Maintaining blueberry bushes focus of parks program

Parks commission also OKs gate at Farview, repairs to Interurban station.

Volunteers during the annual Day of Caring trim blueberry bushes at Huyser Farm Park, 4188 64th St., on Friday, Sept. 12, 2025.

A blueberry farmer will be leading a demonstration on blueberry bush pruning and care at 1 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025, at Huyser Farm Park, 4188 64th St.

Ed Morales will answer questions regarding the plants.

“He will also be directing us on how to renovate the blueberry bushes,” said Mary Jo Bertolino, member of the township parks and recreation commission.

The parks commission is investigating what to do with the 6.5 acres of organic blueberry bushes that have become overgrown. On Sept. 12, nine volunteers from Fifth Third Bank trimmed saplings and vines out of the plant rows as part of the countywide Day of Caring event.

The bushes were on the Huyser Farm for decades before the township acquired the 102 acres of land in 2001.

The parks commission discussed the issue at its Sept. 17 meeting. Commissioners wondered if they should thin out the rows of berries or hire an expert to handle the issue.

With Morales’ guidance, Bertolino and volunteers on Oct. 9 will cut back four bushes and treat the invasive Asian bittersweet. Volunteers are needed to help with the 2-hour project and should bring loppers or pruning shears.

Meet at the pavilion.

Rain date is Thursday, Oct. 16.

The Interurban station at Farview Park, 6357 138th Ave. The Laketown Township Parks and Recreation Commission has asked the township board for more money to repair the structure that is more than 100 years old.

Other business

In other business, the parks commission:

  • Approved spending not more than $500 for extra materials needed to install a gate at Farview Park, 6257 138th Ave. The commission in August approved the purchase of a new gate for the 87-acre park. A neighbor has volunteered to open the gate in the mornings and close it at night.
  • Accepted a $9,990 bid from Covey Construction to repair the historic Interurban wait station at Farview Park. The commission also requested an additional $6,000 from the township board to pay for the repairs to the structure. The township acquired the building in 1991. The station, which is about a century old, was where passengers of the Interurban railway waited for trains. The railway line passed through what is now Farview Park more than 100 years ago.
  • Adopted new bylaws.