Fords, Friends, and Fun Fantastic!

Yesterday's 1st annual Fords, Friends, and Fun in the Park event at Highland Recreation Area was terrific! Vintage Ford Model A and Model T vehicles lined the Goose Meadow Parking lot and attracted visitors from all over the Detroit metro area to what was once Edsel Fords' Haven Hill Estate.

Park Users' Groups such as the Highland Trail Riders, the United Flying Organization, and even visitor groups such as the Pontiac Lake Horseman's Association (PLHA), the Kensington Trail Riders, Michigan Barn Network, the Highland Equestrian Conservancy, and the White Lake Historical Society (to name a few) all put on great displays for the visiting public as well. Kyler's Koral of wonderful petting farm animals was a big hit too.

Below: A smiling goat who's about to get a snack in Kyler's Corral from the PLHA.

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources had the park and meadow in tip-top shape for everyone. The smell of grilled hot dogs, donated baked goods and the sounds of music, all traveled across the Meadow on a light breeze during the warm summer day. Ice cream and cold pop and water were enjoyed buy all.

Above: The Highland Trail Riders display at Fords, Friends, and Fun in the Park 2009.

Games for young and old kids included fishing casting, wiffle ball golf, butterfly collecting, and frisbee toss. Below, an Optimist's volunteer shows fishing tackle to a family enjoying the day.

Members of "the Livingston A's", a regional Model A Restorer's Club (MARC), brought their prized vehicles from all over the area. Horns tooting and vintage engines purring made everyone reminisce of a by-gone era, while overhead the wizz of model airplanes from the United Flying Organization filled the sky.

The Highland State Recreation Area provides visitors with a wealth of activities from quiet forest hikes, to horseback riding and model airplane flying. The Haven Hill section of the park, entrance located off of Highland Road (M-59), is the site of what was once Edsel Ford's grand country estate. The estate was built in the 1920's and 30's, and preservation/repurposing plans for the historic structures are being pursued by the MDNR and the Friends of Highland Recreation Area (FOHRA).

Above: Pam Sienkiewicz, , Marge Sawruk, and Dick Russell, all members of FOHRA, pose amidst the vintage Ford cars.

The Fords, Friends, and Fun in the Park event was held primarily as a fund raiser for the Friends of Highland Recreation Area (FOHRA), the parks' support organization. Thanks goes out to everyone who attended and supported yesterday's event. Web links to groups' websites include:

Highland Trail Riders

Pontiac Lake Horseman's Association and Kyler's Corral

Kensington Trail Riders

Michigan Barn Preservation Network

The White Lake Historical Society

Crown V Ranch

Community Sharing

The Highland Equestrian Conservancy

The MDNR

The United Flying Organization

and FOHRA...

Have a great summer!

Edsel Ford Barn Clean-Up Nearing Completion

The storm-damaged Edsel Ford Barn within the Highland Recreation Area has been given tender loving care just about every two weekends on Sundays this Spring and Summer. The Friends of Highland Recreation Area volunteers, with the help of Oakland County WWAM teams and the MDNR, have cleared of debris over 2/3 of what was the barn's interior concrete pad. The June 8, 2009 storm heavily damaged the barn when 80+ mile per hour winds roared through Oakland County, Michigan.

Great progress has been made through teh efforts of FOHRA, the parks charitable support group. Plans continue forward for a revitalization of the barn into a shared public space for the area's residents. A conceptual drawing can be seen below.

Heavy equipment and heavy-lifting volunteers have made all of the difference... a coordinated effort to rejuvenate an amazing historic structure commissioned by Edsel Ford and his family in what was once his Haven Hill Estate.

Come on out for future workdays and help with the project. The debris is being salvaged as much as possible for re-use. Hand sorting of wood, metal, functional components, etcetera is a tedious business. Work day information can be found at the FOHRA website, www.fohra.org.

The Ford Model A in the Park!

Did you know that there were two separate production runs of Model A Fords built in the company's history? The 1st was built from 1903 until 1904, and the 2nd was built from 1927 - 1931. The earlier Model A was the 1st car produced by Ford Motor company! Only 1750 of these original Ford automobiles were ever built. They were all made at the factory in the color red, and were responsible for Henry Ford and the Ford Motor Company's 1st profit.

The 1927 - 1931 Model A:

Above: A "newer" Model A Ford, a 1930 Town Sedan, owned by Dianna and Tom Mosier of Milford, Michigan.

