News Archives - Page 3 of 5 - Mackinaw Mill Creek Camping

Video of Mackinaw Mill Creek Camping’s 50th Anniversary

August 6, 2014 by Mackinaw Mill Creek Camping

Mackinaw Mill Creek Camping celebrated it's 50th Anniversary on July 8th. We had a grand parade, led by two of the first camper's to ever visit the campground, horses, antique and one-of-a-kind vehicles as well as musical performances and presentations. We also had a wood carving demonstration, the Jack Pine Lumberjack Show and even more!

If you weren't able to attend our 50th Anniversary celebration, you're in luck, because we made a video so you wouldn't miss a thing! As you will see, it was an unseasonably cool and blustery day for July, but that didn't stop hundreds of campers and participants from having a great time!

It was a bittersweet 50th Anniversary celebration. We all wished that Richard and Rose Rogala (our parents and founders of the campground) were here to experience the excitement and to meet all the campers, family and friends who came to help us mark the occasion!

50th Anniversary at Mackinaw Mill Creek Camping

Check out our video of the 50th Anniversary celebration.

If you enjoyed this article, please share it on Facebook!

The Mackinaw Multi-Sport Mix and Team Maddy

July 11, 2014 by Mackinaw Mill Creek Camping

The last weekend of July athletes stay with us at Mackinaw Mill Creek Camping who are participating in the Mackinaw Multi-Sport Mix. This event incorporates these competitions:

Sprint Triathlon - 800m swim, 30k bike, 5k run
Duathlon - 2mi run, 30k bike, 5k run
Aquabike - 800M Swim, 30k bike
Kayatri- 2 mile Kayak/stand-up Paddleboard, 30k bike, 5k run
Open 5k run

The 2014 Mackinaw Multi-Sport Mix will be held on July 27th.

Among the participants staying with us at the camp last year was Rick Van Beek and his daughter Madison (who was born with severe Cerebral Palsy). That was how we learned about "Team Maddy."

Photo of article in the Daily News about Team Maddy.

This article in the Daily News will give you more information on the inspiring story of "Team Maddy."

Did you know that there are athletes that take disabled children with them on sporting events? That practice was part of the genesis of "Team Maddy." Their story was so inspiring that we decided to create the video (below) so that Rick could share his story personally.

You can learn more about the Mackinaw Multi-Sport Mix (Mackinaw City) as well as this wonderful new idea of athletes sharing the experience of their physical prowess with those who are less fortunate by watching our video (below).

You can also find out more about "Team Maddy" by clicking on the thumbnail of the Daily News news article (left) or by "liking" the "Team Maddy" Facebook page.

Team Maddy of the Mackinaw Multi-Sport Mix

If you find this story as inspiring as we did, please "like," and share it!

Surf Ski Competition at Mackinaw Mill Creek Camping

July 5, 2014 by Mackinaw Mill Creek Camping

The Cheboygan Waterways Open Water Challenge, a surf ski competition, will launch from Mackinaw Mill Creek Camping on July 12, 2014.

If you have ever been on a lake kayak and had the wind and waves, you know how dangerous and terrifying it can be. Did you know that there are people who actually love going out in wind and waves in small kayaks called "surf skis" or "surfskis?"

These special kayaks are made for wind and waves and the enthusiasts actually ride using the power of the wind and the waves. Catching the right swell can propel the craft along at 15 mph.

Surf Ski Competition to be held at Mackinaw Mill Creek Camping on July 12, 2014.

Big wind and waves make the guys that ride these "Surf Ski" kayak's happy.

If you are interested in this popular new sport, then you are in luck because some of the best racers in the world are converging at Mackinaw Mill Creek Camping on July 12 for the Cheboygan Waterways Open Water Challenge. These racers are attracted to the powerful wind and waves of the mighty Great Lakes and have been asking for a chance to race here for years. Pray for bad weather 😀 .
Click here for more information.

2012 US Surf Ski Champs - Sitting on a Skinny Boat in the Bay

This video will acquaint you with the exciting sport of surf skiing.

50th Anniversary at Mackinaw Mill Creek Camping

June 20, 2014 by Mackinaw Mill Creek Camping

Wood carving demonstrations!

There will be a ribbon cutting ceremony and BBQ for Mackinaw Mill Creek Camping's 50th Anniversary.

Ribbon Cutting Ceremony and a BBQ with brats and hot dogs!

