I was two the first summer my family spent at Manitou View. The year was 1942. Terrified of polio, my parents felt the best place for their three daughters in summer was away from our suburban Chicago neighborhood. One day, after a number of summers in rented cottages at the Congregational Assembly on Crystal Lake, my parents drove north into Leelanau County, found what we still call “Michigan” and bought it. From then on we would leave Highland Park in Red Rover, our 1941 Olds, as soon as school was out for the summer.

Driving around the lake took two days and required an overnight stop at a tourist home in St. Joseph or South Haven. More often we drove north and took the Pere Marquette car ferry from Milwaukee to Ludington. We would sleep in staterooms on the boat and arrive on the Michigan side early in the morning. When I view our old family movies I am amazed to see us dressed in dresses, mother in a suit and hat. We were treated to breakfast at the Chippewa Hotel in Manistee, but what we really wanted to do was to keep moving so we could get there. Singing “Sioux City Sue, M-22” we began to recognize every curve and bend in the road. Excitement was high when we reached Thoreson Road. One half mile later there it was, the arch, the fieldstone gateway to Manitou View. Once through the arch we strained to see as we drove along the two rut road, grass hoppers hitting the wind shield, until we reached the top of the hill. And finally we saw the cottage, “Michigan”!

Not surprisingly, Lake Michigan, with its spectacular sunsets and view of the Sleeping Bear Sand Dune, was the big drawing card. Once down the ninety foot bluff and many stairs, one found the beach wide, the sand pure and white. It whistled when we shuffled through it. The beach was a treasure trove of fisherman’s buoys, floats and driftwood. The Petoskey stones were everywhere. A stranger on the beach was like finding someone else on a desert island. Logs that seemed to have escaped from some distant logging operation made great boats for my sisters and me. We spent hours there.

The Manitou View Inn entrance arch (right) as it appears today just off Thoreson Road

Our cottage was built by the people who lived next door. Mrs. Miller and her husband Fred were boat builders. By the time my family and I arrived, they were divorced. Mrs. Miller was running Manitou View Inn. It still stands today and is the “Up North” home of a family from East Grand Rapids. With four airy bedrooms upstairs and one bathroom at the end of the hall, the inn was host to families visiting their children at Camp Leelanau for Boys and Camp Kohahna for Girls. Downstairs there was a den, a living room, a large dining room, and the heart of the place, the kitchen.

The Watkins cottage with hand-done laundry on the line.  Looking northeast toward the stone arch and Bronson Farm.

Dinner was the freshest fried chicken you can imagine, peas straight from the garden, and freshly baked bread topped with homemade raspberry jam. And then there were Mrs. Miller’s signature cookies, each with a walnut on top. Twenty five years later, as a new bride, I asked her to share that recipe. She was most willing but I never could get it to work. It was a pinch of this and a dash of that. Mrs. Miller’s prize confection was coconut cake. Camp parents ordered them for their children’s birthdays. And there was always one each summer for Mrs. Turner, director of Camp Kohahna. One summer the president of General Mills was a guest at Manitou View Inn. After his visit, he sent Mrs. Miller some of the company’s newest products, cake mixes, but she continued to do it the old fashioned way.

I know that the eggs and the chicken were fresh because Mrs. Miller let me go down to the chicken house with her. I was young enough that I thought it was funny when the hens danced around the barn yard without their heads. I’m not sure I would do as well today. Her garden was extensive, and included those fresh peas as well as flowers for the tables in the dining room. Glads were her favorite.

There wasn’t much in the way of electricity in those days. As I recall, there was a dim, wavering light bulb in our bathroom, the power coming from Mrs. Miller’s kerosene generator. A preschooler at the time, I am not sure my science is correct, but I remember that bulb, limited but real. I hope the guests next door had more. For us it was easier to go to bed when it got dark and to get up when it got light than it was to depend on that bulb. It wasn’t until after the end of WWII that the electric lines extended into our valley. The electric pump gave us a steady stream of cold water. If we wanted warm water we had to heat it in the large kettle my mother kept on the kerosene stove. At our cottage, baths were in the lake. We had a bar of Ivory soap in a tin cup that we carried up and down the bluff. Daddy, who on weekends traveled between his job in the Loop and Traverse City, had the luxury of the bathroom at home during the week. Mother, my sisters and I depended on that sandy bar until Labor Day.

L.to R. Kathy, Judy, and Mary Watkins. Looking north on Lake Michigan shore toward Rocky Point with Pyramid Point in distance.

Mrs. Miller had a wood cooking stove. It was amazing that she could produce all those wonderful meals without a six burner range and two ovens. I remember lots of wood going in but I have no idea where it came from. An amazing woman, Ellen Olsen Miller seemed to be able to do everything. Her house was always spotless as was she herself. I never saw her in a dirty apron. There was no sand on her floors despite all those guests marching through. Sheets and towels appeared on the line. White throw rugs looked like they had just been put down. And always, always, Mrs. Miller seemed to be in a clean dress and smell like soap.

