April 2, 2007 - enquirer.com Mushrooms and more in Michigan
Have you been looking for a spring trip with something for everyone?
Do you want athletic events and spectator sports, plus shopping, food and a parade? It's hard for anyone to say they're bored when there are prizes to win and attractions to attend.
If this sounds like a trip to Disney, it's close, closer to home, that is. This May, it's time to head north to Michigan for a hometown festival. The star of this festival is, of all things, the mushroom, specifically the morel mushroom.
For 48 years, the Lion's Club of Mesick, Mich., has regaled the mushroom with a festival in its honor. The annual Mesick Mushroom Festival will be held this year, as it is every year, on Mother's Day weekend, May 11-13 in this small town in west central Michigan.
Mesick's population totals less than 800 people, yet they will host 15,000-20,000 visitors during the festival.
The mushroom contest begins May 5, the week before the festival and brings people to town from the surrounding area, and also Indiana, Ohio, Wisconsin and beyond. The consensus is that finding the first mushroom is the hardest. "Once you spot the first shroom, it gets easier to find more," says local resident Ruth Gray.
Mushroom hunters are affectionately known as "shroomers." To win the festival prize, the shroomers hunt for the largest black morel mushroom. The combined height and circumference determines the largest mushroom. The average prize winner is 17 inches, but some years the winner has been as small as 13 inches or as large as 20 inches.
Louie Hughes, who is in charge of the festival, said that for the first time the festival organizers are selling "Shroomer Kits" for $6. He admitted that this was his idea. "People arrive to hunt without even a bag for the mushrooms. And, they don't know the roads and parks the way local folks do."
The Shroomers Kit contains a map of the public lands in the county marking the appropriate access roads, a picture of a true morel mushroom rendered by Michigan State University botanists, two mesh bags for collecting mushrooms and a wooden pin in the shape of a morel mushroom. All of this is delivered in a car-type trash bag. Two $100 prizes are awarded to top mushroom hunters.
Devoted mushroom hunters are quick with advice, but slow to divulge their favorite hunting grounds. Black morels reportedly grow near ash, poplar and fruit trees. Beyond that, shroomers say, "Just start hunting."
Words of caution, some wild mushrooms are poisonous. If you're not sure about a mushroom, don't eat it.
The festivities also include a grand parade, which travels a half-mile route through downtown Mesick. Visitors claim a viewing spot early as the route fills quickly. A local resident usually get the honor of being grand marshal.
Other activities include a flea market, carriage rides, antique cars, card tournaments and the river run. Athletes can test their skills by participating in events beginning with a 5K run along the Manistee River. There are team competitions in volleyball, softball and basketball. A horseshoe contest attracts both the skilled and unskilled, throwing for fun and bragging rights. There is also the Lucky Duck Race for nonathletes and the Mudd Bogg and Sand Drags for four-wheel drive enthusiasts.
Hungry? What's a festival without good eating? This festival features homemade food ranging from a pancake breakfast to barbecue chicken dinner to taco night and an informal luncheon in conjunction with the craft show.
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