For one week every summer, Charlevoix explodes with people, music and a carnival atmosphere known as the Venetian Festival. We had good weather and a great location (our place was a couple blocks from all the action), so we were able to experience everything the wild week had to offer.
The week included art galleries, carnival rides (we did not partake), an appearance by the Guess Who, and fireworks. The highlight was a boat parade on Lake Charlevoix/Round Lake. Aside from some pretty long waits in restaurants, the week was a lot of fun.
Rachel was kind enough to secure us seats at Charlevoix’s outdoor pavilion to see the Guess Who. I was excited to go, but as I started doing the math … they were popular in the late 60s, and were probably in their 20s at the time, I started to worry. I tried to tell the family I was fine to go alone, but we had a picnic ready and nothing else planned, so we went as a family. Turns out the only original member who played that night was drummer Gary Peterson, who walked on stage with a cane.
After a bit of a slow start and some awkward jabs at the age of the crowd, the band picked up steam. I took some friendly abuse from Nate and Rachel for my musical taste, but by the finale, even those with creaky knees were trying to dance to “American Woman.” When we got home, I let Viv (my one potential Guess Who ally) listen to some of the original songs with Burton Cummings singing, but … no dice. Just a polite “They’re OK I guess.”
I rocked out to their old stuff the rest of the vacation.
The Sutherlands 