Garrett Neese/Daily Mining Gazette Lions Club volunteers apply dollops of Cool Whip to strawberry shortcakes at 2019’s Copper Country Strawberry Festival. The Lions Club is preparing 160 more quarts than usual this year to better meet demand.

When John Chassell purchased what became the Chassell town site in 1867, his intention was to convert the forestland to farming. Chassell eventually sold his land holdings to Orrin Robinson and his Sturgeon River Lumber Company, which then became the Worchester Lumber Company, in 1902.

When these men owned and logged these lands, they probably never dreamed that the area would become, some 40 years later, the strawberry capital of the Upper Peninsula, where the only annual strawberry festival in the U.P. occurs every July.

This July marks the 75th anniversary of the Chassell Strawberry Festival, which began on a rainy Thursday of July 6, 1949.

As is still the case today, the first annual festival was sponsored by the Chassell Lion’s Club.

The July 6, 1949 edition of the Daily Mining Gazette contained a headline, on page six, that spanned the top of the page:

“Strawberry Festival Will Open Tomorrow.”

The strawberry festival was a three-day extravaganza that began with Michigan Governor G. Mennen Williams scheduled to give the opening speech at 3 p.m. on Thursday, flying to the Copper Country just for the event. He was two hours late. More than 1,600 people waited for his arrival, however, and he also was given the honor of coronating the first Strawberry Queen, 17-year-old Lucille Tormala, from Portage Entry. June Sorvala and Shirley Smith were the runners-up. Sorvala was sponsored by the Copper Country Strawberry Association and Smith was sponsored by the Chassell Post of the Veteran of Foreign Wars.

Tormala, 17-year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Tormala, of Portage Entry, had graduated in May from Chassell High School with honors. She was sponsored by the Karppi Brothers, of Snake River, in Chassell Township.

Also in attendance was the Drum and Bugle Corps of the newly organized Alfred Erickson American Legion Post, of Hancock, which performed for the delight of the crowd.

While the festival has remained a three-day event over the past 75 years, events have varied.

According to the Chassell Strawberry Festival website, the fest has always included a parade. It has also included strawberry auctions, berry judging, and of course, lots of strawberry shortcake. The website boasts that in 2011, 4,000 strawberry shortcakes were sold at the festival.

The website reports that among the various events, Donkey softball games and speedboat races were held in 1955; a tractor driving contest in 1956; a canoe race and water skiing show in 1961; a livestock show, horse judging and horse show in 1970. Sadly, events like these had to be discontinued due to liability.

Today, states the website, the annual Copper Country Strawberry Festival is two days, instead of three, but is still one of the most popular events in the Copper Country. It consists of events such as: Arts and Crafts in the Park, open house at the Chassell Heritage Center, horse-drawn wagon rides, children’s games, a children’s parade, queen coronation, a large parade on Saturday, live music at the Pavilion after the parade, fish boil, berry judging, auction of strawberries, baked goods, jams, etc., strawberry shortcake throughout the festival, a dance on Friday night at the VFW with live entertainment, Friends of Fashion Vintage Fashion Show on Saturday afternoon. Michigan Tech’s Agassiz research vessel will also be on hand offering tours.