This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Community Corner

Saline Girls Among Elite Corps of Girl Scouts on Mackinac Island

Girl Scout Allison Collins of Saline says that being a Mackinac Island Honor Scout is a great way to serve the country.

Each summer, Mackinac Island Honor Scouts, an elite corps of patriotic Girl Scouts, conduct daily flag ceremonies on Mackinac Island with military precision, fulfilling the Girl Scout Promise “to serve my country.”

Without a practice ground, Mackinac Island Honor Scouts in Patrol 7901 had no way to practice synchronizing the raising and lowering of the flags along the island’s “Avenue of Flags.” Because they are Girl Scouts, the girls took action to solve that problem.  They purchased their own Avenue of Flags and had those flagpoles installed at a practice field at Camp Linden, the resident camp of Girl Scouts Heart of Michigan in Livingston County.  The girls conducted bottle and can drives, held garage sales, and sold concessions at University of Michigan football and basketball games. 

Thanks to their hard work and the support of the Pinckney-Hamburg-Lakeland Service Area Girl Scouts, Mackinac Island Honor Scouts from Patrol 7901 can now properly show the flag of our country the honor it deserves.  The Avenue of Flags at Camp Linden will also inspire patriotism in the thousands of girls and families who camp there each summer.

Find out what's happening in Salinewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

At 5 p.m. on Saturday, May 5, 2012, Mackinac Island Honor Scouts Patrol 7901 will formally dedicate the Avenue of Flags in a special flag raising at Camp Linden, 5285 Hogan Road, Linden, MI, 48451. This ceremony will take place during the Girl Scouts’ Pinckney-Lakeland-Hamburg Encampment. Hundreds of Girl Scouts will attend.  The American Legion will offer a 21-gun salute. Guests will enjoy a delicious picnic dinner in the shade of the Avenue of Flags and the Garrison Flag on Camp Linden’s sports field.

“When I first applied to become a Mackinac Island Honor Scout I thought it was just another cool Girl Scout camping experience,” said Allison Collins, of Saline, “but it is so much more. It’s a great way to serve our country and the experience of being in the corps teaches you so much.  You learn how to conduct yourself professionally, how to manage conflict, how to deal with all kinds of people. We are like 60 sisters, living in the scout barracks and working together."

Find out what's happening in Salinewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Allison and Casey Wisley, also of Saline, are sharing the duties of senior patrol leader this summer. They will serve as liaison between the corps and the adults on the island. They will also make sure that the girls stay hydrated during their long hours of standing at attention at Fort Mackinac.

“I joined Mackinac Island Honor Scouts after sixth grade and have been back every year,” said Casey. “I just love working on that beautiful island and showing my patriotism that way.”

Amelia Balinski of Tecumseh comes back to serve on Mackinac Island every year because: “it teaches you responsibility, dedication and patriotism.  And, “she added, “anything I do with Girl Scouts gives me a whole bunch of new friends, like sisters.”

All three girls say that they are glad that Girl Scouting teaches them to honor the U.S. flag. The flag corps also teaches flag etiquette to younger girls at the Graf-O’Hara VFW Post 243 in Ann Arbor. They are disappointed that classes do not recite the “Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag” in middle school and high school.

Girl Scouts have been performing flag ceremonies and serving as tour guides on Mackinac Island since 1974, when the wife of then Governor William Milliken made it possible for girls to join the Boy Scouts, who had been working there since 1929. Four patrols of 15 girls each raise and lower the island’s 28 flags each day. The girls also stand at attention at various stations around Fort Mackinac, answering tourists’ questions about the history of the fort. When not on tour guide or flag duty, the girls clean trails in the national park and paint. Last summer, one group re-stained the scout barracks.

Girls from Patrol 7901 always serve on the island during the last 10 days of the summer tourist season, late August to Labor Day. Sometimes they get to meet the state governor, if he or she is vacationing there.  A few years ago, then Governor Jennifer Granholm visited the girls in their barracks and talked to them about the value of public service and the value of Girl Scouting.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?