The Birth of a Festival

By Sharon Hallack

The Oceana Echo Community Correspondent

It has been well established that asparagus has been growing in Oceana County since at least the 1930s. By the 1970s, farms everywhere had added the crop to their operations, with several making it the main crop. It provided not only farmers, but individuals and business people alike, some much-needed income after a long winter. By 1972, Oceana was leading in asparagus production statewide, and it was the topic of much conversation.

At that time, the Shelby Chamber of Commerce did what every chamber of commerce does: they discussed what more they could do to promote the area. Chamber member Sam Bucher is credited with the idea of using “asparagus” as a way to draw people to town. Then chamber president Mike McGovern, who’d recently moved to the area from Alma, Mich., suggested an asparagus bake-off as a fun way to promote the crop and get the whole community involved. As a former chef for Alma College, he remembered being involved in that area’s annual bean festival. In 1972, the chamber had its first “bake-off” competition. It was so successful that they decided to have an asparagus smorgasbord a few weeks later.

When community members were asked to elaborate on those first celebrations, memories were a bit hazy, but there was a common thread: everyone was on board with doing something to showcase asparagus and the area. “What sticks with me is how the business people worked together. They were very supportive of the idea and wanted to see Shelby and the county grow,” McGovern said.

McGovern recalls that in 1973, a one-day event was organized in Shelby that included the bake-off, a small parade, and a car show during the day, with a talent show and smorgasbord in the evening.

Julie (Fleming) Tate, who had been crowned the Great Lakes Vegetable Queen as a junior in high school in the spring of 1973, remembers attending the chamber bake-off and parade. “It’s hard to remember much else; it was so long ago,” she laughed.

A year later, a committee of 25 people selected from all corners of the county was gathering, and sub-committees were formed to create a more formal event. Ed Bauer, of Silver Lake, is credited with suggesting the county host an annual “National Asparagus Festival,” and the idea stuck.

The group discussed the possibility of selecting an asparagus queen later in the summer, with the idea that the queen could enter the Great Lakes Vegetable Queen contest the following spring. Initially, that idea was put on hold due to the fact that the timing didn’t sync well with the recently established Oceana County Cherry Queen pageant that was taking place in June at that time.

Joanne Lound, of Shelby and Mrs. Asparagus 1976, who has been involved with many Asparagus Festivals in the past, remembers that for the 1974 parade, teen daughters of local asparagus farmers were asked to ride on a special float as “Asparagus Princesses.”

In 1974, the Oceana Herald and the Hart Journal jointly published a special section to their papers called the “Asparagus Times’’ to publicize the “2nd Official” Asparagus Festival. Included in the full-size section were informative articles, schedules, photos and recipes. One thing was evident: nearly every business advertised, many taking out full-page ads.

The 1974 week of events really didn’t look a whole lot different than the festivals of more recent history. A listing of events included a golf classic, a recreational vehicle exhibit and an asparagus bake-off Saturday, June 1.

Monday, June 2, featured an Asparagus Contest at the festival’s information tent (for one cent, entrants could guess the number of pieces of asparagus in a large container). On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of that week, processing facility and farm tours were available, with the farm tours utilizing Bill’s and Mac Woods Dune Scooters as transportation to and from area farms. Asparagus preservation demonstrations were also provided by the county extension office.

The festival ended on Saturday, June 8 with a pro-golf demonstration, a parade through Shelby (with an estimated 10,000 people in attendance), and an asparagus smorgasbord costing just $3.50 for adults and $1.75 for children under 12. A talent show at Getty Field rounded out the night.

The committee did eventually decide to have a “Mrs.” Asparagus contest in the fall of 1974, giving the new queen a few months to promote the 1975 festival being planned. Mrs. Maxine Huggard of Shelby was named the first Mrs. Asparagus and would be the first of many lovely, intelligent and energetic women ambassadors of the festivals to come.

Five decades of celebrating Oceana’s premiere vegetable include many wonderful stories, people, activities and more. Whether it was your first or your 50th festival, may you continue to appreciate the rich history and vibrant community spirit behind it all.

Note: This piece was part of The Oceana Echo’s National Asparagus Festival 50th Anniversary Commemorative Edition and further illustrates the countywide efforts behind its origins. It was also discovered that last week’s article about the founding of the festival included errors about the locations of the parades in 1974 and 1975. The Echo apologizes for these errors.