By Jon King / jking@whmi.com


While back and forth accusations of intolerance and mismanagement marred the lead-up to this year’s Howell Melon Festival, the event itself went off this past weekend with near-perfect weather and enthusiastic, although smaller, crowds.

The controversy over a planned Drag Queen Bingo performance that was originally scheduled for the festival’s beer tent at one point threatened to cancel the event, but a compromise was seemingly reached when the performance was moved to a private venue. Then the performers themselves backed out of that arrangement, citing “the overwhelming lack of civil communication in Howell.”

In spite of the rancor, community leaders were anxious to put that behind them and make sure that a festival with a more than six-decade history would go on as planned. Friday night saw the 44th Annual Howell Melon Run take place as 288 participants took part in the 5k event, which was won by 27-year-old Patrick Miller III with a time of 16:34.4. The top female finisher was 19-year-old Lauren Gores with a time of 20:16.8.

However, Howell DDA Director Kate Litwin said Saturday was the apex of the Mini Melon Festival, as the event was re-branded, with a variety of fun, family-friendly activities coordinated by the Howell Area Parks and Recreation Authority (HAPRA) including the annual Melon Roll on the lawn of the Historic Courthouse. Litwin says staff and volunteers from Howell Main Street Inc. and the Howell Area Chamber of Commerce then held the first CornHowell Tournament on State Street with 42 two-person teams competing for bragging rights and cash prizes. That event had been rescheduled due to weather from its original date during Balloonfest weekend. “Team 14” took home first place and a $500 cash prize. 

Litwin said the controversy over Drag Queen Bingo “made a difficult situation even more challenging during a pandemic year”, but she was thankful that compromise was reached to ensure the event continued. “Overall, I was thrilled to see hundreds of visitors to our downtown on Saturday supporting not only this annual tradition but also our downtown businesses by eating, shopping, and playing in downtown Howell.”

That sentiment was echoed by Howell Mayor Nick Proctor. “The Melon Run and Melon Roll on Friday were well attended.  Benefiting from beautiful weather, I was excited to see the happy and smiling faces of a lot of kids enjoying Saturday's festivities on the Court House lawn.  The Corn Howell tournament, a new addition this year, was well attended by both experienced and novice teams while sales of Howell Rotary's melon ice cream were robust and selling out on Sunday!!  I look forward to a full Melonfest returning in 2022.”

As Proctor mentioned, one of the mainstays of the event has been the Howell Melon Ice Cream sold by the Howell Rotary Club, which serves as their only fundraiser helping to support all the youth programs, scholarships, literacy, hunger, leadership camps and scout troops they do throughout the year. Howell Rotary Foundation President Sandie Cortez tells WHMI that their sales were “fantastic” and in fact, they sold out. “It was truly great to see people out and about and the music downtown was awesome! With Howell Rotary we feel honored to be able to carry on the tradition of Howell Melon Ice Cream with our tent on the courthouse lawn. Watching and talking with people that the ice cream brings back memories of their childhood or having people taste it for the very first time and sharing the history with them is a pretty cool thing.”

Howell City Councilwoman and Mayor Pro Tem Jan Lobur said that while Melon Festival was much smaller than in the past, but everyone seemed to be having fun: Lots of families. We have a lot to be proud of in our city and I think the Melon Festival will be bigger and better next year especially with our new Saturday event CornHowell!"

Councilman Nick Hertrich told WHMI that there were lessons to be learned from the past few weeks. "There are opportunities for reflection, understanding, and growth for everyone. I look forward to evaluating the situation and better understanding how different decisions could have been made. I would like to thank HAPRA, local businesses, the volunteers, and City Staff for all their hard work at this year’s festival! I look forward to working will all our community partners to make next year's event welcoming for everyone and the most successful Melon Festival to happen in 62 years."

Among those who had a financial stake in the festival’s success were Downtown Howell business owners, several of whom openly stated that they felt city officials had not adequately considered their point of view when they threatened to cancel the event. Among them was Lorna Brennan, owner of Uptown Coffeehouse who said while she was glad to see people enjoying themselves at the variety of family-themed activities, she missed the street closures, which she said tend to attract greater crowds. “As a Melon Fest attendee and city resident, I also missed the music, food, and energy of the Festival (beer) Tent, which has always tended to cater more to the adult crowd.”

In regard to the controversy leading up to the festival, Brennan told WHMI it resulted in “an inevitable and necessary discussion regarding what kind of community we want to be. I hope that next time, when a small minority of negative individuals from outside the community come to Howell to complain about one thing or another, that we, as a community, continue to stand up and say no to that kind of negativity. We must not let the loud minority represent who we are as a community. And what remains clear to me, is that the vast majority of Howell residents want to live in a community that is diversified, welcoming to all, and forward-moving.”