Fort Holds Victorian 4th Celebration

Historic interpreter Nicole Taylor spends her first Mackinac Fourth of July at Fort Mackinac helping Morgan Giesler of Atlanta, Georgia, learn how to position her sticks and throw the hoop for the games program.

Fort Mackinac celebrated the Fourth of July in traditional Victorian style, first with an allyou can-eat picnic dinner, followed by Victorian games and traditional dances like the Rose Dance and Virginia Reel.

The dancing part of the program concluded with a military music demonstration. Interpreters played the bagpipes, fife, and drums as they performed songs from "Yankee Doodle" to traditional war melodies such as the "1812 Quickstep."

Following the musical program, Girl Scouts stationed at Fort Mackinac as guides helped raise the large garrison flag, a replica of the same 38-star flag used when Fort Mackinac was still in military operation. Interpreters invited veterans to stand on the parade ground as the crowd sang "The Star Spangled Banner."

A traditional 38-gun salute was fired in honor of the first 38

states to join the Union, and each state was read aloud as interpreters loaded their guns. The Fourth of July cannon salute used a charge for 16pound shot, rather than the standard 4-pound load used for everyday firing.

Visitors to Fort Mackinac participated in the Rose Dance, a lively group activity led by Fort interpreters that allowed each visitor to pick a partner and skip down the line to rejoin the fun. Interpreter Jennifer Whitener, who is spending her third season with Mackinac State Historic Parks, teaches Grace Lovins from Texas a traditional Victorian game during Mackinac State Historic Parks' Fourth of July celebration at Fort Mackinac. See story and photographs inside, page 12.