GRAND HAVEN, Mich. — A new executive director of Coast Guard Festival has been selected.
Retired U.S. Coast Guard Cmdr. Tracy J. Riley was nominated by the Board of Directors to take immediate control of the festival.
She was Group Commander in Grand Haven from 2004 to 2006. She retired from the Coast Guard in 2010 and moved to Grand Haven in 2018, festival organizers say.
She's been an active member of the festival board for years, and served as a board member and the chairperson for 2023.
She was chosen after a three-month-long interview process. Her inaugural year leading the festival will be into its 100th anniversary year in 2024.
The position opened after the previous director, Commander Michael J. Smith, died on April 27 following a brief illness.
He directed the Coast Guard Festival for 17 years before retiring.
"We will always remember Michael for the celebration of life that he was an embodiment of," said Teresa Sullivan, a friend. "He just made everything an occasion."
Sullivan says that Smith made everyone feel like they were someone special.
"If we could all take a little part of that with us, as we have here today and celebrate life the way Michael always did."
The Coast Guard Festival unofficially began in 1924 as a picnic and rowing competition. The first official Coast Guard Festival was celebrated in 1937.
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