Winsor McCay historical marker dedicated

Wed, Jun 17, 2009

SPRING LAKE — There's no Magic Kingdom to honor the late animation pioneer Winsor McCay, but Tuesday's dedication of a state historical plaque made Space Mountain look like a molehill in the eyes of some Spring Lake residents.

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McCay, who was born in Spring Lake in 1867, is considered by many in the field to be "the father of animation." Many famed cartoonists, including Walt Disney, studied McCay's techniques of transforming hand-drawn characters into moving figures — line by line and page by page.

"This is something to be very proud of," said Mark Miller, chairman of the Spring Lake Historic Conservation Commission and the Winsor McCay Committee. "It all started here. ... This area influenced his beginnings and that's something to be very proud of."

The famed cartoonist and animator attended Union School, which once stood on a now-empty lot on the north side of Exchange Street between Spring Lake Township Hall and Spring Lake District Library.

About 50 people attended the dedication of a state historical marker at that site on Tuesday. It included speeches by historians and local and state officials, followed by a 90-minute presentation of McCay's life history and animation projects.

It was part of the Spring Lake Heritage Festival's "Winsor McCay Day" on Tuesday, kicking off the six-day festival.

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Michigan Historical Commission member Tom Trescott said Tuesday's historical marker dedication is the first of a planned West Michigan Pike tourist initiative, designed to promote West Michigan beach towns as far north as Ludington and perhaps Mackinac Island. The four other markers the state will erect along the old West Michigan Pike route, recognizing the development of West Michigan tourism, are: in New Buffalo, South Haven, Hart and along Scenic Drive at Muskegon State Park.

The Michigan Historical Center has been collaborating with Beachtowns Inc., a coalition of southwest Michigan visitor bureaus, in this tourism-boosting initiative. The effort began in 2006, when the center's State Historic Preservation Office researched the development of the resort industry in southwest Michigan and undertook a survey of existing tourism-related historic sites along the West Michigan Pike between New Buffalo and Ludington.

McCay's surviving family members could not be present for Tuesday's dedication, but the cartoonist's great-grandson sent a letter to the local historical committee to express his gratitude for the honorary plaque and the work that brought it into being.

"We look forward to visiting Spring Lake in the near future," wrote Winsor Robert McCay in a letter read by Grand Haven Tribune cartoonist Kevin Collier.

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Miller said Winsor McCay Day will continue as an annual event. Future plans include dinosaur tracks and McCay characters throughout the village.

"Winsor McCay and this historic marker is something to be very proud of," Miller said at Tuesday's dedication. "It's quite something to know that when we watched Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny, Yosemite Sam and Daffy Duck, that what helped make it all possible, Winsor McCay, started right here."

Spring Lake District Library hosts a "Meeting McCay" blog site at www.springlakemccay.blogspot.com

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