great Lakes Museum.  I will be adding links to these and many other island nonprofit organizations as I can learn of them.  Check out the new page above, “NGOs”.