BARK RIVER — The Bark River community is commemorating its Sesquicentennial this 4th of July weekend and is extending an invitation to everyone to join in celebrating its 150th birthday. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a shortened celebration was held in 2021 on the official 150th year, but has been extended to 2022 to continue activities that were unable to be held last year.

This year’s activities will run from Saturday, July 2 through Monday, July 4, each day highlighting special events.

Saturday is designated as All Class Reunion Day with a golf outing at the Highland Golf Course from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. The History Room will be open 1 to 6 p.m. Bark River-Harris School tours will run at 15-minute intervals from 1 to 4 p.m. The BR-H All School Reunion will take place at the Bark River Park with the Peltier Brothers band from 6 to 11 p.m. Food vendors and a bar will be on the grounds during these events.

Sunday, July 3 is Bark River Sesquicentennial Day. Starting the day’s events is an ecumenical worship service at 11:30 a.m. under the tent on the park grounds. Local clergy will lead the worship, with special hymns and scriptures, and a brief history of the individual churches. Following the service, there will be a Cannon Shoot by George Potvin, to announce the day’s events. At 12:15 p.m. a fiddler performance will begin under the tent. The History Room will once again be open to the public from 1 to 5 p.m. in the Senior Center. During the afternoon, at 1, 3 and 5 p.m., the Great Lakes Timber Show will take place, with log-rolling and other events. There are family games planned at the park starting at 1:30 p.m. A variety of games that would have been played back at the turn of the century will be available for children and families to experience. A polka band will be under the pavilion from 2 to 6 p.m. Or saunter over to the baseball field and take in a BR-H alumni baseball game. Again, food vendors will be available from noon to 10 p.m. with the bar being open until 11 p.m. To conclude the day’s activities, the band Oz will be playing under the pavilion.

Monday is the traditional Bark River 4th of July, featuring a parade beginning at 11 a.m., starting at Ray’s Feed Mill and concluding at the Bark River Park. The History Room will be open from 11 a.m.. to 5 p.m. for the final day of the celebration. The Peltier Brothers will return at 1 p.m. under the pavilion for an afternoon of music and dancing. Food and beverages will be available on the grounds, and a pie social will be in the building to the left of the pavilion, starting immediately after the parade. There will be fireworks at dusk that can be viewed from the park grounds.

There are many opportunities to learn about the history of Bark River by visiting the History Rooms that will be set up in the Bark River Senior Center, according to event organizers. The back room of the Center will have exhibits and memorabilia from local businesses (past and present), farms and homesteads, churches, schools, sports teams, community organizations, etc.

Because the celebration includes the communities of Schaffer, Perronville, Harris, Hannahville, and Wilson, the displays will also highlight memorabilia from each of these communities, as well. The Delta County Historical Society provided many of the pictures that will be on display.

Outside the building you can wander around antique farm equipment and machinery, and a forge display presented by George Potvin from 10 Mile Creek. In the front room you can sit and watch film footage of past 4th of July parades, the old ski hill, a 1950s football game and some activities in the original town hall, which will be shown at intervals during the day. There will also be a continuous power-point slideshow of photos of Bark River and the surrounding area from the turn of the last century.

A commemorative quilt will be on display, with squares donated by local families, churches, businesses, organizations, etc. and sewed together by the quilters of Salem Lutheran Church. Also in the front room, a time capsule, with the train logo for the Sesquicentennial, will be permanently installed. At the conclusion of the celebration, memorabilia from this year’s events, along with other historical artifacts, will be sealed in the capsule, not to be opened until the Bicentennial in 2071.

Historically, the village of Bark River, originally called “Barkville,” is said to have derived its name from the abundance of bark in and near the river by railroad surveyors that were establishing a new rail route. The area was first settled in 1871, when the Chicago and North Western railway began construction on the link connecting Menominee and Escanaba.

The railroad, logging, and charcoal industry brought settlers to the area. Lumbermen supplied fuel wood for trains as well as wood for railroad ties, and the charcoal industry transformed lumber into charcoal at four dry kiln yards. As these jobs waned, farmers began tending the land that loggers had cleared of hardwood tracts. Some of the early settlers were the Potowatami, originally from Missouri, who made their way to the area that is now Hannahville.

In 1880, the Delta County Board of Supervisors granted a petition from early settlers to break off the area that would become Bark River from Ford River Township. Prior to that, Barkville residents had to travel to Ford River to vote.

“Many people have been busy organizing the Sesquicentennial Celebration, and we hope the public will come experience the history of our area. There is no cost for admission to any of the events, but there will be opportunity to purchase commemorative history books, recipe books and T-shirts that will be for sale in the History Room and on the grounds. Come, find out more about us this 4th of July weekend,” organizers said.

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