City Prepares for Experience Sturgis

City prepares to Experience Sturgis Saturday Rosalie Currier Sturgis JournalSept. 30, 2007 The community will have the opportunity to learn the roots of Sturgis with a new festival Oct. 6.

Sturgis downtown merchant Sharon Matkin and community advocate, Rebecca Reeg started talking last year about an "Experience Sturgis" celebration and now the event is less than a week away. Matkin had moved her business, Hang It Up Custom Framing, into a storefront that used to be Candyland. As she prepared the shop for business, Matkin dug up history and loved what she found. She shared the history with anyone who would listen. Reeg came in with a historical memorial to be framed. She listened and loved it too. "I'm all about history," she said. As they chatted, idea after idea flowed from the women. "One thing led to another and we were off and running," Reeg said. They gathered a team and their vision of promoting Sturgis, past and present became clearer. Along with Matkin and Reeg, the Experience Sturgis committee includes Cathi Abbs, Mike Hughes, Todd Maynard, Kim Musolff, Joyce Richardson, Dan Tollefson, and John and Linda Winkens. In fact, they have gathered enough ideas to keep the festival fresh for years to come. "We have to stay postive and work together to keep moving forward," Reeg said. Still, the premise for the celebration centers around Sturgis' past. Who started the town? What was their dream? There wasn't always a town on this stretch of land. Just 180 years ago, it was swamp, woods and prairie like most of Michigan. In 1827, John Sturgis and George Thurston were looking for affordable land and a chance to get ahead. In August they were heading west on the main Indian trail when they climbed a big hill and saw an open prairie. "This is good enough for me," Sturgis said, according to local historian Robert E. Hair. So Sturgis staked a claim by plowing 10 acres and harvesting prairie hay. In September, the men went home but returned in the spring of 1828 along with some other pioneers. Thus the name and the site of the city of Sturgis. But that was just the beginning. The Experience Sturgis committee has been digging up the facts, putting up historical markers and planning this weekend's historical festival for the community.