One of the reasons why I requested to go to Charlevoix was because of its location on Lake Michigan. Another motivation was to revisit Beaver Island, the place where my senior class and I spent a weekend conducting “science” experiments in the Island’s diverse ecosystems. This time, I was able to go over on the plane, a short 20-minute ride that I made with Dr. Mann. Here is the plane:
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| seats 6 plus dog comfortably |
The skies decided to send down rain that day, but our very able pilot flew through this just fine. The Charlevoix airport, as expected, consisted of a small building and a few landing strips. The Beaver Island airport, however, did not match my expectations- it was even smaller than I had imagined. We actually landed in a field, slowed down a bit, and then the pilot drove us over to park on the airstrip. Here’s the airport:
At the airport, Chris, the PA at the Beaver Island Health Clinic picked us up. Due to the downpour, I was unable to get a good picture of the clinic, so I will substitute with one from the Clinic’s website:
As Donna, the Clinic’s coordinator, showed me around, I was amazed at the variety of services the clinic offered. A PA, Chris, and a Nurse Practitioner, Sue, staff the clinic on a daily basis. In addition, a physician, psychiatrist, a physical therapist all visit weekly/biweekly. A dentist also works full time on the island. There is also an X-Ray machine on site and a delivery room- though it usually not used, except in emergencies when a woman cannot be flown mainland to deliver a baby.
I was surprised to learn that only about 600 people live on the Island year round. Many of them, like Donna have a deep history here, and many are elderly or retired. Thus, the school here is very small- there are only 75 children in the entire school kindergarten through high school. Since there is not much to do on the island, the main problems that afflict the people are alcoholism and depression. And because this is such a small community, word spread if anything, good or bad, happens. I was reminded forcefully of this lesson when one patient came in, telling us about the mistreatment she suffered after she was involved in an incident that made her unpopular with the islanders. I cannot say more though on this matter because of HIPPA regulations.
Before I left, Dr. Stewart recounted the history of Beaver Island:
It starts with Brigham Young deciding to take his congregation west. When he reached Illinois, John Strang, another Mormon leader, claimed to have spoken to God, Who commanded that the Mormons move north, not west. Strang and Young split up. Strang’s group traveled along the western coast of Michigan until they found Beaver Island, which was completely uninhabited. Strang and his followers settled there, and Strang crowned himself king (the only king to ever exist in America); he also made himself unpopular the mainlanders.
One day, a man left his congregation and escaped to the mainland; in response, Strang issued a warrant for his arrest and ordered troops to capture him. When his troops reached shore, battle ensued and the mainlanders forced the troops to turn around.
A few days later, the man sailed back to Beaver Island, demanded to see Strang. When he met Strang, he shot him in the head and made a quick escape aboard a US Navy ship that happened to be docked on the Island. Although the Islanders were furious, the ship granted him asylum; later, a mock trial was conducted and the man was pronounced innocent- a mark of how much the mainlanders hated Strang. When Strang finally died a few weeks later from the gun wound, the word spread to the mainland. These people came and forcefully removed the Mormons from the Island; the buildings and infrastructure were left intact.
A few years later, the Irish, fleeing the potato famine settled on the now empty Beaver Island since it was of a similar climate to Ireland. This is why Beaver Island is called the Emerald Isle.
Wow. What an interesting trip! :)
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