Fishtown Preservation presents “Fishtown in Lights”

From staff reports

This holiday season Fishtown Preservation Society (FPS) is lighting the rooftops of Leland’s Historic Fishtown with strings of white lights.

FPS has scheduled a lighting event on Friday, December 12, starting at 5 p.m. in Fishtown, Leland, with the rooftop lights being turned on for the first time that night at 5:30. The light display will continue nightly from Dec. 12 through Jan. 5, 5-10 p.m. The lights will also be on every morning from 5-8 a.m. for those who enjoy an early morning winter stroll.

“Fishtown in Lights” is to celebrate the completion of the projects made possible by the Campaign for Fishtown—more than seven years of urgent work and repairs to save Fishtown from the impact of high water.

At the lighting ceremony the non-profit organization will also honor those who have been instrumental in saving Fishtown and all that it has taken to keep it here, including our community of supporters, the Carlson family, those who spearheaded the 2007 purchase of Fishtown by Fishtown Preservation Society, and those who have long made their livelihoods in Fishtown. After a brief ceremony, representatives of the youngest generation of these groups will turn on the lights.

“We wanted to find a way to round out this year with something extra special—to celebrate everyone who has made the preservation of Fishtown possible,” says FPS Executive Director, Amanda Holmes. “Fishtown is here because each generation has stepped up when Fishtown needed help, and we know that we can count of those who are children now to do the same when they grow up.”

The last time that the lights were lit was in February 2019, when the non-profit organization made the final mortgage payment on the property twelve years after the original purchase. “In 2006 the community responded to the threat that Fishtown could be lost to development with the Save Fishtown campaign,” says Holmes. “These events are also a way to remember that we can’t take Fishtown for granted—and we still can’t.”

The 2019 lighting was also the public kick-off of the Campaign for Fishtown, a $5.3 million dollar effort to lift nearly all the shanties out of the high water, replace their foundations, and make extensive repairs, as well as replace the docks and retaining walls which were at risk of being washed away. On December 12 the organization celebrates the completion of the work of that campaign, and all the crucial infrastructure work it funded, making this a full-circle moment.

The major sponsor for the light display is Shine, a Traverse City company specializing in holiday lighting and window cleaning. “Fishtown is a magical place,” says Jim Chatel, the owner of Shine and who is overseeing the installation. “Most people only know Fishtown in the summer, so we are excited to help visitors see it anew by bringing out its iconic rooflines in lights.”

A special sponsor is the Burnham Family, which is honoring the memory of Keith Burnham, who turned on the lights in 2019 to recognize his role in spreading the word in 2006 that Fishtown needed saving. Other sponsors include Hallstedt Homestead, Leelanau Goods, Little Boat Coffee, and the Woods Family.