Over the last 26 years, Peter Garthe has become the public face of the National Cherry Festival. The longtime volunteer is the 23-time reigning champion in the festival’s annual commemorative pin sales program. The pins grant admission to festival areas like the beer tent. Buyers who find a rare gold one in their envelope are entered into a drawing that includes big-budget prizes like luxury car leases, airline tickets, and big-screen TVs.

After winning a gold pin himself in 1990, Garthe got hooked on the program and volunteered the following year. Just two years later, he notched his first sales win. “I won the championship that year and got airline tickets [as a prize],” Garthe says. “I gave them to my parents for their 50th anniversary so they could fly to San Francisco.” After that, Garthe says with a smile, “nobody could match me."

Since 1993, Garthe has pummeled pin sales records. His lifetime total now tops 204,000 pins sold; he alone typically accounts for nearly a third of the 20,000 pins sold each year. The $500 cash prize for the top seller is a helpful incentive, he says, but there’s a much bigger relationship between Garthe, the festival, and community residents at play.

“Peter is the whole experience of buying a pin,” says Cherry Festival Executive Director Trevor Tkach. “He sells 1,500 pins before the festival even starts. People have an expectation to buy their pin from Peter, and they won’t buy one from anyone else.”

Garthe, now 57, is disabled, and relies on a hearing aid due to deafness caused by a ruptured eardrum. He is thought to be on the autism spectrum, displaying a savant-like genius and memory for numbers. He has to monitor his physical health due to a heart bypass surgery he had as a child. Those conditions — along with his contagious grin and outgoing personality — are among the reasons community members say they are protective and proud of Garthe.

“We all keep an eye on him, and everybody knows him,” says Brick Wheels Owner Tim Brick, a friend who helps keep Garthe's bike — his main form of transportation — in working order. “He’s a character. He was in here recently, and the wheel was worn out on his bike because he was riding it so much. He was impatient [to have it fixed]. He said, ‘I don’t have time for this. I’ve got to sell pins!’”

Garthe’s physical limitations don’t stop the volunteer from putting 320 miles on his bicycle each year during pin pre-sales. He rides across Grand Traverse County — from “Acme to Chums Corner to Greilickville," he says — in the weeks leading up to the Cherry Fest. He goes from business to business selling pins, stopping at residences of friends and acquaintances. Many community members look forward to the arrival of Garthe — decked in his iconic uniform of khaki shorts, red festival T-shirt, and blue pin bags — at their doorsteps each season.

Grand Traverse County Commission Chair Christine Maxbauer is one such resident. “Peter is a treasure,” she says, calling the volunteer “one of the best people I know.”

Garthe’s unflagging enthusiasm hits its peak during Cherry Festival week, when he’ll often log close to 80 hours hawking pins at the Open Space. “Everybody recognizes me and calls me Pin Man,” says Garthe.

He’s been a good luck charm to many; he’s a dozen pins shy of selling his 10,000th gold pin and has sold grand prize winners nine times.

But for all its high points, Garthe’s journey has also hit some lows. In 2006, Garthe — loaded with bags of pins and cash — was mugged as he walked home. Three men punched Garthe multiple times as they attempted to wrestle his bags away. A neighbor heard the commotion and came outside, scaring the men off.

“It scared me (to come back after the assault),” says Garthe. “But they changed the security. We never take the bags out of the Open Space now, except when I sell at parades.”

The mugging further amplified the community’s sense of protectiveness over Garthe, who lives on his own following the death of his mother in 2013. “The community kind of jumped on that (incident),” says Brick. “It’s like, ‘Don’t mess with our guy. He’s our icon. You can’t step on our guy’s feet.’”

With Garthe now nearing retirement age, how long until he hangs up his pin bag? He has to slow down for the sake of his health, but he wants to hit the 25-time sales champion mark before he quits. "And I want to sell more [gold pin] winners to women!" he says. "The men keep getting all the winners."

Tkach says it’s clear Garthe will have to pull back eventually. “We just want to find a way to celebrate and honor him when he does," he says.

“You can’t just replace him,” Tkach adds. “He’s a living legend.”