Refrigeration was non existent. Herman Brammer brought ice. I think he came twice a week. I remember our icebox, how it looked, where it sat, and how it smelled. Not surprisingly, Mrs. Miller’s icebox was twice the size of ours. Despite gas rationing, trips to Steffen’s grocery in Glen Arbor must have been frequent.

One of the neatest things about Mrs. Miller was her grandchildren. They were my sisters’ and my playmates for June, July, and August. Hours at the beach were followed by croquet tournaments on the side lawn of the inn. We had a stack of old comic books that were read and reread. We ran through the fields, picked berries with their Aunt Leone, and played restaurant under the large beech tree in our front yard. I’m lucky enough to still see some of those grandchildren including those of Aunt Leone, who came along later.

In July the lake was like glass but by August it was getting rough. Nighttime temperatures began to dip. A touch of fall was in the air and we began seeing northern lights in the night sky. The only girls in Highland Park, Illinois who were outfitted for fall at Milliken’s, our mother would drive us to Traverse City to choose from the latest fashions. Before we knew it the day came when it was time to fold the old wool blankets, and put them away in the ancient trunks under the eaves in the attic. We would pack up Red Rover and head south. It was always a sad time for my sisters and me, but I suspect my mother couldn’t wait to get back to electricity, her washing machine, and the tub. As we drove out through the stone arch, and onto Thoreson Road our focus would change. We began to think about winter friends and winter activities. Another glorious summer at Manitou View had passed.

Hoping for a game of croquet, L .to R. Mary, Judy and Kathy Watkins. Red Rover in the background under the big beech tree.

Visitors to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore are attracted by the beauty of the natural setting of the dunes and forests of Sleeping Bear but often are unaware of the behind the scenes activity by Park personnel. The Resource Management department lead by Chief of Natural Resources Steve Yancho is responsible for resource management projects in the Lakeshore. The projects carried out in the Park depend on the co-operation of other government agencies, Universities, seasonal employees, and volunteers. The following projects include information from the 2004 season and with the exception of the Gypsy Moth Control, they will continue in 2005. Because of low egg mass counts the gypsy moth control program will not be needed this year.

The continuing 2005 projects are:

1. Piping Plover nest monitoring. Last year 19 pairs produced 20 nests. Eighteen young fledged on the mainland and 18 fledged on N. Manitou Island.

2. Invasive Plant Species mechanical, biological and chemical control methods were used to help control invasive plants like Baby's Breath, Lyme Grass, Purple Loosestrife, Garlic Mustard, and Leafy Spurge.

3.Home Site Restoration Last year 29 former home sites were restored to natural condition. Sites are restored with transplants of native species from the surrounding area and native species grown in the Glen Lake High School greenhouse by students.

4. Emerald Ash Borer Several sites have been set up to monitor for this destructive insect that usually is carried into an area with contaminated firewood.

5. Research and Monitoring Bird surveys of Prairie Warblers, Merlins , Woodcock, and general bird populations, assessment of deer impacts on N.Manitou Island, frog and toad surveys, air quality monitoring, fish survey of inland lakes in collaboration with the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, water quality monitoring, testing for E.coli at several sites along the shoreline, collection of Cougar information, wildfire suppression, and North Bar Lake dune restoration.

This list could go on and on. Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is a large area and keeping track of the natural resources is a big job. Next time you enjoy a hike through the woods or get a glimpse of wildlife , or swim safely at your favorite beach, thank a Resource Manager.

This workshop will take place June 18-19 at the Martin Basch Farmstead on Baker Rd. off M22 and Basch Road, approximately 5 miles north of Glen Arbor. Contact Park historical architect Kim Mann at (231)326-5134 ext 501 for information and sign up.

Port Oneida Fair August 5 and 6, 2005

If you like farm life you will love this fair. The third Port Oneida Fair will take place in the Historic Port Oneida Farm area north of Glen Arbor on M-22. Many events and demonstrations of farm life will take place at several farms. A trolley shuttle service will transport you to the various farms where you will see such farming arts as hay cutting with oxen and stacking as it is being done in the picture by Park Interpreter Bill Herd and volunteer Bill Payne. Come and bring your family.

As this newsletter is being written discussions are underway to establish a web site and email address for the Friends of Sleeping Bear Dunes. Thanks go to Board members Chuck Schaeffer, Kerry Kelly, Jack Schultz, Eleanor Comings and Molly McCombs in working on this project. The web site is still a work in progress but check it out and give us your feedback. www.friendsofsleepingbear.org 

Send us an e-mail at chairperson@friendsofsleepingbear.org

From the Friends Chairman
Molly McCombs

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