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Posted byWalter E KitterPosted inUncategorized

Lilac Festival

A Place That I Love

When most people think of Mackinac Island, they probably think of fudge and hoses.  If you are fortunate engough go to Mackinac Island around the end of May, or the first couple of weeks in June you might be lucky enough to catch the Lilacs in bloom.   The floral perfume fragrance smell of the lilac, mixed in wirh the smell of freshly made fudge, and horse manure.  Mackinac Island has around 23 species, and about 400 different varieties thrive on the Island, thanks to growing conditions that suit the lilac perfectly shallow, well-drained soil, with a high pH level from underlying limestone.  Back in the Annex there are Lilac specimens that are 100 years old. Some of the specimens in the collectionthat is on the Island are over 200 years old.  The earliest written documetation of Lilac on Mackinac Island comes from a journal entry Henry David Thoreau kept when he visited the Island in 1861.when Connie Smith, from the Thoreau Society in 2016 on her visit to the Island, was asked if Thoreau had written about Mackinac Island Lilac,  his journal did in fact, include a single mention of them above a line about apple trees. 

The Lilac Festival, you could say, is a celebration of spring, the lilacs and their uniquenes and history to Mackinac Island.  It is a ten-day festival held in June. This is the first and largest event on the island for the season, attracting tourists from all around the country. As an employee for Mackinac Island carriage Tours, I looked forward to driving in the parade, usually the experienced drivers drive in the Parade. My luck , I was always placed behind a Bagpipe band. horses semed to like it more than the driver. I would personally I prefer a Polka band over Bagpipes. Polka music seems to be more upbeat and happy. As I was saying, this is a ten-day event. Here is a list of some of the things going on for the ten days. Family Fun Playground at Windemere Point, Kayaking, snorkeling, paddle boarding Great turtle Kayak Tours, Festival Poster Contest, Coronation of the Lilac Queen, Festival 10K Run and Walk, Smart Gardener Program, lilac Festival Puzzle Contest, Lilac Walking Tour, Nature Tour, Hardwood nature Hike, Movies and Live Music throughout the 10 days (about 1 and a half weeks), culminating with the Lilac Festival parade on Father’s Day. The parade is usually held on Father’s Day, and signifies that we one third of the way through the summer  

Published by Walter E Kitter

I am a U.S. Army Veteran for 13 years, served in Desert Shield/Storm. I graduated from Saginaw Valley State University with a degree in Education. That is where I found out about the joy of writing. I was a tour driver for about 10 or 11 years for Mackinac Island Carriage Tours. I learned to harness, hitch and drive a team of horses. That job really slowed my life down. Driving 3 to 5 mph, if you went any faster there is a good chance that you could be in trouble. I am in no hurry to go nowhere. In the beginning I was using information about the island that was written by someone else. I Had to make the tour my own. So I bought the books and researched the information for the tour so I could answer any questions that customers had answering with something else besides I don't know. One rainy day, sitting on my carriage, watching the team, rain dripping down my back. it was cold and rainy, all you needed was the ducks, decoys, call and the dog you would set for duck hunting. I wanted to write a book about the island. I found the story behind the facts sometimes more interesting than the facts themselves. I am going to write a book, now I needed pictures for the book, how am I going to get them? thousand yard stare looking out at the team in front of me, pulling up now and then when the carriage in front moved up. Making it to the ticket office, waiting to be loaded still wondering about pictures for my book, customer sees that I am deeply thinking about something. He asks me what am I doing, I explain to him the problem of pictures for the book. He explains that I have the frame for the pictures right in front of me, the two horses heads are the frame for the pictures. That is when I came up with the title, A Place That I Love a tour drivers perspective of Mackinac Island. I spent a lot of time at Anne's Tablet. That is how the book came about

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