Nineteen years ago, the College of Arts and Letters at Michigan State University took over the Grand Hotel to host what would become the first of almost a decade of yearly events devoted to celebrating the Arts.

Since then, the College of Arts and Letters has developed a deep connection with Mackinac Island, as the backdrop of this annual event that has become an iconic part of our college’s history.

We are proud of the accomplishments of our college, specifically their attention to the needs of the students here. Together, we work in the college’s new collaborative workspace for undergraduate students – The Creativity Exploratory. We provide a place of exploration outside of the classroom, equipping students with everything from meeting rooms and fully stocked computer labs, to 3d printers and laser cutters. We provide room for students to cultivate their interests and apply the lessons from our MSU classrooms in real world settings.

As part of the College of Arts and Letters, the Creativity Exploratory is an undergraduate workspace built by students, for students.  Our continuing mission is to seek out new innovations and explore ways the humanities can offer solutions to real world problems.

As students within the college, we are interested in celebrating innovations in the Arts along with our college. This summer, we will be documenting Arts Weekend in order to preserve the history and accomplishments of our college as well as the historic environment of Mackinac Island and the Grand Hotel. We will be taking footage of the weekend’s events to produce a documentary that celebrates this important part of our college.

We are looking forward to being a part of the event this year, and will be running around the island with cameras all weekend. We’re excited to create something that we can share with our MSU and Mackinac Island friends, to display how important this event has been to the development of our college. We will share our work on the College of Arts and Letters website  – cal.msu.edu, so check back for updates!

Bios :

Kat Palczewski

Kat is a Senior studying Professional Writing at MSU. She works as a Marketing and Communications intern for the college, helping to do everything from planning events to sharing college stories and updates on the website and across the college’s social media platforms.

Tatum Walker

Tatum is a graduate student pursuing a M.A in Educational Technology at MSU. She assists in the Educational Technology department for the College of Arts and Letters, helping to incorporate digital tools and technologies in the classroom and beyond.

Brooke Hawkins

Brooke is a recent graduate of the Professional Writing program at MSU. She works in the Creativity Exploratory, fostering peer projects and working on her own research. She also assists with the Educational Technology department for CAL, supporting professors, students, and staff in incorporating digital tools in MSU classrooms.

This year the event kicked off at one of the hotel’s off-site restaurants, The Gate House with an early attendee Tigerfest Reception featuring Tigers-themed graphics. The following morning the conference started with welcome remarks by Michigan State Governor, Rick Snyder and a Keynote Address by the former Governor of Florida, Jeb Bush in the hotel’s Theatre.  One of the most popular events after a busy day was The Grand Event featuring smooth jazz with Lansing area saxophonist Phil Denny, and a strolling dinner in the hotel’s Parlor. That same evening down in the Tea Garden NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion Brad Keselowski joined the group for a Summerfast party. The party was complete with an outdoor tent, stage, live music, dancing, refreshments, and Brad’s Miller Lite Ford Fusion that he rode across the Mackinac Bridge earlier that evening. After hours entertainment in the Cupola Bar continued with a trio playing Motown Classics and dance favorites.

Throughout the week AT&T held a communication center in the Cottage Restaurant. MLive sponsored iPad stations where attendees could stop in, relax and checkout the latest information and talk with Michigan’s leading team of journalists.  Many radio stations from metro Detroit setup in the Parlor and the Main Dining Room where live broadcasts took place. Paul W. Smith and Frank Beckmann from WJR hosted their morning shows live from the Parlor every morning of the conference. NBC Detroit setup on the west end of the hotel’s front porch where they did live broadcasts and updates.

Thursday was filled with more presentations and discussions in the Theatre. Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough, hosts of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” brought a national perspective to Mackinac by bringing their morning television unscripted approach to discuss the current business and political landscape currently impacting the country.

Ice Cream Socials were held in Sadie’s Ice Cream Parlor, a brand new addition to Grand Hotel this past May. Michigan Media Solutions hosted a Bourbon night down in the Tea Garden with bourbon tasting, live music, dancing, and cartooning by editorial staff from the Detroit News and Free Press. Final Mlive held an event outdoors at the Jockey Club at the  Grand Stand featuring special guest  Michigan native and American Idol Finalist Matt Giraud.

We look forward to this great event in 2014 and can’t wait to see what is next.

The ordinary, the safety, the tandem, the Palm Beach and the Collegiate will be featured by Grand Hotel during the 2013 Mackinac Island Lilac Festival Parade at 4 pm, June 16

Grand Hotel has seen many different styles of bicycles over the past 126 years.  The early travel guides described Mackinac Island as having “good roads” and 19^th century visitors would often bring their bicycles with them,or rent them when they arrived. 

