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All Things Michigan

Michigan travels, events, photos, and more

Filtering by Tag: constantine

Constantine Fireworks on the 4th

Andrew Norton

There's nothing quite like a small town celebration on the 4th of July. A parade where you wave at the participants, not just because they are waving but because you know them. Cookouts with families and kids staying up so late they are almost asleep by the time the fireworks begin.

As dusk begins to gather you slather up the kids with bug spray, grab some blankets, and stake out your favorite spot for a simple, yet beautiful, show. This year, there was added beauty due to a nearly full moon. As the fireworks show continued, the smoke from the fireworks drifted in front of the moon and gave it a reddish hue. See an example of the red moon.

I'll be putting up pictures from the parade later in the week, but here are the rest of the 4th of July photos.

Constantine Harvest Festival was fun

Andrew Norton

The weather couldn't have been better for Constantine's Harvest Festival this past Saturday. The annual event was originally scheduled for September 13th, but was washed out by the rainy weekend courtesy of the remnants of Hurricane Ike. This is a nice festival that has improved with age. It started out pretty small about 6 years ago and now is a nice small town festival.

Lots to do at the Constantine Harvest Festival

Water Street was closed off for the festival. There were bands set to play all day long (and into the evening, too) at one end of the street. Tons of free stuff like horse-drawn carriage rides, inflatable bouncy rides for kids, and kids games for only a quarter.

The crowd was pretty steady while I was there and it was great to see this festival become a bit more polished than past years.

Constantine in the fall

Andrew Norton


Constantine in the fall, originally uploaded by All Things Michigan.

The past couple of cooler and rainy days have me thinking about fall. Constantine's Fall Festival is the second weekend in September with September 13th also the kickoff of the farmer's market that will run Saturday mornings this fall.

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Perfect attendance for 13 years gets Constantine grad a new car

Andrew Norton

Andria Baker made a deal with her dad when she was in the 4th grade. She saw in the paper that an area senior with perfect attendance got a new car when he graduated because he had perfect attendance all through school. She had perfect attendance up to that point and made the deal with her dad, Tim. Tim Baker made good on the deal and Andria received the new car at her graduation party. Factoring in snow days, she went to school for 2,516 days during her 13 year stint at Constantine Public Schools.

Just for some perspective on the numbers - Baseball Hall of Famer Cal Ripken made headlines when he broke Lou Gehrig's record and played in 2,632 straight games over sixteen seasons.

From someone who did not have perfect attendance throughout their entire public school career this just boggles my mind. It's an incredible feat and it's pretty cool that she got a car out of the deal.

Kudos, Andria! :D

Read the article at the Sturgis Journal

Get some extra cash for Christmas

Andrew Norton

I just received a postcard in the mail about an eBay Day clinic in Constantine, Michigan. The free event on Tuesday, November 20 is open to the public, but you must register due to limited class sizes. The sessions will take place at the Constantine Village Hall. My postcard said that you should register at the White Pigeon Post Office, but I wonder if the Constantine Post Office is another place for registration. You can also register by phone at 483-9016.

There are two sessions each lasting approximately 2 hours. The first session is from 2-4 pm and the second session is at 6-8pm.

You get a "start up" packet that includes a Get Started CD from eBay. The classes will teach you:

  • How to open an account
  • How to Buy
  • How to Sell
  • The fees involved
  • How to Ship

It would certainly be a great way for folks to learn how to get rid of some clutter around the house and make some extra cash for Christmas.

The final Tomahawk Game

Andrew Norton

Or is it? Saturday October 13 at 7 p.m. Constantine and White Pigeon will meet up for the 86th and perhaps final time on the gridiron. Constantine is leaving the St. Joseph Valley Conference for the Kalamazoo Valley Conference and will not have room in its schedule to accommodate a non-conference game with White Pigeon starting next season.

The series dates back to 1929 between the two rival schools separated only by a few corn fields and three miles. The winner of the annual contest gets possession of the Tomahawk. The Tomahawk was made from a large indian arrowhead stone found in a field between the two schools.

The two schools agreed to play each other with the winner receiving the Tomahawk until next year's game. Constantine won the first game 14-6 and has recently won 15 Tomahawk games in a row.

Even though the game has been rather lopsided in recent years you can just about guarantee that there will be a record crowd at Saturday's game. More buildup than normal is going on at each school this week as players and fans prepare for what could be the final contest in the storied battle.

From the Kalamazoo Gazette -

Research by school officials on both sides verifies that the Constantine-White Pigeon contest is Michigan's longest-running high school football series for which a token artifact is awarded to the winner.

For those not familiar, White Pigeon's mascot is the Chiefs. The town is named for Chief White Pigeon who saved the area's earliest settlers from an imminent indian attack by running all the way from the Detroit area to warn the residents. I thought I should throw that out to help people realize why a Tomahawk would be the trophy.

Read this article in the Kalamazoo Gazette for more information on the History of the Game