All those festivities going on in Traverse City the next 10 days, the jet planes and carnival rides, that all started with a prayer about ninety years ago. Some cherry growers in the region asked local clergy to bless their blossoms. Somebody saw the potential to draw visitors. A little more than a decade later, 100,000 visitors where coming to the National Cherry Festival.
Brooks Vanderbush walks through this history in a new book about the festival.