Traverse City Record-Eagle

2011 Cherry Festival

Related Photos

  • Vin Soffredine, 6, hits a giant beach ball tossed by a float in the Cherry Royale Parade Saturday. Record-Eagle/Jan-Michael Stump

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  • Isabella Wicksall, 8, gets sprayed with water by Kristen Domine, from the Traverse City St. Francis Gladiator Band, during the Cherry Royale Parade on Saturday. Record-Eagle/Jan-Michael Stump

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  • The Great Lakes Antique Tractor Club makes it's way down Front Street during the Cherry Royale Parade on Saturday. Record-Eagle/Jan-Michael Stump

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July 10, 2011

Visitors, locals enjoy the moment

By Carol South Special to the Record-Eagle

TRAVERSE CITY — Summing up the 2011 National Cherry Festival is simple: sunshine and smiles.

From the opening Presidential Cherry Pancake Breakfast on July 2 to the Festival Fireworks Finale Saturday night, the eight-day celebration offered a feast of events and activities, food, music and fun.

An amazing string of good weather underlined events for all ages, including two parades, rides, fireworks, concerts and more.

"We had just huge crowds and probably in my three years, every single day the most consistently well behaved and happy people, which makes our job so much easier when you're dealing with so many people," said Tim Hinkley, executive director of the National Cherry Festival.

"Everyone was just in a good mood, it was really a highlight for us."

While the festival draws visitors from around the world — the "Where Are You From" map on the Open Space featured pins marking six continents — many locals hit the road. The "get-out-of-town" attitude is one way to cope with crowds and traffic, noise and confusion.

"A whole lot of people that I know who come in quite often have left town," noted Len Mayhew, owner/baker at Simply Cupcakes downtown.

Open since September, the gourmet bakery anticipated off-the-chart sales during the 2011 National Cherry Festival, the establishment's first. Instead, sales numbers held steady as visitors took up the slack left by temporarily absent regulars. More people bought fewer cupcakes each at the store, with more single or double sales rather than boxes.

As the week wore on, however, visitors began purchasing boxes of cupcakes to take home with them.

"They come in and they're like, 'This is great! It's true, Traverse City has become a foodie town, they've got a cupcake shop now,'" Mayhew said.

Rob Bacigalupi, deputy director for the Downtown Development Authority, said merchant feedback in general was very positive.

"The numbers are really good, the weather's been great," he said.

"There's so many different things to do around the Cherry Festival, both for visitors and locals."

Instead of fleeing, some residents, such as Katie and Chris Hinze, embrace the festival. Every year, the couple transforms the front yard of their Union Street home into parade central for family and friends. Their peak attendance was 40 attendees one year, though numbers were lower for this year's Cherry Royale Parade.

The couple also makes time each year to enjoy other festival events during the week, though the parade party is the big do.

"We don't have to drive, so we just walk downtown," said Katie Hinze. "We'll go and grab dinner one night and do the Ferris wheel another night — it's a great view. We look forward to it all year," she said of the week's festivities, especially the parade gathering.

The week's star — cherries — ripened, and harvest began during the week. As often happens, cherries at the National Cherry Festival came from downstate to provide needed volume.

Local farms on hand at the Open Space sold cups and quarts of the fruit, dividing their time and energy when their busiest time on the farm annually coincides with the busiest tourist season.

Aaron Dobron and Kurt Sandmire again teamed up for 12-hour days at the Edmonson Orchards booth just inside the National Cherry Festival grounds entrance.

They may get worn down after a week of long hours, but they never tire of educating soon-to-be cherry lovers.

"You're going to get a thousand questions about the cherries and how they taste," said Sandmire.

Even after eight rigorous years of Open Space duty, Dobron still loves the job.

"People smile every time you give them a cup," he said.

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Special to the Record-Eagle/Susan Melton
A National Cherry Festival goer hits new heights at the Open Space.

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