July 9, 2003
Small town charm
Lake Ann holds tenth annual homecoming celebration
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
How can a small, local festival compete with the opening Day of the National Cherry Festival?
By being just that year after year: a small-town, family-oriented event.
This year's Tenth Annual Lake Ann Homecoming was another resounding success as hundreds of residents and visitors flocked to downtown Lake Ann to eat, play, shop and visit. Avoiding the hubbub in downtown Traverse City, participants forged or reinforced bonds with each other and the community that will last for years to come.
"It's fun for the kids, lots of games," said Phil DeVries, a downstate resident who has been vacationing in the area since his childhood.
Now grown and with his own family vacating in a cottage on Lake Ann, DeVries enjoyed the slower pace of the festivities. With kids activities ranging from a mini tractor pull and face painting to tie dying and a penny scramble, he and his family immersed themselves in an old-fashioned day. Other events included a silent auction, a dunk tank, vintage car rides, a country store and a bake sale.
"It's nice that they have it here, keep it nice and local," he added.
While it may not have had the slick or polished ambiance of the Cherry Festival, the Lake Ann Homecoming has become an institution in town. Held the first Saturday of July as a fund-raiser for the Almira Historical Society, whole families come to help out every year. Throughout the day, these volunteers staff booths, manage activities, cook and serve food and give tractor or pony rides.
"It's the only time of the year when it seems like everybody from the community comes together," said Tim VanderMuelen, a Lake Ann resident for six years and a first-time volunteer. "It's just kind of a small-town kind of thing."
The small town flavor is reinforced as nearly everyone helping out knows everyone else, often having grown up together. In keeping the festival's historical emphasis, the town's oldest residents, who are descendents of the area's original settlers, receive special acknowledgment every year.
"The main purpose of the event is for people to come together and in past years we have had families come from California or Texas or downstate to attend," said Vera Carmien, president of the Almira Historical Society board. "And they all come together at the Lake Ann Homecoming, sometimes getting together for the first time in years."
"You meet your neighbors and old acquaintances you haven't see for years," she noted. "I've met people I hadn't seen since grade school here."
Lake Ann Days began ten years ago as a fund-raiser for the Almira Historical Society and the historical museum they hoped to build. With the museum completed and open to the public just last month, organizers plan to continue Lake Ann Homecoming indefinitely.
The event usually raises between $6,000-8,000 for the society. The funds raised this year - a total is still being determined - will help fund additional improvements to the Almira Historical Museum.
"We made a good amount of money, it's looking like we made enough to build a fire building to store our antique 1946 fire truck," Carmien said. "It is the second fire truck we had in the village."
The festival also provides a venue for local organizations to showcase their services or plans for the future. The Lake Ann Library is a tiny library tucked in the town hall, its movable shelves holding bestsellers and classics, fiction and non-fiction. The library is ready for a larger, permanent space and the book sale during the Lake Ann Homecoming helped the library board promote their cause.
"It seems like people want to stay involved whether it is just families or good friends," said Hank Visser of Lake Ann, who along with his wife, Bonnie, stored the books accumulated for the sale in their garage all year. "When a community sticks together you can make things grow."