The Honor Area Restoration Project

This story was written by Robert Lovik and originally appeared on The Grand Vision website

Residents in the village of Honor have banded together to form the Honor Area Restoration Project (HARP) to restore their home to the magical place they once knew.

Formed only seven months ago when three local businesswomen decided to hold a meeting to stop the decline of what they saw as a dying town, HARP has big plans for the small village’s future. HARP knows that in order to get the entire area on board, they have to show villagers they can get things done. And that first step towards a brighter future is putting in a sidewalk that will connect the downtown to the shopping plaza, making the short trip safe to walk or cycle.

Shantel Sellers, vice president of HARP, talked to us at Papa J’s 50’s Diner and Pizzeria in the shopping plaza that will soon be connected to Honor’s town center. She told us, “Our first project is putting the sidewalk in. It is about doing the little things. We want to get something done that people can see and that doesn’t cost a lot.”

The sidewalk is just the beginning of the improvements HARP has planned. Others include: improving the town’s city parks, river access and wayfinding, developing village branding and designing a town logo, creating a community garden, landscaping public spaces and redeveloping area festivals. Shantel added, “We want to improve our non-motorized infrastructure as well and make Honor a more walkable and bike-friendly area. We also want to develop land for a state park to make Honor more attractive to kayakers and canoeists.”

A big part of HARP’s improvement plans include attracting tourists to the natural beauty of the area, especially the Platte River. “The recreational opportunities here are enormous. We are the gateway to Sleeping Bear Dunes. We could really become an outdoor recreation center of Michigan.”

Ingemar Johannson, long-time resident and president of HARP, is also excited about the possibilities he sees in the revitalization of the Honor area. “We need to do something about this town. I have lived here for 25 years and, sadly, watched it deteriorate. The straw that broke the camel’s back was when the Platte River Inn went out of business. That had been around since the 1940’s.

“There is such great potential here. We are in a beautiful river valley. We have a Blue Ribbon Trout Stream in the Platte River. The components for good living are here yet businesses don’t make it. 20,000 cars go through this town everyday. We have to figure out how to get them to slow down. How do we get them to stop?”

HARP has set itself lofty goals and nothing short of returning Honor to the vibrant and bustling town it once was when the annual Coho Festival would draw 10,000 people will do.

Shantel is the inspiration behind HARP, an organization whose origins it could realistically be said go all the way back to the village’s namesake. Shantel’s great grandmother was a nanny for the little girl who the village was named after. Honor Gifford was born in 1892 to the manager of the Guelph Patent Cask Company, who named the village, incorporated in 1895 after her. Honor has a long and proud history and provided Shantel with what she calls a “Norman Rockwell childhood”.

“Honor was a magical place to grow up. We had a beautiful river with a swimming hole. We had a drive-in theater, which is still here. They used to shut down US 31 for the Coho Festival. There is such a tremendous history here for being such a sleepy little town. We have one of the few federally designated Civil War veterans burial grounds.” Shantel said.

Shantel recently moved back after 18 years away serving in the US military. HARP’s motivations were born on her many trips home on leave during which she noticed the Honor of her childhood disappeared more and more with each visit.

“While I was gone, the magic slowly dissipated. It was hard to watch. I had such a sense of ownership.” Shantel said.

Not being able to bear being away any longer, Shantel and her husband decided that they were going to move back to Honor and invest in a village that she knew had the potential to recapture its former magic. Shantel and her husband started by building a house on Main Street and opening a new business, Vintage Violet.

“People asked, “Why are you building that here?” We knew it was a gamble but we also knew that we wanted to put our money here where it would make a difference. I knew that Honor could be a magical place again.” Five people showed up to HARP’s first meeting in June but word started to spread around the village. Within two weeks, 40 people were showing up and now, only seven months later, 100 people are on the email list. And with an increasing part of Honor’s diverse population working together, Shantel and Ingemar see a bright future for a village that hasn’t had much reason to celebrate in recent years.

“We are in it for the long haul. You can recreate yourself to be whatever you want to be. We are in the beginning stages and people are willing to put in the hard work. HARP is going to combat deterioration here. We don’t want to see this place go under and we are starting to put the brakes on.”