By Staff
As the 2005 Dowagiac Events and Festival Brochure hits the local streets this week, soon Amtrak passengers at Chicago's Union Station, which serves more than 100,000 travelers daily, will be able to get a glimpse of The Grand Old City.
Published by the Greater Dowagiac Chamber of Commerce, the four-color brochure is a guide for local and day visitors to the seasonal and community events held in Dowagiac.
It also describes the quaint summertime mecca of the Sister Lakes area that Chicagoans have been drawn to for generations and the Victorian appeal of Dowagiac's central business district and its restored turn-of-the-century storefronts.
According to Vickie Phillipson, program director of the Chamber of Commerce and Downtown Development Authority, the events brochure, along with the DDA's guide to specialty shops, and fine and casual dining, are used to market the community to tourists.
In September 2004, the Downtown Research and Development Center profiled both brochures, which Phillipson designed, in its newsletter, the Downtown Promotion Reporter.
She said the Downtown Research and Development Center provides news, information and analysis to economic developers across the nation on successful downtown revitalization.
Instead of simple lists of events, readers are offered colorful descriptions of what they can do downtown."
Pink dogwoods in blossom, photographed by Phillipson at Dowagiac's Riverside Cemetery, provide a colorful backdrop to this year's front cover that features Barb and Dave Groner in Victorian dress, as they attended last Labor Day's 150th anniversary celebration of the first orphan train to arrive in Dowagiac, along with Ken Clark, standing beside one of the classic vehicles he displayed at last year's Rod and Roll Classic Auto Show.
Local residents and day visitors can read about Michigan's premier arts event, the Dogwood Fine Arts Festival, which opens May 6, as well as: the
Memorial Day celebration and parade, hosted by the Masons of Peninsular
Lodge #10; the Beckwith Park Summer Concert Series of the DDA that opens
Thursday, June 2; Sister Lakes fireworks on Saturday, July 2; the Chamber's
Dowagiac Fun Fest, which runs from July 28-30; Steve's Run, hosted by
Southwestern Michigan College, on July 30; Cass County Fair, Aug. 1-6; the
fine arts show of the Dowagiac Art Guild on Saturday, Aug. 6; the Chamber's
Rod &Roll Classic Auto Show and the Jay Teter concert on the Dowagiac
campus of Southwestern Michigan College on Saturday, Aug. 20; the
International Festival, hosted by the Cass County Minority Coalition, on
Sunday, Sept. 11; the Old Rugged Cross Anniversary Celebration on Sunday,
Sept. 18, and its fall festival and craft sale on Saturday, Oct. 15;
Ciderfest of Wicks' Apple House on Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 8 &9; the
Chamber's Old-Fashioned Christmas Celebration and its Open House Weekend,
Nov. 19 &20; Theta Mu Sorority's Craft Show on Saturday, Nov. 19; the
Chamber's Candle-light Christmas Parade on Friday, Dec. 2; Christmas Around
the World, hosted by Encore Dance Co.; and the Chamber's 2006 Ice Time
Festival on Saturday, Feb. 4.