GRAND HAVEN, Mich. — The Coast Guard Festival returns to Grand Haven on Friday! It's always one of the biggest summer celebrations in West Michigan, but this year, it'll go on without the man commonly referred to as Mr. Coast Guard.
“It is very, very hard," said Annie Lengkeek, the festival's director of marketing. "This year will be different, but he would not want it to be anything less than amazing.”
The more you learn about CDR Mike Smith, the more you understand the legacy he leaves behind.
“It's hard for somebody else to come in and say, 'Well, this is my job,'" Lengkeek said. "He lived it and breathed it every single day.”
She added, “He was extremely outgoing. He had a great sense of humor. He was fun, but he was also compassionate. He made you feel like you were part of his family.”
That family extended well past his six kids and 11 grandkids and covered the entire Coast Guard and Grand Haven communities.
“We are definitely going to miss him," Lengkeek said, "There's definitely a huge void, but he has left his mark."
Smith served as the Grand Haven Coast Guard Festival's executive director for 17 successful years.
Smith, who served in the Coast Guard himself, wanted to make sure the annual celebration properly honored the men and women of the military.
Smith started out in Grand Haven as a Coast Guard cadet in 1972.
“He ended up retiring from the Coast Guard and settling back in Grand Haven, where he took on his job as the executive director in 2006," Lengkeek said.
Smith didn't waste any time making an impact, with a detailed vision for every aspect of the festival.
“It could be anything from, you know, the fireworks — he wanted a certain show," she said. "He wanted it to be a certain number of minutes, and his goal was to top that every single year."
The festival has close to 40 events every single year, and Smith would apparently come to each of them.
“He always brought a zest for life," Lengkeek said. "He came in different outfits throughout the festival He would change his clothes roughly 40 times."
Those dynamic outfits, and his contagious smile, will both be missing from the festival this year.
CDR Smith passed away in April. His presence, though, will be very much alive.
“Many of the things that are happening, he planned," Lengkeek said. "So, we do feel like he's still with us during this festival.”
Lengkeek called CDR Smith irreplaceable.
The festival does have an interim director now as they search for Smith's successor.
However, as Lengkeek said, no one can truly fill the shoes of the man known as Mr. Coast Guard.
“I don't know that there is anybody else that could have put the sort of enthusiasm and spark and commitment to something as well as he did because he lived through his whole life," Lengkeek said.