Two New Michigan Hemingway Tour Sites to be Dedicated in June

The Michigan Hemingway Society (MHS) will be dedicating two new sites on its Michigan Hemingway Tour this June with the presentation of bronze plaques. Ceremonies will take place on Wednesday, June 8 at 4pm at the Pigeon River Discovery Center (9984 Twin Lakes Rd., Vanderbilt) and Friday, June 16 at 6pm in downtown Walloon Lake’s Circle Park. These two commemorative signs are among 15 officially designated sites in northern Michigan including several in Petoskey and Horton Bay, with one also in Kalkaska. The new signs are inscribed with the following historical text:

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Hotel Walloon Welcomes John Patrick Hemingway for 2nd Annual Writer’s Retreat Weekend

Author John Patrick Hemingway – grandson of Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winning author Ernest Hemingway – will be the guest of honor at the 2nd Annual Walloon Lake Writer’s Retreat coming up April 13-16 in Walloon Lake. Activities will be held throughout the event at Hotel Walloon, Talcott Center, Walloon Lake Inn and other locations meant to inspire and motivate budding writers.

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2023 Milestone Years

Michigan was founded on January 26, 1837 as the 26th state of the United States of America—making this year its 186th Birthday / Anniversary (depending on how you look at it). Here is our annual list of tourism related businesses celebrating BIG years in 2023 (if we have missed any, please email details to travel@promotemichigan.com).

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Christmas at the Holly Hotel

Christmas at the Holly Hotel was filmed last winter at the historic 1891 Holly Hotel (which sadly was damaged by the third fire in its 132-year history this past summer) by Joel Reisig of JPR Studios. Joel has been making movies since 2008 and has produced over 35 feature films with distribution deals to Universal Studios, Netflix, Showtime, Lifetime, Redbox, Walmart and others (including global reach in various languages).

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Michigan’s Magic Cemetery

The small town of Colon, Michigan in St. Joseph County (population 1,128 according to the 2020 census) is commonly referred to as the “Magic Capital of the World”. It was here in Colon that magicians of the early twentieth century would flock to buy their supplies, tricks and costumes and where they would gather each summer for a festival like no other (an event which is held annually in August). And, it is where many remain today — interred in the Lakeside Cemetery.

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