Why Are There Fish on Lamp Posts in Downtown Niles, Michigan?

I can't be the only person wondering what the heck is going on with all of the fish on lamp posts in Niles. This is not clickbait, as something fishy is going on here.

With the Indiana-Michigan River Valley Trail, all of the beautiful parks, and the St. Joseph River, the city of Niles has put a lot of focus on nature and outdoor fun for its residents.  Is that why there seems to be something fishy going on in downtown Niles?

A non-profit organization called the River Essence Group recently explained the fish in a Facebook post,

By picking fish this go around we were trying to unite the downtown with the River/Park area! We decided to have fish painted as realistic as we could with the size and color. Plus fish common to fresh water.

It's educational, fun, and fintastic for all ages.  See the full explanation with photos from their Facebook post below.

The River Essence Group teamed up with NextGen Graphics to create these.  Enjoy the video below showing the whole process.

I'm just squidding around with the fish puns. I almost pulled a mussel attempting to catch some laughter with these terrible fish jokes. Let's check out some of the rich history of Niles, Michigan below.

In summary, Niles is feelin' a little fishy downtown in order to bring the downtown peeps to the River and have fun with a family scavenger hunt in the meantime.