| By MIKE NORTON
TRAVERSE CITY, MI — Even though it’s only 46 years old this year, Michigan’s Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is going all-out to celebrate the 100th birthday of the National Park Service.
Sleeping Bear is a breathtaking symphony of water, sky and towering sand dunes on the Lake Michigan shoreline near Traverse City, and has been part of the national park system since 1970. It’s one of the most profoundly beautiful landscapes in the Midwest: a 64-mile curve of sweeping maritime vistas, miles of perfect freshwater beaches, forested wilderness islands, and miles of hiking trails.
For more than a year, park personnel have been holding events to mark the NPS Centennial, and those efforts are moving into high gear with the approach of Founder’s Day on Aug. 25.
“Even our regular events will have a centennial theme this year,” says lead park interpreter Lisa Griebel. “We’re trying to reach that next group of park visitors, supporters and advocates with a whole series of outreach programs involving schools and other groups.”
That will mean capital improvements like new wayside exhibits along the popular Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive, as well as innovative ideas like a new Wilderness Ambassador program that takes middle school and high school kids out for a backpacking “immersion experience” in the park’s front country and the remote Manitou Islands, and a “Bark Ranger” campaign that enlists canine visitors and their owners to spread the word about leash laws and wildlife protection to other dog owners.
And although the park’s complete calendar is still taking shape, there’s a whole slew of Centennial-themed events, workshops, concerts and outings coming up this season – from a new Astronomy Festival to a series of special scientific presentations on Sleeping Bear’s unique geological and environmental features.
Music and entertainment will punctuate the season thanks to this year’s special Find Your Park Concert Series, held alternately in the Platte River or D.H. Day campground amphitheaters. The opening concert in the series is June 24 with Who Hit John? a five-member acoustic “old-time” ensemble performing at Platte River; other concerts will include Jen Sygit on June 25 a D.H. Day,Brett Mitchell on June 30 at D.H. Day, Dana Falconberry July 28 at Platte River, Mark Lavengood Aug. 17 at D.H. Day, and Rachel B on Sept. 4 at Platte River. (There’s also talk of an August concert by the New Orleans Jazz Band, but details are still being worked out.)
On May 28, Centennial themes will predominate at the annual Glen Haven Days celebration in the historic maritime village of Glen Haven and its nearby Life-Saving Station. Park rangers and volunteers will coordinate hands-on activities that will bring Great Lakes maritime history of the early 1900s to life.
The two-day Port Oneida Fair in August is a perfect fit for the NPS Centennial, since the former German-American farming community north of Glen Arbor was at the peak of its activity when the Park Service was getting started. All its usual features – from harvesting and baling hay and learning traditional home crafts to watching teams of oxen and horses at work – are well-suited to imaging life in 1916. This year’s fair is being held Aug. 12-13
One of the most rapidly-growing phenomena in recent years has been the increasing interest in the national lakeshore’s monthly “star parties”. Since Sleeping Bear has almost no light pollution from nearby towns and cities, it’s become a popular venue for presentations of the night sky, often focused on planetary sightings, meteor showers and other astronomical events. This year’s schedule includes star parties on May 21, June 18, Aug. 13, Sept. 3 and Oct. 21.
In honor of the NPS Centennial, this year’s biggest celestial event is an all-day Astronomy Festivalset for July 23. The day will begin with a safe viewing of the sun through a solar telescope at the Dune Climb area, a host of programs, presentations and activities through the day and an evening viewing on the beach at Platte Point to watching the summer constellations and sightings of Mars, Saturn and Jupiter.
The Big Day of the year, however, is Aug. 25 – Founder’s Day – which commemorates the day when President Woodrow Wilson signed the “Organic Act” establishing the Park Service to “conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and wild life therein, and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.” The observance will start at 1 pm at the park Visitor Center in Empire with a panoply of pomp, ceremony and fun.
For more information about the Sleeping Bear Dunes and other attractions, activities and events in Michigan’s beautiful Traverse City area, contact Traverse City Tourism at www.traversecity.com.
This is a press-ready feature from Traverse City Tourism. Please feel free to use it in any way you like. You may run it in part or in its entirety — with or without byline — or use it as a source for stories of your own. And if I can be of any additional help (with photos, for instance) please don’t hesitate to contact me. |
Maralyn D. Hill, M.Ed., The Epicurean Explorer
