Outhouse Race To Highlight Mackinaw City Winterfest
Activities Planned for This Weekend
By Paul Gingras

The 15th annual Mackinaw City Winterfest will celebrate northern Michigan winter Thursday, January 17, through Saturday, January 19, in any weather. The third annual outhouse race, a colorful event that has become one of Winterfest's main attractions, is expected to proceed at 2 p.m. Saturday at Shepler's Ferry parking lot.

There has been a surge of interest in the race this year, said Dawn Edwards of the Mackinaw City Chamber of Commerce.

"This is going to be one of our biggest races," she said.

More participants have registered to run outhouses this year than last.

"I'm painting one right now," said organizer and racer Greg Yoder Thursday, January 10. One week before the race, registration had reached 12, double the number of participants in the 2007 race.

It was Mr. Yoder who brought the idea to Mackinaw City.

While listening to the radio in 2005, Mr. Yoder and friends heard of an outhouse race planned in Sault Ste. Marie. Intrigued, they souped up a deer blind, showed up, and raced it.

It was so much fun, he said, that they decided to have their own outhouse race at Winterfest, and now every year, spectators "show up and laugh at us," Mr. Yoder said.

Organizers are hoping for teams from St. Ignace, Burt Lake, and other nearby towns this weekend. A team includes four runners and one "sitter." They compete for gold, silver, and bronze-painted toilet seats.

Mr. Yoder's team is racing three outhouses: "The Camo Commode," a camouflaged outhouse; "The Jailbird," an outhouse designed to look like a cross between a jail cell and a birdhouse, and another called "Toiletries in Motion."

"We will have a couple of outhouses available, if a team does not have an outhouse but wants to race," Mr. Yoder said. "All you need is a Winterfest button and a good sense of humor."

The outhouse event has been improved for 2008. This year, before the race, it will feature the Parade of Outhouses. The decorated buildings will be circled around the track, allowing teams to show off their designs, which have included flamingo and hunting camp motifs in recent years.

Design and decoration awards will be given out before the timed slippery sprint, Ms. Edwards said. Unlike the past two races, racers will run toward the Shepler's entrance, rather than away, enabling spectators to get a better look at them when they cross the finish line.

Owing to the inherent difficulties of racing the buildings on ice and snow, outhouses frequently go off the track, Ms. Edwards said. The outhouses measure four square feet, by six feet tall.

"Half the fun is seeing where they go off, and how fast teams can get them back on again," she said.

As the outhouses slide, a bonfire and marshmallow roast will take place in view of the track.

Few of Winterfest's activities are weather dependent, Ms. Edwards noted, although snow sculpting has been canceled this year.

Activities begin Thursday. Most are free, with the purchase of a $2 Winterfest button. They can be purchased at the Mackinaw City Chamber of Commerce winter office in Mackinaw Crossings, businesses in town, and at each event site. The buttons will be numbered, and participants with certain numbers can win prizes of $2 to $20. Winning numbers will be posted during the event at the Winterfest sound trailer, the Chamber office, the ice fishing contest, and the Pancake Chef Restaurant. Prizes must be claimed by Friday, January 25.

Thursday, indoor, open skating will take place at the Mackinaw City Recreation Center from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Friday, from 4:30 p.m. to 7 p.m., Pancake Chef Restaurant will host a fish fry, at a cost of $8 for adults and $5 for children 12 and younger. Also on Friday, ice skating with music will take place at the Recreation Center from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Saturday, conditions permitting, an ice fishing contest will take place at Paradise Lake from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. The entry fee is $15 with a Winterfest pin. Registration is at Paradise Lake Marina.

Free hot cocoa and coffee will be available at Pancake Chef from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., and a poker walk will proceed throughout the village, also from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Registration for the poker walk is at The Candy Corner/ Windjammer Gifts, where awards for the best poker hands will be given out at 1:35 p.m. Winners must be present to receive prizes.

From 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., a chili cook-off will be at the American Legion Club. Awards are at 12:45 p.m.

Sleigh or wagon rides will be offered from noon to 2:30 p.m. Boarding is at Marshall's Fudge.

From 1 p.m. to 1:50 p.m., outdoor games for all ages will take place next to the marina in Shepler's parking lot. Participants can take part in a frozen fish toss, push broom hockey, and frozen chicken bowling.

The Parade of Outhouses, awards, and outhouse races will be from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Mancino's Euchre Tournament is from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at Mancino's Grinders and Pizza. The cost is $5 with a Winterfest pin. Registration is from 11 a.m. until noon.