OUR HISTORY

Community leaders established Lake Antoine Park Partners (LAPP) to help meet the needs of the eighty-year-old Lake Antoine Park. This exceeded the ability of one full-time county employee, especially after the devastation caused by a windstorm in 2015. Initially, a volunteer group gathered to help with storm damage clean-up. That group continued its work wherever needed and gained momentum with public support expressed at two community meetings hosted by Breitung Township. Seeing significant citizen passion for restoring and improving the aging park, a steering committee was formed to develop the group’s name, by- laws, and logo. Nine individuals accepted the invitation to become members of the inaugural Board of Directors of the Lake Antoine Park Partners and were seated in July 2017. LAPP established its financial structure, applied for, and received 501 (c) 3 non-profit status in early 2018. An all- volunteer Board of nine members continues to make up the Board of Directors. Community volunteers assisted us with various events and projects. LAPP has been a member of the Dickinson Area Chamber of Commerce since 2019 and enjoys learning from other groups in our community while allowing businesses to contribute to the park. A five-year Strategic Plan was approved in May 2018, incorporating a ten-year plan for park improvements and LAPP’s goal to encourage long-term community support. The LAPP Board approved a second five- year Strategic Plan in 2023, reflecting the completion of nearly all items in the first plan and moving the organization ahead with an emphasis on increasing accessibility at the park and creating more stable funding through memberships and other means. Board members have utilized their skills to garner support and partnership on numerous grant or donor- funded park improvement projects. LAPP initiated seven popular community events at the park to expand usership and create goodwill (Crafty Flea Market, Movies in the Park, Free Family Fishing, Fall Fest, Lights at the Lake, Kites Over Awesome Lake Antoine, Clean-Up Days.) These had brought thousands of people to the park in the Fall and Winter months when dog walkers previously used the park minimally. LAPP maintains a cooperative and productive relationship with the County Board and the park staff. Our efforts are geared toward non- infrastructure improvements that improve usership and aesthetics at the park while complementing county policies and park ordinances. Increasing access for users of all abilities is a strong focus of our efforts.

PAST ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Since its inception in late 2017, Lake Antoine Park Partners has received over $100,000 in grants and donations. All funding has gone to improving the park. The LAPP Board volunteers their time to write grants, seek bids for projects, cooperate and communicate with the county, procure materials and partners, and complete grant reports. Partnership and grant funding has been secured from individual donations, corporations, and foundations, including Boss/Toro Community Giving Program, Michigan Arbor Day Foundation, Weyerhauser, Central Upper Peninsula Planning and Development, Dickinson Area Community Foundation, Lyme Great Lakes Timberlands, Walmart, Dickinson Conservation District, and dozens of local businesses. These funds have helped us install 270' of beach wall with a handicap ramp to stabilize and improve access to the main beach area; re-face the front entrance structures; give a facelift to the camp store, a restroom, and the beach house; improve safety and aesthetics at the nearby historic artesian well; improve park signage; and add amenities like information kiosks, recycling bins, dog waste stations, a kayak launch, a Wi-Fi café/seating area near the office, a history wall, butterfly garden, and thirty new trees. Our most recent park improvements include the addition of a community calendar to the boat landing area, upgrading pavilion signage, the installation of a series of seven large display panels on the beach house depicting the history of Lake Antoine Park and the surrounding area, and planting a butterfly garden on the lake side of the beach house to help improve a dismal looking space, plus the unveiling in April 2024 of two US veterans art work on the former concession stand. Donors funded this project at the location of what LAPP hopes will be the new Sunset Beach. In our work at the beach house, historically used as a swimmer’s locker/lifeguard station/shower room/concession stand but standing idle in recent years, we realized it is an area that could be made much safer and appealing to people frequenting the beach area. That is how our current project of enhancing accessibility and restoring the lakeside of the beach house and an adjoining sunset viewing point was born.

