2024 Burr Oak Heritage Festival has a new theme
BURR OAK – The celebration of an offbeat story was announced as the theme of the 2024 Burr Oak Heritage Festival.
Festival committee chair Patty Seeba said there’s an interesting backstory to the theme “Living in a Small Town Can be a Circus.” She said it ties in with the book “The Long Road to the Circus.”
Seeba said Burr Oak is the setting for the story, which features a little girl who learned how to ride an ostrich. In order to familiarize local students with the story, Heritage Committee members purchased a classroom set of books and volunteered their time reading the story to all third- through eighth-grade students in Burr Oak.
“I had read the book, my niece had read the book to her fourth graders and then she said ‘You know, Aunt Pat, this is it. We should do something with this circus theme,’” Seeba said.
Seeba agreed. She emailed author Betsy Bird, making her aware that the 2024 festival would incorporate “Long Road to the Circus” and extended an invitation to attend.
“She said yes!” Seeba said. “I was so pleased, but then I thought it’s not going to mean as much to the kids in our town if they haven’t heard the story.”
Seven committee volunteers took turns reading the 24-chapter book to the students. Seeba said they finished just as students were going on spring break.
Incidentally, Mendon-area resident David Small, a Caldecott Medal recipient, illustrated the book.
The story features main character, 12-year-old Suzy Bowles, who spends her summer completing chores on her family’s farm in Burr Oak. The story takes a twist when two additional characters – her wayward uncle and a circus performer named Madame Marantette – are introduced.
“It is truly amazing how much the book follows the truth of Madame Marantette’s life and what an exemplary woman she was,” Seeba said. “The message is to do things well and do things right is so important.”
Madame Marantette was a real person, born in Mendon. She died in 1922 at the age of 73 and is buried at Mendon Township Cemetery.
Seeba said Marantette’s husband once bought her a dozen ostriches. One in particular, Gaucho, stood 9 feet tall. Marantette eventually trained Gaucho to lead a surrey, a spectacle that was showcased for many years at the St. Joseph County Grange Fair. Black-and-white photographs of Marantette and Gaucho, in fact, are included in the fair’s archives.
Seeba explained the book weaves fact with fiction, as Marantette’s antics inspire the fictional Suzy Bowles to also train and ride an ostrich. Bowles eventually sees the world by joining Marantette as a circus performer.
Meanwhile, Bird, the author, lives in the Chicago area but has family in Kalamazoo. Seeba said Bird will sign copies of “The Long Road to the Circus” following the Heritage Festival’s parade.
Seeba explained the connection between Bird and Marantette.
“There’s a man in the story who works with the ostriches and horses on Madam Marantette’s farm, so he’s basically her farmhand and he was a real person, too,” Seeba said. “So, Bird is the great-great granddaughter of that man. That explains where the connection to the story is.”
As the 2024 festival is following a circus theme, Seeba said it will feature circus acts, including a sword swallower, a fire eater, a freak show and other attractions.
Seeba said she tried to secure ostriches to have on display at the festival, but the idea was quickly rejected.
“I actually called three different farms in Michigan so the kids could not only see an ostrich in real life but see how big they are,” Seeba said. “But they all three said their ostriches are too mean, very ill-tempered, so they wouldn’t risk the liability issues.”
The festival is July 25-28.
This article originally appeared on Port Huron Times Herald: 2024 Burr Oak Heritage Festival has a new theme
