Fireworks in Straits Area To Mark Bridge's 50th Birthday

The Budweiser Clydesdales were greeted by cheers as they rounded Windermere Point Tuesday, July 24. Four Clydesdale handlers, two on each side, protected the team as it headed to Mission Point Resort and then up Cadotte Avenue to Grand Hotel. The eight-horse hitch has been visiting the Straits area throughout the week to participate in the Mackinac Bridge's 50th anniversary celebration this weekend, stopping in the Les Cheneaux and St. Ignace area. Temporary stables were set up at the Little Bear East Arena in St. Ignace for the horses. See story and more photographs on page 13.

A fireworks display to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Mackinac Bridge will begin at dusk Saturday, July 28, from Windermere Point. The display will coincide with firework displays in St. Ignace and Mackinaw City.

A schedule of events marking the weekend celebration can be found on page 5.

A special insert, "Mackinac Bridge: 1957 to 2007, In Tribute to the Mackinac Bridge, Its Planners, Designers, Builders, and Modern Day Caretakers," is included in the Thursday, July 26, edition of The St. Ignace News.

As a special treat for viewers of the Mackinac Bridge 50th anniversary fireworks display on Saturday, July 28, Mackinac State Historic Parks will open the grounds of Colonial Michilimackinac from 9 p.m. until the end of the fireworks at approximately 11 p.m. The site at the southern tip of the Mackinac Bridge in Mackinaw City and will provide one of the only beachfront views of the fireworks display.

While waiting for the fireworks to begin, guests outside the fort and fur-trading village will be treated to a bonfire and a program of traditional 18th and 19th century children's games and music played by historic interpreters in costume.

Admission is $3 per person, $10 for immediate families (one or two adults and their children/grandchildren under 18).

Fireworks will be launched from the Lake Huron beach in front of the Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse to heights of 1,500 feet or more.

"For safety reasons, the Mackinac Bridge Authority is closing the east side of Michilimackinac State Park, which eliminates much of the prime beach-front viewing area for the fireworks," said Gregory Hokans, marketing and development director for Mackinac State Historic Parks. "Although the fort will be closed, we're staffing and opening grounds of Colonial Michilimackinac so visitors will still have a beach-front view of the display, from a National Historic Landmark. The traditional music, bonfire and children's games will make the evening even more memorable."

Guests may enter the Colonial Michilimackinac grounds beginning at 9:00 p.m. through either the Colonial Michilimackinac Visitor's Center located directly under the Mackinac Bridge's south ramp or its' group gate just outside the wooden palisades of the fort at the western end of Straits Avenue.