Talk:Fennville, Michigan

City Name Origins
I wonder if the town's name could be traced to the marshes in its vicinity. According to a book ("Essential Oils" by James Landing) in 1896 Fennville boasted "the largest peppermint field in the world," located in the Severensmarsh near Fennville. Fen is synonymous with bog, and from what I understand this area of Michigan contains many wetlands. Capouch (talk) 23:48, 28 September 2011 (UTC)
 * I shared such ponderings many years ago, and thus validate your logic here, given the appeal of the etymological possibilities. However, the widely accepted history involving the mill built by Mr. Fenn, references to "Fenn's Mill/s," and subsequent cartagraphic references to "Fennsville" (all with 2 "n's" rather than one) have convinced me that the possible connection between the archaic term, "fen," and the swampy, boggy ground on which Fennville was built are an amusing happenstance, but not a direct origin for the city's name. ShoneBrooks (talk) 15:59, 15 April 2020 (UTC)

External links modified
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Goose Festival
I added a comparatively small section to the Fennville article yesterday with details about the city's Goose Festival, an annual event with 35 years of history, significant to Fennville's identity. The spirit of the addition was in keeping with tourism/cultural content included in other nearby cities, for example Holland and Allegan.
 * Holland, Michigan
 * Allegan, Michigan

The content I added is factual, was written in a neutral fashion and was well supported with secondary sources that excluded Fennville's own promotional platforms (e.g. http://www.fennvillegoosefestival.com/). Sources referenced were:
 * Whiteley, Sandy (1990). Chase's Annual Events: Special Days, Weeks and Months in 1991. McGraw-Hill. p. 287. ISBN 9780809240876.
 * "The Annual Fennville Goose Festival Returns for its 34th Year". Saugatuck.com. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
 * Jim, Hayden (23 January 2013). "Goose Festival might migrate back to downtown Fennville". The Holland Sentinel. Gannett Co., Inc. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
 * Hayden, Jim. "Festival brings Fennville together for family fun". The Commercial Record. Retrieved 14 April 2020.

The explanation provided for removal of this material was multi-fold:
 * Due and undue weight.
 * Promotion

With regard to the former allegation, I know of no source material claiming that the Goose Festival does not exist in Fennville, or that it has not been operating since 1984. But if someone provides evidence of such material, perhaps we can work through it to provide whatever would amount to balanced view that at least acknowledges the possibility that this event has been enjoyed in Fennville for the past 35 years.

With regard to the second, I was aware of the potential appearance of promotion and tried to word the content carefully to mitigate, or avoid that while presenting the facts that the city does have this annual, local celebration that does indeed draw non-trivial tourist interest. As noted above, similar cities in the same region (Holland and Allegan) include very similar content to what was drafted for the Goose Festival. Rather than remove the entire content block concerning Fennville's Goose Festival, I recommend talking through any concerns that may surround the precise wording of the content so that together, we can reach consensus on presenting this factual material in a way that aligns well with the similar content noted and with Wikipedia's guidelines, applied appropriately.

"Each October since in 1984, Fennville has held an annual local event known as the Goose Festival. Fennville's Goose Festival promotes the abundance of area game and wildlife, with a special emphasis on thousands of Canada geese as they pass through the nearby Todd Farm Unit of the Allegan State Game area during their winter migration. One impetus for creating the festival was to encourage passenger train visitation via Amtrak on the railway that runs through Fennville. Tens of thousands of people flock to the small town each year to enjoy the various activities and attractions planned and managed by the volunteer-based Goose Festival organization that operates the Goose Festival."

To that end, I plan to reintroduce the content in question to better support the process of refining it. ShoneBrooks (talk) 13:22, 15 April 2020 (UTC)

Fennville
Lake Michigan is 22,406 mi2 (517 km) 50.192.112.225 (talk) 17:16, 5 July 2023 (UTC)