Colonial Festival Hits 30-Year Mark

Annual Feast of the St. Claire Takes Over Pine Grove Park This Weekend
Donald Lierman
Contributing Writer

From authentic costumes and colonial dances to bean soups and rock candies, the 30th-annual Feast of the Ste. Claire is sure to offer a little something to suit everyone’s tastes.

More than 650 French, British, and American Indian re-enactors will portray life in the Blue Water area as it was in colonial times. Cannons will be fired. Battles will be re-enacted. And demonstrations of Celtic dance, craft, cooking and much more will re-create how life was in the region between 1750 and 1840. Each day of the two-day festival will also offer 18 historically-accurate presentations.

“This is really a wonderful event,” said Volunteer, Programs and Grant Manager for the Port Huron Museum, Holly Modock. “The feast allows both young and old a chance to experience the sights and sounds of early Michigan history.”

The two-day celebration kicks-off this weekend, May 29-30 (Memorial Day weekend), at Pine Grove Park just north of downtown Port Huron. Gates open at 10 a.m. both days and close at 10 p.m. on Saturday and 5:30 p.m. on Sunday. Admission to the feast is $8 for adults and $6 for seniors and students. Military personal (with proper ID) and children under 5 get in to event free.

Harry and Rose Burgess, who chair the annual event, have been involved with the festival since its inception in 1980.

“The festival was to first celebrate the 300th anniversary of Fort St. Joseph,” Rose Burgess said. “The idea grew to celebrate the Feast of the Ste. Claire. The lake and river were named after that feast day on which a Father Henniten ‘discovered’ those bodies of water.”

A wide variety of daily events and presentations are scheduled during the festival’s 30th anniversary celebration.

“There will be three special speakers,” Rose Burgess said. “Philip Sincully will discuss the ship, The Welcome, which was a local trading vessel. Ron Pinson will talk about local Native Americans of that period. And Gary Werner will demonstrate a colonial surgery, as well as speak on early medicines.

“Finally, a ladies high tea will be presented, which will include a commemorative cup and saucer. In addition, there will be a couple night-time firings of cannon, which will leave spectators breathless. They’ll learn why you don’t stand in front of one, even if it’s only a re-enactment.”

Also highlighting the festival will be candlelight tours, a Catholic mass and a colonial ball Saturday evening, with colonial contra dance lessons before the ball at 4:45 p.m.

Modock said volunteers are still needed for the event. Those interested should contact her at 810-982-0891, ext. 118.

Free parking will be available in the St. Clair County Community College parking lot, located by the M-TEC building, with free trolley rides to the park.

Museum members pay only $2 for admission and family passes to the festival are available for $20. Admission is good for both days of the feast.

“The event is like your own personal time machine to our ancestors’ days,” Harry Burgess said. “Even if it is not of the hot tub variety.”

Café Takes Fresh Approach to Dining

Patrons Travel Miles to Enjoy Speakeasy
Twana Pinskey
Contributing Writer

When it comes to the restaurant business, Ryan Senk is in good company -- his family. A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde, New York, he returned to the area to become executive chef at the Black River Café and Speakeasy in downtown Port Huron.

Located at 213 Huron Avenue, the café offers unique dishes not found in other area restaurants, such as perch tacos and pan-fried frogs legs. Owner Bill Senk, of Algonac, said his customers come from as far south as Rochester and Mt. Clemens, and as far north as Lexington and Port Sanilac to dine on the his son’s culinary creations and enjoy a drink in the basement prohibition-inspired speakeasy.

The father- son-duo is adamant about serving the freshest food possible.

“Everything is fresh and cooked to order,” the elder Senk said. “We don’t have a deep fryer, microwave or a freezer here.”

The Senks try to order their ingredients from local farmers and suppliers, including Maple Creek Farm, which grows a variety of organic vegetables across 80-acres in Yale, as much as possible.

Chef Senk said in the current Michigan economy, it’s important to support local businesses whenever possible. That sentiment is echoed by Maple Creek owner, Michelle Lutz.

“It is a rarity to have a chef willing to change their menu based on what is available,” she said.

Lutz said Chef Senk is so particular about what goes into each plate, that he travels to the farm to hand pick the best veggies for the restaurant. She said he’s extremely dedicated and committed to picking only the freshest items.

“I just knew this was going to be a good working relationship,” Lutz said.

But Senk doesn’t just serve fresh produce, he also seeks out the freshest cuts of meat for the café. He says there is a stark difference between frozen, farm-raised and wild seafood products. That difference can be tasted in two of the café’s most popular entrees: pretzel-encrusted walleye and wild-caught Scottish salmon.

Ellen Frazer, of St. Clair, who recently dined on the pretzel-encrusted walleye, had nothing but good things to say about Senk’s skills behind the stove.

She was quite happy with the wait staff’s willingness to accommodate her special request, which included ordering the walleye’s cracked-mustard cream sauce on the side, in case she thought it would be too spicy.

“The cracked-mustard sauce was wonderful,” she said, adding that it complimented the walleye quite well. “I appreciate the sauce being artfully presented, separately with arrangement of fresh raw vegetables as an accompaniment,” she said.

She also enjoyed a side of wild mushroom hash with her meal.

Customer satisfaction is the main goal of both Senks, which can be seen not only in the food, but in their work-ethic and attention to detail.

“With the economy being as tight as it is, when people are able to go out for dinner, they want a true dining experience,” Bill Senk said. “We believe we offer them that.”

He believes their attention to even the smallest of details, such as the restoration of the building from its original décor, has made a huge difference in the café’s patronage and return business.

“There are 15,166 bricks in this room; I hand washed everyone of them,” Senk said jokingly.