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The Mackinac Island fiberglass turtle

In 2004, the Mackinac Island Community Foundation decided to do something special for it's 10th anniversary. They brought 21 large fiberglass turtles to the island, sponsored by businesses and painted by local artists. Turtles Around Town, as it was known, raised $60,000 for non-profit organizations on the island, according to the MICF website. You can still find many of these turtles located around the island.

The turtles were manufactured by America's Fiberglass Animals (formerly Prewitt Fiberglass) in Shelton, Nebraska. You can view photos of the journey of one of the turtles on the MICF website.

Ever curious, I decided to contact America's Fiberglass Animals to see if they ever sell single turtles to individuals. Guess what? They do! They still have the mold used for the Mackinac Island turtles and in less than 8 weeks, you can have one in your backyard! Each turtle costs about $1400 delivered, weighs about 50 pounds and is ready to be painted.
They deliver about 25 animals at a time to locations all around the country so the price might be slightly higher if they need to go to a more remote location.

I can already imagine having one of these turtles in our backyard painted in our daughter's favorite colors, purple and pink!
If you would like a Mackinac Island turtle of your own, contact America's Fiberglass Animals for additional information.

Tags: Mackinac, animals, fiberglass, turtle

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Comment by Mike Forrester on December 22, 2009 at 8:51am: If anyone happens to know the whereabouts of any of the 21 fiberglass turtles, let me know. I know of the one at the Main Street Inn, one on the lawn of the Grand Hotel, one at Wings of Mackinac and one at the Butterfly House. That leaves 17 to locate!

The MICF website provides sponsor and artist information, but it might be outdated and I know some of the turtles are no longer where they were photographed five years ago.

Comment by Mike Forrester on December 21, 2009 at 10:39am: Joyce, I think you have a splendid idea I can work on next year! Track down all the turtles on the island. There is one on the grounds of the Grand (it's the first of the two photos I included in the post) and I know of the others you mention, but somewhere there are a lot more to be found.

Hopefully my daughter will never outgrow having fun, either! Love the photo!

Comment by Joyce K on December 21, 2009 at 10:32am: I see I was not the only one curious about the turtles. Your curiosity went a little further than mine did though Mike. After I read the web page on how much they collected in the auction, I figured there was a slim chance of affording one myself. :o) That would be so fun to buy one and paint it. Even though my daughter is 22 years old, she loves hopping on that same turtle and snapping a picture. Do you know how many remain on the island that you can see? We have seen the turtle at Wings of Mackinac and one that is in a yard close to the Butterfly House but don't recall any others. We haven't walked the grounds of the Grand Hotel so we haven't seen that one if it is still there. It would be neat if they included "turtle spots" on the island map like they do for the filming locations for Somewhere In Time. :o)