Mackinac Island residents want television news viewers to see that Mackinac Island is a real, working town with its own creative network of logistics and strong sense of historic preservation. Residents emphasized those aspects of Island living, as well as current marketing challenges, when they met Thursday, September 7, to share ideas with a Traverse City television station which plans to film a "Your Town" series on the Island.

"This isn't a theme park," resident Jason St. Onge told the WPBN (TV 7&4) news producers. "At five o'clock, we don't close down. We have a sewer department, a water department, a fire department, a working city council, and police. This is a real town. Visitors see UPS delivered by horse-drawn dray. Well, at six o'clock, they don't put that away and get the UPS truck out. This is really how we operate here."

Several years ago, news anchor Dave Walker, who facilitated the September 7 meeting, said the station aired a winter sports feature that followed the Beaver Island boys basketball and girls volleyball teams as they traveled to compete against Mackinac Island Public School teams. The trip involved vehicle travel and two separate airplane flights each way. Mr. Walker said the feature generated a lot of comments from viewers.

"Living on an Island or working on an Island seasonally, if you're not a year-around resident, has to be a rather unique and different lifestyle," said Mr. Walker; "something that most people in our viewing area have never experienced or never will experience."

He said the station plans to produce film segments of life on Mackinac Island from October to April and what drives the economy in the off-season, rather than focus on tourism.

Those attending the meeting explained to the news crew that living on Mackinac Island is different than living on other islands. Attendees said Mackinac Island residents have a commitment to historic preservation, while operating as a year-around community whose main industry is summer tourism.

"Everybody here chooses to be here," said Mike Hart. "We chose every day to be here. We chose the inconvenience, the added expense, the sometimes-isolation. The tourist trade is the means by which we support ourselves here. It's the life we've chosen and that's how we maintain it. We welcome tourists because they make it possible for us to maintain our chosen life here."

Mr. Hart, who sits on the city council with Mr. St. Onge, said although the two men have varying political opinions, "We still agree this is a place to preserve and protect."

Greg Hokans, chief of development and marketing at Mackinac State Historic Parks, agreed.

With more than 80 percent of the Island owned by the state park, Mr. Hokans talked about historical and land preservation. The mission statement at the park is to protect, preserve, and present, which he said includes historic and natural resources, the way of life, and the community of Mackinac Island.

"We present all summer long, but all year long we protect and preserve," he said.

Bob Tagatz, historian and concierge at Grand Hotel said the community has done an "amazing" job preserving historical aspects of the Island, and especially the horse culture.

"You don't come and look at history, you step off the boat and you live history," he said.

"We have to compete with the Cedar Points, Disney Worlds, Six Flags, but we're better than all of them because we're the real thing. This is where it really happened," said Mr. Hokans. "Our history, which goes back over five centuries, really happened here. The first ground battle of the War of 1812 really happened here."

Armand "Smi" Horn said that preservation of the Island is a constant part of life.

Mission Point Resort General Manager Dave Sanderson, who moved to Mackinac Island last winter, talked about the sense of community he had found.

"This is a very easy place to move to," he said. "This is a very easy place to receive product. It's just done in unconventional ways. "The story lies in the logistics of how the Island functions, he said, noting that in winter, his groceries arrive by airplane and are then delivered by horse-drawn dray.

Residents talked about the educational advantage of small classrooms, the services at the medical center, and the community's ability to come together to raise funds, as it did last summer when, in one night, enough money was donated to purchase a new ambulance.

Jennifer Bloswick, executive director of the Mackinac Island Community Foundation, said the community provides trips for students to places like Washington D.C.

With many positive aspects to life on Mackinac Island, Mr. Hokans noted that tourists, who support the local economy and who make year-around living on the Island possible, are visiting in fewer numbers.The challenge now facing Island tourism officials is to become better marketers, Mr. Hokans told the news crew. He noted a drop of more than 200,000 tourists in the last seven years, from 960,000 in 1998 to approximately 745,000 last year.

With an infrastructure set up to host one million people a year, he cautioned, "We cannot afford to have another 200,000 people not come next year."

Referring to higher gas prices and a loss of jobs in southeastern Michigan, where many Island visitors live, Mr. Hokans said, "We don't want to go the way of the fur trade because we ran out of visitors because of other external forces."

Mr. Hart said the Island is feeling the effects of "bad decisions in the boardrooms of Detroit."

Mr. Hokans suggested the Island consider value packaging, with one ticket price for specific destinations, so visitors would not think they were opening their wallets all the time.

"For $59 you can ride the boat, jump on a carriage tour, visit the porch of Grand Hotel, visit the fort, and go to a butterfly garden," he said. "No one knows that. We've got to join the Disney Worlds and Cedar Points in the marketing, but at the same time, preserve and protect the real thing that they aren't and we are."

Filming for the "Your Town" series was scheduled to begin Tuesday, September 12.

News Director Doug DeYoung said the station will focus on five to 15 stories. The one-minute to 2.5-minute segments will air the fourth week of September during the morning broadcast between 5:30 a.m. and 7 a.m., and during local news broadcasts at 5 p.m., 6 p.m., and 11 p.m.

The NBC television station has a 25-county coverage area in northern Michigan.