When Grand Hotel opened in 1887 the high wheel, or “ordinary”, bicycle was the rage but also dangerous, with its large wheel in the front, a small wheel in the back and no brakes. Can you just imagine, riding down Grand Hill with no brakes? Next came the chain driven “safety” bicycle with two even size wheels and the addition of brakes.

Tricycles made it to Mackinac Island in the late 19^th century and the tandem, a two person bicycle, was quick to follow.  Grand Hotel and “A Bicycle Built For Two” were featured in the 1947 film “This Time For Keeps” starring Jimmie Durante and Esther Williams.

Grand Hotel once featured bicycles with Palm Beach wicker chairs that guests could be peddled to town in. Even Christopher Reeve was seen peddling a 1979 Schwinn Collegiate around Grand Hotel during the shooting of the film “Somewhere In Time”.  Of course the Island has seen other types of bicycles during its history and Grand Hotel will showcase many more during the parade.   These bicycles come from the collections of Grand Hotel Historian Bob Tagatz, Security Director Jason Kladiva and Security Guard Ted Weeks.

William Surdock, Drew Butterfield and Matt Williams

The Grand Hotel grounds crew is made up of roughly 20 people during the season.  This season we have a Superintendent of Golf and Grounds, Drew Butterfield, a Head Gardner, Matt Williams, and Assistant Golf Course Superintendent, William Surdock, and an Assistant Gardner, Arturo Rodriguez.  The remainder of the crew is made up of approximately 9 staff members on the golf course and 8 others on the gardens crew.  Our management team all have a background in horticulture with degrees in Turfgrass Management and Horticulture from Ohio State University and Michigan State University.

All staff members, whether new or returning, go through a day long training program each spring.  This helps to ensure all employees have the knowledge to safely and effectively operate any equipment they may be using during the season.  Predominately used in grounds maintenance are hand tools, as well as string trimmers, backpack blowers, hedge trimmers, a few push mowers and a New Holland 1510 tractor that was purchased 2 years ago.

4th of July Cookout Luncheon

The crew has many types of turf to manage throughout the season including Kentucky Bluegrass and perennial ryegrass in the Tea Garden.  The Tea Garden is mowed twice a week, alternating cutting directions to give it a beautiful diamond pattern when viewed from the Front Porch.  Gardens planted on each side of the fountain in 2013 will consist of a mixture of Dahlias, Marigolds, Alyssum, Petunias, Rudbeckia, Ornamental Peppers, Snapdragons, Dianthus, Zinnia, Celosia and Amaranthus Crimson.  

Tea Garden Wedding

The TeaGarden is home to many events during a season including the 4th of July cookout and children’s carnival, private conference parties,  weddings small and large,  daily lawn games, and of course the Labor Day Jazz Festival.  This season we have added a Grand Garden Show Weekend featuring Proven Winners that will take part mostly in the Tea Garden with planting ideas and hands on activities with our staff as well as garden guru P. Allen Smith.

The grounds department has adopted a few new “green” practices over the past five seasons, including the elimination of phosphorous from all fertilizers used.  The Jewel golf course has been using herbicides and fungicides on an as needed basis, with a complete elimination of all insecticides over the past 3 seasons.  They maintain a composting area where all plant material from the gardens as well as coffee grounds from the hotel are piled.  There are 3 separate piles with the first being 2 years old and ready for use during the current season, the second pile is from the previous season and is turned 5 times to aid in the composting process. The last pile is created from waste during the current season.     

The Jewel golf course has a front and back 9 that are separated by 1.25 miles.  For those playing 18 holes, we transport players via horse-drawn carriage between the Grand Nine (front) and Woods Nine (back).  The Grand Nine was built in 1904, and then redesigned by golf course architect Jerry Matthews in 1987.  Woods Nine was also designed by Mr. Matthews, and opened for play in 1994.

View of Lake Huron from the Jewel

The Grand Nine includes one of the best views from a golf course in the entire state of Michigan.  Hole number 7 is a 245 yard, severely downhill, par 3 overlooking Lake Huron, with the green being surrounded by water on 3 sides. Between holes 4 and 5 is a natural area filled with color throughout the season by wildflowers growing there and behind green number 3 is a waterfall that is fed by the stream that comes into play between holes 2-5. Woods Nine has Bentgrass greens, tees, and fairways and consists of 2 par 3 holes that are over 200 yards and a dog leg par 5 that is out of reach for any above average golfer in 2 shots, at 552 yards. Our golf course crew consists of Superintendent Drew Butterfield, Assistant William Surdock and a crew of 9 or 10 others.  With the front and back nine being such a distance apart, the crew is split in half for most of the season coming together in the spring and fall when only the front nine is open.

