Included in this issue of the Cook County News-Herald is our fabulous Fisherman’s Picnic insert, a 24-page collection of all things Fisherman’s. We have a lot of fun putting this special edition together—gathering information, confirming scheduled events and writing about what’s new and what’s old in this decades-old festival.
We hope you enjoy the information we’ve gathered about the music of Fisherman’s, the sporting events, Lumber Camp contests, and more. I especially enjoyed Associate Editor Jane Howard’s article Fostering fabulous fun at the Fisherman’s Picnic parade.
Not only is the article’s title a super silly sample of alliteration, it has some great tips on making your Fisherman’s Picnic parade more enjoyable.
While Jane was working on her article, we talked about past parades and I realized that I have been in the Fisherman’s Picnic parade every year since our family moved back to the North Shore in 1995!
I only recall being in the parade once or twice when I was growing up. We had a very active 4H program back then and our group—the Rose Harbor 4H Club—was in the parade a few times. Growing up I watched more parades than I participated in.
Somehow that situation reversed when I moved back. I didn’t mean for it to happen, it just did.
It started that first year with my class reunion. I hopped aboard a flatbed truck with the rest of the Class of ’75. It was incredibly fun, seeing all my old friends and waving to the crowds along the route.
The next few years I worked at Arrowhead Electric and I got to ride on the gleaming white bucket truck along with the Arrowhead mascot, Louie the Lightning Bug.
Then I joined Publishers Hal and Deidre Kettunen at the Cook County Star and we had a parade entry for a few years. We eventually figured out that Fisherman’s Picnic is far too busy to have all of the newspaper staff in the parade and we stopped decorating Deidre’s truck and taking part.
But by then I had become the Cook County ATV Club secretary and the club decided it should ride in the parade. That was fun too, especially when we had friends with horses ride with us, bearing a sign saying “The original all-terrain vehicle.”
The parade in 2005 was a little complicated. There were two different groups I wanted to join in the parade—the ATV Club and my class reunion float. Friends joked that I should ride my four-wheeler behind the class reunion flatbed. Instead I settled for taking a two-sided sign on the class reunion float. One side said “Class of ’75” and the other said, “Cook County ATV Club.” I rotated it as we rode through town.
After a few years, the ATV Club’s enthusiasm for candy throwing waned and we stopped entering too.
But then, my friends with the Arrowhead Coalition for Multiple Use—an outdoors organization encouraging access for all—invited me to take part in the parade with them. That was fun, albeit a bit chaotic as they sponsored an entry with just about every imaginable outdoor activity involved—dog mushers, mountain bikers, motor boaters, ATVers, kayakers, hikers and horses.
Being part of the parade with the coalition was a bit challenging. For some reason, I was appointed to shovel duty for the beautiful horse Darla. There were a lot of jokes from people on the sidelines about the press performing that particular function.
Every year the parade has been fun in its own way, but this year I am sitting it out. Instead of the parade, this year my contribution to Fisherman’s Picnic fun will be at the American Legion bingo tent. The ATV Club is covering two shifts—9 p.m. to midnight on Saturday, August 4 and from noon to 3 p.m. on Sunday, August 5. That means when the parade rolls down the street, I’ll be under the big tent calling numbers.
I don’t know if I can handle not being part of the parade after all these years. I may need a bingo sub for about an hour on Sunday so I can at least watch the parade go by! It is a happy talent to know how to play.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
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