FRANKENMUTH, MI — Singing traditional German songs with accordions and tubas, more than 100 people traipsed across the wooden covered bridge in Frankenmuth on Monday, Sept. 7.

The Holz-Brücke walk has become a Labor Day tradition, celebrating 29 years of Frankenmuth’s own version of the annual Mackinac Bridge walk.

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Jon Blegen has been walking with family and friends for years for Holz-Brücke. This year, he carried the sign that has accompanied the walkers every year.

“It’s an honor,” said Blegen, a Frankenmuth resident. “I’ve missed a few years, though. It’s just fun, the camaraderie, the friendships.”

The noon walk across the wooden covered bridge lasted five minutes, and the group gathered afterward at Fischer Platz after to drink, catch up and sing, said Dorothy Zehnder. The late Al and Louise Schneider started the tradition.

“They came across the bridge, and the first thing they did was dance,” Dorothy Zehnder said. “They were wonderful dancers. You meet a lot of friends again here.”

Bill Zehnder, owner of the Bavarian Inn, said he enjoys the tradition each year.

“In German, it’s a term called ‘gemütlichkeit,'” he said. “It’s a warm and festive feeling. That’s what this is. There are people here, having fellowship with their friends, enjoying a beer, singing and dancing. Sometimes you just need an excuse to do that.”

Al and Louise Schneider gave them that excuse, and this year, the couple was honored with a plaque from the Zehnder family. Tom Schneider and Ann Schneider-Branch, Al and Louise’s children, accepted the plaque in their parents’ place.

“It’s a wonderful town with wonderful people,” Tom Schneider said. “We’re very grateful to the Zehnders and the Bavarian Inn.”

Ann Schneider said she wasn’t surprised this tradition has help fast through the years.

“That’s just the kind of town (Frankenmuth) is,” Ann Schneider said. “It’s a great town. We were both involved in the first one, and we’re back to it now.”