The entire Grounds Crew work very hard to ensure our guests and passers by enjoy the view.  We have thousands of flowers and plants over the acres of land owned by Grand Hotel.  We hope you take the time to stop and enjoy their work next time you are on Mackinac.

This year there were seminars on quilting, needlepoint, knitting, and embroidery. The instructors were June McKnight from Pacific Grove, CA, Paul Nadelstern from Kaleidoscope Quilts, Judith Baker Montano from LaVeta, CO, and Sally Melville from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Below are a few pictures from this event.

Brian Thomas at Fort Mackinac

Brian “BT” Thomas, a fielder for the Monitor Base Ball Club, was a historical interpreter at Fort Mackinac during the 1990s. He served faithfully for many summers wearing the wool of Mackinac soldiers and giving tours to thousands of visitors. Thomas’ “enlistment” ended in the late 90s but he still returns to Fort Mackinac and suits up on occasion. Following his enlistment Thomas would go on to help found the Monitor Vintage Base Ball Club in Chelsea and the Walker Tavern Wheels Vintage Base Ball Club in Brooklyn, MI.

Jason Kladiva at Fort Mackinac

Jason “Gypsy” Kladiva, umpire and Grand Hotel Director of Security, began his enlistment at Fort Mackinac shortly after Brian Thomas departed. Kladiva served full seasons at Fort Mackinac in 2000 and 2001 and would return to give tours during several seasons in the fall. When he wasn’t at Fort Mackinac he played vintage base ball with the Chicago Salmon, the Deep River Grinders (Hobart, IN), the Diamond BBC (Portage, IN), and the Welkin BBC (Port Huron, MI). In 2008 and 2009, Kladiva hosted a radio show, “Vintage Base Ball This Week”, that covered all 200+ vintage base ball clubs in the United States and Canada. Using this venue, Kladiva helped clubs all over the country to organize and begin playing base ball by mid-19th century rules. His final enlistment ended at Fort Mackinac in 2009 and he began work at Grand Hotel the following year.

Ted Weeks – Lighthouse

Theodore Weeks, scorekeeper, served one season (2011) as a soldier at Fort Mackinac before coming to Grand Hotel. Weeks, a year-round security guard at the hotel, strayed from his love of historic bicycles to take his first swing at vintage base ball in 2012. As the scorekeeper he also keeps a close eye on safety during the match to ensure that players and spectators do not take the game to neighboring Cadotte Avenue and in the way of passing carriages. On his days off, Weeks travels by boat to Mackinac City where he gives the lighthouse keeper at Mackinaw Point Lighthouse a day off. He and Kladiva can often be seen riding their high wheel bicycles around Mackinac Island.

You can be sure Thomas, Kladiva and Weeks will take every chance to share the history of Mackinac Island with visitors during the vintage base ball games and will begin sharing before the matches even start. Kladiva and Weeks will begin the day with a historic walking tour of downtown Mackinac Island at 10 am that will begin at the Shepler dock and end at the base ball field (located between the Grand Hotel tennis courts and the Gate House). The base ball games will follow at 12 noon and 2 pm. The tour and base ball games are free to the public.

Today’s guest blogger is Jack Barnwell of Barnwell Landscape and Garden.  Jack will be with us during our Grand Garden Show Featuring Proven Winners this August 25-27, providing gardening tips and giving hands-on demonstrations.

Jack Barnwell here, owner of the Mackinac Island based company, Barnwell Landscape and Garden. We are in the midst of the oh-so-important spring prep season, getting Mackinac’s gardens ready for another wonderful season of lush, colorful blooms! Although we have been challenged by some lingering cold temperatures, the show must go on as we all know the stunning lilac and trillium bloom is right around the corner and the whole island will be on display once again. The early spring prep time has always been my favorite time on Mackinac Island. Watching the island’s gardens wake up from their winter slumber is truely magical. The tulips and daffodils on the Grand hill are eagerly poking their heads up through the soil, and I look forward to seeing what coloful combinations the Grand Hotel gardeners have come up with for this year.

For as long as I can remember, I have always thought Grand Hotel was the perfect location for a traditional ice cream parlor. I am very excited about the addition of Sadie’s Ice Cream Parlor for many reasons. Naming it Sadie’s will prolong the legend of my parents’ Scottish Terrier who won the Westminster in 2010. We have partnered with Hudsonville Ice Cream, a family owned Michigan company and it has been great working with and getting to know them. I have learned a lot about the ice cream business by working alongside them. Finally, because Sadie’s is going in what was Margaret’s Garden, the flower shop will move into the lower lobby into an open air location. It reminds me of when the flower shop used to be in the Parlor of the hotel. Passing by and smelling the wonderful fragrance of the fresh flowers and seeing our floral designers at work is something our guests will enjoy a great deal.

