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Ceremony Program Chair Peg Sanford
and Memorial Committee Chair Chris Yoder show new memorial
plaque honoring May Francis Heath. |
AUG. 6, 2010 -- A bronze plaque memorial honoring
May Francis Heath (1873-1961), early Saugatuck historian, writer,
teacher, artist and civic leader, will be unveiled and dedicated to
the people of Saugatuck in a public ceremony at the water fountain
in Saugatuck Village Square on Saturday, August 14 at 1pm.
This event, funded by donations from the
Saugatuck/ Douglas Historical Society, Saugatuck/Douglas Art Club,
Heath family descendants and friends, will feature commemorative
comments by Allegan County Historian John Paul and the Historical
Society's Marsha Kontio, Peg Sanford and Chris Yoder. Saugatuck
Woman's Club President Karen Drongowski will comment on the Club's
recently created May Heath Scholarship and introduce its first
scholarship recipient. May Francis Heath's three great-grandchildren
will speak and then unveil the plaque. Refreshments will follow.
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As granddaughter of S. A. Morrison, the man credited with naming
Saugatuck when the town's first post office opened, May Heath was
one of Saugatuck's most influential citizens of her time. She was
instrumental in establishing Saugatuck Woman's Club,
Saugatuck-Douglas Art Club and the town's first public lending
library, spearheaded historical events such as the 1930 centennial
celebration, and was personally responsible for preventing the
cutting down of the Saugatuck Treaty Oak, which still stands on the
west side of Holland Street north of Francis Street. May Heath is
perhaps most widely remembered here as the author of "Early Memories
of Saugatuck, Michigan 1830 to 1930", considered a masterpiece of
personal retrospective and a major reference work on local history.
Historical Society volunteer Rob Carey found an out-of-print edition
of Heath's book, scanned and edited its contents, adding a
previously published biographical sketch of Heath while Saugatuck
author/historian Kit Lane created an index for the new edition. The
enhanced book, reprinted by the Society and offered in 6x9"
soft-cover format, includes woodcut illustrations by noted artist
Carl Hoerman.
The next event planned for the celebration of May
Heath's life will be a program presented by Marsha Kontio at the
Woman's Club on October 8 at 2pm, titled "Tea with May Heath:
Stories Of The Famous Local Historical Matriarch".
A series of articles about the life, times and
accomplishments of May Francis Heath is available in the Historical
Society's monthly newsletters, December 2009 through current, which
can be viewed and printed out on
www.sdhistoricalsociety.org; select News Library, then
E-News.
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