Island Carriage Owners Enjoy Evening Rally
By Eric Fish

Maryanke and Paul Alexander, with horse Dutchess, prepare to leave the grounds behind Fort Mackinac to ride through the Mackinac Island countryside.

On the evening of Thursday, July 5, Mackinac Island carriage owners gathered on the grounds behind Fort Mackinac for the third annual Horse and Carriage Rally.

Carriage owners sported their shined coaches and elegant horses as they enjoyed fruit, wine, crackers, and socializing with friends before taking a carriage ride through the Mackinac Island countryside. The event is similar to what cottagers often did years ago.

Mackinac Horsemen's Association President Candi Dunnigan and member Trish Martin were on hand at the event to welcome the Islanders and to help distribute the wine and snacks. Commemorative ribbons were also handed out to all participants.

Mrs. Dunnigan noted how labor intensive the event is. Not only do the carriages have to be dusted and polished, but hours are spent braiding the horses to perfection so everything looks its best.

"It's exciting," said East Bluff resident Maryanke Alexander. "It's a lot of fun, and it's getting bigger and bigger every year."

Mrs. Alexander has been participating in the event since it started, but this ride marked her debut as the driver of her carriage.

"I had been practicing for two years to do this by myself," she said. "I plan on doing it from here on out."

Other participants, riding in five carriages in the twilight ride, were Paul Alexander, Richard and Jane Manoogian and friends Lisa Brock and Pete Pelligrino, Randy and Michelle Stuck, Anne and David Levy, John, Penny, and Nate Barr, Lorna and Francis Straus, Mary K. McIntire, and Sam and Karen Smith.

The carriages paraded down the East Bluff to Arch Rock and along Crooked Tree Road and into the Annex, with participants enjoying the cedar fragrance of the Island. Along the way, they were spotted and admired by people on the streets.

"I was able to see a lot of the responses on people's faces and the mouths that dropped on the way by," Mrs. Alexander noted.