Imagine sitting down to Thanksgiving dinner on Mackinac Island and finding a platter of roast pig on the table! That was the main course back in 1831, according to a letter from the time. Alongside pork, the meal included potatoes, turnips, a dish of stewed chickens and a cup of tea as well as pumpkin pie made without eggs or milk. The children also ate fresh fish.
Around that same time, a Christmas meal included roast pig along with roast goose, chicken pie, round beef, sausage, fruit preserves and cake. Headcheese, a jellied meat dish made from the head of a pig, was also on the menu.
These days, the recipes for the typical Thanksgiving and Christmas meals might be different, but holiday celebrations remain an important part of life for individual families on Mackinac Island and the community at large. Here’s a look at a few of the ways Mackinac Island observes the holiday season:
Christmas Bazaar Weekend on Mackinac Island
The first Friday in December is the symbolic start to the holidays on Mackinac Island, where the community gathers for a ceremonial Christmas tree lighting right in the middle of Main Street. After a Holiday Hayride around town, there’s a sing-along as the tree sparkles under the night sky.
“It used to be only residents, but in the past years we’ve had more visitors who’ve wanted to come,” said Trish Martin, the keeper of Bogan Lane Inn and a leader of the caroling. “I think they think it’s something out of a Hallmark special.”
The first Saturday in December brings Mackinac Island’s Christmas Bazaar to Community Hall with handmade crafts, baked goods, raffles and both live and silent auctions. The sales raise money for Mackinac Island’s four churches and the Mackinac Island Medical Center. Then, on Saturday night, there’s a Mackinac Island Community Theatre production starring island residents and employees.
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Holiday Decorations on Mackinac Island
In addition to a large Christmas tree smack dab in the middle of Main Street, Mackinac Island gets all decked out in holiday décor in December. There are wreaths on the lampposts from downtown all the way toward Mission Point Resort, and many storefronts and hotels feature holiday themes – even if they’re not open in the winter.
Some Mackinac Island shops open for Christmas Bazaar Weekend and they all look the part of one of America’s Top Christmas Towns. It’s also fun to stroll through the Harrisonville residential area on Mackinac Island – perhaps while singing some Christmas carols – to see how people have decorated their homes. You might even notice some trees adorned with purple lights in honor of Mackinac Island’s iconic lilacs.
Mackinac Island also participates in Wreaths Across America, a program that put wreaths on the graves of veterans buried in Mackinac Island’s cemeteries.
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Christmas Eve and Santa Claus on Mackinac Island!
Sometimes, Santa shows up to the Community Tree Lighting during the Christmas Bazaar Weekend. And you might even catch a glimpse of Jolly Old St. Nick during the Christmas Eve service at Ste. Anne’s Church!
Many Mackinac Island residents go to Ste. Anne’s for a Dec. 24 service even if they’re not Catholic. After the service, keep your eye out for people offering up meat pies, a Mackinac Island holiday treat.
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Snow on Mackinac Island!
Because Mackinac Island is car-free, snowmobiles are a common way of getting around in the winter…so long as there’s snow on the ground. Praying for snow is standard Mackinac Island behavior.
Not only does snow enable transportation by snowmobile, but when there’s white stuff on the ground you can also go cross-country skiing, fat tire biking, sledding and more. It makes Christmas break from school much better when it comes with a “regular winter” full of snow.
Speaking of school, the annual Mackinac Island Public School Christmas program that takes place before the break is a traditional favorite of the holiday season.
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New Year’s Eve on Mackinac Island
In the old days, The Mustang Lounge would lock the doors at midnight on Dec. 31 and for the next hour drinks were free to anyone inside as Mackinac Island rang in the New Year with singing and dancing.
While that tradition has evolved over the years, making a reservation to spend New Year’s Eve at Michigan’s most historic tavern remains a popular way to celebrate. So is the Great Turtle Drop, which visitors love to experience in the year’s final moments right out front of Lilac Tree Suites. The turtle gets lowered to street level at the stroke of midnight, marking the start of the New Year.
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More Mackinac Island Holiday Traditions
By the late 1800s, turkey was included alongside chicken and duck for holiday meals at Fort Mackinac. Around that same time, a diary written by the son of the Fort Mackinac surgeon mentions a tree and gifts for Christmas, too. The boy recorded how his brother “was delited with” the Christmas tree on Christmas morning and noted that he received “the ‘Theatre Royal.’ a knife, the Calendar of American History and several other little preasants.”
The boy’s diary also recounts how they “began to dress the church” for Christmas about a week before the holiday, how he started learning a Christmas song a couple weeks before and how he went ice skating on the pond on Thanksgiving Day.
Even though specifics have changed through the generations – here’s a modern-day Thanksgiving recipe from Grand Hotel, for example – the 19th-century holiday observances are not altogether different from how people on Mackinac Island celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas nowadays.
One thing conspicuously absent from these earlier accounts, however, is world-famous Mackinac Island fudge. It wasn’t until the 1900s that fudge really took hold as a Mackinac Island tradition. Now, it’s a key ingredient in holiday feasts with seasonal flavors such as Chocolate Walnut, Chocolate Turtle, Chocolate Mint, Cranberry and others. Peanut brittle and saltwater taffy are popular for the holidays as well.
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