Worried Mackinaw City business owners urge caution, going slow: 'We're scared'
Phoebe Wall Howard
At the tip of The Mitten, three hours north of Lansing, business owners in Mackinaw City watched news coverage of sign-carrying protesters at the state Capitol demanding Gov. Gretchen Whitmer relax stay-at-home restrictions meant to slow the spread of COVID-19.
"As far as re-opening right now, I'm not for it. Not yet," said Sharon Zulski, owner of the Keyhole Bar and Grille. "I'm being cautious. I'm being a realist. We're a town of a lot of older people."
Meanwhile, she worries the pandemic will so shorten the summer season for employees who may not work enough weeks to qualify for unemployment.
"I don't think it's going to be a good summer. People are going to be fearful of traveling," Zulski said Sunday. "I'm concerned about my employees. What we're saying is, 'Stay put until this is done.' We surely don't want to go through this again.' "
Things are so uncertain, she said, that she has decided not to hire the 15 or so people who would be handling summer crowds. "I just don't think we're going to need them."
Zulski, who has owned her restaurant for nearly 40 years, lives in Mackinaw City and worries about her close-knit community and the highly contagious respiratory disease spreading across the state. "Stay where you are so it doesn't infect us. And when we do re-open, we will be changing some of our ways."
'Too soon'
This is a region that views tourism as a financial lifeline for families who struggle to pay bills and put food on the table in the off season.
"We make our living catering to visitors with discretionary funds, but we do not have discretionary funds," said Jamie Westfall, executive director of the Greater Mackinaw City Chamber of Commerce, which represents about 220 businesses including ferry companies that usually shuttle visitors to Mackinac Island between April and October.
"This time of year, we are just un-shuttering, coming out of hibernation and typically getting geared up for schoolkids who always come in May," she said. "Thousands of kids from all over the state who come to our historic parks, the Mackinac Maritime Museum. And our restaurants make sack lunches. That's a big thing we're missing this year."
A week ago, more than two dozen business owners met virtually with Zoom, Westfall said. People discussed when they can open and when it will be safe, having set a target date of May 13.
"Now, they're legally not able to open but they're also wondering when it's going to be feasible to open. We're not angry. We just worry. We're wondering if it's too soon," she said. "We're wanting to be really safe here and protect our community and our employees. We're afraid when these restrictions are lifted and people are going to come up here. What about our employees who live in dorm-style housing? What if our hospitals are overwhelmed? Our No. 1 priority is health. We're scared. We know when people come, it's going to bring the virus. That's almost a certainty."
She fears that small business workers won't have access to personal protection equipment needed to keep themselves and others safe from thousands of visitors a day. "We don't have masks. We don't have hand sanitizer."
Mackinac Island, one of the most popular vacation sites in the country, may see as many as 1 million visitors a season, and many pass through Mackinaw City. That's where boats fuel up and buy provisions for sailing trips.
Mackinaw City restaurants and shops often have shoulder-to-shoulder crowds. What will that look like in July and August, the busiest and most lucrative months of the summer?
"No matter what the government says, the minute we open our doors, our employees are at risk and our patrons are at risk," Westfall said. "We want to make sure everybody is safe."
Patrick Frohoff, co-owner of Marshall's Fudge and Candy Company, is grateful the business founded by his wife's grandfather in 1923 has a strong online customer base. He's working to move their Mackinaw Clothing and Sportswear shop online now.
"We just had this conversation with the Chamber of Commerce," he said. "How do you see opening up? I don't see opening up the clothing store, and we've got a lot of new inventory. I don't want to invite the virus into that environment with my current employees. One of them has been working in the business for almost 50 years. I don't want them to have to deal with the public if there's a chance for them to get sick. The virus hasn't changed and it's not going to change in the next month or two. It'll still be transmittable."
For now, Central Avenue in the tiny town is "completely dead." And Frohoff is just one of many small businesses declined for a federal rescue loan. His only goal is to survive two years, and then he'll feel safe.
"I've been trying to picture what is Mackinaw gonna look like. Normally you have large quantities of people walking around town. I don't see how people are going to social distance," he said. "People will be on top of each other. So does that continue the spread? There will be some people that don't care or just want to get on with their lives. After three weeks of opening up, we'll kinda know. I just don't see it. Once someone comes through, touches all these doors and goes in and out, then the next 50 who follow and we get thousands of people on a given day."
No one wants to be "doom and gloom," but business owners say they wonder if traffic won't be affected until the summer of 2022, when a vaccine is expected.
"People are going to social distance until there's a solution," Frohoff said.
A business owner who asked not to be identified out of concern his view might alienate customers, said recent customer interaction underscored his desire to remain closed.
"People were traveling when the governor didn't want people to travel," the business owner told the Free Press. "They were up here and said they were 'anti-quarantiners.' They said they 'don't believe in it.' That was a group of, like, five or six people in their 30s and 40s and they had a 5-year-old."
In another situation, a woman went into the Mackinaw City business and started coughing and hacking, then explained she had just finished a 79-hour work week at a grocery store in Grand Rapids.
"We just started wiping down everything that was touched," the business owner said Sunday. "And we can't do that all summer."
Advice requested
Business owners say they're hoping when government officials lift restrictions that advice is provided on how best to protect workers moving forward.
"We need clear guidelines on what's required and recommended," Westfall said. "I could set all the old ladies in town to sewing and we could start pumping out as many masks as they could. Is that safe enough?"
"We're kind of in a holding pattern," Westfall said, waiting to see her board members decide at their monthly meeting Wednesday. "Business owners are free to open as soon as they're able by law but they're not going to make any money because there are not any people here now."
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Visitors from New York, Chicago
While some event organizers have canceled events, others wait and see. Anything that happens on Mackinac Island also directly affects Mackinaw City.
Chris Clark, chairman of the 2020 Bayview Mackinac Race organized by Bayview Yacht Club in Detroit, said Sunday the race is on for July 11.
"We're still moving forward," he said.
In April alone, 17 sailboat owners were registered, bringing the total to 118 from places including New York, Chicago and Colorado. About half have paid fees.
"It's a little down but nothing dramatic," Clark said.
Will the big awards party happen on Mackinac Island? He can't say.
"For people we have talked to up in that region, they're very positive but cautious," he said. "We need to respond to their decisions, their needs. We really can't direct their path forward. They need to establish their path forward and then let us know. ...
"Pressing for answers now is just going to get us answers we don't want."
Sailors are eager to race the famous course that can take one to three days and funnel thousands of people into Mackinaw City.
"We want a safe, legal and ecologically respectful race," Clark said. "We hope the stars all align."
Lilac Fest impacted
Early Monday, Tim Hygh, executive director of Mackinac Island Tourism, issued a statement about the cancelation of some events that were to occur as part of the 72nd Annual Mackinac Island Lilac Festival from June 5-14 "due to the unfolding global health crisis caused by COVID-19."
"These decisions are difficult, but prudent. We prioritize the health and safety of the island's residents, staff and guests, which reflects our commitment to each of our stakeholders, as well as the island's traditions and tourism industry," he said.
Events canceled include the Lilac Festival Grand Parade and Mackinac Island Dog and Pony Show, Hygh said, "as these events require large gatherings of people, which would violate the important social distancing guidelines issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."
Contact Phoebe Wall Howard at 313-222-6512 orphoward@freepress.com.Follow her on Twitter@phoebesaid