Last August I joined my fiancee and her son at Camp Michigania, located about 15 minutes from Petoskey.
I never had the opportunity to go to camp as a kid, and I felt too old to start now. I thought the "magic" of going to camp wouldn't exist for me at this age.
Something magical happened when I made my way into Camp Michigania's Nature Center. The wet belt sanders got my attention right away and I began to smile. I saw a room full of people, both young and old, sanding rocks on the belt sanders and polishing wheels.
What were they polishing? The instructor came up to me and asked if I'd like to polish Petoskey stones. Petoskey stones, really? It took only a second to see how beautiful they were in the hands of the experienced polishers in the room.
I put on the rubber apron and went to work on the wet belt sander. My hands gripped the Petoskey stone tightly as I rolled it back and forth on the belt sander. Water would splash off my face and safety goggles, but I wasn't deterred. I instantly fell in love with rock polishing, specifically polishing Petoskey stones.
I worked on that stone until they closed the building down for the day, and I couldn't wait for it to open the next morning! The instructor told me of a quarry where I could find my own Petoskey stones about 10 minutes from camp. I got in my car and followed the hand-drawn directions full of anticipation.
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