Midwest Guest

Gwen Frostic Prints reopens for retail business in its long-time northern Michigan home

The comforting clatter of printing presses was music to my ears as I recently walked into the rambling stone building Gwen Frostic called home for many years in northern Michigan.

Familiar sights and sounds welcomed me back to Gwen's home as the business rumbled back to life after weathering a sudden foreclosure last October and an uncertain future before reopening its retail business just weeks ago under new ownership.

New owners Kim and Greg Forshee enjoyed a close association with the business over the years. Kim worked several years for Gwen Frostic Prints as an outside sales and marketing director, while the couple's Frankfort, Michigan, manufacturing company DAMB Mold Base provided many parts for Frostic's lumbering old Heidelberg presses that pumped out so many cards, stationery, placemats, and other products featuring Gwen Frostic's engaging nature images over the years.

The couple plan to preserve Frostic's artistic legacy and love of northern Michigan nature as they slowly restore the aging building and carefully add features and products that respect the Michigan icon's history and the close attachment many long-time fans feel for Frostic and her work, according to a recent article in the Traverse City Record-Eagle newspaper.

The Forshees told the newspaper that their plans include slowly repairing and restoring the property, expanding product lines that respectfully reflect Frostic's love of nature, and developing a museum centering on Frostic's career and life.

The scene at Gwen Frostic Prints seemed comfortingly familiar to me as I walked past the fieldstone walls and trickling fountain at the building's entrance, browsed the rustic racks filled with paper products featuring Frostic's elegant images, and paused for a few moments (as I always like to do when I visit) by the railing overlooking the press room as more of the paper products that were always the foundation of the business and perennial customer favorites rolled out of the machines.

Spots like the Gwen's quiet library with large windows overlooking the river and nature sanctuary behind the building and the short nature trails behind the parking lot always provided a bit of serenity, even on the busiest summer days, so it was nice to see that that serenity appeared largely unchanged even as the business weathered a rough winter.

I always believed the business would reopen as Frostic's legacy and importance as a draw for tourists in the region were just too important to lose.

As I reported here in May, as many as 1,000 people might stop by the store on a busy summer day. The business employed 15 to 20 people, and officials at the Benzie County Chamber of Commerce and Convention and Business Bureau reported that they answered more questions about Gwen Frostic's than any other attraction in the area. Even the bank forced to foreclose on the business and its former owners readily acknowledged the importance of the long-time business to the local economy and hoped to find a way to keep it open.

The Forshees credit their bank and former Frostic employees for helping them quickly reopen the business earlier this spring in time to welcome Frostic fans back for the busy summer season.

A steady stream of visitors shopped at the store as we visited the store in early July of this year. The occasional van carrying a tour group pulled into the lot, and I heard many individual customers and long-time Frostic fans tell workers they were so glad to see the business reopened.

The woman who waited on me and bundled up my purchases, one of the former Frostic employees rehired by the Forshees, seemed enthused about things when she told me the business was "getting there" as word spread about the reopening.

The product selection remains a bit thin in some areas as the business scurries to make up for the lost production time over the winter. I was unable to purchase the Gwen's signature green-and-white wrapping paper this visit, and received my purchases wrapped in plain brown paper instead of Frostic paper. I was able to buy a few of the small-size 2011 wall calendars, but the only large-size calendars they had in stock were for 2010. I also didn't see any of the plastic mugs with Frostic paper inserts for sale during my visit, but they did have some ceramic coffee mugs, and I bought one as a gift.

Some of the most immediate changes at Frostic's include a few new product lines like woven throw blankets and jewelry, like the little sterling silver pendant featuring one of my favorite Frostic designs (the "happy raccoon") that I couldn't resist buying for myself.

I felt a new sense of hope for Gwen Frostic's during this visit and thank the Forshees for their effort to insure a bright future for a place I've enjoyed and loved visiting for years.

Check out my earlier story, Gwen Frostic Prints weathers winter closing and reopens this spring, for more information about Gwen Frostic and the business.

