Ethan Foreman, meteorologist for UpNorthLive (7&4 News)
When you show someone Fishtown for the very first time, where do you begin? At the end of October, two local TV reporters came to report on Fishtown. Visit to Fishtown and Leland are almost rite of passage for reporters new to this region, and for both it would be their first visits.
By this time of year the things that visitors might expect from Fishtown—Joy’s catches of whitefish, the shops, our Welcome Center—have ended or closed for the season. What remains? Well, there are the shanties, the docks, the river, Joy and Janice Sue—Fishtown itself, in other words.
So I walked Ethan Foreman, a young meteorologist who joined UpNorthLive (7&4) from the Grand Rapids area only this past July, to the south side of the river, where FPS’s commercial fishing operations are based, and led him between the Morris and Otherside shanties. When we stepped onto the dock, Fishtown opened itself around us. Joy and Janice Sue were tied to the dock right beside us, the river roared over the dam to our right, and across the far side the shanties stretched out in a row, awash in the brightness of an autumn sun. Ethan’s face lit up with the sunshine, and for a moment he was left speechless. An hour later, as he wrapped his recording, Ethan said to me, “I had no idea a place like this existed. This is my favorite northern Michigan story!”
When Gatini Tinsley came to Fishtown a few days later for 9&10 News, I also took her to the south side. Instead of sun we had to shield ourselves from rain, but she had much the same experience on seeing Fishtown for the first time. Gatini is a more seasoned reporter, a native Detroiter who began her career in print journalism and has worked all over the country. Still, Fishtown impressed her. “Today is my mother’s birthday,” she told me. “I can’t wait to bring her here.”
Both reporters wonderful questions took me back through layers of Fishtown history—that the earliest shanty dates from 1903, that we still fish, and that a place like Fishtown doesn’t just look after itself. I could appreciate what they were seeing, just in those moments, and feel how quickly—and strongly—a connection to Fishtown can form.
The curiosity and awe of their first visits freshened my own appreciation of all that we, the people who love and support Fishtown, have accomplished together, year after year. Fishtown Preservation is dedicated to making Fishtown more accessible, more creative in sharing its history and stories, and a better advocate for whitefish and the commercial fishing experience. All of this is possible only because of people who donate time and money for Fishtown. People like you.
There are more than 300,000 visits to Fishtown each year, in a rich combination of frequent visitors and annual pilgrims—but many first-time visitors, too. The next time you come, I invite you to imagine that you are introducing someone to Fishtown for the very first time. What will you show them? What is it you cherish most? Fishtown is here because you care—and because it is a place where all our stories can continue to live. If you can, please give today.
Amanda Holmes
Fishtown Preservation