Pull out those flannel plaids on Saturday, Sept. 23
By Barb Pert Templeton
The celebration of plaid may be a bit early at the Sanilac County Historic Museum and Village this year but organizers of the first ever Plaidurday, The World-Wide Celebration of Plaid are thrilled to bring the tradition to town.
The holiday has been traditionally celebrated annually on the first Friday of October.
“Our celebration may be a bit early, but there will be no shortage of fun,” Sanilac Museum Director Dan Finn, said in a press release.
This year’s Plaidurday will be hosted on Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023 from 5 to 8:30 p.m. at the museum. Guests must be 21-year-old to attend. Admission is $5 for non-members and free to museum members. There will also be a $5 fine at the gate for those not wearing plaid.
The first ever Plaidurday will be hosted next week at the Sanilac County Museum.
Activities will include live music from The Greenlanders, craft beer, a cash bar, a food truck, lawn games and chainsaw art. Visitors can also take part in a thumb history trivia contests and other games while the band takes a break between 6 and 7 p.m. There will also be prizes for the best Plaidurday getup.
In a press release, Sanilac Museum Director Dan Finn provided a brief history of the origans of Plaidurday as noted on the website plaidureday.com The idea began in Lansing, Michigan and was inspired by the heckling one young man received from his co-workers. These co-workers (who he secretly has great admiration for) noticed that he was wearing plaid quite frequently. At which point we ask, what else would he wear? Solid colors? Polka dots? Stripes that don’t intersect? Argyle? Sounds foolish.
On the morning of August 26, 2010, an epiphany was had. Plaidurday. The word came to this young man’s mind. From where, nobody knows. But perhaps there is a higher being who happens to love plaid just as much as he does.
The part-ginger, full-Yooper, plaid-wearing man was destined to create the greatest holiday that ever existed. Plaidurday: The Worldwide Celebration of Plaid. This day would bring together all the wonderful plaid-wearing people of the world. The inaugural celebration took place on October 7, 2011
Plaidurday will be celebrated at the museum on Saturday, Sept. 23 from 5 to 8:30 p.m.
When contacted by phone on Sept. 14, Finn explained that Plaidurday has been celebrated across Michigan and beyond for more than a decade now.
“It’s actually very, very, popular in the U.P.,” Finn added.
The museum’s decision to add the “holiday” to it’s every growing list of fun activities evolved from the fact that Sanilac County, in the thumb area of the state, once had a huge lumberjack industry.
In fact, at a website titled, Michigan in Pictures states: “This village was originally a lumberjack settlement on the shore of Lake Huron named “Bark Shanty Point.” In the late 1840s and 1850s, the settlement gained its first sawmill, schoolhouse, and general store. In 1854, Bark Shanty Point’s first post office opened. In 1857 the village was renamed to Port Sanilac, as it is in Sanilac Township in Sanilac County. Local legend attributes the name to a Wyandotte Indian Chief named Sanilac.
All that history made bringing Plaidurday to the local folks a must for the museum.
Sanilac County Historic Village & Museum is located at 228 S. Ridge Street in Port Sanilac.
For more information or to purchase tickets to the event in advance visit the museum’s Facebook page or call the museum at (810)622-9946.
10 WAYS TO CELEBRATE PLAIDURDAY
- Take a photo in your plaid and share with #plaidurday so we can see all your beautiful faces
- Give a high five to others wearing plaid
- See someone wearing polka dots or stripes? Kindly encourage them to try some plaid
- Help others in need by donating clothes to shelters and second-hand shops
- Give lots of compliments. They’ll see your plaid and think, “Gosh, people who wear plaid are really nice!”
- Bake plaid cookies, cakes, and other tasty treats
- Make plaid crafts, Plaidurday cards, and let your creativity shine
- Give the gift of plaid to friends and family
- Organize an office or classroom photo
- Look good, feel good, and spread some cheer, because we’re all connected by a common thread
Source: plaidurday.com