There are a few other things that I have also wanted to do for a number of years that I am pleased we are able to accomplish this winter. Ever since the creation of Masco Cottage, I have always wanted to add a private hot tub. Guests staying there this summer will enjoy a Masco Corporation-made Hot Springs Grandee Spa. Also, with the increasingly hot summers we have been having, I am pleased to announce that one of my favorite dining locations, Woods, will be air-conditioned for the upcoming season.

We have taken some of our partnerships and expanded them to create special packages this year. Our Live Healthy Live Grand partnership with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan has been so successful that we are doing a weekend package this year. We have also partnered with island gardener Jack Barnwell and Proven Winners to do a Grand Garden Show. Our June Wine Appreciation Weekend will feature Domaine Chandon. I have long enjoyed both their sparking and still products and we will have one of our best wine weekends ever with their participation.

Each spring, I get excited to see all of our returning staff and meeting those that are new. It was amazing to me last year when we recognized our staff who have worked 10 years or longer during our 125th Anniversary Celebration, that 125 staff members have been with us 10 years and longer. That simply amazes me to this day.

I am very excited about another Grand Hotel season and hope we have the opportunity to see you on Mackinac.

Dan Musser

Mr. and Mrs. R.D. Musser, Jr.

We are so pleased to announce that the Michigan Lodging and Tourism Association voted unanimously this past week to rename their “Hotelier of the Year Award” the “R.D. Musser Hotelier of the Year Award.”

In addition, the Board also voted to devote all future MLTA Workplace Scholarships to the name and memory of a man who was a lodging and tourism visionary. These scholarships are presented to further the careers of creative, talented, and hardworking employees who may lack a diploma, but are equal in potential, value and stature to any college graduate.

The scholarships are offered to assist in covering the costs of certification programs or seminars offered by the AH&LA Educational Institute. In 2013, all R.D. Musser Workplace Scholarships will be awarded at the discretion and direction of Dan Musser III and his management staff, exclusively to current employees of Grand Hotel. Moving forward, those scholarships will be made available to employees in MLTA member properties across Michigan.

President of the MLTA, Steve Yencich interviewed Mr. Musser for a past edition of “Michigan Lodging” and below is an exerpt from this interview.

A conversation with R.D. “Dan” Musser

Dan Musser joined the staff of the Grand Hotel in 1951 and was appointed its president in 1960. Musser and wife Amelia began the redesign of the hotel’s interior and exterior with the help of architect Richard Bos in 1970 and decorator Carleton Varney in 1976. Three year’s later he bought the property from his uncle, W. Stewart Woodfill.

Michigan Lodging: Mr. Musser, when did your hospitality career begin and how has the business changed since then?

I started working for my uncle, W. Stewart Woodfill in Mackinac in 1951. My uncle was sort of my godfather; actually much more than that. My dad died when I was fourteen, and suddenly my Mom was a widow. My uncle sent me to college; which was a great help. I went to college and majored in economics … and drinking beer. (smiling)

Business sure has changed. Back then chain business was pretty much non-existent. It was mostly individual entrepreneurs who owned and operated their properties. That’s not the case nowadays. We’re kind of a freak today. I bet as you look at your membership list today you have a whole lot of chain and corporately-owned properties.

So it’s a different industry. But in the end, it’s still got to be about selling beds and food. That part doesn’t change much. You still have to run a clean place, have a “smiler” who knows how to make people feel at home, and put good food on the table. Those things never change.

ML: What stands out as the most challenging years for Grand Hotel?

I don’t understand how we made it from 1932 until 46. We went from the depression, right into World War II. To give you an example, we used to do a lot of college sorority and fraternity business, national fraternities and sororities, which were, oh…about 400-500 kids or people. That all changed in 1930. I remember coming across files which showed that we booked business in the 30’s for $3.50 a head, with breakfast, lunch and dinner included. We probably didn’t make any money, but it kept us going. And that’s the key. We all struggle from time to time; the trick is to do the things that keep you going.

ML: Let’s talk a little bit about some of the things that have changed since you began…

When I started we had some guests that stayed a month. They could all afford to stay a month. In our place today, that’s over. It’s kind of out of your hands, society has changed; work and vacations have changed with it. Now, a stay is little over two days, so that’s an enormous change. We’ve had to figure out how to change rooms, handle the daily turnover of inventory while maintaining high standards; and nowadays every place else has to make itself unique. Everyone has to react to such changes. The Association has changed just about as much.

