Festival crowds impress
by Peter Jakey– Managing Editor
Almost on cue, the darkest clouds in days rolled over Rogers City Monday morning, almost as if they were waiting for the throngs of locals and visitors to clear out of the Nautical City. Even then, only a handful of raindrops fell, which is good considering the cleanup from the night before continued through Monday afternoon. By 4 p.m. Monday, the last of the picnic tables were being loaded onto flatbed trucks and taken out of the harbor parking lot.
Eric Muller, Nautical Festival Committee (NFC) chairman, and part of a crew that worked through the night with no sleep, summed up the 2008 festival in a word: ?awesome! We had a great, great turn out.? Muller said the ?Jedi Mind Trip? played to a packed house Saturday night and the crowds were equally impressive for proceeding nights. ?I can?t complain,? said Muller.
The tent wasn?t as wide this year, according to Muller, so that made things a little cozier. ?With the other tent, we were 20 foot wider,? said Muller. Anyone wanting a breather could take their drinks into the fenced in pavilion area, just outside of the tent. ?Saturday, we ran 18 bartenders and we could barely keep up,? said Muller. ?The speciality drinks went over very well.? Numbers were not available, but Muller believes the NFC held their own.
THE WEATHER for everyday of the festival was ideal, with huge crowds milling through the juried arts and crafts show. The final day, Sunday, was the hottest of the six days with the mercury hitting 90 degrees. Lakeside Park had lots of people swimming in Lake Huron or crowding the swimming platform. The beach volleyball courts also were filled. According to Schmidt Amusements business manager Tom Burtch, they had a good weekend as well. ?We had good crowds. Everybody seemed to be having a good time. Preliminary numbers look good. I would say we are on par with last year. Considering the economy, we?ve had a decent turnout, and that?s good.?
Muller said, ?It is real nice to have the variety Terry (Schmidt) put out this year. It will draw the kids. If you have the same things every year, the kids get sick of it. We had mentioned the bumper cars last year. We asked him to bring some different things.? Led by 2008 Miss Rogers City Jordyn Lamb and her court, co-grand marshals Erv Grulke and Evelyn Heller, the grand parade Sunday afternoon was enjoyed by many parade-goers lining South and North Third Streets. The parade lasted about an hour and included several political candidates running on the August or November ballot.
THE PRESQUE ISLE Sportsmen?s Club sold out all 900 chicken dinners, including 86 at ?Sports Park.? It was the first time the organization set up a booth at the field, where some of the largest crowds of the weekend gather to wa
Sunday night, with additional money being provided to celebrate Jean McLennan?s 90th birthday, the fireworks show, which lasted 17 minutes, and included a birthday cake in the middle of the show, put the final touches on the weekend.
?This is one of the nicest festivals I?ve seen in about eight years,? said Muller. Local police reported only minor incidents over the weekend, while the biggest happening outside of the city limits was occurring on the other side of the county. The Nautical Festival Committee Inc., is made up of the six founding service groups, each of which have two representatives on the committee. The groups include Rogers City Servicemen?s Club, Kiwanis Club, Optimist Club, Knights of Columbus, Lions Club and Rogers City Area Chamber of Commerce. Kammie Dennis serves as executive director. There only have been two people to serve in the position. The first was Larry Wissner, who moved to Texas eight years ago.