Bailey - Captain Christy's Thanksgiving - Keeping the Public in Public Domain

 

Just the other day I was hearing about winter visits to Michigan's Mackinac Island. Now I find the perfect story that fits there and so many other places that fit our state's motto of "If you seek a pleasant peninsula, look about you." (I'll also take this beyond Michigan, too.)

Michigan's coastline is 3,288 linear miles long, making it the longest freshwater coastline in the United States. If islands are included, the total shoreline length increases to 4,344 miles. Michigan's coastline is diverse, featuring sandy beaches, dunes, cliffs, bluffs, and wetlands. The state's coastline is also home to several national parks, including:

• Isle Royale National Park and Biosphere Reserve: An island wilderness in Lake Superior
• Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore: Located along Lake Superior
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore: Includes two islands in Northern Lake Michigan and a large mainland shoreline

Michigan's coastline is also accessible to residents, with 1,494 public access sites, or about one site for every two miles of shoreline.

 

Those three national parks and Mackinac Island all seem so far away from the metro Detroit and Flint area, but Michigan's area known as the Thumb is not that far away and seems to fit this story, too.

Possibly you might match this tale to other resort areas with large beach areas. Clearly the story looks back to an earlier age, but still resort areas in so many places match this story that opens in summer, then brings us to a time when they may be forgotten. The story is from Carolyn Sherwin Bailey's Stories for Every Holiday from 1918.

 

 

This coming Thursday is NOT "Turkey Day", but THANKSGIVING! Whatever your reasons or location, may you find reasons to be thankful. We all have those reasons. 

https://quotesproject.com/blessed-thanksgiving-images/

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This is part of a series of postings of stories under the category, “Keeping the Public in Public Domain.” The idea behind Public Domain was to preserve our cultural heritage after the authors and their immediate heirs were compensated. I feel strongly current copyright law delays this intent on works of the 20^th century. My own library of folklore includes so many books within the Public Domain I decided to share stories from them. I hope you enjoy discovering them.

At the same time, my own involvement in storytelling regularly creates projects requiring research as part of my sharing stories with an audience.  Whenever that research needs to be shown here, the publishing of Public Domain stories will not occur that week.  This is a return to my regular posting of a research project here.  (Don't worry, this isn't dry research, my research is always geared towards future storytelling to an audience.)  Response has convinced me that "Keeping the Public in Public Domain" should continue along with my other postings as often as I can manage it.

See the sidebar for other Public Domain story resources I recommend on the page “PublicDomain Story Resources."