Barry (Ed) Karcher joined the ancestors on Feb. 1, 2020. He attended the very first Wheatland festival east of Remus with his wife, Alice and two young daughters and attended most every festival since then. For several years Ed helped sell tickets and helped with setup and takedown chores. He was proud to call Gladys […] Read more »

Longtime Wheatland Board member and Jive at Five bassist Tom T. Ball wrote, “The Wheatland family lost a good friend and fabulous musician in Gene Harris when he passed away on January 4th, 2020. Gene and his supportive wife Eathyl lived in the Big Rapids area for over 50 years, which provided a base for […] Read more »

Carol Atkinson reported that her daughter Lori Rae Smalley, of St. Johns, died of esophageal cancer in January 2019. A vintage Wheatland Quilt was donated by Lori’s family in her memory. The quilt was constructed from several 1970’s Wheatland t-shirts. It was originally won by Lori’s mother, Carol Atkinson, at a Wheatland raffle; and was […] Read more »

Janese (Finkler) Gorecki, was called to her heavenly home on December 1, 2019. She began attending Wheatland Music Festival in 1990 with her brother Dennis Finkler, who since passed in 1997. Janese really enjoyed the “Wheatland Way” – like how everyone is friends, but complete strangers and takes care of one another. She embraced the […] Read more »

Early Wheatland volunteer Wayne Crandall died on November 28, 2019. Pamela “Peach” Burke, a Wheatland founder, described Wayne as “one of a kind.” He was an artist and designed and silkscreened the very first Wheatland t-shirts (from shirts volunteers all brought from home.) Read more »