Colon, Michigan
by Kelly Pucci
Greg Bordner smiles as he recalls how Colon, Michigan, a sleepy Midwest village surrounded by Amish farms, became The Magic Capital of the World and home to one of the largest magic events on the planet.
Harry Blackstone, a contemporary of another Harry, Harry Houdini, bought a summer home in Colon in the 1920s, where The Great Blackstone, as he was billed, presented informal magic shows for the villagers and visitors before heading on tour. One visitor to Colon, Percy Abbott, an Australian magician and inventor, stayed long enough to open Abbott’s Magic, a manufacturer of magic equipment. The business grew under Percy Abbott’s direction and thanks to the hard work of current owner Greg and his late father, Recil Bordner; Abbott’s Magic is now the world’s largest producer of magic equipment. On any given day Greg fills orders from China, Japan, Europe and Las Vegas.
Stop by the Abbott Magic Shop off Colon’s main street any time of year for a $5 coloring book that colors itself, or a magic wand for a Harry Potter wannabe – Abbott sells over 25 different models ranging from $8 to $150 as well as illusions that costing thousands of dollars. On Saturday afternoons during the summer the Abbott Magic Shop presents live shows in its 50-seat theatre.
To foster a burgeoning magic community during lean years Percy Abbott and Recil Bordner hosted a small get-together in Colon, Michigan attended by 80 professional magicians who developed a strong camaraderie exchanging advice learned from years of performing before audience. The annual event is now a 4-day celebration of magic attended by professional magicians from Europe, Asia and the United States who entertain thousands of fans in the streets and auditoriums of Colon, Michigan.
Hank Moorehouse, an award-winning magician, travels the world evaluating magic acts, inviting the best magicians to perform in Colon, Michigan. This year’s line up includes, among others, Yumi, Japan’s favorite female magician and Kerry Pollack who Teller of Penn & Teller calls “One of the most powerful and charming performers I know”. Hank, a perennial favorite of magicians and magic fanatics, will perform his hilarious version of Houdini’s famous straitjacket escape.
During the 4-day festival The FAB Magic Company, a mega-manufacturer of magic equipment sponsors free magic shows in its main street magic shop and at outdoor locations around town. Owner Rick Fisher sells professional illusions costing thousands of dollars but has a knack for choosing inexpensive, easy-to-master tricks for tourists who impulsively decide to take up magic. A professional ventriloquist, Rick Fisher also sells ventriloquist dolls and instructional CDs.
On August 4, award-winning ventriloquist George Schindler will present a workshop at the Abbot Magic Company. Later that same day, magician “Al the Only” will conduct a tour of magicians’ grave sites in a Colon cemetery. Mr. Only travels from Hawaii to present the Lakeside Cemetery Tour, one of his favorite projects.
The entire town celebrates its heritage during the festival. Churches and civic groups host fundraising dinners and Tammy Johnson serves up dishes of Blue Moon ice cream and bowls of Buckshot Chili at her retro-café. The Chamber of Commerce provides an evening fireworks show. The library sells gently used books collected during the year at the annual arts and crafts fair.
Spreading the word about magic is a high priority for the people of Colon. Greg Bordner honors Colon’s history and continues to foster an interest in magic with a talent show for young magicians held during the festival. Who knows? Maybe he’ll discover another Las Vegas magician like Lance Burton or David Copperfield, both of whom competed in Colon talent shows as teenagers. Incidentally, David Copperfield lost the competition.
If You Go:
The 2011 festival runs from Wednesday, August 3 through Saturday, August 6. A combination ticket to all shows costs $170 and individual tickets to some events are available on-site. For more information, contact: Abbott Magic Company, 124 St. Joseph Street, Colon, MI 49040, 1-269-432-3235, email greg@abbottmagic.com. The FAB Magic Company is located at 111 E. State Street, Colon, MI 49040, 1-269-432-4017, email sales@fabmagic.com. Lodging in Colon is unavailable during the festival; however, several motel chains have locations in nearby Coldwater and Sturgis, Michigan.
About the author:
Kelly Pucci is the editor of Windy City on the Cheap, a website for Chicago bargain hunters. She is the author of many articles about Chicago, Europe, Asia and The Magic Capitol of the World – Colon, Michigan
Photographs:
Photos Courtesy of The Abbott Magic Company.
The museum holds some three hundred objects relating to the raid; one such item is the Stebbins (one of the residents of the settlement) family door, which bears the Indian ax marks left by the invading force. The museum also has on display an early edition of the memoir of Reverend Williams, who survived the raid and the ensuing three-hundred-mile march through heavy snow to Quebec. He eventually returned to Deerfield and wrote 
, where he described the ordeal on the march to Quebec, the murder of two of his children, and his final redemption for him and his family (wife and remaining five children).
We began our royal weekend celebration with high tea at the historic James Bay Tea Room. To commemorate the wedding of H.R.H. Prince William and Miss Kate Middleton, there was a special tea service with traditional goodies such as cucumber and cream cheese finger sandwiches, homemade scones with fresh clotted cream and strawberry jam, fresh strawberry cup with orange liquor and assorted petit fours. Of course, complete with a big pot of English tea!
