COMSTOCK PARK, Mich. — It's back! Again!
Mill Creek Days returns to Comstock Park this Thursday, August 10 through Saturday, August 12.
If you're having some déjà vu reading that sentence, you might not be alone.
Mill Creek Days' official return came last year after a more than 25-year hiatus, but things didn't exactly go as planned thanks to some less-than-ideal weather.
"The weather didn't wash out our parade, but it surely kept it down," said Rich Frey, Chairman of the Comstock Park DDA. "Not super well attended, but people were there and happy.”
The slow restart can also be attributed to the fact that, once again, this event was nothing but a memory for more than a quarter century.
"It was run by the Comstock Park Jaycees," Frey said. "Their membership dwindled. They lost their charter and disbanded and stopped conducting Mill Creek Days. Nobody picked it up.”
“Maybe three years ago, we started talking about it in the DDA (Downtown Development Authority)...We have our DDA money to spend, and we thought, 'What can we do to help bring people into Comstock Park?' Somebody suggested revitalizing Mill Creek Days. So that's when the wheels started turning and we started trying to figure out what we could do to bring it back.”
Now it's back once again, and this time, it's bigger than ever before.
People can look forward to the Duck Race on Mill Creek (free entry + cash prizes), along with a bicycle raffle and helmet giveaways. Some of the new events include a 5k run/walk, live music on Thursday and Saturday and a beer tent from Mill Creek Tavern.
Scott Ingersoll, the tavern's owner, said, "We'll be hosting the first beer tent in, I think, 30 years at Comstock Park, behind Mill Creek Tavern in the parking lot. But a portion of the proceeds will go to help pay off the balance of the Comstock Park Hot Lunch Program.”
Overall the goal with this year's festival is to revitalize the area while encourage families to get off their devices and spend time together outdoors.
"We want to just bring that back together and start having fun again," Ingersoll said. "Comstock Park pride, man."
For more information, you can visit the event's Facebook page.