COMMUNITY

ADVENTURES

Over the past five years, we have drawn thousands of people to the park with large community events, encouraging new and off-season usage. LAPP feels these events bring a sense of community to the park and encourage users outside the typical camping and boating season. Free Family Fishing Fun Watersmeet Trout Hatchery brings over 100 rainbow trout and a mobile pond for free fishing without a license for youth 12 and younger. Breitung Township Fire Department hauls hundreds of gallons of fresh water to the pond located at the lakeside pavilion. Poles and bait are provided for rookies in the fishing world are welcome. This event is funded by local businesses and other donors. Click here to see more photos of this event. Crafty Flea Market A joint venture in September with the Iron Mountain Daily News, brings about 2,000 people to the park for a one day outdoor craft and flea market. The Daily News shares funds generated by booth fees and gate donations and usually nets between $1,500-$1,900 which we use for park improvements like new signage. Vendors are so pleased with being at this event that they want to reserve sites for the following year before the current year has concluded. Fall Fest Offered in October and provides a local day for family fun to over 1,000 visitors. Lights at the Lake We invite local businesses and organizations to decorate campsites. In 2023, 48 campsites were filled, lighting the park for six weeks, and thousands drove through this free community event. Thanks to Upper Limits Media, people living in the rest of the country were able to see this event via video - Lights at the Lake 2023 Video. Register for Lights at the Lake. KOALA Our newest event includes a winter kite show, Kites Over Awesome Lake Antoine (KOALA), with professional kiters from the upper Midwest putting on a spectacular show on the ice. Free to the public and involving lots of local sponsorship.

Current Priority Plan:

“Sunset Beach”

Lake Antoine Park Partners (LAPP), in keeping with its mission to improve and promote Lake Antoine Park, would like to restore the built and natural features of the beach house lake frontage, including a historic sunset viewing area. The project name, “Sunset Beach,” will offer an accessible location to highlight one of the community’s best natural assets: the Lake Antoine sunsets. A facelift of the beach house became a priority in 2022, including painting inside and out by the county, the addition of a lighted seven-panel pictorial history display on the east façade, landscaping, and the addition of a butterfly garden on the west side in 2023. While spending more time at the beach house implementing these projects, we noticed increased area usage, took notes, and talked to users. We discerned that existing handicapped parking and hardscape could be capitalized on and improved to bring users of all abilities closer to the water for picnics and sunset viewing while restoring this piece of unstable shoreline, which has continued to slough downward since its last wall was removed 30+ years ago. With its close access to handicapped parking and paved egress on the north side of the beach house, this area could be one of the most accessible places in the park. However, it has been somewhat neglected since its old stone retaining wall was removed decades ago and the changing usage of the beach house. Thanks to the LAPP companion projects of restoring the beach wall to the north, renovating the beach house, installing a History Wall, and adding a butterfly garden, more people are drawn to the beach house area. Components of the project include placement of a 2.5’ high x 150’ boulder retaining wall set 10’ back from the waterline in front of the beach house, leveling and stabilizing the ground landward of the wall to allow for the creation of creating two ADA-accessible picnic areas upon concrete pads and pathway from the picnic area to concrete surfaced seating area with a great sunset view. Landscaping with a shade tree for the picnic area, native wildflowers, and turf grass will finish the area. The final component will be a place-making sign to identify the purpose of Sunset Beach and its sponsors.

OUR HISTORY

Community leaders established Lake Antoine Park Partners (LAPP) to help meet the needs of the eighty-year-old Lake Antoine Park. This exceeded the ability of one full-time county employee, especially after the devastation caused by a windstorm in 2015. Initially, a volunteer group gathered to help with storm damage clean-up. That group continued its work wherever needed and gained momentum with public support expressed at two community meetings hosted by Breitung Township. Seeing significant citizen passion for restoring and improving the aging park, a steering committee was formed to develop the group’s name, by-laws, and logo. Nine individuals accepted the invitation to become members of the inaugural Board of Directors of the Lake Antoine Park Partners and were seated in July 2017. LAPP established its financial structure, applied for, and received 501 (c) 3 non-profit status in early 2018. An all- volunteer Board of nine members continues to make up the Board of Directors. Community volunteers assisted us with various events and projects. LAPP has been a member of the Dickinson Area Chamber of Commerce since 2019 and enjoys learning from other groups in our community while allowing businesses to contribute to the park. A five-year Strategic Plan was approved in May 2018, incorporating a ten-year plan for park improvements and LAPP’s goal to encourage long-term community support. The LAPP Board approved a second five-year Strategic Plan in 2023, reflecting the completion of nearly all items in the first plan and moving the organization ahead with an emphasis on increasing accessibility at the park and creating more stable funding through memberships and other means. Board members have utilized their skills to garner support and partnership on numerous grant or donor-funded park improvement projects. LAPP initiated seven popular community events at the park to expand usership and create goodwill (Crafty Flea Market, Movies in the Park, Free Family Fishing, Fall Fest, Lights at the Lake, Kites Over Awesome Lake Antoine, Clean-Up Days.) These had brought thousands of people to the park in the Fall and Winter months when dog walkers previously used the park minimally. LAPP maintains a cooperative and productive relationship with the County Board and the park staff. Our efforts are geared toward non- infrastructure improvements that improve usership and aesthetics at the park while complementing county policies and park ordinances. Increasing access for users of all abilities is a strong focus of our efforts.

