By Bob Robinson
If you didn’t make the Vermontville Maple Syrup Festival last weekend, you missed a great opportunity to learn about the rich agricultural heritage of my hometown of Vermontville, Michigan, and how this organic and tasty treat is manufactured. Almost every tree in town is tapped each March, because it takes 32 gallons of maple sap to make 1 gallon of syrup. Patience is a virtue in making maple syrup. The Vermontville area is abundant with syrup producers, all family-owned operations. Some of them have been boiling syrup for almost 200 years, and have found many ways to sweeten our lives with products like maple cream, maple flavored chocolate, maple root beer, and my favorite, maple sugar candy. But there’s a lot more than syrup to the festival, held the last full weekend of April each year.
There are amusement rides, a talent show (my daughter, Zoey, sang Speechless by Lady Ga Ga this year), arts and crafts, a flea market, one of the County’s biggest parades (with lots of cool tractors), and a maple syrup princess pageant. If you didn’t make the festival, don’t worry, there’s still plenty of maple syrup available at retail locations throughout the town. It’s a great Michigan product and buying locally keeps people working and stimulates our economy.
You’ll want to save several other upcoming dates to celebrate Eaton County in the weeks ahead.
June 11 – 13: Gizzard Fest – Potterville
Potterville will host the Gizzard Fest, the only festival in the world to celebrate, of all things, gizzard eating. The fest was originally organized by Joe’s Gizzard City in downtown Potterville. There will be plenty of gizzards and beer available throughout the three day celebration, with a parade, amusement rides, arts and craft show, antique tractors, disc golf, and yes, a gizzard eating contest. A country boy raised on the farm, I can tell you, my friends, they’re finger licking good. If you’ve never had gizzards it’s something you’ve got to try at least once.
June 17 – 19: Yankee Doodle Days – Grand Ledge
Yankee Doodle Days in Grand Ledge is a terrific festival celebrating our independence. While you’re there, don’t forget to visit the Grand Ledge Farmer’s Market during the three day weekend, where you can find locally grown produce and plenty of Michigan made products from alpaca wool socks to Amish baked goods.
June 26: Delta Rocks! Family Festival – Delta Township
Delta Rocks! features clowns, live animals, make-it take-it craft booths for kids, inflatable attractions, pony rides, face painting, train rides, a petting zoo, business expo, and plenty of concessions. Most activities are free and a free continuous shuttle from the Lansing Mall to Sharp Park will run from noon to 7 p.m. courtesy of Delta Township.
Our festivals and celebrations make Eaton County a great place to live. As a candidate for state legislative office, and seasoned public relations professional, promoting our cheerful area is one of the ways I want to serve the public in District 71 and across the state, especially in these difficult times. Please remember that participating in these upcoming festivals is not only a great way to have family fun, it creates jobs and supports our local economy as well.
Keep reading in the weeks ahead for information on what’s going in this summer in Eaton County.
Robinson is a citizen candidate for the office of State Representative of Eaton County, District 71, who is not seeking lobby money for his campaign. He is an internationally accredited public relations professional and author of the Random House book, “Freelancing: Using the Internet to Find a Job”, which chronicled the history of organized employment in the United States. Bob lives with his family in Vermontville, Michigan, and is involved in his community. For information, go to www.district71.com or his Facebook page at http://facebook.dj/district71.
This article was printed in the May
