At left: A1948 silver anniversary token that commemorated the 25th year of operation for the Michigan State Ferries. The tokens were handed out to people, and local businesses honored them as quarters. Many of the coins were kept as souvenirs. Clayton Bennett of St. Ignace has a 25¢ coin that reminds him of his youth. It is a 1948 silver anniversary coin commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Michigan State Ferries.

The Michigan Department of State Highways began ferry operations on the Straits July 31, 1923, with the Ariel, which accommodated 20 automobiles. The car ferries ran until 1957, when the Mackinac Bridge was opened.

In 1948, the 25th year of the service, more than five million cars had been carried between St. Ignace and Mackinaw City, and the state and Straits communities planned what they called a St. Ignace Homecoming to celebrate the silver jubilee during an activity packed three-day weekend, August 13, 14, and 15.

Ham and fish fry dinners, parades, a dance cruise aboard The Straits of Mackinac, dinner cruises, games, and athletic contests filled the weekend. Several dozen people entered a swim between St. Ignace and Mackinac Island, and nearly 20 contestants vied for the title of Straits of Mackinac Queen, who, with Miss St. Ignace Mary Gallagher, would tour the state to promote the festivities.

The celebration was the largest the city had held, and an estimated 25,000 people turned out.

The St. Ignace Lions Club distributed the souvenir coins, worth 25¢ at St. Ignace stores.

On one side is depicted a ferry between the upper and lower peninsulas, the map extending west to the Garden Peninsula and Beaver Island. The coin also depicts a suspension bridge just west of St. Ignace, commemorating the Highway Department's dedication that weekend of the new Cut River Bridge, promoted as the highest bridge in the state. It had an uncanny resemblance to the Mackinac Bridge, which wouldn't be designed for another five years.

The other side of the coin reads, "Gateway to the Upper Peninsula. Good for 25¢ in trade, St. Ignace, Mich. Redeem before Aug. 15, 1948," which was the last day of the celebration. Many of them ended up as souvenirs.

Frank L. Glashaw, Lions Club president, explained the coins in the Republican-News several weeks before the jubilee.

"One of our more important publicity stunts will be the distribution of coins commemorating the jubilee," he said. "These should be placed with merchants before the end of this week. They are invaluable mementos of the occasion that will appeal not only to local persons, but to our many transients.

"Good for 25 cents in trade, these coins are redeemable in trade, but it is expected that a large proportion of the distribution will be pulled off the market as souvenirs. That is what we desire. As time passes, these coins will be come more rare and more valuable to collectors and hobbyists."

It was not recorded how many of the coins were distributed.

Mr. Bennett's coin came to light years ago when his fatherin law, George Ogle of St. Ignace, was moving his safe from his grocery store, Ogle Brothers Groceries, where Straits Building Center is today, to his other business, the Thunderbird Gift Shop, across from the Favorite dock. As he was cleaning out the safe, Mr. Ogle came upon the coin, eventually giving it to Mr. Bennett as a gift.

"I don't know if there are a lot more out there nowadays, but I thought it was pretty neat," said Mr. Bennett of the coin.

Fred Hiser, Mr. Bennett's grandfather, was a state ferry employee working as an oiler on many of the boats. Mr. Bennett remembers accompanying his grandfather on many of the ferries as a young boy.

"It was really fun to just go on rides," he said. "I was on there so much that they gave me things to do, like shovel coal."