Join us for the July 8, 2014 official celebration of Mackinaw Mill Creek Camping's 50th anniversary. Book a site or cabin and enjoy a parade through the park featuring The Lutheran Van Guard Marching Band, antique vehicles, and floats.

Then see live wood-carving demonstrations, live musical performances, ribbon cutting with the Mackinaw Chamber of Commerce, and a BBQ brats, hot dogs and refreshments.

The Grand Marshals of the parade will feature the very first campers to check in when the camp opened on July 1, 1964 - Malcolm and Phyllis Smith of Livonia Michigan.

The Lutheran Van Guard Marching Band will be performing for Mackinaw Mill Creek Camping's 50th Anniversary.

Start the celebration with a parade through the park featuring The Lutheran Van Guard Marching Band, antique vehicles, and floats.

UPDATE: The Cheboygan Daily Tribune published an article covering our 50th Anniversary Celebration!

The first brochure for Mackinaw Mill Creek Camping, circa 1964, then called "Mackinaw Campgrounds."

Here is the campground's first card. The name of the park was originally "Mackinaw Campground." Dad changed the name of the park to "Mackinaw Mill Creek Camping" when a park opened it town using our same name. Then the park opened down the street and called themselves Tee Pee so we had to remove the Tee Pee from all of our cards, posters and bumper stickers. Primitive camping was $1.00 a night in 1964. $1.75 for Modern camping, and $2.00 a night if you wanted newfangled electricity!

One of the original cabins at Mackinaw Mill Creek Camping, circa 1964.

This cabin still exists, it has been remodeled and you can rent it! Our family of 5 (later to be 6) lived here for the first couple years. Two of the boys in diapers (the years before disposables) and no indoor plumbing.

The very first gusts at Mackinaw Mill Creek Camping, circa 1964, then known as "Mackinaw Campground." From left to right: David Smith, Phyllis Smith (holding Denise Smith) and Vince Rogala (background).

Here is our very first camper Phyllis Smith. Her husband Malcolm is probably taking the photo. Both will return on July 8, 2014 to be Grand Marshals of our 50th anniversary parade. She holds her daughter Denise and her son David looks on. In later years both Denise and David worked at the campground. Lurking in the background pumping the camp's first well is 3 year old Vince Rogala, now General Manager of Mackinaw Mill Creek Camping and The Mackinaw Club Golf Course.

For Immediate Release
Mackinaw Mill Creek Camping, 9730 Us Hwy 23, Mackinaw City, MI 49701
Contact: (231) 436-5584

Michigan's Favorite - Mackinaw Mill Creek Camping Celebrates 50th Anniversary

Family owned Mackinaw Mill Creek Camping celebrates it's 50th year of operation this July with a parade through the park, and other special events.

On July 8, 2014 campers will enjoy the official celebration of Mackinaw Mill Creek Camping's 50th anniversary. The party starts off with a parade through the park featuring The Lutheran Van Guard Marching Band, antique vehicles, and floats. Other events include wood carving demonstrations, live musical performances, ribbon cutting with the Mackinaw Chamber of Commerce, and a BBQ. The Grand Marshals of the parade will feature the very first campers to check in when the camp opened on July 1, 1964 - Malcolm and Phyllis Smith of Livonia, Michigan.

"We did a lot of planning to make sure our 50th anniversary is special. We wanted to honor the memory of our parents. They dreamed of creating a campground in a beautiful natural setting where people could come to reconnect with nature and each other. The camp opened with just 17 sites renting at $2.00 a night. From the start, campers liked mom and dad's little place on the lake with a sandy beach. With a lot of work, little by little, year after year, our family has built the park into one of the largest and most popular campgrounds in the Great Lakes region," explained Vince Rogala.

Recipient of numerous awards and most recently named as The Favorite Campground in Michigan by viewers of TV 9 & 10, Mackinaw Mill Creek Camping features a mile of shoreline with campsites and cabins viewing the Mackinac Bridge, and Mackinac Island. Amenities include a heated pool, park store, arcade, modern restroom and shower facilities as well as sites for all types of campers (including the only Mackinac bridge-view campsites available anywhere). The campground operates Mackinac Lakefront Cabin Rentals, and gives guests discounts for it's 310 acre, 18 hole Mackinaw Club Golf Course.