 

You can also read The Life and Wisdom of Gwen Frostic by Sheryl James to learn more about this talented, but often enigmatic, woman. The book is fairly short, being an extension of an article James originally wrote for the Detroit Free Press, and predates Gwen's death by a couple of years, but it's still a fascinating read for those who grew up visiting the store and anyone interested in learning about the woman who overcame many odds to create a multi-million dollar business and artistic legacy.

© Dominique King 2010 All rights reserved

Things To Do
Frankfort

Gwen Frostic Prints weathers winter closing and reopens this spring

Making the "Ben and Gwen run" was something I nearly always did when I visited Benzie County in Michigan's northern Lower Peninsula. I thought both the Ben Franklin store and Gwen Frostic Prints would be there forever, but time has a way of changing things.

Many of the Ben Franklin variety stores have slowly disappeared or been combined with another store like the grocery store/Ben Franklin store combo that now exists in Benzonia.

But as much as I loved rooting around in the bins at Ben's, I especially loved visiting Gwen's store, a rambling creation of her own featuring fieldstone, sod, and natural touches like gnarled pieces of wood as door handles.

Gwen Frostic celebrated Michigan's natural beauty by creating images of the animals, flowers, and other environmental elements, carving her creations in linoleum blocks and using them to create stationery, cards, calendars, prints, and a few non-paper products like tote bags and coffee mugs bearing Gwen's artwork. She published books celebrating nature in her own words and profusely illustrated by her linoleum-block prints.

Our cupboard boasts many Frostic mugs, I often wrap presents in Gwen's green-and-white gift wrap, and I've sent cards featuring Frostic images for holidays and other occasions over the years.

I loved the rustic store decor. I loved pausing at least a few moments to watch and listen to the clatter of the old Heidelberg printing presses from the store floor, which overlooked the print shop, or walking back to Gwen's nature library with its picture windows overlooking the river and property's wildlife refuge.

Officials at the Benzie County Chamber of Commerce and Convention and Visitors Bureau report the business generated more interest and inquiries than any other attraction in the area. As many as 1,000 people might stop at Gwen Frostic's on a busy summer day, and the business employed 15 to 20 people, making it a vital part of the local economy.

Gwen Frostic passed away one day short of her 95th birthday in 2001, but her iconic store and artistry appeared to live on under owners.

So, it was more than shocking when I heard that Gwen Frostic's store closed in late October of 2009 because of financial difficulties.

The store's owners reportedly tied the business to a financing arrangement involving a restaurant and inn they also owned, an arrangement that eventually contributed to both businesses ending up in foreclosure.

The fact that Gwen Frostic was an astute business woman, and her business made her very rich, made the store's foreclosure especially unbelievable. Gwen, who received a bachelor's degree from Western Michigan University in 1929, left that school $13 million when she died--a bequest the university used to establish a new art school, scholarships, and multiple endowments to support various university projects and programs.

Bank officials readily acknowledged the importance of Gwen Frostic Prints to the local economy and said they hoped to find a way to keep it open.

The new year brought the news that the business owners managed to buy back the Gwen Frostic business from the bank and sold it to Greg and Kim Forshee of Benzonia. The Forshees bought the business, along with all of its copyrights and trademarks, and pledged to reopen it as soon as possible. The bank still owned the property, but the Forshees promised to keep the business in Benzie County whether or not they could open at the store Gwen built for it in 1955.

The building was always a big part of the appeal of a trip to Gwen's. The acreage contained the marshes, river, and woods where Frostic herself roamed and drew the plants and animals that became some of her most popular print subjects.

I've watched developments in this story for some time, and I finally appear to have good news to share here. Gwen Frostic Prints is now fulfilling mail and online orders, and the store is set to reopen May 22 at the beautiful River Road building.

Gwen lived an amazing life, and won honors like induction into the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame in 1986 and honorary doctorates from a handful of Michigan universities. But perhaps the best way to honor her life and legacy would be a continuation of the sharing of her art and love of Michigan's natural beauty.  

