Some local Girl Scouts have snagged the prestigious summer gig working as the Mackinac Island Honor Guard for Governor Snyder. Members Allison Collins, Katie Fedoronko, Lexi Morris, Jillian Santos, Sarah Stockton, Evalyn Stow, Elizabeth Weeden and Katherine Weeden were chosen from troops throughout Michigan to serve on the island.
Trained and ready to volunteer
“If you make it in, training is from January through June. We’re already trained for our ten days of service on Mackinac Island, at the end of August, For most of the other groups that go, it’s seven days, but we’re the last group, so we get Labor Day Weekend,” says 16-year-old Evalyn Stow.
The girls raise money to go, volunteer their time and also work as tour guides at Historic Fort Mackinac. “Every day, we raise and lower 26 flags around the island simultaneously. We also do service projects,” 17-year-old Allison Collins says. “In our free time, we can visit the fort, bike, or just hang out at the barracks and play yard games like stilts and capture
the flag.”
Eager to return
Applicants have to be accepted by the State Park Service. If they perform well, they may be invited back, Saline Troop Leader Kathy Van Buren notes. Most are eager to return.
“I have been a Girl Scout for 12 years. One of the main reasons I stayed was because of the sisterhood I found in the Mackinac Scout program. There are several girls that have been in it for four or five years with me and we have grown up together,” Collins says. Many girls find that they make good, life-long friends through the program. The scouts sometimes also have the opportunity to meet the governor they’re volunteering for, a chance not every Girl Scout has. “There are some friends I’ve had since my first yearin the program, and they’re probably some of thepeople I know best,” Stow says. “I’ve also met the past two governors. They come to visit us sometimes, and that’s pretty fun.”
