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History of the Hack-Ma-Tack InnWe are compiling facts and old stories about the Hack-Ma-Tack's history. We'd love to add your articles, vintage photos, or memorable stories to our website's history page. The Hack-Ma-Tack Inn has an extremely colorful and intriguing history, and we will soon have a more intricate and documented history on our website for you to explore. We look forward to a great new season, thanks for visiting hackmatackinn.com! One Summer — 1950By Lois SteuryThat was a summer full of stories and memories. I don’t remember how it all came about. How did I learn about this summer job? How come my parents let me go so far from home after graduating from High School? I do remember riding a bus with other girls to get there. “There” was Hack Ma Tack Inn. I had a job in this rustic inn, answering phones, selling cigarettes and candy, and helping the chambermaid (was her name Helen?). There are so many memories of that summer at the inn. Oh, I also waited tables on one weekend. Since I didn’t (and don’t) like the limelight, I had difficulty waiting tables without the people looking at me!! I really messed up—forgot what they wanted, went through the wrong swinging door, etc. The only boy working with all the girls was Jack Soudriette, son of the owners. Jack was drafted that summer for the war in Korea. We all had a bonfire to commiserate Jack’s future. Most of us had never known anyone who went to war. It was a very sad occasion for all of us. We all lived in cabins behind the inn. One morning, I knocked on the door of one whose alarm clock wasn’t working. That led to a problem with one of the owners who wondered why I was at Jack’s door. One time Jack shot a cat under my cabin to put it out of its misery. I had a hard time with that, but understood why it had to be done. One day, some of the young people working across Mullett Lake, Topinabee, came over to visit us. My only memory is that one of them was the son of a millionaire and I decided he could not be a good person because of his wealthy family. (I was very judgmental about him — unfairly.) Another day, we walked to Cheboygan, along the Cheboygan River as Hack Ma Tack Inn is on Mullett Lake and the Cheboygan River. There was good fishing for those who like to fish. No motor boats were allowed as I remember. This May, 57 years later, Al and I went to Hack Ma Tack. We had a great dinner while viewing the Cheboygan River. The staff was interested in my memories from that summer. Julie asked if I would be willing to write an article about my memories to start a newsletter online. It would be so interesting to connect with the “girls” I worked with there. They said that Jack Soudriette occasionally comes back, so hopefully he will contribute his memories, also. Can’t tell where this will lead, but it will provide a new tangent in my life along with my first writing on this subject. (No limelight problems with this!) Lois (Manchee) Steury "Always a magical place to me"I'm going to guess that we first went to HackMaTack in 1949 or 1950 and then went for the next 3-5 years. My parents and I vacationed at HackMaTack for several years beginning when Frank Beebe ran the Inn and including when Peg and Walt Soudriette owned it. Family and friends would go too. We always had the room to the right of the top of the stairs across from the bathroom. A department store owner from Detroit and his wife always were there the same week were and the wife brought seashell jewelry from Fla.to sell. Before dinner, guests would take turns serving cocktails and snacks in their room. Everyone dressed for dinner and the Perrys played musical instruments and sang during dinner. I remember there was always a fire in the fireplace in the morning until about noon and then it was relit in the evening. After the planned evening entertainment, the adults played bridge, pingpong on the porch, etc. HackMaTack was always a magical place to me. Marilyn Schlichter Evans Mullett Lake's First Name in Dining Excellence
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Established A Long Time Ago