By Gari Voss
The sun shone brightly and the temperature rose to a wonderful 40+ degrees on Saturday, February 14, 2026, as Littlejohn Lake near Allegan hosted young and older enthusiasts of outdoor activities. On the lake, the Outdoor Discovery Center (ODC) in collaboration with the Allegan County Parks, Recreation and Tourism Department invited youngsters and their caregivers to explore ice fishing.
Mike Graves with ODC explained, “There are a lot of first timer ice fishers. Though they fish in the summer, this is a new experience. Ice fishing is more of a patience game than summertime fishing.”
At 10am, there were about 16 children and adults taking advantage of the free fishing with additional youth and adults arriving to try their luck on the ice.
The success of the day was punctuated with, “I caught one! It is really big!”
This was a day of catch-and-release ice fishing. All materials were provided by ODC, including fishing poles, tackle, and bait. This was an open format program where participants could fish as long as they would like. Though participants were asked to dress for an outside activity, dress was a bit lighter thanks to the higher temperature.
On the west side of the park, 44 diehard disc golfers gathered for an adventurous romp through the snowy woods to complete the Littlejohn Disc Golf Course. The Littlejohn Legacy Dubz was organized by Great Lakes Disc that had been a partner in creating the course. The 18 holes is targeted towards an MA1 level player and contains some elevation changes and crosses a creek through the Littlejohn Lake Park woods.
Tournament Director Shae Abbgy, owner/operator of Great Lakes Disc, shared, “We are partnering with Allegan County Community Foundation (ACCF) that works with the Dolly Parton Imagination Library and are working to raise funds for books. Thus far, we have over $700 for the fundraiser from fees but will collect additional funds following the tournament.” [The final total was $2,195.]
The disc golf course, that was designed by Joshua Driscoll and John H. Clark III, threads its way through the forest. Great Lakes Disc played a prominent part in fundraising for and assisting with the equipment that comprises the eighteen hole golf course. Abbgy explained that volunteers were invaluable in felling and hauling the trees which were removed to create the “fairways”.
The weekend was a great one as the sun shone and temperatures went well above the freezing mark. “The competitors came from as far as the suburbs of Chicago, but most were from Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, and the Lake Shore where there are established disc golf communities,” quipped Abbgy.
Players paid $50 per team, of which $30 went to the fundraiser and $20 went for the players’ packs. Great Lakes Disc provided one new premium plastic disc per player.
Stephanie Calhoun, President/CEO of ACCF, generously offered a dollar-for-dollar match for the funds collected from the golfers up to the first $1,000 raised during the event!
The Disc Golfers currently have over 30 tournaments scheduled for 2026 with additional events on the planning board. Of the current 30, six events will be fundraisers.
For disc golf enthusiasts who like to play closer to home, the 2026 Disc Golf Event Schedule will include additional gatherings at Littlejohn Lake Park: May 30th – The Legend of Littlejohn presented by Discraft; July 3rd–5th – Michigan Professional State Championship presented by Discraft; and July 18th–19th – River City Open – presented by Discraft.
Abbgy shared, “You can find our current event schedule at https://www.discgolfscene.com/club/5995/great-lakes-disc/tournaments. We sponsor more than a hundred other events across the country.”
In addition, Abbgy announced, “We will also be hosting a league at Littlejohn every Wednesday from April 1 – August 26, 2026. We’ll have more details about the league published later this month at https://www.discgolfscene.com/club/15387/allegan-disc-golfers-united/leagues.