To learn more about Mackinaw Mill Creek Camping visit www.CampMackinaw.com.

About Mackinaw Mill Creek Camping:

Mackinaw Mill Creek Camping was opened by Richard and Rose Rogala on July 1, 1964 and today is still operated by their sons, Frank, Chris, Vince and Edward Rogala. To learn more about the history of the camp visit: The History of Mackinaw Mill Creek Camping.

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2014/06/prweb11963574.htm

The Cheboygan Daily Tribune covers the 50th Anniversary celebration at Mackinaw Mill Creek Camping.

The Cheboygan Daily Tribune covered our 50th Anniversary celebration here at Mackinaw Mill Creek Camping. An excerpt from the article:

... The celebration kicked off with a parade featuring the Lutheran Vanguard Marching Band, antique vehicles, floats, and Grand Marshals Malcolm and Phyllis Smith of Livonia, the first campers to check in when the campground opened on July 1, 1964.

The parade made its way down to the waterfront, where campers enjoyed music by Denny Beach and Sam King, hot dogs and refreshments, log carving, and a demonstration by the Jack Pine Lumberjack Show.

Quinn Rogala, granddaughter of the campground's founders Richard and Rose Rogala, made a heartfelt speech, and the Mackinaw City Chamber of Commerce was on hand for a ribbon cutting and the presentation of a plaque commemorating 50 years of camping.

"We did a lot of planning to make sure our 50th anniversary is special. We wanted to honor the memory of our parents," said Vince Rogala, general manager of the campground. "They dreamed of creating a campground in a beautiful natural setting where people could come to reconnect with nature and each other. ...

Read the full story here, or by clicking the image above.

New at Mackinaw Mill Creek Camping for 2014

May 30, 2014 by Mackinaw Mill Creek Camping

This summer is Mackinaw Mill Creek Camping's 50th anniversary of operation!

Everyone is making their best effort to have the campground at its best in our 50th year anniversary, so we are replacing signs, putting new wood on tables and most anything needed to keep the place looking ship shape!

It was a long cold winter, but we still were able to accomplish a lot. We have doubled the size of sites on three roads in our full hookup section. These sites are now 50 foot by 50 foot! We hope to continue this trend until all of these sites are some of the largest full hookup sites available.

New planting of trees at Mackinaw Mill Creek Camping. Copyright (©) 2014 Mackinaw Mill Creek Camping and Frank Rogala. All rights reserved. — Some of the new trees we planted this year at Mackinaw Mill Creek Camping.

The harsh winter killed a lot of trees and bushes, so we have planted literally hundreds and hundreds of new trees.

We were able to put a fresh coat of red cedar stain on most all of our lakefront cabins - they look sharp.

Still to come, this week we will pave the road from the park store to the office. This will cut down on dust and the need to water that road and grading out potholes. We can't wait!

We have been through an upgrade of our camp management software, which caused a slowdown in our processing of reservations this spring (are you one of those people that had to wait for your reservation to be processed - sorry!!) as we were switching over. It was a big job, but now that things are rolling, we are caught up and we think it will be better than ever. It gives us the ability to see on a map where everyone is, so that, when possible, we can give our campers elbow room.

We are starting to replace our pool furniture with handmade wooden lounges and chairs. Everyone loved the sample ones we made so we are going ahead and hoping that by this time next year it will be 100% custom Mackinaw Mill Creek Camping furniture. All made by the same artisans that create our beautiful cabins.

Firepits at Mackinaw Mill Creek Camping. Copyright (©) 2014 Mackinaw Mill Creek Camping and Frank Rogala. All rights reserved. — Popular fire pits made by "upcycling" old propane tanks which are sliced and filled with concrete and painted. All done onsite by our own Mackinaw Mill Creek Camping artisans!

We continue to add more and more of our popular permanent firepits that have been upcycled (by our onsite artisans) using slices of large LP gas tanks filled with concrete.

We remodeled two of our men's lake area restrooms, combining them into one large room and installed new woodwork and wooden decking around our Supersaver bathrooms in the wooded area.

After the long cold snowy winter, the water level in Lake Huron has recovered and now surrounds our boat launch. Though higher, the water probably won't be deep enough to launch any boats this season. Perhaps another snowy winter will restore the water levels and the function of our boat launch to normal next year!

We continue to upgrade and improve our Wi-Fi and added an additional 100 MB per second feed to the park for 2014.