Board appoints Burkett to parks commission

The Laketown Township Board of Trustees appointed Dale Burkett to the open position on the township parks commission on Tuesday, July 14, 2026, in a 5-0 vote. He was one of two applicants for the position left open after the June 12 resignation of Sherry Sirko.

The other applicant was Joe Rickabus who was also interviewed on Tuesday.

“We’re lucky to have two candidates who are willing to pick up the mantle and go to work for Laketown Township,” said Supervisor Steven Ringelberg.

Board members cited Burkett’s experience with the outdoors as well as planning and conflict resolution as key reasons for the appointment.

Burkett retired in July 2022 from the position of Sea Lamprey Program Director at the Great Lakes Fishery Commission. He moved to Laketown Township in November 2022.

“After searching the west coast of Michigan, beginning in 2004, we moved our sailboat to Eldean Shipyard at the end of the 2019 sailing season and fell in love with the Holland area, community, aesthetics, values, and obvious care with which the community is developed and maintained,” he wrote in his application letter for the parks position.

In 2025, Burkett began to serve as an alternate on the Laketown Township Zoning Board of Appeals.

Immediately after the meeting on Tuesday, Clerk Jim Delaney swore in Burkett so he could serve at the parks commission’s meeting on Wednesday, July 15. Burkett’s term ends in 2028.

The five-member parks commission meets once a month on the third Wednesday at 6 p.m. at the township hall.

The parks commission through its board of commissioners, staff, programs, services and facilities seeks to enhance the quality of life and the environment, to acquire, conserve and protect natural resources, and to provide quality leisure time opportunities for the benefit of the community.

Other parks commission members are Chairperson Brad Laninga, Tom Hoekman, Mary Jo Bertolino and Michael Teekamp.