Dear Editor,
Lolly and I have been vacationing in Zimbabwe the past two weeks. We have been reflecting on what a fantastic time we had representing the Red Flannel Festival as Grand Marshal. We would like to thank the Red Flannel board for such a wonderful experience.
We started with the Prince and Princess pageant. The pageant committee did a great job organizing everything, plus controlling 55 kindergarteners. The Saturday before Red Flannel Day, we spent a lot of time attending functions with Tinsley, Kayla and Samantha. They did an outstanding job of handling themselves under all situations. Their time with the kids in the Prince and Princess pageant and children’s parade was especially rewarding. The 5K run had perfect weather, cool and little wind. In the afternoon it warmed up for the bed races and children’s parade. Way to go Choice One! We stopped by Cedar Pub to smell the chili and watch the horseshoe contest.
We had a wonderful meal at the Lion’s Club lumberjack supper and visited with many friends. At the queen pageant we sat directly behind Tranaya’s family. What a wonderful moment for her and her family. Good luck to Tranaya, Kaitlyn, and Esther in the upcoming year.
Red Flannel Day started early with flag raising. We had a nice flapjack breakfast, followed by arts and crafts fair, car show Celtic highlander games, marketplace, and marching band competition. We never would have completed everything without the golf cart. Finally the parade itself. The weather was perfect. What an amazing experience seeing so many familiar faces. As we turned the corner under the traffic light, all we could see was red! We want to give a special thanks to Jim and Linda Babylon for providing us a ride in their yellow 1969 Camaro convertible.
Thank you, people of Cedar Springs, for providing two weekends we will never forget.

Gary and Lolly Gust, Nelson Township