History club students immerse themselves in Michigan history in Mackinac

By Emmett Roman
Staff Reporter

On May 2, the history club took a trip up to Mackinac Island. The club was able to achieve this by spending the entire year fundraising in order to raise money for the trip. They sold candy bars and participated in bake sales.

Tyler Reck, a club member who used to work at Mackinac himself, enjoyed many parts of coming back. “My favorite part of the trip was going back to the island after not being there for three years. I enjoyed seeing my friends and catching up with them,” Reck reminisced. “I really liked that people remembered who I was even though I haven’t been to Mackinac in a long time. I didn’t need a map or anything like that to get around. It felt like I never left!”

One of the memorable parts of the trip for Reck was going to the Milliken Nature Center. “I’ve been on tons of carriage tours because when you work on island, you can go on free carriage tours,” Reck explained. “I didn’t realize the nature center opened the weekend we went; I was told it would open on the 9th. There’s quite a lot of geological information about Arch Rock at the nature center.” Reck also enjoyed going to the Island Slice, which is one of Mackinac Island’s pizza places.

The group also went to Fort Mackinac. There, the students stepped back into time, going through colonial America during the American Revolution. According to the Fort Mackinac website, “The cannon blasts, the rifles fire, the soldiers march and history comes alive. The oldest building in Michigan and 13 other historical structures boast exhibits explaining everything from military training and battles to medical treatments to family life within the fort.”

The trip gave the History Club lots of opportunities to connect with history outside the classroom.