Whatever Floats Your Boat
It's Memorial Day which many consider the beginning of summer. I would be one of those people. After all, how many actual summer days do we get here in Michigan. Let's start as early as possible. Right?
I'm often asked by friends and relatives who live elsewhere why we like it here so much. That's a long list for another long blog. However, one thing I always tell them is the state is surrounded by water, which gives us the 3rd most beachfront in the country and, in S.W. Michigan, you can drive 10 minutes in any direction and find a lake.
So let's celebrate that this summer with the many lake celebrations. Here's one that Tim Taylor told me about a few years back.
Colon, Michigan— May 22, 2015 — In anticipation of the upcoming summer season, Commodore and Flotilla Organizer, Tim Taylor, announced details of the 9th Annual Palmer Lake Flotilla. In the wake of last year’s resounding success, this year’s Flotilla will compliment a full day of Independence Day festivities in the Village and Township of Colon. With the downtown parade, summer boating, swimming, backyard cookouts, and two evening fireworks displays, the 2015 Flotilla further enhances the day’s events making Independence Day in Colon, Michigan one of the finest celebrations in the state, if not the country. “We continue the tradition on Palmer Lake…,” said Taylor. ”…and we are delighted to carry on what has become a very popular experience on Palmer Lake since 2007.”
The 2015 Flotilla will be held on Saturday, July 4 at 6:30 p.m. and will start at the Palmer Lake launch just off of Burr Oak Road. The rain date, if necessary, will be Sunday, July 5 at 12 noon. This year’s theme will be “Cartoons and Comic Strips” and participants will decorate their boats around the theme of a popular cartoon or comic strip. Trophies and bragging rights will be awarded for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place with a special award for “Best Audience Participation.”
“We get so many great Flotilla entries each year,” said Taylor, “but the spectators lining the lakefront and beach really add enthusiasm to the occasion and that enthusiasm will be recognized this year.” To sweeten the pot, local businesses will be donating prizes for the winning entries. “The Palmer Lake Flotilla is a family friendly and fantastic tradition on the lake,” said Carl Thornton, owner of Five Star Pizza in Colon and lake resident, “and we are so proud to support this longstanding tradition.”
The entry fee for this year’s event will be $10.00 and all monies raised will be donated to the American Legion Post 454 in Colon and the funds earmarked for their Children’s Fund. “The Independence Day holiday celebrates our independence and freedom as a country…,” said Taylor, “…and those freedoms have been, and continue to be, preserved through the sacrifice of the men and women of our military. I cannot imagine a more worthy cause than the American Legion to contribute this year’s Flotilla proceeds.”
Entry forms can be obtained at local Colon businesses or by contacting Tim Taylor, Commodore of the Flotilla, at palmerlakeflotilla@att.net, via phone at 773-383-7892, or on their Facebook page “Palmer Lake Flotilla”.
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