Residents and visitors are ready for the St. Ignace Fish Feast and Mackinac Bridge Celebration to begin as they quickly fill the main dock at the city's marina Saturday, July 26. The crowd spilled out onto finger docks and the parking lot as they enjoyed children's activities, music, exhibits, and food until fireworks lit up the city waterfront at dusk. Last weekend's St. Ignace Fish Feast and Mackinac Bridge Celebration was judged a success by organizers and vendors, who sold $20,000 worth of tickets at the event and are already planning improvements for next year's Fish Feast.

Taking place at the marina Saturday, July 26, the event showcased the community's relationship with the lakes, the commercial fishing industry, and the bridge. Organizers estimated between 1,500 and 2,000 people attended the celebration that culminated with fireworks over Moran Bay. The standing-roomonly crowd enjoyed music, food, and beverages, and the 300 available seats were filled early.

More than 20,000 tickets were sold and later exchanged for food and children's activities. Tickets were $1 each.

LaRaine and Skip Wiggins (holding book) of Newberry, formerly of St. Ignace, stopped by the Fish Feast to get a copy of "Mighty Mac, The Official Picture History of the Mackinac Bridge" and have it signed by author Larry Rubin (front, left). Mr. Rubin, assisted at his book signing by Ollie Boynton of St. Ignace (right), was the first executive secretary of the bridge. Mr. Wiggins' brother, Benson, was an operations manager at the bridge and worked with Mr. Rubin. At right: Max DeLong, 6, of Troy had the determination, although his aim was off, as he tried to throw a ball and hit the switch to dunk Pete Everson, superintendent of the intermediate school district. The St. Ignace Special Events Committee organized the celebration and Kewadin Casino sponsored the fireworks. Displays featured the commercial fishing industry and the history of the Mackinac Bridge.

Next year, said Mark Sposito of the committee, more food vendors and entertainment will be added, including the St. Ignace steel drum band, Saints of Steel. Improvements also will be made to the sound system. Fireworks will become a part of the event each year.

The committee will be working with area groups and service organizations to increase the number of children's activities offered in the marina parking lot. This year, the festival offered a bouncy house, dunk tank, fishing pond, and T-shirt painting booth.

Overall, he said, the committee will be working on ways to improve all aspects of festival. Strides were made in reducing the food lines over last year, he said, and the committee will continue to fine tune the process.

Mr. Sposito is also co-owner of the Driftwood Restaurant and the Mackinac Grille, which had a food booth at the festival, and he was among vendors who were pleased with sales.

"I think it is pretty safe to say, this was one of our three best weekends of the year," said Mr. Sposito.

His booth sold 600 pounds of whitefish, 150 pounds of shrimp, 100 gallons of French fries, and three bushels of corn.

Other local business owners also reported favorable sales.

At left: A group, including photographers, gather at the St. Ignace Fishermen's Memorial to participate in the blessing of the memorial, recognizing the importance of the Great Lakes and fishing to the community. This year, the blessing was offered by Darryl Brown (arm raised), a local Native American pipe carrier and sundancer. He was assisted by Barry Adams (right), Jerry Dutcher, and Dick Sterk. Mr. Brown told attendees the ceremony would offer a simple blessing for past, present, and future generations. "The Creator taught us," he said, "nothing comes to us easily, so we have to be grateful for everything we have." Mr. Brown also recognized St. Ignace resident Shirley Bentgen (left), who spearheaded the establishment of the Fishermen's Memorial on the waterfront. It lists the names of those who died in the local commercial fishing industry. Dennis Goodwin, owner of the Pines Trading Post, said the event was a "great thing for St. Ignace," and even brought more business to his store the next day.

"It was a nice double-hitter," he said, and the event went beyond everyone's expectations.

An insider's guide on building the Mackinac Bridge was given by Chief Engineer Kim Nowack (right) during the Fish Feast and Mackinac Bridge Celebration. Held in a ferry boat docked at the marina, the presentation included historic photographs. Ms. Nowack also outlined maintenance operations and inspections that now take place on the structure. Steeplejack Todd Mayer (left) and Supervisor Dan Johnson were available to answer questions. An informational display included an original navigation light and cable light that were used on the bridge from its construction until a few years ago, when electrical upgrades were made on the bridge. More than 500 homemade bratwurst and sausages were sold, he said, and he completely sold out of 90 pounds of pulled pork.

Also selling out of food at the Fish Feast was Bentley's B-n-L Cafe.

"We sold out of everything," said owner Brenda Spencley, including 90 pounds of strawberry shortcake, 16 pies, and Mackinac Bridge birthday cake.

The Mackinac Straits Fish Company, said Cathy Coveyou of the business, also sold out of more than 350 whitefish sandwiches.

Just returning to St. Ignace from a day on Mackinac Island, the Watanabe family from Shiga, Japan, saw the tall masts of the topsail schooner Pride of Baltimore II and took advantage of the free deck tour of the 1812-era replica vessel. Mr. Watanabe (back row, right) is a visiting scholar at Michigan State University and the family is living in Okemos for one year. Pictured are his wife, Akiko, and children (front row, from left) Masatumo, 7, Kazutoshi, 9, and Toshinori, 13. Owners of The Winery, Phillip Baldwin and Elizabeth Brown, sold more than 500 wine glasses.

"We're sure we did twice as much in sales as last year," said Ms. Brown.

The Chamber of Commerce sold cups of beer that totaled 10 kegs, said Eileen Evers, administrative assistant at the Chamber. She pointed out many volunteers worked to make the event possible.