Omena’s newest animal mayor in town is just a bit larger from the usual dog or cat candidates that run in the race.
A horse, Lucky Dinero Bosco, was elected in July to represent the historic small town as the seventh mayor, with cats Topsy and Turvy Stephenson serving as co-vice mayors, and another cat, Porsche McKee, serving as deputy vice mayor. Emmie Tomlinson and Ruby Emmert fill in the top five positions, officially forming the newly elected Omena Village Council.
Every three years, the Omena Historical Society (OHS) holds a mayoral race where people can cast a vote for $1 for their preferred candidate. The funds raised will be used for the Putnam-Cloud Tower House museum preservation.
Lucky’s owner, Kathryn (Missie) Bosco, who is currently in Arizona, said while they will not be part of the upcoming Northport Dog Parade, Lucky and herself plan to return to the area this month. Bosco said both her and Lucky are thrilled with the win as the first horse mayor in Omena history and what’s to come next in the mayoral position.
“We’re so excited, we feel like we’re being welcomed back. The success was huge as far as fundraising…” Bosco said. “Those proceeds will be used for capital improvements on the Putnam-Cloud house — and now it’s ironic that Lucky will be living at what was the Putnam farm.”
In 2019, Bosco purchased the Putnam farm just a mile or so away from Omena. Since then, Bosco’s been having work done on the property and barn that she hopes can be of help to the community and horses like Lucky.
“It had been a long dream of mine to purchase it (the Putnam farm)... I’ve put a community garden in at the farm, so just trying to give back and make it available for everyone to enjoy the peace at the farm and enjoy the horses. And at the same time, have horses come that maybe just need some time off or to heal an injury,” she said. “My belief is that horses are so magical and so majestic and they do have a lot of healing properties. They’re used for special needs children and for PTSD with military and first responders. One of the things I’m doing is wanting to rehab horses themselves that maybe have had some rough life, so it’s kind of twofold.”
Lucky himself has quite a background and has seen much in his 16 years of life. Bosco said she’s been caring for Lucky for the past six years, but he was originally trained as a jumping horse. At some point in his life, Lucky was also used to chase and move cattle to market in the Bitterroot Mountains in Idaho. Nowadays, he likes to hang out with the mares, otherwise known as adult female horses, and enjoys his treats like apples, carrots, and molasses cookies from the feed store.
“He (Lucky) likes to interact with anybody and everybody that goes by here… and he was trained to jump, so he knows he’s got legs… He’s just got endless stamina,” she said. “He’s not just pretty, he’s funny, he’s a goofball, he does like the girls, so he will hop over a fence to get to them. He is all boy, so when I call him a ‘mayor’ it cracks me up.”
On Lucky’s hip, there’s an outline in his hair of what appears to be a similar shape to the Leelanau peninsula, making his new role all the more fitting.
“The funniest thing is I shared this picture (of the outline) with a number of Leelanau long-time fifth and sixth generation people, and everytime I share it was someone who’s got a long legacy in Leelanau County, the first thing they say to me is ‘that looks like Leelanau County,’” she said.
Bosco said Lucky will have to wait and find out from the village council what official duties and immediate issues awaits him in Leelanau County, but in the meantime, is looking forward to some kind of open house or reception for the public to come and meet him in his new mayor position.
