Lunch at Lake Idlewild

 The highlight of our day was the location of our picnic lunch at Idlewild Lake near the town of Idlewild in Yates Township, MI.  It is a relatively poor black community where several supper clubs were located in the 30's to the 50's.  Black performers ( Sarah Vaughan, Jackie Wilson and the Four Tops to name a few ) would come here to perform due to limited access for black performers and audiences to other venues during that period.  With the Civil Rights Act and associated changes thus allowing greater access for black performers and audiences, the clubs declined and closed in the 60's.  The picture is the Flamingo Night Club as it exists today, which was one of the performing clubs.  Mr Clarence McKinney is a current resident of Idlewild who joined us for lunch and gave us a history of its golden era of night clubs and performers.  The lake shown is Idlewild Lake where many big name African-American performers had summer homes.  This is just a bit of American history for you all.