Mackinac Island is mostly a spring, summer and fall destination with the primary visitor season running from May through October. And after a hard six months of work, many Mackinac Island businesses close by Halloween. But the arrival of fall color and a slowdown in tourism doesn’t mean the work is done.
Yes, the winter offseason on Mackinac Island is a time for rest and rejuvenation. It’s also a time for strategic planning to make the next year even better than the one before.
Just like each Mackinac Island shop, Mackinac Island place to stay, and Mackinac Island restaurant is unique, so is the closing process. We talked with the owner of a Mexican restaurant, the CEO of a ferry boat service and the spokesman for Mackinac State Historic Parks to see what the end of the season looks like for each of them.
WHAT DOES CLOSING FOR THE SEASON LOOK LIKE ON MACKINAC ISLAND?
RESTAURANT: This time of the year we are breaking down equipment, sanitizing and scrubbing everything down, and making sure it’s clean and ready to go for next year.
FERRY SERVICE: When we begin to prepare for the close of our season, we have the equipment to haul our boats out of the water where they sit by the Marine Service Building for the winter season. Each boat accumulates a list of things that need to be done to it. Some are large projects and some are small.
On shore, we have tents at both of our Mackinaw City and St. Ignace locations. We wash those and will take them down and store them beginning Nov. 1. We also work on winterizing the Mackinac Island dock. Our maintenance crew will make a few trips to Mackinac Island to make sure all the water is out of the pipes and get everything ready to shut the entire place down.
MACKINAC STATE HISTORIC PARKS: We start transitioning into “closing” mode the first week in October. By this point most years we’re down to a pretty limited crew and a lot of staff is covering several areas of the operation:
- In sales and marketing, we’re starting to do an inventory of our stores while preparing to close the Visitor’s Center, South Sally Port Entrance, Mackinac Art Museum, and Biddle House sales locations.
- For park operations, closing is far more involved, as they are physically winterizing buildings for the off-season such as the Scout Barracks, Commanding Officers Quarters, and Officer’s Quarters. They’re also getting started on major offseason projects as well as interior building painting. Staff is also beginning to get winter items ready, such as snowmobile signs and barriers. They’ll also begin closing public restrooms in the coming weeks.
- On the interpretation side, the workday stays pretty much the same until we close the site. MSHP administration typically moves off Mackinac Island during the first full week of October to transition into winter mode. Offices are packed, and all our equipment is brought back to the mainland on our LCM (landing craft mechanized, a Korean War-era ship that serves as our freight hauler).
HOW DO YOU PLAN FOR THE NEXT SEASON ON MACKINAC ISLAND IN YOUR OFFSEASON?
FERRY SERVICE: The month of November consists of a lot of meetings and getting lists organized. We have meetings and exit interviews with our leadership team, from maintenance to tickets to marine services and dock leads, to find out their needs. Then we figure out how we are going to handle all of the requests and if we can afford them. We also focus on recruiting more cast members for the upcoming season.
MACKINAC STATE HISTORIC PARKS: We work off of a three-year strategic plan and typically stay true to it as we move forward. Knowing this, and having our budget approved by our commission, we hit the ground running as soon as the calendar flips to October and get started on offseason projects.
On the marketing side, we will also finalize marketing plans for the season, work on new brochures and site maps, and finalize updates for the Mackinac Island Visitor’s Guide. The offseason means we will also begin our education outreach program, where we take interpreters to classrooms (or meet virtually) to present the history of Michigan through the lens of Mackinac Island. We also regularly have committee meetings to look at all aspects of our operation and for ways to improve.
RESTAURANT: Our U.S. staff is set for next year but we’ll be recruiting H2B and J1 workers. We also work on the menu and see if there is anything exciting that we can do.
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