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Locals volunteer in Copper Harbor to promote tourism

COPPER HARBOR – Not long after the early morning sunlight broke Monday over the gray-shingled roofs at Fort Wilkins Historic State Park in Copper Harbor, Michigan, the dizzying sounds of a swarm of activity began to fill the skies from behind the pointed stockade fence.

Six volunteers from Ogemaw, Roscommon, and Crawford Counties joined nearly 155 others from around the state to work.

Hammers rang. Power drills whirred. There were also the soft, wispy sounds of paint brushes being pushed and pulled over wood-plank surfaces. There was activity everywhere.

Amid it all were the voices of the young and old – talking, sharing instruction, support and laughs – because at the heart of all this effort were people.

These individuals, from cities and towns across the state, passionate and kind, made up a powerful all-volunteer workforce nearly 160 strong, assembled for a couple of days in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula near the tip of the Keweenaw Peninsula, under a single banner proclaiming “Michigan Cares for Tourism.”

Our area was represented by members of the Houghton Lake Area Tourism Bureau and the West Branch Visitors Bureau, as well as some of the Department of Natural Resources team responsible for this area of Michigan. The photo shows, from left to right, Dave Clouse – Michigan Cares Board of Directors and Houghton Lake Area Tourism Bureau President, Hillary Pine – Area DNR Historian, Vicki Seltz Barnes – West Branch Visitors Bureau Treasurer, Anna Sylvester – Northern Field Operations Chief -Michigan DNR, Dale Ekdom, and his wife, Theresa Ekdom – Houghton Lake Area Tourism Bureau Administrative Assistant, as they take a lunch break from their respective work sites all around Ft. Wilkins.

Beginnings

“We started the program in 2012, partnering with Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Travel Michigan, Indian Trails, Grand Valley State University, an organization called Tourism Cares that did similar events on a national level, and a marketing company by the name of Driven,” said Patty Janes, volunteer coordinator for Michigan Cares for Tourism, and a professor of hospitality and tourism management at Grand Valley State University.

“So, the six of us came together and said, ‘Could we bring the tourism industry together to donate time, resources and effort to help restore our historic attractions in Michigan, knowing full well that the 260 attractions the State managed, for an example, had a maintenance deficit in the millions of dollars?’ The answer was ‘yes’.”

Over the past six years, the organization has empowered 2,365 volunteers over 10 projects, including seven multiple-day efforts.

This week’s work at Fort Wilkins was backed by the in-kind and financial contributions of more than 60 businesses and organizations.

“It’s a zero-based budget project. We don’t have money,” Janes said. “The only way the projects work is if the industry cares.”

A board of 20 organizes the group’s projects, taking on one each autumn.

Personal contributions

At Fort Wilkins, some of the volunteers drove 12 hours to get there. Seventy came on Indian Trails buses from Grand Rapids and Detroit. The other 90 traveled on their own and brought family and friends with them. Many took vacation or personal time from work, and they averaged four nights spent in the region, which boosted the economic impact in a large way in this part of Michigan.

The twenty-three projects identified were many and varied at this historical site, including scraping and repainting buildings, resurfacing a main path with ADA compliant surfaces, clearing brush, replacing a large portion of stockade fence, staining the porch floors, refinishing park benches and picnic tables, trail restoration work, cleaning out buildings, etc.

During 2017, our local area was chosen and reaped the rewards of this popular program when hundreds of these volunteer workers arrived to complete many needed historic restoration and maintenance projects at the CCC Museum and Ralph A. MacMullen Conference Center in Roscommon County. We know the program works – we see the work each day we visit those attractions.

Next for Michigan Cares For Tourism event will be a project at Leelanau State Park and the Grand Traverse Lighthouse to help make operations there run solely on solar power. We couldn’t be prouder knowing our northern Michigan representatives will be right there again, shoulder to shoulder with other tourism and hospitality members, making a difference in our state.

For more information on this and other projects, contact michigancares4tourism.com

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