Grayling Country Club Legends and Characters

Since its inception in 1924 the Grayling Country Club has had its share of legends and characters.  One of the recent members making that list is IRVING D.  McISAAC.  Irv as he was know by all who loved him was a life-long resident of Grayling, who worked on the Michigan Central Railroad in a number of capacities. Today we report on some of his activities at the Grayling Country Club.  Irv passed away just four years ago and is remembered in so many fond ways for his work with Grayling youth.  There even is an annual golf event that generates a reserve for the Irv McIsaac college scholarship fund, which help to support four Grayling High School graduates each year.

For as many years as I can recall Irv was the either the master of ceremonies or the main entertainment at club functions and events.  He was in my view Grayling's answer to Bob Hope.

This story about Irv starts in a cold and wet September day.  About 40 club members had ventured to Drummond Island in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to play golf at The Rock golf club.  The objective was to play 18 holes on day one, have dinner, stay overnight, play 18 in the morning and return to Grayling.  Day one was cold and it rained the whole round of golf.  Undeterred, the group gathered for drinks and then off to a fine private dinner at the resort.  Dinner was excellent and the wait staff was clearing tables, and providing coffee when Irv stepped to the microphone.  Now Irv had a huge repertoire of jokes, many that can only be described as not for mixed company.  It also is interesting to note that among this group most of his jokes had been told many times.  But no one ever tired of listening to Irv tell stories.  He was in particularly good form this night and, as usual, his timing was impeccable.

Seated in the back of the room I noticed as he told the first couple of very dirty jokes that the wait staff (all gals) looked somewhat surprised and amused.  They slowed down their clean up tasks.  When it was clear that this funny man was just getting started a couple of the girls disappeared into the kitchen and within a  minutes out comes the cooks and a number of others from the kitchen.  They all pulled up chairs in the back along with the wait staff who had now stopped their clean up.  Everyone was focused on this unusually interesting fellow with a cigar and no other props telling stories.  As the session began to slow,  club members in the audience began to suggest Irv tell certain jokes they really liked , but had not been told so far.  For example:  One guys says "tell the parrot joke Irv."  The real surprise was the whole audience was laughing, and I mean really laughing, before he finished...I am not sure he had to complete the story because the room was rocking.  

Irv McIsaac is part of the club's history and a character, also who is memorialized with a life-sized statue, with cigar,  looking over the 7th. tee.  A par three hole that gave this legend his only hole-in-one.