This quaint little tea house, tucked on a back street behind the Provincial Parliament Buildings, is a turn-of-the-century house, built in 1907 as a family home. It was transformed into this charming restaurant/tea room in the 1980s and is a popular spot for tourists to experience a real British style afternoon tea. It was a perfect place to celebrate the wedding, surrounded by royalty memorabilia with pictures of the royal family covering every inch of the walls, 
Robert Pim Butchart began as a cement manufacturer in Ontario and by the turn of the century had become a successful pioneer in this industry. He was lured to the West Coast of Canada because of the rich limestone deposits vital for cement production, and built a factory at Tod Inlet on Vancouver Island. His family established their home there and as the limestone in the quarry became exhausted, his wife Jennie conceived the idea for refurbishing the quarry into a beautiful garden in the style of the grand estates of the period.
The limestone quarry was transformed into the magnificent Sunken Garden. Mrs Butchart planned the landscaping of the property, transforming it into a garden that covers 22 ha (55 acres) of greenery, woodlands, flower gardens and horticultural displays. Mr. Butchart collected ornamental birds from all over the world including peacocks and ducks and built many elaborate birdhouses through the gardens.
The Butchart’s love of Italy is evident in the lovely Italian Garden, located beside their house. Their tradition of collecting unusual objects when traveling is displayed with the Fountain of the Three Sturgeons, and the big bronze boar near the entrance of the Gardens, both from Florence Italy. A newer acquisition is the Rose Carousel, crafted by Brass Ring Entertainment of Sun Valley, California. It’s the only carousel on Vancouver Island and is a wonderful menagerie of thirty animals ranging from bears, horses, ostriches, zebras and mirrors. The designs were chosen by Robin Clarke, the Garden’s present owner and great granddaughter of Jennie Butchart.
Founded in the 1880s by Dirty Dan Harris as he was known because of his somewhat less then scrupulous dealings, we only discovered this charming town a few years ago. Since then we have returned on numerous occasions. Fairhaven Village is an easy day trip from anywhere in Metro Vancouver by car or from Vancouver by train. If you are traveling from Victoria B.C. this historic town is a three-hour Washington State passenger ferry ride away.
Often we go to Fairhaven for the day but on this occasion we decided to overnight at our favorite boutique hotel and spa. “Welcome back.” We step through the front door of our hotel and the front desk clerk greets us. A sense of calm washes over me. Something about this hotel makes me want to curl up on one of the oversized couches in front of the fireplace with a good book and veg out. We joke that they must be pumping something intoxicating through the venting.
The fishing industry in this part of the west coast was at it’s peak in the early 1900s and remnants are visible all along Bellingham Bay. Reminders such as pylons that once supported a cannery jut out of the bay at low tide. The remains of a workshop its metal siding rusted by years of neglect and exposure to the weather sit precariously on the banks edge. It’s not difficult to imagine the sights, sounds and smells have long gone fishers off loading their catch where it would be readied for the market.
While Fairhaven has seen a bit of a building boom the old town flavour is evident everywhere. There are a few newer buildings but most brick or sandstone structures are from the late 1800‘s through the early 1900‘s. The Terminal building is the oldest still standing and since it was built in 1888 has housed everything from a grocery store to a saloon. Next door to it is a steak house that bears the name of the town’s founder.
I got to visit Smarty Jones (the 2004 Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner who’s currently residing in Pennsylvania). He came up to his stable door. How I wanted to pet him, but I was told that he has a tendency to bite, so I couldn’t. He was let out by one of the staff so I could pose with him, though for legal reasons involving the horses’ images, visitors can only show their photos offline to others.
The Kentucky Derby is the longest consecutive running sporting event in America. Since 1875, 136 of these annual horse races have been run at Churchill Downs through 2010. Seeing it on TV all these years didn’t prepare me for the draw it would have on me while visiting. I stayed there some four hours, and could’ve spent much more easily as I took three tours and visited the on site museum. It’s one of the few places in the world that I felt glued to because of the ambience, the tradition, and incredible history that makes up the 160 acre complex. I am not usually a fan of guided tours, but I found their guides to be quite engaging.
I was about to go into the museum when I heard a 90 minute Behind The Scenes Tour was about to happen. I felt led to take it, and I’m glad I did! Fans get to see such places as the clubhouse and locker room for the male jockeys, as well as find out about how these athletes must all be the same weight for the Kentucky Derby (126 pounds, but 121 if they ride a filly). It’s done by adding extra padding until the weight is reached. I also found out that jockeys wear several pairs of goggles around their eyes, so if one pair gets wet or soiled, they can de-layer for a clean one. We also got to go to the press area, Millionaires’ Row seating, and the track announcer’s booth. Believe me, this 90 minutes goes by too fast!
After a day of admiring racing horses, a great place to relax for a drink is the Old Seelbach Bar in downtown Louisville. The Seelbach Bar has many pictures of race horses hanging on its early 1900’s restored walls, including some Kentucky Derby winners. Did you know that F. Scott Fitzgerald sipped bourbon here? The hotel itself was a setting for his novel The Great Gatsby, a place where the fictional hometown girl Daisy Buchanan may have actually gotten drunk because of her forthcoming sham wedding to Tom Buchanan!
