Venetian Festival

By Lynda Charow

For generations the town has hosted unique events as a part of their annual summer festival. This year Tori and her friends take part in the card board boat race and other nautical themed activities. Creativity, competition and good old fashioned fun are the order of the day as the kids enter the events.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lynda Charow
• Release date: Nov 14, 2010
• ISBN: 9781452437774

Lynda Charow

Author, Lynda Charow, like her main character Victoria is a firm believer that anything that you put your mind to you can achieve. She worked her way through college to receive a B.S. degree in Broadcasting from Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan. A month after graduating she gave birth to her daughter, Victoria Lyn. As an independent producer, in the mid-1990's, she co-produced a number of historical documentaries with the WDIV-TV 4, the Detroit NBC affiliate. The research became a springboard for the "Legends of the Lakes" book. Her Emmy award winning documentary "Haunted Legends of Old Detroit" provided some of the inspiration for the legends incorporated in that book. "The Snow Day" was inspired by photos that Victoria's Dad had shared from his days in college up at Michigan Technoligical University in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The "Venetian Festival" was based on some of the experiences that the family had by participating in the cardboard boat races in the annual festival sponsored by the Nautical Mile Merchant Association. "Daylight at Night" was inspired when the fireworks in the city were actually cancelled due to the lack of funds. Lynda has recently completed a documentary "Building on Faith: The Historic Churches of Detroit". DVD Copies of the program are available for purchase for $20.Lynda is also the event director for the Shores-Pointes Adventure Triathlon. She is a triathlete herself and decided to bring this kind of event to her city, St. Clair Shores. The second annual event was held on July 21, 2012 at Blossom Heath Park. The event web site is www.shorespointestri.com. She also maintains a Facebook page where photos of the events have been posted and additional event information is constantly updated.

Book preview

Venetian Festival

By

Lynda M. Charow

Smashwords Edition

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Published By:

Lynda M. Charow on Smashwords

Venetian Festival

Copyright © 2010 by Lynda M. Charow

Smashwords Edition License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author’s work.

Other titles by Lynda Charow in the Tori Stories series of children’s chapter books on Smashwords are:

Daylight at Night

Legends of the Lakes

Snow Day

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Table of Contents

Chapter One – Festival of Fun

Chapter Two – Supplies and Design

Chapter Three – Building the Dream

Chapter Four – All Lit Up

Chapter Five – Opening Day At The Festival

Chapter Six – Taking a Little Break

Chapter Seven – Let the Games Begin

Chapter Eight – Twinkling in the Night

Chapter Nine – Big Race Day

Chapter Ten – Final Festivities

Chapter One – Festival of Fun

The Venetian Festival was just around the corner. It was another one of the local summertime events that took the normally quiet coastal community and brought out the locals as well as a number of visitors to celebrate the gifts of living on the water.

People flooded the bed and breakfasts and hotels a week before the events started. They came by car, boat, plane and train to partake or to just soak up the fun atmosphere that consumed the town during the festival.

It was a tradition that started in the mid-1800s with a fishing tournament and then a fish fry contest for the best tasting dish. It was always held the second week in August. The events now took place over the course of three days. The activities were broadened and included some more modern events. This year, in addition to the original ones, there would be the life-sized cardboard boat races, a decorative Venetian boat parade of lights, fireworks, water polo, sailboat races, a one mile swim around the lighthouse race, a sandcastle building contest, and a sand volleyball tournament.

Tori was now twelve. Growing up in Saint Clair Shores she had looked forward to being old enough to be a part of some of the events. This blond haired, hazel eyed, tanned little beach bum with an adventuresome spirit had fantasized all year about the contests. Last year she’d entered the kit cardboard boat race. That’s where you pay $25 and they give you some cardboard and some duct tape and you have a half hour to put the boat together and then race it in Blossom Heath bay. Things didn’t go quite as planned. She sunk like a rock before she ever got around the first turn on the course. But, Tori had had so much fun that she had to get into it this year. She had a well thought out plan that she hoped would not only win the prize for the most original boat design, but would give her the chance to win for the best time in her age group.

Chapter Two – Supplies and Design

Tori was busy brainstorming her concept for her boat. She had seen boats in previous years that were fantastic in size and design like the T-Rex, Viking ship or the Titanic. They were too big for a one person boat that she wanted to make. A few days earlier she began knocking around the idea of a frog. After doing some research on the Internet she decided that if she made the hull like a canoe it just might work. A canoe would cut through the water easily and would be less likely to tip. She sketched her idea onto paper and made sure that the decorative frog legs that would dangle off the sides wouldn’t get in the way