Monthly Archives: September 2007

Benzie & Frankfort Fall Festival

The annual Fall Festival offers two weeks of fun in Frankfort, Beulah, Benzonia and the surrounding area. The Benzie County Visitor's Bureau has a page of information on the festival and you can get the poster from the Frankfort-Elberta Chamber.
Big breeze at Pt Betsie by Jim SorbieWeekend of October 6-7

Fall food takes center stage with the Fall Soup Contest on Saturday (Oct 6) in Beulah Park and the Honor Lions Club Hillbilly Breakfast from 8:30 - 12:30 on Sunday (Oct 7).

There's also a Sidewalk Art Contest and a Fall Market in Beulah on Saturday and the Crystal Lake Elementary FallFest Fundraiser in Benzonia on Saturday with a full lineup of fun for families including a produce & products market, cider press, carnival with prizes, food, refreshments, petting zoo and fire truck rides.

Crystal Mountain offers scenic chairlift rides to view the fall colors (4-6 PM both Saturday the 6th & 13th) and a haunted forest (6-9:30 PM) on Saturday and then hosts the Betsie Valley Run on Sunday with a 10K Run and Half Marathon Walk & Run. The photo above is Big breeze at Pt Betsie by Jim Sorbie at Point Betsie Lighthouse is open to visit both weekends!

Frankfort Fall Festival
Weekend of October 13-14

At 11 AM on Saturday, October 13 2007, the Fall Festival Parade and Mutt March will take place in downtown Frankfort (costume judging for the Mutts is at 10 AM). Extreme Pumpkin by John Clement HoweOther events following the parade include a Pumpkin luncheon at the Recreation Center, performances by the internationally acclaimed Scottville Clown Band and a ton of fall fun at the Open Space including:

  • Giant Pumpkin weigh-in (guess the weight and win a bike!)
  • Mutt Corral with awards and doggy fun
  • Giant Pumpkin Carving and Auction
  • A hay wagon ride through Frankfort with a storyteller
  • The Pumpkin Regatta
  • Activities for kids including games, pumpkin decorating, face painting, balloon man, straw maze, fortune teller, pumpkin bowling and pumpkin hillbilly golf!

A really cool looking feature is the Pumpkin Chuckin' Catapults at 2:30 PM and be sure to save room for the Frankfort City Fire Dept Fish Fry (3 - 6 PM).

Saturday night also features late night shopping at participating downtown businesses, a Mad Cap Puppet Show at Frankfort High School (6:30 PM) and at 7 PM Bayside Haunting at Old Coast Guard Station.

The photo to the right is Extreme Pumpkin by John Clement Howe (view a set of photos). You can learn more about noted pumpkin carver Ed Moody. That link goes to his web site where you'll find some photos of his amazing work.

posted September 28, 2007 – 1:16 pm
By betsiebay.net | Posted in Arts & Entertainment, Benzonia, Beulah, Community, Elberta, Food & Dining, Frankfort, Honor, Lodging & Travel, Sports & Recreation, Stories | Comments (1)

Bounty of the (apple) Harvest

Bounty of the Harvest by John Clement Howe

This photo was taken by John Clement Howe yesterday at Eden Hill. He added three more apple-cheeked beauties to the betsiebay.net group too!

You can get some regional apple & farm market information from Taste the Local Difference and also on All About Apples' Northern Michigan page.

posted September 23, 2007 – 9:54 am
By betsiebay.net | Posted in Beulah, Food & Dining, Photo, Stories | Comments (0)

The Frankfort Iron Works in Elberta

Elberta Iron Tower by voxphoto

The photo is Elberta Iron Tower by Voxphoto. The history page on the Village of Elberta web site says:

In 1867, the Frankfort Iron Works was established and a large blast furnace was constructed. During its existence, Frankfort Iron Works gave the Village of Elberta the notoriety of having the largest and most extensive manufacturing works in Benzie County. The original building contained a blast furnace where the iron was smelted; a boiler arid engine, stone and ore crusher and platform. The casting house, constructed of brick, is where die first iron was produced July 1, 1870…

The Frankfort Iron Works ceased operations in 1883. The Frankfort Iron Works property passed to the Toledo, Ann Arbor and Northern Michigan Railway, later renamed Ann Arbor Railroad Company in 1892. The furnace buildings were converted to a roundhouse arid machine shop located west of the subject site, parts of which are still standing. The grounds were used for the tracks and switches, and a depot. On the bluff, near the houses used by the officials, a large wooden water tower was constructed and used for filling the boilers of the steam engines.

posted September 21, 2007 – 6:01 pm
By betsiebay.net | Posted in Community, Elberta, Frankfort, Stories | Comments (0)

Afterglow on Betsie Bay

 Frankfort heading back to port by plattegal

This photo by Kathy is part of a cool set of fishing photos from July of 2007! Kathy's a native of Benzie who lives over in Wisconsin but still loves her home - she manages the Benzie County photo group on Flickr too!

posted September 12, 2007 – 1:16 pm
By betsiebay.net | Posted in Arts & Entertainment, Frankfort, Photo, Sports & Recreation, Stories | Comments (1)

S.S. City of Milwaukee in Manistee

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RRmIHoBKzY

Andy McFarlane spoke with Vince Hancock aboard the S.S. City of Milwaukee car ferry. The S.S. City of Milwaukee was launched on November 25, 1930 and measures 360 feet in length with a 56-foot beam and 19-foot draft. In 1990 the ship was declared a National Historic Landmark. In 2004 it was moved to a permanent mooring at the northwest end of Manistee Lake along US-31.

The vessel is open May - September for tours as a museum of rail car ferry history. In October, it becomes a "ghost ship" - check their web site for all the details!

Here's a small S.S. City of Milwaukee photo slideshow and you can check out a couple more videos of the City of Milwaukee at Absolute Michigan's Michigan Station.

posted September 3, 2007 – 11:53 am
By betsiebay.net | Posted in Community, Sports & Recreation, Stories, Video | Comments (0)