"Smelt: The Fish that Made Beulah Famous!"

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BENZIE AREA HISTORICAL SOCIETY FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 17, 2023 CONTACT: Barbara Mort, Executive Director Historical Society to Offer “Smelt: The Fish That Made Beulah Famous” Presented By: Jerry Heiman Thursday, March 9, 2023, 4:00 P.M. The Mills Community House And On Zoom “Smelt: The Fish That Made Beulah Famous” will be presented on Thursday, March 9, at 4:00 p.m. at The Mills Community House. The lecture will also be offered live on Zoom and recorded for later viewing on the Benzie Area Historical Society’s website www.benziemuseum.org. Local historian Jerry Heiman will explain that one of the main reasons for the fame of Beulah as a tourist destination in the 1920’s-1930’s was a six-inch silvery fish, the Atlantic Rainbow Smelt. The springtime spawning migration of these tasty miniatures into Cold Creek brought massive crowds of determined harvesters to downtown Beulah and the shoreline of Crystal Lake to scoop netfuls. Up to 1300 cars were counted nightly parked along US 31. This program will explore how this phenomenon came about and what made Beulah “Smelt Capital USA.” “Not many people remember the massive spawning runs of Smelt up Cold Creek which brought thousands of people to Beulah every year for 20 years, along with their badly needed tourist dollars,” Heiman explains. “Crystal Lake was the birthplace of the Great Lakes Smelt fishery, and this annual event generated national publicity for our area.” Heiman is a graduate of Albion College, University of Michigan Dental School, and University of Michigan Hospital Residency program. He served in the US Army Dental Corps 1966-1969 and practiced Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery in Midland, Michigan from 1972-1998. He has been a Big Platte Lake property owner since 1977 and became a full-time Benzie County resident in 1998. Jerry Heiman was first elected to the Benzie Area Historical Society board of directors in 2007 and serves as the current board president. Heiman is a docent for Museum and historical walking, bicycle and bus tours. He also penned “One Hundred Years Ago,” a column in our local newspaper, for more than a decade, and writes articles for our newsletter. Heiman serves on the Platte Lake Improvement Association board of directors, on the advisory committees for Benzie EMS and Benzie Bus, and River Care Committee of Conservation Resource Alliance. He also delivers meals for Benzie Senior Resources. This presentation is part of Benzie Area Historical Society’s Benzonia Academy Lecture Series, held on the second Thursday of each month, at The Mills Community House, 891 Michigan Avenue, Benzonia (Benzonia Public Library). Admission is by donation. To learn more about the March 9 lecture, visit the Benzie Area Historical Society’s website benziemuseum.org, InstaGram or Facebook page; call the Museum at (231) 882-5539; or email info@benziemuseum.org.