This month the North salutes Camp Grayling on its Centennial, a milestone to be marked with a free, daylong, family-oriented event organized by Northern Michigan community leaders and Michigan’s service men and women. “It’s a thank-you to the community for all of their support over the past 100 years,” says Camp Grayling Community Relations Specialist and Chief Warrant Officer 3 Linda Legg-Teeple. Thousands of active service members, veterans and retired service people will be honored at the July 20 event at Camp Grayling, which was founded in 1913 on a land grant from Grayling lumber baron Rasmus Hanson to the state of Michigan for the purpose of military training.
Today, the camp spans 147,000 acres in Crawford, Kalkaska and Otsego counties and has become one of the nation’s leading combined arms, full-spectrum, four-season training facilities. Centennial attractions celebrate the Michigan National Guard and include: a defense industry exhibition; hunting, fishing and camping techniques and equipment demonstrations; historic ground and air displays; a ‘Tastes of Summer’ event featuring barbecued foods; live music; and fireworks at dusk over Lake Margrethe. campgrayling.org