News Release: 7/11/2018

Another Great Waterways Festival
By Scott Herceg, CAE
 
Another Waterways Festival and 4^th of July Parade have come and gone and we just wanted to say thank you!  It is a privilege to serve this community as your Chamber of Commerce and we wanted to let you know how much we appreciate your support.  The Waterways Festival is a great community event and we hope that everyone that attended had a great time. 
 
This year’s Waterways Festival was presented by First Community Bank and was the largest in several years.  Here are just a few facts and figures in case you were interested…..there were over 50 different elements that people could participate in this year.  From Community breakfasts, to movies under the stars, to afternoon tea, to tours of the Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw, to international kayak races, to bands on the stage in Festival Square there seemed to be something for everyone.  We figure that close to 200 people attended the music and movie in the park on Thursday.  The crew of the Mackinaw said they had probably over 300 people tour their ship, close to 1000 people enjoyed the music on the Walmart Entertainment Stage at Festival Square.  There were way too many kids to count during the Kids Day in Washington Park that was put on by the Cheboygan Area Jaycees and other Chamber Volunteers and the Open Water Challenge Kayak Race drew 30 racers from 3 different states and 2 countries to compete in what ended up being that largest race of its kind in the Midwest when it was completed.
 
Another stat that we are extremely proud of and thankful for is the number 54.  54 different businesses and or organizations participated this year as a sponsor of some portion of the festival.  Some donated dollars, some donated services or products and some donated time and manpower.  To all of you who helped in this capacity we cannot say thank you enough.  Most people probably see the Waterways Festival as just a big community party, but to us at the Chamber of Commerce it is also our largest fundraiser of the year.  The revenues from the festival help us fulfill our mandate of Leadership, Engagement, Advocacy, Development and Support the rest of the year.  Because we have the support of the Waterways Festival and our other events, the cost of membership in the Chamber is less than half of what it would be for a member business if we had to fund our activities completely on dues. 
 
A festival of this size and scope takes a lot of hands to help put it together.  We had probably over 200 volunteers contributing this year and they were all key to the success of the overall event.  Special thank you and recognition though should go out to the following individuals who either sat on the planning committee, headed up a particular event or played a key role somewhere throughout the weekend.  In no particular order….  Patty Archambo, Deedra Haselhuhn, Trudy and Ray Lofgren, Tom McKinley and the 1^st Community Bank Team, Marianne Ridings, Dr Denny Paul, Roman Hank, Jade Hunt, Diane Schwartz and the Cheboygan Area Jaycees, Lauri Musclow, Scott and Laura Beard, Kirsten Guenther, The City of Cheboygan, Scott Hancock and Crew, Dale and Connie Reiger, CDR. John Stone and the Crew of the USCGC Mackinaw, Under Sherriff Tim Cook, Pastor Sam Agee, Chief Jones and the Cheboygan Police Department, Judge Bob Butts, Cheboygan County Council on Aging Rick Wolfgram and the Bernard’s Crew, Randy Elliott, Coach Schulz and the Cheboygan Football Program, Jonathan Rand from Chiller Mania, Deb Driscoll,  Sandy Borowicz our parade general and of course Polly Schneider, our Event Coordinator, who lead the charge. 
 
So, another Waterways Festival has come and gone and we at the Chamber are thankful to all of Cheboygan for making is a success.  We hope you had a good time!  If you have any ideas for next year please do not hesitate to let us know.  We are always open to good ideas and great volunteers.  See you at next year’s Waterways Festival….but until then, there is lots more to enjoy in Cheboygan; the Downtown Music Festival, The State of the Community Event, the Cranberry Farm Tours, Cheboygan Fall Fest….and the list goes on.  It’s a great time to be involved in Cheboygan.  We hope you think so too!