Auchtoon!Little Ray of Sunshine for Michigan…
Originally published in the Grand Rapids Business Journal, June 1, 2009
You know things are bad when your local editorial cartoonist grows weary of all the terrible news. Like dung beetles, we typically thrive on that, um, stuff. But geez, it is summer! So in the midst of this spectacularly awful Michigan season of foreclosure and bankruptcy and unemployment and general despair, I was looking for a ray of sunshine.
And in West Michigan that came in the form of our 40th annual Festival of Arts. Every year in the first weekend of June, volunteers organize an effort to take over several downtown city blocks to put on a street party. There are food booths galore with impressive varieties. There are tents filled with artworks from the sublime to the strange. There are several stages where the young and old entertain in a steady stream. It really is impressive. Check it out next year. Assuming there is a Michigan then. (Back to despair.)
