August Activities for 2006

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Date: July 28, 2006
Contact: Lisa Myers, 231-326-5134

Empire, MI – Park Rangers at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore have published a fun-filled line up of interpretive programs for the month of August. Beach walks, star gazing, evening programs, geology talks, and shipwreck rescues are just some of the opportunities awaiting your participation at this national park. “Saturdays at the Lakeshore”, featuring a different hike every Saturday to a new destination, continue except for Saturday, August 5th. There will not be a hike on that day because you are invited to join all of the rangers at the Port Oneida Fair, a two-day celebration of rural arts and culture held in the Port Oneida Rural Historic District (four miles north of Glen Arbor).

The Port Oneida Fair, on August 4 and 5 from 10 am – 5 pm, will feature over 100 exhibitors who will demonstrate early farm skills and crafts from barn building to quilt making. On hand will be spinners, blacksmiths, buggy makers, potters, broom makers, weavers and many more. Each exhibitor is happy to explain their craft while you watch them work. A favorite each year are the huge, gentle oxen who will be mowing hay, followed by a team of work horses raking and loading the hay on to a wagon. Children may help unload the wagon and build a hay stack! There will be plenty of activities for all ages. Everyone will also be able to experience some of the daily chores like cutting wood or washing clothes by hand. More information about the fair can be found at Leelanau.com/fair.

Topics for “Saturdays at the Lakeshore” are:

August 12: RANGER’S SECRET PLACES - Every ranger has his or her favorite spots to visit within the Lakeshore. These spots may boast a particular beauty, an interesting history, simply solitude, or something else which only that ranger knows! Learn which spots this week’s ranger prefers, why and where they are, and then visit one or two of them.

August 19: WEEDS, SEEDS, AND SOME NASTIES - Sometimes plants act as if they think. Do they want to make you itch, sneeze and wheeze? Ferret them out and figure them out (with caution, of course): Poison ivy, nettle, burrs, ragweed, and even some blooming beauties. This very safe hike is on one of the Lakeshore’s most beautiful and popular trails.

August 26: IN THE OLD DAYS - Travel back through time as you join a walking/driving tour of the picturesque rural landscape of Port Oneida. Visit several farmsteads and look inside barns, sheds and chicken coops to investigate and uncover tales of the past!

Each Saturday (except for August 5), a ranger will meet you at the VisitorCenter in Empire on Highway M-72 at 1:00 p.m. After a brief introduction to the topic, the group will drive a short distance to where the walk will begin. All hikes are free, suitable for most ages and last two hours including the introduction at the VisitorCenter and the drive to the trail. No reservations are needed; participants need only purchase the park entrance pass to join in the fun ($10/vehicle valid for seven days or $20/vehicle for an entire year).

“Saturdays at the Lakeshore” hikes are offered in addition to the full schedule of daily ranger programs offered to the public during August. For details about Ranger programs, or other



Last updated: April 10, 2015

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