The 1927 - 1931 Model A was the 2nd huge success story at Ford after the Model T that it replaced after 18 years of production. 4,849,340 (yes 4 million) Model A's were produced during it's production run of 5 years. And one last trivial fact: The Ford Model A was the 1st car to have safety glass! - Info Source: Wikipedia

Come out to Fords, Friends, and Fun in the Park on Saturday, August 15th in the Highland Recreation Area to see a collection of these fine automobiles from our nation's past, right here in the present! The event will be the Highland Recreation Area's support group fund raiser. Food items will be sold to raise money for the efforts of the Friends of Highland Recreation Area. FOHRA is making great strides to preserve and rejuvenate Edsel Fords' historic Haven Hill Estate that lies within the boundaries of the rec. area in Oakland County, Michigan.

Go to www.fordsfriendsfun.com for more information.

Fords, Friends, and Fun in the Park

Friends of Highland Recreation Area members are readying themselves for a great summer family event: "Fords, Friends, and Fun in the Park" will take place on Saturday, August 15, 2009 at Highland State Recreation Area in Highland/White Lake, Michigan.

The big day will be an alternative to the famous "Dream Cruise" which will occur the same weekend on Woodward Avenue. The event will feature vintage Ford automobiles such as Model T's and Model A's. "The old cars don't take kindly to the slow speeds of cruising. These vintage car owners often drive them to locations and gather for picnics, contests, barbeques, and other activities, but they don't cruise much at all", said Jay Fitzgerald, event coordinator.

Activities for families will include the "Kyler's Corral" petting farm, historic displays, park Users Groups displays, educational information about the Haven Hill Estate (once owned by Edsel Ford), and radio controlled model plane flying demonstrations. Children's activities such as kite making, butterfly/bug hunting, frisbee toss, fishing pole casting pools, and more will be available all day. A "Family Horseshoe Challenge" will allow families to throw horseshoes for points to win prizes. Food sales will include hot dogs, ice cream, popcorn, and other summer items. Period music will be played all day to add to the atmosphere.

Fitzgerald said, "A fun item for sale at our food pavilion will be a picnic basket of 4 hot dogs, 4 cookies, and 4 soft drinks of your choice. The whole basket of items will be sold at a discount compared to the individual price of each item. We're hoping to encourage families to come out and enjoy a picnic in the park!"

FOHRA will use the day as a fundraising event for the Recreation Area, and as a membership drive.

The event will be free of charge, except for the normal $6.00 vehicle permit pass for Michigan State Parks, or an existing $24.oo annual vehicle permit sticker which many people already have in their car window. "We've put together a fun time for a whole family in the outdoors where the expenses add up to far less than the price of a single movie ticket and a trip to the snack bar. You can't beat the Fords, Friends, and Fun in the Park event for something to do at such a low cost to you for your family".

The fun will be from 10 am until 4 pm Saturday at the Goose meadow picnic site of of Haven Hill Road. Highland Recreation Area is in Oakland County off of M-59 between Bogey Lake and Duck Lake roads.

"Vintage vehicle owners need to contact us at "info@fohra.org" or call 248-787-1750. We also have a website just for the event, www.fordsfriendsfun.com", commented Fitzgerald. "Owners will be let in free for the day, but need to register so that we can get them on a list for free entry into the park."

www.fohra.org

Edsel Ford Barn Project: FOHRA Signage In Place

This last weekend at one of the regular 2nd and 4th Sunday FOHRA work sessions, a new sign advertising FOHRA work days was installed on the front of the Edsel Ford Barn inside the Highland Recreation Area. The sign was assembled on the ground and installed using a lift.

Great progress has been achieved throughout the spring and into this summer on the green salvage project of the debris field in back of the damaged Edsel Ford Barn. The barn's animal quarters, comprising nearly 3/4 of it's total length, was severely damaged during a June 2008 storm.

As can be seen above, the huge concrete pad beneath the barn is being exposed nicely. Team members expect full clearing of the pad in upcoming weeks. FOHRA members, community volunteers, Oakland Community College students and professors, and WWAM work crews, plus many more folks, have all contributed to the hours worked to save the barn's resources for the rebuild.

Come on out and join us to help finish up the salvaging of the barn's materials - check the FOHRA website at www.fohra.org for details! Below... a conceptual drawing of the future plan for the barn's rise!

The Friends of Highland Recreation Area are a 501(c)(3) organization.

FOHRA Receives Official 501(c)(3) Status!

As of June 25, 2009 the Friends of Highland Recreation Area are now an official IRS-approved Public Charity under section 501(c)(3) of the IRS Code. The status is actually retroactive, to our incorporation date within the State of Michigan of March 28, 2008. It took several months and a lot of effort, and now we have achieved a status that will permit us to seek and receive tax-free funds to support our efforts on behalf of the Highland Recreation Area. Your charitable donations to FOHRA are now tax deductible. Receipt of the our approval letter from the Internal Revenue Service was the culmination of a lengthy and detailed application process. The government has stepped-up the intensity of the application process to help eliminate approvals of fraudulent "charitable" organizations.

