HELL, Mich. – The real battle in Hell isn’t between good and evil.

It’s between the fewer than 100 residents of this hamlet and almost anyone who brings thousands of people to town by organizing an event that capitalizes on its quirky name.

The latest broadside was aimed at John Colone, owner of Screams Ice Cream and Halloween Store in Hell. Colone is the fellow who came up with the idea of having a party in Hell on June 6, or 6-6-06, a date matching the supposedly satanic number 666.

Around 10,000 people took advantage of a beautiful day to make it the biggest event in Hell’s 165-year history. Calls from angry residents started coming in to local officials and police around noon. The festivities didn’t wind down until 12 hours later.

“People move out here to get away from it all,” said Hell resident Al Machek, who complained about the 666 party to local officials. “So what if it just happens to be called Hell? Three or four people use it as an excuse to get rich, but it’s at the expense of everyone who lives there. It’s just inconsiderate.”

Folks griped about the lack of crowd control, parking, security and restroom facilities. Similar complaints have arisen about the Run Thru Hell, an annual summer road race that attracts up to 2,000 contestants every year; the annual spring Blessing of the Bikes motorcycle event; and the Helluva Cruise, a summer classic-car tour.

Hell is in Putnam Township, which requires that anyone planning an event that could draw 500 people or more must spend $100 for a permit to make sure safety equipment, security and facilities are sufficient.

“We’re not saying that anyone should quit having events, just plan well for them,” said Dick Knopf, a member of the Township Board.

Hell draws about 100,000 visitors a year. A permit doesn’t stop all complaints, Knopf said, but it does give everyone a head’s-up that there is a big event in the works.

Colone, the idea man, said he had no idea the 666 event would be such a huge draw. He said reports of it circulated internationally by the media and on the Internet took the publicity to a level he never anticipated.

“I did not spend one dime on advertising,” Colone said. “If I thought I was going to have a festival, I would have advertised and I would have gotten a permit.

“Hell is a destination, and it will continue to be one. I can’t stop people from coming.”

Knopf doesn’t completely buy Colone’s explanation.

“He’s an entrepreneur,” Knopf said. “He’s the P.T. Barnum of Putnam Township.”

Michael Murphy of the Livingston County Sheriff’s Department is more sympathetic to Colone, saying: “There was no way to know how big this thing would be. If there had been more advance publicity, there could have been 20,000 people there, or the whole thing could have been a flop.”

Still, his department “should have been proactive,” Murphy said. “I’ve been in this business long enough to know people will drive hours just to say they’ve been somewhere on a particular day.”

Murphy said he wished the department had gotten more advance communication from Colone. Only three arrests were made. He said there could have been many more, but that might have incited the crowd further.

Knopf worries that the township could be billed for the extra police services. If that happens, he said, he’ll send the bill to Colone.

“The township didn’t make penny one on this,” Knopf said.

“Bringing people to town helps everybody,” said Rick Beaudin, a local real estate agent and president of the Pinckney-Lakeland-Hamburg Chamber of Commerce. “If you live next to the University of Michigan stadium, you have to know you’re going to have crowds on football weekends. If you live in or near a town named Hell, you have to expect that things are going to happen once in awhile.”

“I did 50 percent more business than a typical Tuesday,” said Brent Luoma, owner of The Lakes Grille restaurant in nearby Pinckney. “And we were swamped for breakfast the next day from people who stayed in the area.”

Colone admits the day was “extremely successful” for his business but declined to name a profit figure.