Discover Yahoo! With Your Friends

Explore news, videos, and much more based on what your friends are reading and watching. Publish your own activity and retain full control.

To get started, first

YOUR FRIENDS' ACTIVITY

    Coast Guard Festival Cruises and Sails into Grand Haven

    By Marilisa Kinney Sachteleben | Yahoo! Contributor Network – Tue, Aug 2, 2011
    This story comes from the Yahoo! Contributor Network, where individuals publish their unique perspectives on some of the world’s most popular websites.
    Do you have a story to tell? Become a Yahoo! contributor

    In Grand Haven, Mich., at the mouth of the Grand River on Lake Michigan, the first week of August means one thing: Coast Guard Festival. 2011 marks 221 years of Coast Guard protection and the 87th festival. Sunday was the Cruise-In Classic Car Show and today the mighty Coast Guard fleet steamed into our harbor.

    Ask any visitor or local about her favorite part of the festival and you'll get a different answer. I've enjoyed 35 festivals and for me, it changes. This year, I added a new happy memory: our youngest son entered his 1989 fully stocked, bought from original owner, "unmolested engine" Crown Vic in the classic car show. It didn't matter that he didn't win; it mattered that he had the courage to show it off (complete with period-correct Ronnie James Dio cranked up and a few good revs of the engine).

    My favorites were the 1937 Harley-Davidson, a 1950-something Porsche Speedster, a 1960s Datsun 280Z and an early seventies Volvo (I almost bought one just like it 30 years ago). The mayor's choice was a candy-apple red Pontiac station wagon (I had a Pontiac Grand Safari a few years newer). The powder-blue Caddy, old Good Humor Truck and some raw forties-era car with baby moon hubcaps stole my heart, too. It was neat to see models like the cars my parents had and even one with suicide doors. With all the bygone splendor, I was a little disappointed that 2000 and newer vehicles were given awards.

    The Parade of Ships, decked out in semaphore and signal regalia and spit-shine paint always chokes me up. This year's festival features four cutters: the Mackinaw, Biscayne Bay, the Alder and the Katmai Bay. We usually get some buoy tenders, too. We're looking forward to the security and first responder teams, too: Atlantic Strike Team (Fort Dix, N.J.), CG Regional Dive Locker East (Virginia) Maritime Safety and Security Team of San Diego, Calif. and MSST of New York, and Port Security 309 (Ohio). These highly specialized crisis and dive teams will be giving demonstrations of underwater robotics, K-9 units and diving maneuvers.

    There are gobs of fun to be had at the Grand Haven's Coast Guard Festival. Our musical fountain (world's largest) plays every night at dusk. There's a clean, family friendly-carnival downtown. Our Grand Parade rocks the house. Don't forget to say hello to our vintage 1223 Pere Marquette Locomotive, tender and caboose at Connector Park. Have a hand-dipped corn dog at Pronto Pups. Stroll the boardwalk out to the south pier and lighthouse under our fully restored and lighted cat walk. A visit to Grand Haven will be the highlight of your summer.

    A life-long resident of West Michigan, Marilisa Kinney Sachteleben in unashamedly proud of her home town of Grand Haven and the lovely lake it rests on.

     

