With the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore’s Port Oneida Fair coming up this weekend, folks might notice that the landmark little white schoolhouse just off the junction of M-22 and Port Oneida Road looks better than it did a few years ago.
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Mark your calendar for the 2017 Port Oneida Fair at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore where history comes alive at six historic sites. Friday and Saturday, Aug. 11-12, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Port Oneida becomes a lively fun-filled location once again. This two-day event includes rural history demonstrations, activities, and special events each day. The event will end Saturday night with solar viewing and an astronomy party.
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore officials and volunteers honored Leonard Thoreson at this year’s Port Oneida Fair by giving the nearly-90-year-old a ride in the tractor he had donated to the Park three years ago (it was not in running condition then). Volunteers and staff sang an early “Happy Birthday” to Thoreson, who celebrates his actual birthday this November. Thoreson, a descendant of settlers at Port Oneida’s Thoreson Farm, was the longtime custodian of the Glen Arbor Township Hall and retired in 2013.
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.
Step back in time to 1916 during this year’s Port Oneida Fair to help celebrate the 100th birthday of the National Park Service. History comes alive at six historic sites during the annual Fair at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Friday and Saturday, Aug. 12-13, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. In addition to the many popular demonstrations, animals, and exhibits, the Fair will feature a chicken dinner on Friday, Aug. 12, and end with solar viewing and an astronomy party on Saturday night, Aug. 13. This two-day special event is free. Discover the new presentations and activities for 2016 throughout the Fair. Participants need only purchase the Park Entrance Pass or have an Annual Pass displayed in their vehicle to join in the fun.
When the conversation turns to how the arts are represented in a community, one might point to a museum within the city’s limits; or to a restored movie theater where art house films are screened alongside blockbusters. Those are outward, bricks-and-mortar symbols of a community’s cultural life. But what, then, are the less visible characteristics of a community in which the arts are an integral part?
Most of the towns and villages in Leelanau County were built up around the lumber business. And Port Oneida, most of it now part of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, was no exception. It was first settled in 1852 by Carsten Burfiend, a German immigrant, who traveled with his wife Elizabeth to Buffalo, NY, in 1846. Elizabeth stayed in New York while Carsten went on to work as a fisherman on North Manitou Island. North Manitou had recently been settled by wood dealer Nicolas Pickard and his brother Simeon, who had been in the wooding business in New York. The brothers erected several docks at various locations around the island and began a successful wooding station business, supplying cordwood for fuel to passing steamships traveling from the Erie Canal to Chicago.
Think of warmth, sunshine and fun. Plan your August visit to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore for the 14th annual Port Oneida Fair. Mark your calendar for Aug. 7 and 8, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., with special events on Friday and Saturday evenings.
History comes alive at six historic sites during the annual Port Oneida Fair at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Friday and Saturday, August 8-9, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. In addition to the many popular demonstrations, animals and exhibits, the fair will feature a chicken dinner on Friday, and end with solar viewing and an astronomy party on Saturday night. This two-day special event is free. Participants need only purchase the Park Entrance Pass or have an Annual Pass displayed in their vehicle to join in the fun.
A crew of five young adults are restoring part of Leelanau County’s past, and on Aug. 8-9 they’ll show you how it’s done at the Port Oneida Fair. They are bringing new life to the old Goffar Barn, a 30-foot by 40-foot timber frame building in Glen Arbor Township. Located at the north end of Port Oneida/M-22 on Lake Narada, the 19th century barn is one of 366 historic structures located within the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in varying states of repair.