Straits Area Will Mark Bridge 50th
Events Planned Next Week

Events planned to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Mackinac Bridge will take place Thursday, July 26, through Saturday, July 28, at St. Ignace.

A new bridge token honoring bridge designer Dr. David B. Steinman will be dedicated Thursday, July 26, at 10 a.m. at Bridge View Park. Dr. Steinman will be featured on one side of the commuter token and the MBA's 50th anniversary logo will be on the reverse side.

Slide show presentations will be featured Friday, July 27, at noon and 2:30 p.m. at Little Bear East Community Center. Admission is free of charge, but seating will be limited, to view "50 Fabulous Years," a question-andanswer session, and "Memories of Mackinac" by ironworker Richard DeMara.

A6 p.m. Friday reception and 7 p.m. banquet will be offered for ticket holders at Kewadin Casino on Mackinac Trail. At press time, banquet tickets are sold out.

A Saturday, July 28, parade will begin at 10:30 a.m. in St. Ignace and include puppets, tribal members in ceremonial regalia, horse-drawn carriages, marching bands, floats, high wheel bicycle riders, Miss Michigan and the National Cherry Queen, and 50 years of cars. The parade will cross the bridge and travel through downtown Mackinaw City at approximately 12:30 p.m.

Saturday afternoon events are planned at Bridge View Park in St. Ignace, including a display of the 50 parade convertibles. Great Lakes folk music will be performed at 1 p.m., rivet tossing and other ironworker skills will be demonstrated at 2:30 p.m., and a "Ironworkers/Building Trades Stories" program will be presented at 3:30 p.m. The dedication of the ironworkers/building trrades memorial and statue will take place at 4:45 p.m., followed by a 5 p.m. flyover by the Michigan Air National Guard (tentative). Local service groups will have food booths and amateur radio operators will broadcast the event around the world. On display will be a 100-foot replica of the bridge made from Erector sets.

Saturday evening, fireworks will be fired into the air over the Straits from the east side of the bridge at both St. Ignace and Mackinaw City.

Other events are planned in St. Ignace for the celebration, including a tour of the U.S. Coast Guard lifeboat, a Fish Feast at the marina, beer tent, and family activities. The team of Budweiser Clydesdales will visit St. Ignace, Mackinac Island, and Cedarville as part of the celebration. The team will take part in the parade and be available to see at Little Bear East Arena and Community Center in St. Ignace from Tuesday, July 24, through Monday, July 30. The horses will visit Cedarville Thursday, July 26.