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OneKama OneFifty

May 1 - September 30


 

ONEKAMA, MICHIGAN’S  “OneKama OneFifty” CELEBRATION

 
150 years ago, Onekama, Michigan had its official start.  The wildly fascinating story of “The Cut” is an iconic and life-altering event that shaped Onekama.  The local homesteaders, tired of conflict with the Porter Lumber Milling Company whose dam at Portage Creek flooded farmland, took matters literally into their own hands. Illegally hand digging a small trench from Lake Michigan to Portage Lake to lower the lake to its original depth, the homesteaders created a fantastic spectacle! On the night of May 14, 1871 when the trench was completed, the water rushed out taking with it woods and sand and creating a channel 500 feet wide and 12 feet deep. This channel brought great opportunity for the homesteaders and the mill and remains to this day an integral part of the Onekama community.
 

Coincidently just a week before, the Postmaster General appointed a postmaster to an office at the newly named village of “Onekama”.  2021 is the sesquicentennial anniversary of these two events.

 

Through a series of activities and events based on Onekama’s 150 year anniversary, OneKama OneFifty will celebrate the Portage Lake Channel and the village of Onekama.  Activities will feature boat races and water recreation events, historical tours and programs, arts and literary tie-ins, a gala dinner, and a formal dedication of the Portage Lake channel to Lake Michigan.

“OneKama OneFifty” CELEBRATION Events 
May 14: Settlers and Shoreline Onekama Celebration Dinner, 5:30pm-7:30pm
July 16: Historical Homes of the Point & PPI History of Onekama, 10:30am-11:30am
July 16: Channel Dedication – Harbor Commission (all day)
July 17: Channel Dedication – Harbor Commission (all day)
July 17: (tentative) PLYC – Portage Lake Regatta (all day)
July 21: Historical Homes of the Point & PPI History of Onekama, 10:30am-11:30am
July 30: PLYC – Open House History Presentation
July 31: PLYC – Invitation Sunfish “Through the Channel” Race
August 17: Manistee County Fair – 150th Year
August 18: Manistee County Fair – 150th Year
August 18: Historical Homes of the Point & PPI History of Onekama, 10:30-11:30am
August 19: Manistee County Fair – 150th Year
August 20: Manistee County Fair – 150th Year
August 21: Manistee County Fair – 150th Year
August 21: 150 Paddlers Parade on Portage Lake, 8:30am-10:30am
September 17: (tentative) Poker Run Portage Lake Powerboat Club, 10:30-11:00am
October 8: Onekama Gala at Portage Point Resort, 5:30pm-8:00pm
*Check back for event updates and details

 
 
For more information contact:
Rosalind Jaffe
OneKama OneFifty Publicity
231-655-3006
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Details

Start:
May 1
End:
September 30

Venue

MI United States + Google Map