Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore hosted a naturalization ceremony on July 21, 2016, for 20 new United States citizens, who hail from 15 different countries. They are white, black and brown; their names and native country religions are Protestant, Catholic and Muslim. Like American immigrants for the last 238 years, they are hardworking, creative and devoted to their new nation.
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore has announced the next two Star Parties this fall. Join park rangers and astronomers from the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society (GTAS) on Saturday, September 24, from 8 to 10 p.m., at the Dune Climb parking lot for the next Star Party of the 2022 series. Highlights will include the harvest moon (the full moon closest to the autumnal equinox), the planets Saturn and Jupiter, as well as star clusters, nebulae, and other deep-sky objects later in the evening.
The sky is the limit at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore (National Lakeshore). Join park rangers and astronomers from the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society (GTAS) on Saturday, June 24, at the Dune Climb parking lot. On this date, two events offer you opportunities to focus on the sky. The first event is from 4- 6 p.m., and will allow visitors to safely view our closest star, the Sun, using a solar telescope. The second event will be from 9-11 p.m., and is a great chance to view distant galaxies and star clusters, as well as the evening planets of Jupiter and Saturn. Please park in the row furthest from the dunes with your headlights facing M-109.
Once again, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is conducting an artwork contest to select an image for the front of the park’s 2017 Annual Park Entrance Pass. The focus of the contest centers around the Every Kid in a Park program, which has the central goal of connecting fourth graders with the great outdoors and inspiring them to become future environmental stewards, ready to preserve and protect national parks and other public lands for years to come. For this reason, the art contest is open to anyone 12 years of age or younger.
The National Park Service (NPS) invites visitors of all ages to join in the celebration of its 100th birthday. With special events across the country, and free admission to all 412 national parks from Aug. 25 to Aug. 28, the NPS is encouraging everyone to #FindYourPark/ #EncuentraTuParque for the Centennial. Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore has a full day of events from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Founder’s Day, Aug. 25.
In celebration of the National Park Service’s (NPS) 100th anniversary, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is proud to announce the NPS Centennial Band will perform six shows here in Northern Michigan on their “Find Your Park” tour. On August 18, 19, and 20, the band will play two shows per day, at a variety of venues. The Centennial Band is made up of rangers from New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park, and children’s musician, park ranger Jeff Wolin. The NPS has been called America’s Greatest Idea, and to help celebrate 100 years of providing art-inspiring places all over America, the Centennial Band will bring a little bit of the Big Easy here to the Great Lakes State. National Lakeshore superintendent Scott Tucker is enthusiastic about attending the shows himself, saying “My family and I are very excited for the chance to see these outstanding musicians play the music of America!”
On Aug. 17, visitors to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore can listen to eclectic bluegrass artist Mark Lavengood from 8 to 9 p.m. at the D. H. Day Campground amphitheater. The concert is part of the free Find Your Park Concert Series in celebration of the National Park Service (NPS) Centennial. Members of the Quest music program, led by Earthwork Music founder Seth Bernard, will be opening the show. Because of limited parking at D. H. Day Campground, visitors who are not camping will be asked to park in Glen Haven and hike or bike to the D. H. Day Campground amphitheater via the Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail.
On July 28, visitors to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore can listen to the avant-garde folk stylings of Dana Falconberry, starting at 8 p.m. at the Platte River Campground. The concert is part of the free Find Your Park Concert Series in celebration of the National Park Service Centennial.
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore will be celebrating the 100th birthday of the National Park Service (NPS) with the first ever Astronomy Day. The event will take place on Saturday, July 23, 2016, from 1:00-11:00 p.m., and will include family activities, special presentations from area astronomers, and solar and night sky viewing with telescopes.
The Glen Arbor Art Association is partnering with the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore to offer three additional summer Manitou Music Festival concerts this summer, to be held at the D.H. Day Campground amphitheater. The expanded lineup is part of the National Park Service’s 100th birthday celebration in 2016. The public, park rangers and campers are invited to join in the celebration with a concert in the park this summer and “find your park” through music.