The Friends of Highland Recreation Area (FOHRA) are committed to help support the Highland Recreation Area State Park by assisting and promoting interpretive, scientific, historical and educational visitor services.

Another Special Part of History Saved on May 31st Work Day!

The last May 2009 FOHRA work day at the Edsel Ford Barn (EFB) netted more salvageable wood, metal, glass, and cedar shingles.  But the special event of the day was definitely the recovery of another of the barn's large roof-top ventilators. These units served to draw a vacuum of air out of the barn's interior to cool and exhaust the huge spaces within.

The unit was carefully carried across the field towards the barn's remaining section (the "Cube") for storage.

FOHRA volunteers used long supports to lift the unit and transport its' bulk.

The ventilator was then put into the EFB "cube" for storage for the upcoming rebuild and re-purposing of the barn. Members of the volunteer effort are salvaging as many components of the damaged barn as possible for re-use during the reconstruction. The barn was hit by a heavy storm in June of 2008 and severely damaged.

Want to help save historic building components by volunteering? Come and join the effort at the upcoming work days of the Friends of Highland Recreation Area at the Highland State Recreation Area on Sunday, June 14 and Sunday, June 28. The effort is ongoing and will continue throughout the summer. Visit the FOHRA website at www.fohra.org for work day updates, a list of needed supplies, and other ways that you can help save the hsitoric structures in the Haven Hill section of the Highland Recreation Area.

FOHRA at Outdoorama at Proud Lake

FOHRA members Pam Sienkiewicz, Tom Slaga, Dick Russel, and Jay Fitzgerald attended the Heavner Canoe Outdoorama at Powers Beach in Proud Lake Recreation Area this last Saturday. The FOHRA display contained the increasingly popular collection of artifacts from the Haven Hill section of the Highland Recreation Area, some nice fund raising jewelry from Pam, and the new addition of some mascot sheep.

The Outdoorama event included canoe rides, picnic food, a rustic camp display, and even Smokey the Bear showed up to great the visitors.

The Milford Police brought a squad car and the siren was turned on for the kids. Ice cream was served from a vintage-style ice cream cart. Smokey the bear was a big hit... although he occasionally needed a break for ice cream from the warm spring weather.

The FOHRA tent was visited by many attendees who were informed of the terrific resource that is Highland Recreation Area.

Members briefed the guests regarding its' amazing history, terrific recreation opportunites like horse back riding, and the beautiful Haven Hill Nation Natural Landmark wilderness.

Highland Recreation Spring Hiking

The butterflies are out on the lilacs...

The pumpkinseed sunfish are on their beds at the dam of Haven Hill lake...

The lilypads are ready to bloom on the water...

And the dogwoods are in bloom on the road sides...

Spring is in full-swing at the Highland Recreation Area! Hike by yourself, or grab a friend, or take your family on a hike today!

Posted by: Jay Fitzgerald is an avid hiker and a member of the Friends of Highland Recreation Area. Visit  www.fohra.org for more information.

Haven Hill Gatehouse Gets Much Needed Highland Recreation Area Friends Group Care

The Friends of Highland Recreation Area spent most of this last Sunday weatherizing and landscaping around the former Gatehouse of the Edsel Ford Haven Hill Estate. Since it's construction in the 1920's, the structure was originally the main entrance for Edsel's sprawling complex which now lies within the Highland Recreation Area. The building had been re-purposed as the park superintendents' home by the Michigan DNR who bought the entire estate in the 1940's.  Since the 1970's the building has been vacant and fallen into disrepair.

Above: The Haven Hill Gatehouse early Sunday morning prior to FOHRA volunteer work.

FOHRA members tarped a large hole in the roof and used heavy equipment donated by Dean Sutton to clean up the grounds and perform much needed landscaping. Years of debris and vandalism refuse was removed from the garage and breezway.

Above: The Edsel Ford Gatehouse after FOHRA and WWAM work this last Sunday, May 17, 2009.

The roof received heavy tarp material to stop rain and snow penetration. The tarp was secured and then clean-up of the structure and grounds-keeping were performed all day.  "It's amazing how much can be accomplished by a group working together in just one day", a FOHRA member said.

Above: The Haven Hill Gatehouse with new roof weatherizing tarps installed by FOHRA.

The Friends group was also supported by a "WWAM Team", a helpful source of skills and labor from Oakland County. The WWAM program benefits the community in many ways and is a truly successful Oakland County program.

Above: A rear view of the historic garage attached to the living quarters by a breeze-way. Walkways (front) were found and exposed from under years of layered sod and soil.

The Gatehouse is one of several structures within the park that are being targeted for revitalization by the Friends of Highland Recreation Area. FOHRA is a non-profit volunteer organization that works in conjunction with the MDNR to support the Recreation Area. Come on out and volunteer... check the FOHRA website at www.fohra.org for information.