I wish the new owners the best of luck and hope they have a successful run with Gwen's business.

 

Read The Life and Wisdom of Gwen Frostic by Sheryl James to learn more about this talented, but often enigmatic, woman. The book is fairly short, being an extension of an article James originally wrote for the Detroit Free Press, and predates Gwen's death by a couple of years, but it's still a fascinating read for those who grew up visiting the store and anyone interested in learning about the woman who overcame many odds to create a multi-million dollar business and artful legacy.

© Dominique King 2010 All rights reserved

Things To Do
Frankfort

Midwest travel links for April 2010

It's time again to share some links to some of the interesting Midwest blog posts I've read online in the past month!

 

• Alexander Calder's 'Flamingo'-I've written about Alexander Calder's stabiles in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Toledo, Ohio, so it was especially interesting to read Lee Bey's story about Calder's "Flamingo" stabile in Chicago, Illinois.



Calder's 'Stegosaurus' in front of the Toldeo Museum of Art


• Gulo Gulo: The Wolverine and Why Michigan is the Wolverine State-I always wondered about Michigan's designation as "the wolverine state", especially with the recent death of Michigan's only known wolverine existing in the wild. Andrea shares a bit of information about this animal and shares some possible reasons for our state's nickname at Michigan in Pictures.

• Highland Park's Craftsman Bungalows-I love reading about Charlie's two-wheeled explorations of the Detroit area at his Bikes, Books & A Little Music blog. I enjoyed reading about his bicycle ride around Highland Park, Michigan. That city was home to Ford Motor Company's manufacturing plant, the factory where Henry Ford first offered the then-generous $5-a-day wage in 1914 that drew scores of workers seeking a better life for their families to metro Detroit. Charlie tells us that Highland Park is home to one of the largest concentrations of Craftsman Bungalows outside of California, and he includes photos of some these beautiful Highland Park homes with this story.

• Ruins, Revitalization and Rust on the Riverfront-Regular readers of Midwest Guest know of my fascination with bridges in general, and the Cincinnati, Ohio, Roebling Bridge in particular, so it should come as no surprise that this post by Gordon (a.k.a. Ronny) of Queen City Discovery intrigued me. Did I ever mention that I also dig alliteration?



John Roebling Bridge


• COSI: The hands-on museum for kids-Join this Kentucky family of five as they enjoy a great day at Columbus, Ohio's COSI (Center of Science and Industry) Museum on their Backseat Traveler site.

• Background!-Visit Cindy LaFerle's Home Office as Cindy throws the spotlight behind the scenes of Michigan's now-starring role in the movie industry. Cindy tells us about her experience as a background extra in feature films and the hard work required to score that "15 seconds of fame" on the big screen.

• Fighting Crime, One Doughnut at a Time-Check out Kath's story at Great Lakes Gazette about a group of cops in Clare, Michigan, who saved a bakery that served the northern Michigan community since 1896 by purchasing the business to keep it from closing down. The cops obviously have a sense of humor, judging from the T-shirts they offer for sale in a shop next to the bakery.

• Visiting the beauty of Traverse City & its wine-I always try to keep a bottle of Michigan wine in the house, especially my favorite Late Harvest Riesling from Chateau Grand Traverse. I've visited many of the wineries along Michigan's Old Mission and Leelanau Peninsulas over the years, so I enjoyed Marcia's story about some of these Michigan wineries at Wine and Spirits Travel.

• Hiking Trails of Northwest Indiana-Join Jonathan at the Indiana Insider Blog as he shares five of the most-loved, and possibly least-known, nature walks in northeast Indiana.

• Hormel's SPAM Museum-So, "spam" often gets a bad rap online these days, but readers should enjoy joining The Vacation Gals' Beth as she visits Hormel's homage to the real deal at the SPAM Museum in Austin, Minnesota.

