EDITOR’S NOTE: Superiorland Yesterdays is prepared by the reference staff at the Peter White Public Library in Marquette.

30 years ago

MACKINAC ISLAND — A brisk south wind propelled 274 yachts past the starting buoys Saturday on Lake Michigan at the beginning of the 84th annual Chicago-Mackinac Island Race, the world’s oldest freshwater sailing regatta. The fist boats, sporting spinnakers, got a fast start in a 16 mph wind shortly after 1 p.m. EDT for the 333-mile course from the southern end of Lake Michigan to Mackinac Island, near its northern tip. “It looks like good, but not record time–not enough wind for that,” said Commodore Jack Gable, former head of the sponsoring Chicago Yacht Club. “The first finishers will probably reach Mackinac Island sometime early Monday morning.” Pied Piper, skippered by Dick Jennings, of Chicago, set the record for the race in 1987.

60 years ago

MARQUETTE — Registration figures announced today by City Clerk Everett H. Kent for the constitutional primary election Tuesday show 8,597 are eligible to vote. However, practically all observers expect a very light turnout for the balloting. The registration rolls are heavy now, of course, because many people signed up for the presidential election last fall. Very little interest has been expressed in the constitutional primary. “From what I gather,” Kent said, “the voter turnout in Marquette will be lighter than any of the past state primaries, and perhaps it may be as light as a school election.” Most persons believe that a turnout of 10 per cent of the electorate (around 860) would be near the figure they expect here.