June 8, 2009

Hartwick Pines Logging Museum invites the public to take part in a special event recognizing the accomplishments of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) with the unveiling of a statue depicting CCC workers on Saturday, June 20 at 1 p.m. Part of the statewide celebration of the Michigan State Parks system's 90th birthday, this free event will include a dedication ceremony and cake and ice cream while supplies last.

"We hope that people will join us in honoring the young men and war veterans who, from 1933 to 1942, helped develop our state and national parks," said Hartwick Pines Historian Rob Burg. "In Michigan, 102,000-plus Civilian Conservation Corps enrollees pitched in to do a wide variety of other outdoor work, including planting more than 484 million trees to replenish the state's forests after the devastation from the logging industry and the numerous wildfires that burned the cutover land."

This statue, donated by the Mid-Michigan Chapter (Chapter 129) of the Michigan Civilian Conservation Corps Alumni Association, will be the 52nd CCC worker statue to be erected in the United States. The first was dedicated on June 3, 1995 at the CCC Museum at North Higgins Lake State Park. Spearheaded by local CCC alumni John Selesky of Rose City and the late Reverend William Fraser of Grayling, the CCC statue program was sponsored by the National Association of CCC Alumni from 1997 to 2007. Since 2007, the CCC Legacy Foundation has sponsored the program.

Burg said that the Civilian Conservation Corps - one of the many programs created through President Franklin Roosevelt's "New Deal" to put America back to work during the Great Depression - was intended to heal both the country, through many conservation projects, and the people.

The enrollees of the CCC had to be young men between the ages of 18 and 25 (sometimes the age was stretched to allow more men to qualify) and had to come from families that were receiving relief. The enrollees were paid $30 a month, with $22-$25 going directly to their families and the remaining money given to the men to pay for monthly expenses. Besides the enrollees and their families, the nearby communities benefited because local men were hired as work foremen (known as Locally Experienced Men), supplies were purchased locally and the men spent their money in town on the weekends at movies, dances and other recreational pursuits.

Besides these "junior enrollees," CCC enrollees also included World War I and Spanish American War veterans of various ages. These men, unlike the junior enrollees, could be married and were utilized as honor guards for funerals and parades besides the typical CCC jobs of reforestation, park work and fire control. From 1938 to 1942, a company of these veteran enrollees served at Camp Hartwick Pines.

Hartwick Pines Logging Museum is jointly operated by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources' Parks and Recreation Division and the Michigan Department of History, Arts and Libraries (HAL).

HAL is dedicated to enriching quality of life and strengthening the economy by providing access to information, preserving and promoting Michigan's heritage and fostering cultural creativity. The department includes the Library of Michigan, the Mackinac Island State Park Commission, the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs and the Michigan Historical Center. To learn more, visit www.michigan.gov/hal.