Celebrate National Park Centennial at revived Port Oneida Fair

From staff reports

The Port Oneida Fair returns to the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore on Friday and Saturday, Aug. 12-13, following a hiatus in 2015 caused by the Aug. 2 storm that pummeled the Glen Arbor region and forced the National Lakeshore to divert all personnel to the cleanup effort for weeks after the wind maelstrom. Last year marked the first time that the fair was canceled since its launch in 2002.

“I heard through word of mouth that the fair is the best day of the year for one little girl from Ohio,” said Susan Pocklington, director of the nonprofit Preserve Historic Sleeping Bear, which holds the event in collaboration with the National Lakeshore. “People plan their vacations around it.”

“We on the planning committee believe this will be a banner year given that it didn’t happen last year. Plus, this is the National Park Centennial year!”

History comes alive at six historic sites during the annual fair in the Lakeshore’s Port Oneida Rural Historic District, four miles northeast of Glen Arbor. The fair runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on both Friday and Saturday, Aug. 12-13. This two-day event includes rural history demonstrations, activities and special events each day. The fair will also feature live animals, such as a team of oxen cutting hay.

Food will be available for purchase or visitors may pack a picnic lunch. A chicken dinner will be held on Friday for a charge of $15 per person. The event will end on Saturday night with solar viewing and an astronomy party, and is free with a park pass.

New presentations for 2016 include a logging demonstration and lumberjack activities at the Olsen farm, an introduction to grafted apples and agricultural grains at the Kelderhouse farm, and a traditional building skills exhibition at the Burfiend barn. An Artisans Market will be held at the Olsen farm, replacing last year’s silent auction. It will begin at 10 a.m. on Friday, and will run continuously until all artists’ items are sold.

Visitors may take a shuttle, drive, hike, or bike to six unique historic sites where a variety of activities take place. More than 80 demonstrators will be at the Thoreson, Olsen, Burfiend, Dechow, and Kelderhouse farms as well as the schoolhouse. Timber framers, quilters, blacksmiths, and basket weavers will be demonstrating their crafts, and park rangers, volunteers and Port Oneida residents will share their stories.

Friday’s old-fashioned chicken dinner will be held at the Olsen farm, starting at 4:30 p.m. Dinner is served from 4:30-6:30 p.m. with music until 8 p.m. Tickets are $15 and must be purchased in advance. Proceeds benefit the Port Oneida Fair. Please contact Preserve Historic Sleeping Bear for ticket information at www.phsb.org.

On Saturday, Aug. 13, astronomy activities will take place at the Thorson farm. A solar viewing event will be offered from 4-6 p.m. and a “star party” from 9-11 p.m. Park rangers and members of the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society will be on-hand to share telescopes and knowledge while viewing the sun, then the full moon, Mars, Saturn, and the Perseid meteor shower. Visitors will learn about astronomy as it was in the 1900s. A flashlight is recommended for the evening astronomy event.

The Port Oneida Fair promotes the preservation of rural traditional skills, crafts, landscapes and communities of the Upper Great Lakes Region through education and artistic expression. The Port Oneida Rural Historic District contains 19 historic farms (four privately owned), more than 300 buildings, and over 3,000 acres of land. In addition to farmhouses, barns, and a variety of specialized outbuildings, the historic district contains the fields, orchards, fencerows, roads, forests, and a historic cemetery. Port Oneida is the largest publicly owned and intact historic agricultural district in the United States.

Each August, amid the pastoral setting of meadows, maples, barns, farmhouse, and corncribs, the Port Oneida Rural Historic District awakens from its peaceful slumber and comes alive with activity true to the period when it was a community of robust farms. Visitors are invited to step back in time to experience life as it was in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

By partnering with Bay Area Recycling for Charities, the National Lakeshore will be going “green” and composting or recycling all materials possible throughout the fair. Special bins will be placed at each site. In order to reduce what is being put into a landfill, compostable service ware will be used. These items (cups, plates, and utensils) are made from plant-based materials and will break down in a compost pile within weeks, as opposed to plastics and paper material that would take generations to decompose in a landfill.

As you explore the National Lakeshore, you are encouraged to share your adventures at FindYourPark.com and on social media using hashtags #FindYourPark and #sleepingbearnps.

For more in-depth information about the National Lakeshore, please go to www.nps.gov/slbe.

Sun editor Jacob Wheeler contributed to this report.