Eustice honored as 2009 Nautical Festival parade grand marshal
by Richard Lamb, Advance Editor
The Nautical City Festival Committee picked a grand marshal who isn?t ashamed of his love of the area, Mike Eustice. Already an unofficial ambassador for Rogers City, the town will honor him by having him ride the grand parade route as the 2009 Nautical City Festival Parade grand marshal.
It is recognition that Eustice is humbled and honored by. ?When I found out about this I shed a tear. It is a real honor,? Eustice said. ?I am extremely honored to have been picked. Rogers City has been good to me and I would like to think that I have been good to it.?
Since he arrived as a businessman in 1957, he has been actively involved in his community at a level matched by few others.
BUSINESS-WISE, HE and his brother Maurice purchased the M & J Drug Store and then Mike bought out his brother in 1962. He operated it under the name Modern Pharmacy until 1966 when he and a friend of his, Bill Barnich of Cheboygan, purchased the old O?Callaghan Drug store. Barnich Drug operated until he sold it to Dave Nadolsky in 1975.
From 1975 until 1979, Mike managed Jason?s Gaslight Lounge (now TayBeck?s) and in 1979 he purchased the Deckhand (the former Brooks Hotel). He ran the Deckhand until it was destroyed by fire in 1983.
In June 1984 he hired on as manager of the Buoy Restaurant (now the Water?s Edge) and stayed until 1986. He is currently a realtor for Century 21 Harbor Realty Team, LLC in Rogers City.
He also was one of the organizers of Huron National Bank. Eustice has made his mark with his community service. In the early 1970s, Mike became aware that Presque Isle County was the only county in Michigan without a golf course. A non-golfer himself, he saw the need in the community for this resource and took responsibility for organizing an effort.
?I ran an ad in the Advance asking do we need a golf course, yes or no. If we had one, would you utilize it, yes or no,? he said. ?And how often would you play.?
Pleased with the survey results, he said the only way to get it started was for people to ?shut their mouth and open their wallet.? After a Lions Club meeting at the Brooks Hotel, the idea started with a $100 bill on the table from Eustice and nine others. He served as the club?s first president.
The seed money formed a non-profit corporation and got the ball rolling. In the early years, Eustice, his family and a few other families, spent time using push mowers to tend to the fairways.
HIS LIST OF community service is long. He served as president of the Rogers City Area Chamber of Commerce for two years, as drive chairman and secretary of the local United Fund, chairman of the Rogers City Planning Commission for three years, chairman of the Zoning Board of Appeals for two years, was the first chairman of the board for the Northeast Michigan Comprehensive Health Planning Council, and served on the Nautical City Festival Committee as chairman, secretary and president.
The Lions Club awarded him its highest honor, the Melvin Jones Fellow, for a lifetime of activity with that group. He has been a member of the Rogers City Knights of Columbus for 56 years and a member of the fourth degree for 46 years.
EUSTICE IS PROUD to say that he is 100-percent Irish. In 1994 the Advance published a photo of Eustice on the front page and told about his Irish heritage in the St. Patrick?s Day issue.
Mike is famous for his St. Patrick?s Day garb, some of which included dying his hair green one year and wearing specially crafted green-tinted shamrock-shaped eyeglasses. Many of his special wardrobe items were gifts from friends, he said. He is also famous for making people laugh and sharing Irish sayings and blessings including this favorite one: ?May those who love us love us; may those who don?t love us, may God turn their hearts; And if He doesn?t turn their hearts, may He turn their ankles so we will know them by their limping.?
Or this one: ?May you arrive in heaven a half-hour before the devil knows you are dead.?
ALTHOUGH HE IS from Cheboygan, Eustice says he
The former Sara (Sally) Hawyard has been married to Mike for 52 years.
?Behind every successful man there is a woman and believe me, that woman in my life is none other than my wonderful wife, Sally,? he said. ?She has graciously allowed me to contribute the time, talent and resources that I have offered to Rogers City in such a gracious manner.
?There are a lot of people who are more deserving of this honor and that is why I feel so humbled by this. It is a great honor,? he said.