Good morning, lakeshore. Sunday is Buster Keaton's 131st birthday, and he's spending it the same place he spent his childhood summers: Muskegon. His bronze statue still stands outside the Frauenthal with that famous unbothered face. This weekend, his biggest fans are coming back to celebrate.
In this today’s Lowdown:
Keaton's train chase hits the big screen at 100
Every county kickoff, all in one place
Two kids, one sledding hill, two Olympic medals
Let’s get into it.
- Sam Johnson, The Lakeshore Lowdown
STONE FACE, FULL HOUSE
The General turns 100 at the Frauenthal 🎬
Before Buster Keaton was a silent film legend, he was a kid on a vaudeville circuit spending summers in Muskegon with his family and their show business friends. His fans have been coming back here every October for 30 years.
They call themselves the Damfinos, after the boat in Keaton's 1921 short The Boat. The International Buster Keaton Society has held its convention here every fall since 1995, timed around his October 4 birthday. This year's runs Friday and Saturday, and it comes with a milestone. Battling Butler and The General both turn 100.
The General is Keaton's Civil War locomotive chase, filmed in Cottage Grove, Oregon, in the summer of 1926. Saturday night it plays the Frauenthal in a new restoration, right after Battling Butler. You don't need a convention pass. A regular ticket gets you The General on the same kind of screen it played on in 1926.
Passholders also get two days of Keaton talks, rare film, a walking tour of his old stomping grounds and a 1920s speakeasy after the screenings. Dress code is 1920s.
📍 Frauenthal Theater, 425 W Western Ave, Muskegon
🗓️ Sat, Oct 3, 7:30 PM (convention runs Oct 2-3)
🎟️ $18.50 at the Frauenthal box office or Etix. Convention passes at busterkeaton.org
🎉 Weekend Preview
The rain's out by Friday, so this one's all sweatshirts and blue sky.
🎈 = family-friendly
All weekend
🎈💀 Bones About Town – 150+ decorated skeletons are posted up in shops around downtown and Centertown Grand Haven.
🎬 Damfinos Keaton Convention – Fri and Sat around downtown Muskegon. Details up top.
Friday
🏈 Byron Center at Mona Shores – With first place in the OK Green on the line, 7 PM.
🎶 Music of the Beach Boys – West Michigan Symphony with Endless Summer at the Frauenthal, 7:30 PM.
Saturday
🎈🥕 Farmers markets – Muskegon 8 AM to 2 PM, Grand Haven 8 AM to 1 PM.
🥃 Bourbon & Beef Showdown – Snug Harbor, Grand Haven. Public slider tasting and voting at 4:30, proceeds to Mulligan's Hollow.
🎬 A Buster Keaton Double Feature – Frauenthal, 7:30 PM, $18.50.
Sunday
🎬 The Phantom of the Opera (1929) – Silent film with a live Barton organ at the Frauenthal, 3 PM.
Coming up
🧟 Here Come The Mummies – The Frauenthal, Fri, Oct 9.
🎭 Company – Muskegon Civic Theatre at the Beardsley Theater, Oct 9-24.
🌊 Shore Things
🧙 Broomsticks Downtown – Witches & Warlocks Night Out takes over downtown and Centertown Grand Haven Friday from 5 to 8 PM. Costumes are very much encouraged.
💀 Skeleton Ballot – Bones About Town voting is open now. Pick your favorite of the 150+ five-foot skeletons in three categories: originality, funniest and spookiest. Ballots close at noon on Oct 23.
🎃 Patch Is Open – Bethke Farms opened pumpkin picking and hayrides last Saturday at 12124 136th Ave in Grand Haven.
🏒 Fresh From Edmonton – The Lumberjacks added Berzkalns straight off rookie camp with the Edmonton Oilers.
🏃 Silver Streak – Muskegon Community College's women's cross country team took second at the Heartland Invitational, 69 points to Milliken's 51. LSJ called it one of the strongest NJCAA showings of the season so far.
⛳ Teeing Off for Vets – Reeths-Puffer's Sophia McCollum and Olivia Ambler got invites to this week's Captain Sally girls golf tournament at American Dunes in Grand Haven, an event that honors veterans.
🎾 Norse Net Gains – North Muskegon's Gavin Miller won No. 1 singles at the GMAA tournament, beating Fruitport's Remy Parker 6-2, 6-3.
🏈 Local Sports
Mona Shores (4-1, 2-0) and Byron Center (4-1, 2-0) settle first place in the OK Green tonight, and the Bulldogs have taken the last two. Up north, North Muskegon and Ravenna are both 3-0 in the WMC-Rivers, so watch that one too.
Friday, Oct 2 (Kick off at 7 PM):
Byron Center at Mona Shores
Forest Hills Northern at Muskegon
GR Union at Reeths-Puffer
Holland at Fruitport
Hart at Whitehall
Montague at Ludington
Fremont at Oakridge
Ravenna at Mason County Central
Muskegon Heights at Martin
Grand Haven at Jenison
Spring Lake at GR West Catholic
Manistee at North Muskegon
Baldwin at Holton
Muskegon Catholic Central at Carson City-Crystal
Saturday, Oct 3 (Kick off at 1 PM):
St. Clair at Orchard View
☀️ Weather Report
Friday 63 🌡️ 43 | 🌤️ | 10% | 💨 NW 8-12 kt
Saturday 66 🌡️ 42 | ☀️ | 0% | 💨 SW 5-10 kt
Sunday 66 🌡️ 46 | 🌤️ | 15% | 💨 S 5-10 kt
🌊 Waves 1 to 2 ft | 💧 Water upper 50s to low 60s
The verdict: Low 60s at kickoff, low 40s by the fourth quarter. Bring a blanket to Sailor Stadium.
🎵 Live Music Picks
Kirby House carries the late shift both nights, and the Frauenthal brings the orchestra and the organ.
Friday, Oct 2
Frauenthal | West Michigan Symphony with Endless Summer (Beach Boys) | 7:30 PM
Kirby House | DJ JC Extreme | 9 PM-12:30 AM
Saturday, Oct 3
Snug Harbor | Big Daddy Fox | 3-7 PM
Kirby House | Rick Deez | 9 PM-12:30 AM
Sunday, Oct 4
Frauenthal | Dennis Scott on the Barton organ, The Phantom of the Opera (1929) | 3 PM
SLED HEADS
🌟Only in Muskegon and Grand Haven
In 1984, two local kids watched crews start digging into their favorite sledding hill in Muskegon State Park, and they figured that was the end of it. Instead, the builders invited them to help. The hill became the Muskegon luge track, still one of only four luge tracks in the whole country. Jim Rudicil grew up to run the park. Mark Grimmette went to five Winter Olympics and came home with silver and bronze.
✅ Lowdown Essentials
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That’s it for this issue.
Thanks for reading. If you pass the bronze Buster on Western Ave this weekend, wish him a happy 131st. Don't expect a smile back. See you Tuesday.
