SILVER LAKE, MICH. (AP) -- A dramatic glimpse of distant Lake Michigan is not the only view motorists traveling along County Road B-15 spy as they approach Michigan's Silver Lake sand dunes.
Attentive motorists also will notice a vegetation display alongside Scenic Drive that represents a labor of love and serves as a tribute to northern Michigan residents Louis and Madeleine Blanchard. The flower beds were Louis' idea, and it was in the 1980s that he decided to beautify the shoulder alongside their property.
Louis died 17 years ago from the effects of esophageal cancer.
Madeleine continues to share the display with friends and strangers alike. She tells The Grand Rapids Press Louis would have been proud to know that even at 84, she's kept up the project.
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