• Fargo-Moorhead's Unusual "Celebrity Walk of Fame"-I love quirky roadside attractions like this "walk of fame" just outside of the Fargo-Moorhead Convention & Visitors Bureau building. Join Brian for a quick video tour of the walk, which features hand prints and signatures from luminaries visiting the area that include Bill Gates, Weird Al, the guys from Metallica, and Bert & Ernie (What? No Grover?)

© Dominique King 2010 All rights reserved

Photo Friday-Driving Wilco Road in Empire, Michigan

I hope everyone enjoyed my posts about Empire, Michigan, these past couple of weeks. It is one of our favorite "Up North" destinations, and I've enjoyed sharing some of my favorite places in this cool little northern Michigan town.

The Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is probably the area's best known scenic road, but another favorite of mine is the winding Wilco Road that snakes down the hill coming out of Empire and empties onto M-22.

I imagine that the name "Wilco" comes from the fact that the Empire Air Force Station sits atop this hill, and "wilco" is radio/signaling jargon used as a contraction of the phrase "will comply".

The Air Force Station was home to the 752nd Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron of the U.S. Air Force from 1950-1979, in other words, it served as a radar station during the Cold War that could alert the U.S. in case of foreign military threats.

You can check out the station (which always reminds me of an oversized golf ball when I spot it on the way into town) on the way down the hill.

I don't think Wilco Road is more than a mile long, but I just enjoy the winding drive through the woods.

There really aren't any places to stop along the most scenic stretch of Wilco Road, but I didn't let that stop me one sunny summer day. In a true don't-try-this-at-home moment, I stuck my left hand with my trusty little point-and-shoot camera out of the car window, snapping merrily away as I drove on down Wilco.

No, Tim wasn't there to stop such foolishness. But I got the photos I wanted!

Thanks to Debbie Dubrow of Delicious Baby for creating and coordinating Photo Friday to link travel photos and blog posts across the Web.

© Dominique King 2010 All rights reserved

Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive at Michigan's Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore

Pierce Stocking learned to appreciate the beauty of the Sleeping Bear Dunes as a young lumberjack in northern Michigan. The self-taught naturalist's desire to share the wonders of the shifting dune landscape with its sweeping views of sites like Lake Michigan, Glen Lake, and the Manitou Islands inspired him to build a scenic drive that today bears his name.

The 7.5 mile Pierce Stocking Scenic drive loops through the dune area and includes several especially breath-taking scenic overlooks. This drive is the most accessible way to park and see a lot of these views without walking long distances, making it an ideal way to tour the area with young children or others who cannot walk long distances or who have mobility issues.

Stocking's background as a lumberjack gave him an expertise in building roads through difficult terrain. He began planning the process of building a road to allow others to share in the beauty he saw as he walked along the top of the bluffs during the early 1960s. The completed road opened to the public in 1967, and Stocking operated the scenic drive until his death in 1976.

Stocking's road became part of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in 1977. Public opinion strongly supported naming the road for him, so it officially became the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive several years after the visionary lumberman's death.

You can just drive the road in a few minutes, but a series of overlooks and other designated stops along the route allow visitors to learn about the area's history, see the diverse vegetation in the park, learn how the landscape changed over the years, and take in some great views.

Maps for the self-guided tour of Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive are often available at the road's entrance, but it may be best to stop at the park's visitor center in Empire to pick up a map as they seem less likely to run out of the brochures during the busy summer season. You can also purchase the park pass required to drive the route at the visitors' center.

The road opens from 9 a.m. until a half hour after sunset, and closes pretty much entirely from late autumn through mid-spring. A 20 m.p.h. speed limit encourages drivers to slow down and enjoy the scenery. You can ride your bicycle along the route, but extremely steep grades, sharp turns, and sometimes heavy traffic make that something only the most experienced bicyclists should attempt.

One of the observation decks along the route sits 450 feet above Lake Michigan and atop a steep, steep bluff created by a mix of rocks and sand deposited long ago by melting glaciers.

