Friends:
Being the Concierge at Grand Hotel is a great job. I love Mackinac Island and this old hotel, so helping guest discover and rediscover the island is extremely satisfying. Although some days I think my primary existence revolves around the fact that I possess the sacred knowledge of where all the bathrooms are located. But every now and then as Concierge I can make someone really, really happy. I mean really life changing happy. I have recently been presented with just such an opportunity.

The top rated Discovery Channel program Dirty Jobs filmed two episodes on Mackinac Island in 2007. I had the opportunity to interact with the crew and the show’s creator and star Mike Rowe. Many celebrities when you meet them in person are somewhat different than what you had imagined. I can honestly say the most fun I have ever had with a film crew was the gang from Dirty Jobs. At a couple of late night dinners it was almost impossible to get the food to our mouth because we were all laughing so hard. Observing Mike Rowe’s interaction with the hotel guests, employees and Island locals reinforced his nice guy imagine from the show. Mike and the crew are just who they are on TV and are a genuine pleasure to work with. You can understand my excitement when I heard that they were returning to Mackinac Island to film a new episode. The excitement was not only for myself but because I knew I possessed opportunity to make two of my favorite hotel guests really happy.

Marilyn and Carolyn Maedel are twin sisters from Saint Clair, Michigan they have been coming to Grand Hotel for over 20 years. For many of those years they came with their lovely mother Thelma who has since passed away. They are characters in every sense of the word and they truly love Grand Hotel and we at Grand Hotel truly love them. After the airing of the 2007 Dirty Jobs episode, I did find out that there is something or someone that they loved even more MIKE ROWE. I can not imagine that two more devoted fans ever existed, those two ladies have memorized every episode in detail, they can quote verbatim lines from the show and will sing at the drop of hat the Dirty Jobs song. From the moment they found out Mike Rowe was here in 2007 and he intended to return at some date in the future our friendship and my role as a Concierge changed dramatically. There was not a phone call, letter, Christmas card or conversation at my desk in the Parlor that was not dominated with, have you heard from him, when is he coming back, is he coming back, tell me what he was like when he was here. They assured me that they would rush to the hotel at a moments notice if Mr. Rowe returned to Mackinac Island. They also assured me that they would pay any rate and even sleep in a hotel closet if we had a full house. So whom do you think I called last month when the film crew’s reservation appeared on my desk? The twins departed their home that very afternoon and drove nonstop to the Island. Upon arrival they position themselves in prime locations throughout the hotel in hopes of an early encounter with Mike. As fate would have it that is exactly what happened after about a 14 hour stakeout he appeared alone in the lower lobby and of all things needed help locating the guest elevator and the sisters where there to assist their prince in distress. I had a little talk with them after that, about the fine line between being perceived as charming devoted fans or psycho obsessed stalkers, they assured me they would be respectful in every way and they were. I also knew that Mike would love them and boy did he ever.
They not only had the promised 10 minutes to meet and be photographed with their hero but also presented him with gifts, which included their grandfather’s model T tire pump (Mike is the new TV face of the Ford Motor Co.) and Grand Hotel baseball caps, because somehow just somehow, the ladies knew he collected them. The next thing I knew during the filming of a dramatic scene when the shows field producer Dave Barsky was perched 138 feet on the roof of the hotel’s Cupola Bar raising an American Flag I turned and saw the crew was also filming the Maedel sisters as they watched the action. Less than an hour later I was invited to the pool garden to witness Mike Rowe himself personally conducting an interview with his two greatest fans, the Maedel sisters. Not only did they meet Mike it looks very much like they are going to be on the show with him. Did it make them happy? I am relatively sure the mile wide smiles on their faces as they departed are probably still there.
Yes, bathroom directions are a necessary part of my job, but every so often I can actually make someone’s dream come true and no two ladies deserved it more. Sometimes it is good to be the Concierge and sometimes it is just great. Oh, by the way the restrooms are around behind me, downstairs on the left.

Thanks,
Bob T.