    There are no comments yet

    [ [ [['Connery is an experienced stuntman', 2]], 'http://yhoo.it/KeQd0p', '[Slideshow: See photos taken on the way down]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['Connery is an experienced stuntman', 7]], ' http://yhoo.it/KpUoHO', '[Slideshow: Death-defying daredevils]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['know that we have confidence in', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/LqYjAX ', '[Related: The Secret Service guide to Cartagena]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['We picked up this other dog and', 5]], 'http://yhoo.it/JUSxvi', '[Related: 8 common dog fears, how to calm them]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['accused of running a fake hepatitis B', 5]], 'http://bit.ly/JnoJYN', '[Related: Did WH share raid details with filmmakers?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['accused of running a fake hepatitis B', 3]], 'http://bit.ly/KoKiqJ', '[Factbox: AQAP, al-Qaeda in Yemen]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have my contacts on or glasses', 3]], 'http://abcn.ws/KTE5AZ', '[Related: Should the murder charge be dropped?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have made this nation great as Sarah Palin', 5]], 'http://yhoo.it/JD7nlD', '[Related: Bristol Palin reality show debuts June 19]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have made this nation great as Sarah Palin', 1]], 'http://bit.ly/JRPFRO', '[Related: McCain adviser who vetted Palin weighs in on VP race]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['A JetBlue flight from New York to Las Vegas', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/GV9zpj', '[Related: View photos of the JetBlue plane in Amarillo]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['the 28-year-old neighborhood watchman who shot and killed', 15]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/white-house-stays-out-of-teen-s-killing-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120411/martinzimmermen.jpg', '630', ' ', 'AP', ], [ [['Titanic', 7]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/titanic-anniversary/', ' ', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/b/4e/b4e5ad9f00b5dfeeec2226d53e173569.jpeg', '550', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['He was in shock and still strapped to his seat', 6]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/navy-jet-crashes-in-virginia-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120406/jet_ap.jpg', '630', ' ', 'AP', ], [ [['xxxxxxxxxxxx', 11]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/russian-grannies-win-bid-to-sing-at-eurovision-1331223625-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/1/56/156d92f2760dcd3e75bcd649a8b85fcf.jpeg', '500', ' ', 'AP', ] ]
    [ [ [['did not go as far his colleague', 8]], '29438204', '0' ], [ [[' the 28-year-old neighborhood watchman who shot and killed', 4]], '28924649', '0' ], [ [['because I know God protects me', 14], ['Brian Snow was at a nearby credit union', 5]], '28811216', '0' ], [ [['The state news agency RIA-Novosti quoted Rosaviatsiya', 6]], '28805461', '0' ], [ [['measure all but certain to fail in the face of bipartisan', 4]], '28771014', '0' ], [ [['matter what you do in this case', 5]], '28759848', '0' ], [ [['presume laws are constitutional', 7]], '28747556', '0' ], [ [['has destroyed 15 to 25 houses', 7]], '28744868', '0' ], [ [['short answer is yes', 7]], '28746030', '0' ], [ [['opportunity to tell the real story', 7]], '28731764', '0' ], [ [['entirely respectable way to put off the searing constitutional controversy', 7]], '28723797', '0' ], [ [['point of my campaign is that big ideas matter', 9]], '28712293', '0' ], [ [['As the standoff dragged into a second day', 7]], '28687424', '0' ], [ [['French police stepped up the search', 17]], '28667224', '0' ], [ [['Seeking to elevate his candidacy back to a general', 8]], '28660934', '0' ], [ [['The tragic story of Trayvon Martin', 4]], '28647343', '0' ], [ [['Karzai will get a chance soon to express', 8]], '28630306', '0' ], [ [['powerful storms stretching', 8]], '28493546', '0' ], [ [['basic norm that death is private', 6]], '28413590', '0' ], [ [['songwriter also saw a surge in sales for her debut album', 6]], '28413590', '1', 'Watch music videos from Whitney Houston ', 'on Yahoo! Music', 'http://music.yahoo.com' ], [ [['keyword', 99999999999999999999999]], 'videoID', '1', 'overwrite-pre-description', 'overwrite-link-string', 'overwrite-link-url' ] ]

    News For You

    Loading...

    US News »

    • Gunman in Indiana standoff dies after shooting himself
      Snipers sit trained on a real estate office where authorities say a gunman is holding an unknown number of hostages in Valparaiso

      VALPARAISO, Indiana (Reuters) - A gunman took hostages in an Indiana real estate office on Friday, then released them after an eight-hour standoff and fatally shot himself in the head, authorities said. The gunman died at a hospital in Valparaiso, Indiana, about 40 miles southeast of Chicago, police said. "We believe there …

    • New Jersey man charged in Etan Patz death after 33 years Joseph Ax
      Hernandez is arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court via video link seen here in this courtroom sketch in New York

      NEW YORK (Reuters) - A man who police say confessed to strangling Etan Patz was charged with second-degree murder on Friday, 33 years after the 6-year-old boy vanished from his New York neighborhood and soon changed the way the nation responds to missing children. Pedro Hernandez, 51, who worked as a stock boy in a small …

    • Penn State ex-president sues over Sandusky emails: report
      Jerry Sandusky, former Penn State football defensive coordinator, arrives for a hearing at the Centre County Courthouse in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania

      (Reuters) - Pennsylvania State University's former president filed suit on Friday to force the school to turn over emails that are relevant to its probe of the Jerry Sandusky sex abuse scandal, the Centre Daily Times newspaper reported. Sandusky, a former Penn State assistant football coach, goes on trial next month on …

    • Subtropical Storm Beryl forms off South Carolina coast

      MIAMI (Reuters) - Subtropical Storm Beryl formed off the South Carolina coast on Friday and forecasters at the U.S. National Hurricane Center issued a tropical storm warning for parts of the Southeastern U.S. coast. Beryl had top sustained winds of 45 miles per hour and was in the Atlantic about 305 miles east of Charleston, …

    • Bud weakens to storm off Mexico's Pacific coast David Alire Garcia
      Hurricane Bud appoaches landfall in Mexico

      MANZANILLO, Mexico (Reuters) - Hurricane Bud weakened to a tropical storm as it churned closer to Mexico's coast on Friday, but brought heavy rains and strong winds that downed trees and closed schools and a major Pacific shipping port. The first hurricane of the 2012 season, Bud was downgraded to a tropical storm with …

     
    One money saving tip you probably haven't tried
    Add your ideas and help make it happen. Join the conversation.
    Episode 11: Hard times for Hometown Hardware
    Should Bill and Donna take on more risk to boost their business?
    One small business owner surprises Bill and Donna
    How Josh's comment on a Remake America video laid the groundwork for something bigger.
    Learn more about Remake America »