Mackinac Island's Fourth of July activities are planned downtown and at Fort Mackinac, concluding with fireworks at dusk.

Downtown

Games for children will be held at Windermere Point from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. and will include sack races, a water balloon toss, and watermelon roll. Sponsored by the city's Recreation Department, all games are free and prizes will be awarded.

An annual stone skipping contest will be held at 10 a.m. at Windermere Point, sponsored by the Mackinac Island Stone Skipping and Gerplunking Club. The cost is $3 for six throws.

Fireworks will begin at dusk and will be fired from a barge on the lake in in the vicinity of Grand Hotel. They are best viewed from the school grounds, boardwalk, Windermere Point, and Fort Mackinac.

Fort Mackinac

Fort Mackinac will host a full day of celebrations. Concerts of military and patriotic music will be presented at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. and feature costumed soldiers playing the fife and bugle. The park will also recognize those who serve in the military by raising a 20-by-38 foot American flag and firing a 38- gun salute, one for each state in the union in the 1880s, which is the time period being interpreted at the fort.

“Historically, these are some of the things that would?fve happened in the time the soldiers were here,” said Katie Cederholm, Mackinac State Historic Parks curator of education. “Over 100 years ago, this is how they celebrated.”

“An American Picnic” begins at 6 p.m. inside the fort, prepared by Grand Hotel, and an extra charge is made for the meal, beyond admission to the fort.

Historic interpreters will lead Victorian-era dances and games throughout the evening, and people are welcome to stay to watch the fireworks.