If you love hot air balloons, fireworks, and cheeseburgers,
River Days is the place for you this weekend. A long-standing tradition spearheaded by the Midland Area Community Foundation, the River Days festival aims to honor the past and celebrate the great community that is Midland. Come down to the Tridge this weekend as community members gather to eat, dance, play games, and much more.
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Kevin LaDukeMidland Area Community Foundation Communications OfficerOver the past five decades, many dreams have become realities through the Foundation. Area treasures like the Tridge, the Fun Zone, the Rail Trail, and the Santa House are all indebted to Midland Area Community Foundation investment and promotion. Celebrations like River Days
and the courthouse lighting have brought people together. One of the Foundation’s very dedicated staff members is an individual behind the magic of River Days. That staff member is Kevin LaDuke.
Before joining the Midland Area Community Foundation as Communications Officer in 2019, Kevin worked at Midland Community Television and, even before that, sold everything from Jitterbug flip phones at Best Buy to Air Force Ones at Finishline. He holds postsecondary degrees in broadcasting, film, and writing.
Growing up in Beaverton, he always viewed Midland as the "big city," a place that, although it doesn't have a "party district," is still a place where he can live Downtown, walk to a baseball game, cross the Tridge, and enjoy gathering with people. For Kevin, Midland is a special place where he has flourished. He is passionate about showcasing the region's assets and the impact we can have beyond local boundaries. Kevin sat down with Catalyst to fill us in on what we can look forward to with this year’s festival.
Kevin, how did River Days get started?
River Days’ origin predates the Community Foundation’s involvement. So, the current River Days, as we know, didn’t start until 1987. River Days had been going on since the 1950s, though. In those days, the festival coincided with Fourth of July so they did a much more combined festival with Fourth of July activities down here.
It consisted of baseball games, log rolling competitions, a parade, and a fireworks display. River Days as we know it began in 1987. Michigan celebrated its 150th birthday that year, and the Community Foundation planned a six-day celebration called River Days Festival or Rendezvous at The Forks.
There were a bunch of different events that occurred during that particular year including the riverboat, drum and fife corps, reenactors of the French voyageurs, a trout pond, and music, as well. That piece in 1987 was really important for bringing the Community Foundation over and bringing this work over to A. bring us into a more visible spot in the community and B. continuing to recognize the heritage of Midland and to build new traditions along the river.
Who is responsible for putting on River Days now?
River Days belongs to the Midland Area Community Foundation, but it’s more than just our staff that works on it. It’s truly a much larger cross-section of community members and volunteers that bring this together - and organizations. We have folks that work with us from Chippewa Nature Center, from Greater Midland, The City of Midland and so on and so forth. I could go on and on with the different groups involved. What makes River Days great is that it really is a collaborative festival. We are the backbone of the organization and support the operations, but a lot of people help bring it together.
What can the community expect from this year’s festival?
I think we are really trying to build a consistent festival. What you are going to find from this year’s River Days will be a lot of what you have seen in the past. We’ve got headlining bands on Friday and Saturday night, there are still great Kid Zone activities on Saturday, a lot of free and inclusive fun, food truck alley way, there’s still the cheeseburger dinner through the Rotary Clubs on Friday night, and the chicken dinner through the Lions Club on Saturday night.
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Community FoundationHot air balloons take flight for Riverdays
Something that I am really excited about this year is Friday during the afternoon, we are doing a river clean-up leading up to River Days. It
is called River Days, so we want to make sure we are paying attention to the river and understanding that’s why we are gathering down at The Tridge area. From 2 p.m. - 5 p.m. on Friday there will be a river clean-up that will conclude as the mainstage entertainment gets started that night and we are really excited about that.
Another piece, too, is that we are going to have local service clubs represented at the festival, as well, through the Service Club Alliance if folks have questions about ways to get involved. We think that is a great way to get folks involved and together and make sure that we are fostering that idea through community alignment and collaboration through these groups.
How has the festival evolved and changed over the years?
The festival has changed in so many ways over the years. At one time, there were milk jug races; there were different reenactments. Right now, we are focused on our current plan of being an inclusive festival by the river to honor the past of Midland, but to also embrace the future. The big part of that we have focused on for the last two years is that inclusivity piece of making sure the fun is as free and as accessible as possible. We can’t have a festival if people can’t come. We need it to be accessible, and we need folks to be able to take part in it without a large chunk out of their pocket.
What are you looking forward to most this year, personally?
I am looking forward to the taco-eating contest on Saturday at noon! We’ve been really excited the last couple of years. We have had Nate’s cart on board. Unfortunately, with Nate’s cart going in a different direction with their business we had to go a different route to still facilitate the food eating contest. So, we decided to team up with a local downtown business, Proper Taco. Proper Taco will be assisting us in the contest on Saturday. For me, personally, I always have a great time with that. I am gathering sign-ups, and I am emceeing. I love having a really active position in that portion of the festival.
Are there volunteer opportunities for community members?
There are so many volunteer opportunities for community members! We’d love to have community members help out. We are specifically looking for volunteers to be parking attendants right now. Anyone that comes - we will make sure you’re fed and you get a River Days t-shirt, and you will help bring the spirit of River Days to life. The shifts are only a few hours each. We would love to have anyone out that wants to help. People can reach out to us at The Foundation, and we will facilitate.
A complete schedule of events can be found
here.