TRAVERSE CITY -- Zoe Gum loves coming out for the Cherry Festival. She's looking forward to trying her hand at bungee
jumping, rock climbing and maybe even the pie-eating contest, although she said she "might have to throw up afterward."
But there is one thing she isn't so happy about.
"There aren't any cherries," Gum, 9, of Traverse City, said. "It's very frustrating."
Gum's mother, Marilyn, said they looked everywhere for cherries because Zoe asked for them all week.
No luck.
Joan Bishop, of Freeland, is looking forward to the Cherry Royale Parade.
"They're always so good," Bishop said.
Bishop has attended the Cherry Festival every year for the past few years, ever since her daughter moved up here.
"I love coming up for the Cherry Festival," she said.
But not everyone is out enjoying the weather and festivities.
Taylor Byington, of Traverse City, is stuck working, a bittersweet activity.
"As far as the money goes, it's really good," Byington, 18, a hostess at Mackinaw Brewing Company downtown, said. "You're busy the second you walk in, so you get a lot of money."
Byington said she's been seating tables of 18 and 20 people, unusually large numbers, even for Cherry Festival week.
"It's really a wakeup call that Cherry Festival is going to be really busy this year," she said.
But no matter how good the money is, Byington said she's already wishing for the week's end.
"I'm kind of excited for Cherry Fest to be over," she said. "And that's so bad, because it just started."
Ever since he attended Northwestern Michigan University in 1998, Don Ransom has loved coming to the Cherry Festival.
"It's friendly people, good weather, fun times," Ransom said.
He lives in San Diego now, but Ransom said he hopes to someday live in Traverse City, even if it's after he retires.
"This is northern Michigan. You can't beat it," he said. "It's weird to say, but even the smell of it. When you leave this place, you want to come back."
National Cherry Festival
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