Arts Dockside, an arts and crafts festival that has been hosted in St. Ignace for 32 years, will not disappear this year, owing to a decision by the St. Ignace Chamber of Commerce to take over the organization of the Labor Day weekend show after the former Arts Dockside Committee resigned.

Chamber Director Janet Peterson said a new committee was set up by chamber board members to discuss the festival's future after the volunteer committee stepped down.

Mrs. Peterson and Eileen Evers of the chamber will take over as directors of the festival, something Mrs. Peterson said was a natural fit since the two women have worked alongside the Arts Dockside Committee to organize the art show for many years.

"You probably won't see a whole lot of changes to the event," she said.

The pair announced their decision at the Monday, January 18, City Council meeting, where Council members expressed their appreciation for somebody picking up the torch.

"I think it is great that somebody has decided to fill in the void," said City Council member Don Gustafson.

"It is a great project and we need to keep it going here in St. Ignace," Mayor Paul Grondin said.

The former Arts Dockside Committee decided to step down last week after a conflict over parking at the marina during the festival.

Mrs. Peterson said about 14 vendor spaces would need to be relocated because of the change in the parking lot configuration at the show.

"We plan to send out information on all that at the end of the month to our vendors," she said, "and see where we fall with numbers of people coming back."