Orchard Lake St Mary's Fair Cancelled This Year

Not due to COVID like last year, which as bad enough.

The Detroit Free Press: Orchard Lake police on Polish Country Fair cancellation: Don't blame us

No, not due to COVID, but due to the multitude of unruly "teens" that come to frequent the Fair and can't behave themselves, especially at night.

Orchard Lake St. Mary's Prep said months ago it was suspending — and potentially ending — its big annual fundraising event, citing security and safety concerns.

It's a shame considering the fair has been a community fixture and fundraiser for years, and a wonderful and fun place for families to go.

Sadly, between the police having their hands tied, and the "teens" being allowed to run wild, it's the end of what was a great community event and local tradition.

Yesterday At St. Mary's Fair

For the ninth year in a row, we took the kids to St. Mary's Polish Fair - the largest high school fair in the nation.

We met up with some of their friends and started doing the rides.   It's fun to see how they've grown over the years.  They can go on rides now on their own unaccompanied by an adult.

First there was the sedate balloon ride:


Then it was off to the slide:

Now they've gotten bigger they can handle more exciting rides like my favorite, the Hang Glider fun of the Cliff Hanger:

I went on that one with Leah and enjoyed the ride.   She stated it was less scary when I was talking to her as it spun us up, up, and around.


The kids still enjoyed the classic airplane ride, flying of course in a classic biplane in the colors of the United States' hat-in-the-ring squadron, the storied 94th Aero Squadron:

But they also rode the Tilt-A-Whirl for the first time:

They could almost walk in a straight line after they got off.

They also did roller coasters both with and without me, and many other rides.

As a harbinger of the future, they also drove bumper cars on their own.  I can see my insurance rates rising steeply in the next few years.....

It was a great time and after a tasty Polish combo lunch and a few more rides we headed home.

At home we prepared for our friends to come over for a feast, which was then highly enjoyed by all.

Dive 221 Orchard Lake And The Last Dive Of My 30s

So tonight I dove Orchard Lake with Keith, Chad, Jeremy and Maki.

I hadn't dove Orchard Lake for quite awhile. It's a long swim out from the shore until it gets any deeper than 3 feet. Finally it started to get deeper and we headed down the bowl like slope.

We ran a reel so we would be able to find our route back up. We continued down until I hit 99 feet deep and then we turned the dive.

Darn good dive, and the last dive of my 30s as I hit 40 years tomorrow.

To The St. Mary’s Polish Country Fair

The largest High School Country Fair is held in my neck of the woods in Michigan, at St. Mary's Prepatory School on Orchard Lake Rd, and is well worth a visit if you're in the area this Memorial Day weekend.

So we took the kids yesterday and had a great time, this has become part of our annual Memorial Day weekend activities and its fun to watch the kids grow and be able to try new rides as they get bigger. Parking was $7, an all-day wristband for all rides for Abby was $22, a sheet of tickets for the little one and the adults for occasional accompaniment was another $20. A bottle of good Polish beer was $5, a plate of Polish delectables $10, and then the obligatory cotton candy and other sweets added up. The results: An absolutely perfect day, with Abby saying it was the best day EVER - which is worth it no matter how you slice it.

Abby went up the huge fun slide all by herself, which was quite an accomplishment.


She also went up a very high ride with rope ladders, rickety bridges and a large slide aptly called Raiders - watching her make her determined way up was quite heartstopping at times for the parents.


She also went on both Carousels multiple times, and on the Kid Model T ride, and she took her sister on it and the train ride, so she definetly used her wristband for all it was worth.

She did not go on this ride however:


Or this one:


Here's a few more pics from the fair


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There were plenty of arts, crafts, and products on display for sale or mere browsing, and lots of live entertainment.

Among the many live acts listed, there was one curious act featured:

Here's a close up:


Polish Muslims? How does that work?

Is it like: "Hates Jews, but can't remember why"?
Or is it: "Ready to charge American Tanks on horseback?"
Or is it: "Communism wasn't bad enough, lets try Islam?"
For entertainment do they blow up backwards?

Actually the Polish Muslims are a pretty funny music group out of Hamtramck, with a darn curious name.

St Marys Polish Country Fair is a great Country Fair and if you in the area, go to it, you'll have a great time, the kids if you have them will have a great time, and the fair acts as a fundraiser for the school so you're helping out a worthy cause while having a great time.