See you at Waterfront Festival!

As my grandmother used to say, "There's big doings downtown this weekend."

Yes, this is the big weekend the entire community looks forward to: Waterfront Festival.

One the festival grounds are marked off by fences and the tents start to appear, the excitement is palpable, even a few days before the festival begins.

Downtown Menominee, a lovely place all year long, is especially exciting in summer when it's awash with visitors who come by boat or care to enjoy our marina and the natural air conditioning the bay offers on sweltering days.

But it's especially fun come Waterfront Festival.

The festival is now a few years away from entering its third decade. The chamber has always been involved, beginning back in the mid-1980s when Nancy Douglas and the former Menominee Chamber of Commerce spearheaded the event, which began when the city of Menominee celebrated its centennial in 1983. We were delighted last year when Nancy again became festival chairperson and we tip our hats to her and the hard-working committee, which includes our own Joe Plautz who ran the festival in 2009.

Each year brings some changes and a few tweaks, but Waterfront Festival has become one of the longest-running community institutions in recent memory.

Some people go down for the food, others the entertainment, still others to see and be seen by old friends who are back in town just for the festival. Even if you don't spend the better part of every day at the festival, it's exciting to know it's down there if you want it.

Summer weekends are always busy in our community, but somehow Waterfront weekend marks a turning point. It's high summer, and after this weekend, we'll begin to see hints of the coming season. And that's a whole other story.

Enjoy the festival. We'll see you there!