The temptation to descend this dune is apparently too much for some visitors, in spite of the danger posed by the steepness of the slope and increasing concerns about erosion in the area. The scenic drive attracts over 200,000 visitors each year, and while a recent environmental assessment of the overlooks found no significant impact on the area, officials plant to more carefully monitor bluff and dune climbing activity with an eye toward safety and preventing future damage to the environment.

Stops along the way include two picnic areas and a covered bridge with a turn out where you can park and take photos.

© Dominique King 2010 All rights reserved

Things To Do
Empire

Manning Memorial Lighthouse in Empire, Michigan

Robert Manning always wished that his hometown of Empire, Michigan, had a lighthouse to help guide him safely to shore after his many evening fishing trips, and his friends and family finally made his wish come true with the lighting of the Robert H. Manning Memorial Light at Empire’s Lake Michigan Beach Park in 1990.

I wondered about the little light tower when I first saw it at the park. The 35-foot-tall tower is smaller than a conventional light tower, but it is has a fully functional light beacon. The Coast Guard even included the light on their Great Lakes navigational charts.

Manning, a life-long Empire resident, died at the age of 62 in 1989. His often expressed wish for a lighthouse was sort of joke among Manning and his family and friends, but his family and friends made sure his memory and love of Great Lakes fishing lived on by raising the money to build one of just three memorial lighthouses in Michigan (the state’s other two memorial lighthouses are both in Detroit-the William Livingstone Memorial Light on Belle Isle and the small memorial lighthouse at the Tricentennial State Park on the Detroit River).

The white stucco-clad wooden Manning Memorial tower is capped by a green lantern room and railing. The structure’s design includes decorative features like grey-stained windows and a gold ball topping the peak of the light tower’s roof. The tower’s design also bears a passing resemblance to the nearby Point Betsie Lighthouse.

There is a smaller replica of the Manning Memorial Lighthouse at Lake Havasu in Arizona. That 20-foot-tall tower is part of a collection of more than 15 small scale replicas that allow the Arizona community to lay claim to having more lighthouses than any other city in America. Lake Havasu, incidentally, is also home to a recreation of an 1831-vintage London Bridge that spanned the River Thames until 1967, when Lake Havasu officials brought the original bridge’s dismantled pieces to America and reconstructed it.

The view from the Manning Memorial Light would be far more difficult to replicate, though. The light tower’s location on Lake Michigan, along the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, overlooks scenic dunes, bluffs, and white sand beach.

The Village of Empire owns the Manning light, and the light’s location in the village park is just two blocks north of the junction of Michigan highways 22 and 72 in Empire.

Check out earlier Midwest Guest stories about Empire, Michigan, including Empire, a quintessential and quirky small northern Michigan town

Curious about Arizona’s Lake Havasu? Check out Lake Havasu City: Images of America by Frederic B. Wildfang

© Dominique King 2010 All rights reserved

Photo Friday: Michigan says “Keep your swimsuit on!”

You might imagine my surprise when I spotted this sign on a beach near Empire, Michigan, advising visitors to remain clothed.

A stretch of beach about one mile north of Esch Road near Otter Creek in the Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore is relatively quiet and undeveloped, apparently making it popular as a sort of “unofficial nude beach”.

We’ve wandered around this area for years, and we’ve yet to see any nekkid folks. But kayakers out paddling along the scenic coast have apparently discovered a bit more scenery than they bargained for in some cases.

This sign reminds visitors that Michigan laws prohibit clothing-optional sunbathing, although some sources say enforcement of the law in this particular area is pretty casual and most normally consists of a park ranger politely requesting that sunbathers opting to forgo clothing put their clothing back on.

Consider yourself forewarned if you wander too far down a deserted beach in the area with the family!

Thanks to Debbie Dubrow of Delicious Baby for creating and coordinating Photo Friday to link travel photos and blog posts across the Web.

© Dominique King 2010 All rights reserved

Eat at Joe’s in Empire, Michigan

What’s a great northern Michigan small town without a great northern Michigan bar like Joe’s Friendly Tavern in Empire, Michigan?

