Why the Grand Haven Coast Guard Festival?

Events

Today on our blog, Logan Pellegrom from Spring Lake talks about what the Grand Haven Coast Guard Festival means to him and why it’s a cannot miss event. 

During a single Michigan summer, there are thousands of ways to spend a family get-a-way. I have gone north for a week, cheered on my favorite teams in Detroit and fallen asleep on beaches along the west coast. But when August creeps up there is only one place you will find me.

For 21 years, I have been making my way to Downtown Grand Haven on the first Saturday of August; and every year my family and I spend time and energy dealing with crowds, traffic and lines. We weave through the craft fair and bump shoulders to see the fireworks. We rush down to Franklin Street to grab a curb-side spot for the Grand Parade before they’re all gone and compete for Now and Laters like they’re gold coins. And at the end of the night, we either trek home via bicycle or wait for the dreaded left turn light to 31.

We do all of these things and immediately look forward to doing it again the following year because of one reoccurring theme: we.

No matter what is going on or where we are headed, we strive to find time for each other. We long for an occasion to put down our phones and pick up an overdue conversation. We remember being the children in awe of the ships arriving into harbor and how it was like nothing we had ever seen before. We drool over the premise of an elephant ear. We admire our mother’s fanny pack, which proves some things never die. We anxiously get butterflies in our stomachs while waiting in line for the same carnival ride we have done since Rugrats was still running. We reconnect at the Grand Haven Coast Guard Festival.

Memories of the festival begin in my childhood when we were a young family and they are times I would never take back. I recommend the festival to anyone and everyone regardless of age or interests. Take it from me; if my sister and I want to spend all day together, there must be something special about this festival.

{Guest Blogger Bio}
Logan Pellegrom
Logan is a Spring Lake native and graduated from Spring Lake High School in 2012. He is currently a senior at Central Michigan University studying Public Relations & Advertising. Last summer, Logan enjoyed being an intern for the Grand Haven Coast Guard Festival.