Plan now to be at Hartwick Pines State Park on Saturday, June 20 at 7 p.m. to see Michael Deren's very popular "Past in Person" program about the lumberjacks (or shantyboys as they called themselves) in northern Michigan in the 1870s. This highly entertaining program of music, song, and stories is sponsored by the Logging Museum at Hartwick Pines, a field site of the Michigan Historical Museum, and the Friends of Hartwick Pines, and will take place at the amphitheater at the Logging Museum within the park, eight miles northeast of Grayling.

Journey into the past through the music, songs and tales of the lumberjacks who helped build America in the 19th Century. This is a multi-faceted, audience-centered program that will educate, delight and enthrall all who attend. Deren will portray a lumberjack from northern Michigan in the 1870s as he takes his audience back to the time when they were "cutting the big sticks." He will play the concertina, fiddle, hammer dulcimer, bones, button accordion, and limber toys and share songs and stories of life in the logging camps.

In the event of rain, the program will be at the Michigan Forest Visitor Center. Hartwick Pines State Park is located on M-93 (Hartwick Pines Road), two miles east of I-75, exit 259. There is no charge for this program, but a Michigan State Park Motor Vehicle Permit is required for entry into the park. The daily permit is $6 and an annual permit is $24 for Michigan residents and $8 for a daily and $29 for an annual permit for nonresidents.

For more information, please contact Hartwick Pines State Park at (989) 348-2537.