Much as Empire is one of those quintessential northern Michigan small towns, Joe’s is one of those quintessential small-town joints where you immediately feel at home the moment you walk into the door and belly up to the bar. And people have been making themselves at home at Joe’s for about 70 years!

We’ve loved going to Joe’s for years. I remember it being one of the first places Tim and I went out to eat when we started going “up North” years ago.

It’s a great place to stop for a cold beer on a hot summer day, and it’s an equally great place to go for a hot bowl of soup on a cold winter night.

When I finally conquered the Sleeping Bear Dune Climb a few years ago, the first place I went after coming back down from the top of the dune was Joe’s—to enjoy what I considered to be a well-earned beer and cheeseburger.

Summer brings a lot more tourists and family groups out to Joe’s. The pace slows down during the cold winter months when you might only have to share the place with a regular or two who wander into the bar to pluck their personal mugs from a rack on the back wall to help themselves to coffee. Our most recent trip to Joe’s was during the winter, when we had the place to ourselves, and I shot these photos. 

Joe’s Friendly serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner, but visitors may best know the place for its burgers. Joe’s burgers come from meat freshly ground in their own butcher shop each day, and the humble patties earned coverage in the New York Times, the Flint Journal, the Lansing State Journal, Traverse City Record-Eagle, Traverse Magazine, the Detroit Free Press, and the local weekly, the Leelanau Enterprise.

Check out the appetizer menu for a real northern specialty, fried smelt with tartar sauce. Order these little fried fish to share with your table mates. Smelt are so small, they aren’t boned before cooking, so be sure to eat them quickly as bones harden as the fish cools.

If you want to have a more swanky dining experience, try Joe’s version of “surf and turf”, a burger with grilled onion accompanied by a half pound of fried smelt.

Other menu favorites of mine include: grilled cheese sandwiches (one of my pet peeves are restaurants that have grilled cheese only on their kids’ menus and don’t allow adults to order them), corn-meal dusted lake perch or walleye, whitefish cooked campfire style (steamed in tin foil after a quick marking on the charbroiler), or tater tots as a side dish with your meal.

Take a little bit of Joe’s home with you by purchasing a T-shirt, sweatshirt, or a jug of Joe’s own draft root beer at the bar before you leave.

I can’t wait for my next trip north because writing this definitely makes me hungry for to visit Joe’s Friendly for a burger or some fried smelt!

© Dominique King 2010 All rights reserved

Empire, a quintessential and quirky small northern Michigan town

We love visiting the Village of Empire, Michigan, not only because it is right in the middle of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore area and home to the national park’s headquarters and visitor center, but also because it is just one of those cool little northern Michigan small towns.

The wide Front Street running through the village looks pretty serene in this wintertime view, when about 400 year-round residents pretty much have the place to themselves, but come summer, this village about 25 miles west of Traverse City teems with tourists. Visitors come for the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore and Empire events like the annual Dunegrass Festival in summer, which has a full bill of folk and bluegrass music plus displays by local artisans.

I always eagerly await Michigan’s late spring/early summer asparagus season because asparagus is one of my favorite vegetables. Several farms around Empire grow asparagus, and the little town embraces the veggie in a big way with an annual Asparagus Festival.

Producers at the MSN Travel site even took note of this quirky festival, naming it one of the ten weirdest festivals in the world last year.

I hope to get up to Empire during mid-May one of these years to attend the Asparagus Fest. The festival, now in its seventh year, features asparagus, plenty of parties, music, a parade, asparagus theme costumes, asparagus eats at restaurants and stores around town, recipe contests, and cook-offs. One area brewery even offered asparagus beer last year!

Empire also has a great free, public park on the shore of Lake Michigan. The Lake Michigan Beach Park offers an excellent view of the Empire Bluff, which you can see in these summer and winter views. The northwest winds and wide sand beach make it a great place for kite-flying in the spring, while summertime visitors like swimming in the big lake, crossing the parking lot to swim in the smaller and warmer South Bar Lake at the park, or picnicking with friends and family.

