It would be the second time the Mackinac Bridge has been featured on a U.S. stamp. The bridge was first commemorated on a 3¢ stamp in June 1958, during its official dedication. That stamp depicted the bridge from water level with a freighter passing underneath and the inscription, “The Mackinac Bridge, Connecting The Peninsulas of Michigan.”

Promoting a 50th anniversary commemorative postage stamp for the Mackinac Bridge are (from left, front row) Jim Laako, Larry Rubin, Gene Cooley; (back) Richard Moehl, Robert Heilman, Susan Godzik, Dennis Godzik, and Dawn Edwards.

Richard Moehl, spearheading the new stamp effort, met with several Straits residents Wednesday, January 19, at the Mackinac Bridge Authority conference room to structure a plan that will promote the idea to local and state officials and, ultimately, convince the Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee that the Mackinac Bridge is a national icon worthy of being commemorated with its own stamp on its 50th anniversary.

Mr. Moehl, who is the president of the Great Lakes Lighthouse Keepers Association in Mackinaw City, was involved in a similar project that led to the production of five stamps commemorating Michigan lighthouses in 1995.

Attending the meeting were Robert Heilman, president of the Village of Mackinaw City, Executive Director Dawn Edwards and Gene Cooley of the Mackinaw City Chamber of Commerce, Mackinaw City Postmaster Dennis Godzik and his wife, Susan, Jim Laako, representing the Mackinac Bridge Authority, and Larry Rubin, the Mackinac Bridge Authority’s first executive secretary when the bridge was completed in 1957.

Mr. Godzik already has received a letter of support from Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm, and the group will seek help from U.S Congressman Bart Stupak, U.S. Senators Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow, and former Congressman Bob Traxler, who now serves on the Mackinac Island State Park Commission. The International Iron Workers Association and the American Society of Civil Engineers, whose members helped build the bridge, will also be included in the effort.

The competition for commemorative stamps is tough. Each year the Postal Service receives 50,000 proposals and recommends only 25 of them for stamp development. Such stamps must have national appeal, and the Mackinac Bridge has that, the group feels.

“One fact we can hang our hat on,” said Mr. Moehl, “is that, at the time it was built, it was the longest suspension bridge in the world.”

Today, said Mr. Laako, the Mackinac Bridge is still considered the longest suspension bridge in the northern hemisphere.

The 15-member U.S. Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee, formed in 1957, the same year the bridge was completed, meets four times a year to review stamp proposals and make recommendations to the Postmaster General, who makes the final decision as to which stamps are produced. If the Mackinac Bridge 50th anniversary stamp idea is approved, the stamp advisory committee will select an artist to design a stamp.

The group will meet again at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, February 8, at Mackinac Bridge Authority’s conference room.