ML: How so?

Well, my uncle was Chairman of the Association in the late 1930’s. I saw a copy of a newspaper with front page coverage of the Association’s annual meeting. The newspaper reported there were 600 people there celebrating the end of the tourist season. There was a picture of my uncle, and some of the great operators of that time, and it was all front page information. I can’t envision a hotel meeting today of that size in the state of Michigan, or that kind of press coverage.

And then you go from there to 1968, and if we had 35 to 40 people at our annual meeting, that was unusual. We had some bad years. When I was Chairman, the Association was still dominated by independents. We had a lot of properties that paid one year if they were having a good year; and if not they’d drop the Association. I bet there were some years that there were five or ten of us that paid dues. I understand the economics, but when things are bad; that’s when you need an association.

ML: Why did you support the Association so consistently?

Somewhere early on I realized the Association is not the building, or the equipment or your newsletter; it’s the lobbying, you, your staff, and some of the administrative things. Remember, we’ve made association business a mainstay. So I’ve watched how good associations operate and saw how they benefited their industries. We wanted to help contribute to that happening here. Associations represent people and their livelihoods. I don’t think that will ever change; it never has changed in my fifty years around it.

ML: What do you consider our industry’s greatest asset and biggest weakness?

I don’t know if I ever really thought about that, but I suppose it’s one in the same. I think our biggest assets are service, facilities, and quality. And I think our biggest deficit is the lack thereof. We do some things very well in every property you can think of. All of us do things not as well as we’d like to, and it only takes one bad experience with a staff person to determine a guest’s lasting memory of a property. There’s one requirement in our business, and that’s to put heads in the beds. And that will always take a clean property, good food and good customer service.

ML: What do you consider your biggest strategic decision over the expanse of your career?

For us it was my uncle’s decision to get into convention sales, and our decision to build on it. It was a totally new approach for a resort property like ours; to serve both leisure travel and trade association business. So, that was a dramatic change when we got into that business. That and our decision to extend our season earlier into spring and later into fall have served us well over the years.

But we’ve seen other people make strategic decisions that totally changed things. Take guys like Everett Kircher. He was so farsighted. He built a ski hill up there in 1950, before anyone really skied. He brought business to North Michigan that we were unable to bring. I’m sure we brought some that he wasn’t able to bring. He was a visionary that doesn’t come along very often. Paul Nine in Grand Traverse Resort was another. He had some tough financial times, but he certainly was a visionary to build that complex, and its future looks pretty solid now.

But there’s that kind of people at all levels in this business, regardless of the size of the property. People who think ahead of their times, position their property to survive and grow. That’s been the key to this industry’s future, and always has been in my opinion.

We are excited to have so many talented individuals  joining us this June, and wish the Accafellas luck in the Semi-Finals.

The ‘Fellas Trip to ICCA’s Semi-Finals

Every year we, the MSU Accafellas, compete in the Varsity Vocals International Championship of Collegiate A cappella. This is the only international tournament that showcases the art of student a cappella singing and is dedicated to providing top-notch collegiate a cappella groups with valuable feedback from our highly qualified judges. Groups are evaluated based on their vocal technique, choreography, and musicality.
Each year, the tournament takes place from January through April in six regions: West, Midwest, South, Mid-Atlantic, Northeast, and Europe. Each region holds several quarterfinal events. The top two college groups at each quarter-final advance to the college semi-finals, and the winner of each semi-final is invited to participate in finals, held in the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, where they compete for cash prizes and the coveted title of Grand Champion.

Historically, the Accafellas have only advanced past the quarter-final round once…until this year! The ‘Fellas were beyond thrilled to place first at quarter finals and also received an award for  ‘best choreography’ for our rendition of  “Everybody Talks” by Neon Trees. At the semi-finals, we came in second place, allowing us to submit our set as the ‘wild card’ entry for the finals.

Preparation for the ICCA Competitions is one that takes an immense amount of work and time. The week leading up to quarter-finals, for example, we held an extra 28 hours of rehearsal. This kind of investment of time does a great deal for the group in terms of group unity, togetherness, dedication, compromise, and flexibility, which is apparent on stage. The entire process brings so many new elements to collegiate a cappella.

The ‘Fellas will be submitting our video soon to see if we can earn the ‘wild card’ spot in the final round (fingers crossed!) Regardless of the outcome, we are extremely proud of our accomplishments this year and are feeling stronger than ever!
- MSU Accafellas