Mackinac Island...here we come

One more time into a packed vehicle for a weekend Scout event. Although, this one wasn’t for purposes of training. Every other year there is a Council wide event called Mackinac Rendezvous where Scouts from all over our Council are invited to come up north to camp on the mainland and then a day over on beautiful , historic Mackinac Island. The Scouts can work on different Merit Badges while on the Island and drink in some of the sights and sounds….and let’s not forget scarfing down some of the delicious fudge which is made by the shops. It is quite an event with the number of Scouts and leader around 1,500 people.
The logistics for this make it so many people are needed to keep things running…130 people were on staff this time. We were part of the “physical arrangements” team. Our job was to check the units in, lead them to their camp sites,and get them to unload their gear and move their vehicles to the parking area upon arrival. The units had from 3 PM until Midnight to arrive and then the security team would take over to get them in place. Things went fairly quickly. The day was cold and blustery with the wind off of the big lake so we were well bundled. As the sun fell it became even colder and we were all thankful for the propane powered lamp which not only gave light but much needed heat. We passed the time by answering questions about Scout history in our little booklet with the schedule for events and other information about what would be going on for the weekend. Our last people arrived about 11 PM and we went back to the cozy cabin for the evening….the warmth was greatly appreciated. No camping this time!! I will admit to having three or four layers of clothes on to keep warm while we were at our check in station. It would be a short night before our next duties came in the morning.
After a quick breakfast it was time to walk around our area to make sure the Scouts and leaders were up and moving to be down to the area where we would meet our busses for transportation to the boats docks for the trip to the Island for the day. This is where our positions on staff came in kind of handy. We were allowed to cut the line to get on the boats. It was a quick trip to the Island and a very pleasant surprise when we spotted a former Scout on the Island for a political convention. We had a good conversation catching up with how he was doing. It was then off to do some geocacheing for the morning. Ter and I have been on the Island a number of times and know famous Main Street pretty well. We were with some other Scout friends and found one cache. We walked a little while longer and found another one along a board walk. It was a nice walk back downtown as one of my friends had to lead a group to teach them about geocacheing.
I met back up with Ter and we decided to go up the hill for lunch at Fort Mackinac, the focal point of the Island. This fort has a very interesting history which includes it being transported across the Straits of Mackinac from Mackinaw City and rebuilt. The Fort was under the flag of several different nations including France, England, and finally the United States during its active days. It was lost to the British in one of the first battles of the War of 1812 without a single shot being fired. It was surrendered when the commander realized the American troops were vastly outnumbered by the British and Native Americans. It was eventually taken back and was an American post until being decommissioned in 1895.. I found out the hard way I can’t make it up the ramp to the Fort as easily as I used to in the past. I actually had to stop and rest as the incline of the ramp is fairly severe. We made it up and headed for the restaurant. I got to the head of the steps and had an “Oh, Oh” moment. I really took my time getting down the steps and was glad to set down at a table and order lunch. We did linger for a little while. We had hoped to get the delicious roast turkey leg dinner we remembered from a previous trip but such was not the case.
But one of the things you notice the most is the quiet…no motorized vehicles are allowed except for emergency ones. Horses and bicycles are the basic transportation for the Island which also makes for having to remember watching out for the inevitable results of using animals. We left lunch and decided to do a little geocacheing. This is a kind of high tech “treasure hunt” where people hide things, publish the coordinates on a website where you can download them, and you go and hunt for them. You certainly don’t get rich, but have a lot of fun and get some exercise walking in the woods. Then sadly it was time to head back downtown to buy the fudge we had promised our neighbors for keeping and eye on “Tippy, the wonder mutt” for the third weekend out of the last six. We appreciate them so much for doing it…although Tippy usually isn’t a whole lot of problem.
It was cut the line one more time for the trip back across the Straits so we could help do crowd control one more time. There was a catered meal for all, to me quite a feat with 15 or 1600 people. Things were done pretty efficiently and there was time for all to just wander another historic fort for awhile. This one is Fort Michilimacinac. This is one from the 1700’s and actually was captured by American Indians who fooled the residents while playing a game of lacrosse. I’ll leave you to study the history of this unique place. We had a program inside the fort celebrating the upcoming 100th anniversary of American Scouting and then it was back to our campground.
Our last job for the event was to check out the units we had checked in on Friday. This went much quicker as people wanted to get back on the road home. We had to check their camp sites for cleanliness and then could give them their slips to go get their vehicles and load up. This was accomplished in about two hours. We then went to help out with finishing tearing down what we had put up around the campground to accommodate all the people. We changed out of our uniforms for the trip home. We crossed the Mighty Mac to go into St. Ignace to have lunch at a little unique restaurant called Java Joe’s. It is unique as when you walk in it looks like you are in the Florida keys with the décor. Even the owner looks like someone right from the Keys with his long ponytail and brightly colored shirts. Then it was hit the road for home only stopping to do some more “treasure hunting”. We did run into some construction which made for an interesting side trip. We made it home about 7 PM and did some basic unloading of the car and were ready for some rest. My bet is we’ll be back for the next Rendezvous to help out.