National Mushroom Hunt winners are (I-r) Lorena Lewis - nonresident women, Monte Caudell - nonresident men, Diane Peterson - resident women, Josh Stzewski - resident men, Judy Owens - senior, and kneeling is the Grand Champion - Scott Neering. Photo by Vic Ruggles

Thousands of people celebrated the 47th Annual National Morel Mushroom Festival and participated in morel tasting, carnival rides, crafts, music, dancing, guided mushroom hunts, and more.

The fun was contagious. Chuck Pop from Charlevoix smiled as he watched his young boy, Charlie, take a turn on the carnival's merry-go-round. Little sister, Elizabeth, was perfectly content in her stroller.

"I enjoy watching my kids have fun on the rides," Chuck said when asked what he enjoyed the most about the festival. "It makes me happy to see them happy."

Tom and Marge Turcott walked across the park, smiling and holding hands. They said they were smiling because it was their 60th wedding anniversary. That is definitely something to smile about, but maybe, just maybe the morels had a little bit to do with those smiles.

A highlight of the festival each year is the mushroom hunt challenge. This year 214 people competed. The grand champion is Scott Neering of Tawas who picked 154 morel mushrooms.

Boyne Area Chamber of Commerce director, Scott MacKenzie, said the festival drew a record number of people, some from as far away as Washington, Florida and Maine.

"Because of the efforts of so many dedicated volunteers on the festival committee and the participation of the sponsors, the 47th Annual National Morel Mushroom Festival was phenomenal," MacKenzie said.

"On a personal note, I enjoyed watching the fun the children were having and parents enjoying all that Boyne City has to offer. It's a great way to start the 2007 summer tourist season," he said.

The popular Morel Taste of Boyne on Saturday featured Chef Eric from the PBS show, "A Fork in the Road." Wolverine-Dilworth, Boyne Mountain and Rennie's held cooking demonstrations.

The 2nd Annual Wine and Dine event at the Beach Haus Restaurant on Deer Lake offered "spectacular appetizers" MacKenzie said, "Folks are looking forward to the 3rd Annual Wine and Dine."

The Morel Challenge Car Race is an event in which participants make cars out of fruits or vegetables and race each other. This year's winner was Bali Living Imports from Boyne City.

The festival committee thought of everything. For those hunters who came out of the woods empty-handed, morels could be purchased.

The 2007 National Morel Mushroom Festival was sponsored by the Boyne Area Chamber of Commerce, Victories Casino & Hotel, Boyne Country Convention & Visitor's Bureau, Bayside Beverage and Taylor Rental. Sponsors in part were Boyne USA, Main Street Program, Blue-Green Vacation Club and Boyne City Ace Hardware.