Park visitors can also learn about Empire’s history and the importance of the logging industry in the village’s early development by checking out a state historical marker at the former site of the Empire Lumber Company. Plus, geocachers can log another find at this site.

Settlers first came to Empire in the mid-1850s. The community supposedly took its name from a schooner that went aground nearby in 1865, and the vessel served as a village school that winter.

Lumbering came to Empire in a big way in 1887 when the T. Wilce Company established the Empire Lumber Company to provide hardwood for a Wilce-owned flooring business in Chicago. The lumber company quickly became one of the largest hardwood mills in Michigan, making Empire a lumbering boom town in the 1890s and early 1900s.

The village population soared to 1,000 by 1900. The last Empire lumber mill burned down by 1917, spelling the end of the village’s busy lumbering era.

In 1972, the local historians established the Empire Heritage Group to preserve the area’s past. A museum complex that includes a main building, old schoolhouse, fire house and a barn is open during the summer and early autumn.

© Dominique King 2010 All rights reserved

Phillip A. Hart Visitor Center at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore

Michigan's Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is one of my favorite destinations.

We've visited the park many times, in several different seasons, and we make it a point to try stopping first at the park's Phillip A. Hart Visitor Center every time we're in the area.

Phillip A. Hart was a Democratic U.S. Senator representing Michigan from 1959 to 1976. Hart, a strong proponent of issues like civil rights and environmental protection, earned the honor of having the park headquarters bear his name because he was the driving force behind getting legislation passed to protect the park for future Michigan residents and visitors.

The Sleeping Bear Dunes owe their name, if you can believe a popular Native American legend, to the sad story two bear cubs that died trying to escape a forest fire. The cubs and their mother attempted swimming to safety as a forest fire drove them from their northern Wisconsin home. The mother made it across Lake Michigan, while the cubs tired and drowned just short of safety on shore in northwestern Michigan. Today, a large sand dune represents the mother who climbed atop a bluff in Michigan hoping to see her cubs make it to shore, while two islands represent the cubs where they drowned just short of shore.

Visitors can learn about the Sleeping Bear legend, ongoing efforts to protect the area, and check out a several exhibits about the geology, ecology, and history of the park at the visitor center.

The center also has other resources to help visitors make the most of their time at the park, which covers 71,000 acres and includes 35 miles of Lake Michigan shoreline, the big dune, scenic drives, 58 miles of marked hiking trails, camp grounds, North and South Manitou islands, and areas open to hunters and boaters.

You can find a lot of information about the area, its attractions, and seasonal events with the Sleeping Bear Dunes online visitor guide, but visiting the center is even better because you can pick up detailed hiking trail maps, pick up park brochures and booklets, and talk to park rangers to ask specific questions. The visitor center is also one of the best places to purchase your park pass (the $10 for a week-long pass or $20 for an annual pass goes toward park maintenance and improvement) or hit the restrooms before getting out to enjoy the park.

One of my favorite features of the center is the gift store. I've purchased books, caps, T-shirts, scrapbook stickers, and other gifts at the visitor center over the years. You might be able to find a few of the items elsewhere, but I like buying them at the visitor center because that money also goes to support the park.

The Phillip A. Hart Visitor center is about 22 miles east of Traverse City in the village of Empire and is open every day but Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years Day.

 

Want to read more about the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore? Check out these stories at Midwest Guest:

Port Oneida Rural Historic District celebrates northern Michigan's agricultural heritage

Conquering the Sleeping Bear Dune Climb

Seven sensational Great Lakes National Parks

You might also enjoy one of these books about the park and its history:

The Legend of Sleeping Bear

Sixties Sandstorm: The Fight over Establishment of a Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, 1961-1970

Soaring and Gliding: The Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore Area (Images of Aviation)

© Dominique King 2010 All rights reserved