Patti Ann Moskwa Earns Grassroots Champion Award

Patti Ann Moskwa, co-owner of Horn's Gaslight Bar and the Yankee Rebel Tavern on Mackinac Island, was awarded the Grassroots Champion Award by the National Restaurant Association (NRA) in Washington, D.C. Wednesday, September 26.

As one of four finalists chosen from a field of active restaurateurs from every state, Mrs. Moskwa, who has been a member of Michigan Restaurant Association's board of directors since 2002, was chosen by the NRA board for best representing her community and her state in lobbying their interests and needs on a national level.

It is the first time the NRA has presented the Grassroots Champion Award. Each state's restaurant association made one nomination from which the NRA selects the final four and the overall winner.

"I had no clue," said Mrs. Moskwa, who owns and operates both Island businesses with her husband, Steven. "This is really something. I was shocked."

Mrs. Moskwa's interest in national politics was fueled by the foreign worker visa issue that began in post-9/11 America, when restaurateurs in Michigan saw the number of H2B visa workers that were allowed to work in the United States on a temporary basis capped. The federal policy initially gave yeararound and warm-climate businesses first stake, leaving seasonal businesses, like those on Mackinac Island, no chance at filling their staff.

Mrs. Moskwa, along with a small band of other Island business people, began traveling to Washington, D.C., to voice their opinion.

Since then, Mrs. Moskwa, who always has a luggage bag packed, has made a name for herself on Capitol Hill.

"Being involved like this is something I always thought is what you had to do," she said. "Being involved, representing your community and state, you receive so much more. You sacrifice a lot of your time, but it's very rewarding to yourself to be able to help your community and state."

The first Grassroots Champion award winner credits bureaucrats for listening to "her stories."

"They're not supposed to know everything," she said of politicians and state representatives. "You get people involved by telling them your story. I just hope that I'm representing everyone the way they want to be represented."

As for running a national political office, she chuckled, "That's okay; I'll stick to my grass roots."

Mrs. Moskwa is a third-generation restaurant owner who became co-owner of Horn's Bar in 1987. She and Steven started the Yankee Rebel in 1996. She is a member of the Mackinac Island Tourist Bureau and has served on the Mackinac Island School Board and the Planning Commission. She has been a long-time planner and supporter of the Lilac Festival and Tourism Bureau activities.

Founded in 1921, the MRA represents nearly 4,000 Michigan food service establishments. The Michigan food service industry employs more than 300,000 people and has $10.6 billion in annual sales.