New Flagpoles Made On Island

Park Rangers Troy Allaire and Myron Johnson from Mackinac State Historic Parks remove a 30-year-old flagpole and will replace it with the new cedar flagpole seen lying on the ground near the entrance to Fort Mackinac.

The new flag poles leading up the entrance ramp to Fort Mackinac won’t look much different, but for the Boy Scouts who raise and lower the fort’s flags each day, the change will be significant.

The condition of the rotting 30-year-old flagpoles makes it difficult for the scouts to raise and lower the flags, so the scouts are taking part in the replacement project. Last week, Troop 290 from the Grand Rapids area helped by painting the new poles.

Eight of 19 flagpoles, which include those lining the Avenue of Flags on the fort's north side, have been replaced so far.

Creating the poles is a five-step project. Islanders Robert McGreevy and Bobby Horn first take fallen Island cedar trees, debark them, and shape them into the pattern of the fort’s old poles.

Next, park crews sand the poles, then, the scouts paint them. Finally, before the old pole is removed and the ground prepared for the new pole, park crews add the halyard used to raise and lower the flag.

The crews are replacing one pole at a time and the project is expected to take several more weeks.

Scout troops participating in the Mackinac Island Scout Service Camp annually provide more than 20,000 volunteer service hours to Mackinac State Historic Parks.