PAST ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Since its inception in late 2017, Lake Antoine Park Partners has received over $100,000 in grants and donations. All funding has gone to improving the park. The LAPP Board volunteers their time to write grants, seek bids for projects, cooperate and communicate with the county, procure materials and partners, and complete grant reports. Partnership and grant funding has been secured from individual donations, corporations, and foundations, including Boss/Toro Community Giving Program, Michigan Arbor Day Foundation, Weyerhauser, Central Upper Peninsula Planning and Development, Dickinson Area Community Foundation, Lyme Great Lakes Timberlands, Walmart, Dickinson Conservation District, and dozens of local businesses. These funds have helped us install 270' of beach wall with a handicap ramp to stabilize and improve access to the main beach area; re-face the front entrance structures; give a facelift to the camp store, a restroom, and the beach house; improve safety and aesthetics at the nearby historic artesian well; improve park signage; and add amenities like information kiosks, recycling bins, dog waste stations, a kayak launch, a Wi-Fi café/seating area near the office, a history wall, butterfly garden, and thirty new trees. Our most recent park improvements include the addition of a community calendar to the boat landing area, upgrading pavilion signage, the installation of a series of seven large display panels on the beach house depicting the history of Lake Antoine Park and the surrounding area, and planting a butterfly garden on the lake side of the beach house to help improve a dismal looking space, plus the unveiling in April 2024 of two US veterans art work on the former concession stand. Donors funded this project at the location of what LAPP hopes will be the new Sunset Beach. In our work at the beach house, historically used as a swimmer’s locker/lifeguard station/shower room/concession stand but standing idle in recent years, we realized it is an area that could be made much safer and appealing to people frequenting the beach area. That is how our current project of enhancing accessibility and restoring the lakeside of the beach house and an adjoining sunset viewing point was born.

Current Priority Plan: “Sunset Beach”

Lake Antoine Park Partners (LAPP), in keeping with its mission to improve and promote Lake Antoine Park, would like to restore the built and natural features of the beach house lake frontage, including a historic sunset viewing area. The project name, “Sunset Beach,” will offer an accessible location to highlight one of the community’s best natural assets: the Lake Antoine sunsets. A facelift of the beach house became a priority in 2022, including painting inside and out by the county, the addition of a lighted seven-panel pictorial history display on the east façade, landscaping, and the addition of a butterfly garden on the west side in 2023. While spending more time at the beach house implementing these projects, we noticed increased area usage, took notes, and talked to users. We discerned that existing handicapped parking and hardscape could be capitalized on and improved to bring users of all abilities closer to the water for picnics and sunset viewing while restoring this piece of unstable shoreline, which has continued to slough downward since its last wall was removed 30+ years ago. With its close access to handicapped parking and paved egress on the north side of the beach house, this area could be one of the most accessible places in the park. However, it has been somewhat neglected since its old stone retaining wall was removed decades ago and the changing usage of the beach house. Thanks to the LAPP companion projects of restoring the beach wall to the north, renovating the beach house, installing a History Wall, and adding a butterfly garden, more people are drawn to the beach house area. Components of the project include placement of a 2.5’ high x 150’ boulder retaining wall set 10’ back from the waterline in front of the beach house, leveling and stabilizing the ground landward of the wall to allow for the creation of creating two ADA-accessible picnic areas upon concrete pads and pathway from the picnic area to concrete surfaced seating area with a great sunset view. Landscaping with a shade tree for the picnic area, native wildflowers, and turf grass will finish the area. The final component will be a place-making sign to identify the purpose of Sunset Beach and its sponsors.

COMMUNITY

ADVENTURES

Over the past five years, we have drawn thousands of people to the park with large community events, encouraging new and off- season usage. LAPP feels these events bring a sense of community to the park and encourage users outside the typical camping and boating season. Free Family Fishing Fun Watersmeet Trout Hatchery brings over 100 rainbow trout and a mobile pond for free fishing without a license for youth 12 and younger. Breitung Township Fire Department hauls hundreds of gallons of fresh water to the pond located at the lakeside pavilion. Poles and bait are provided for rookies in the fishing world are welcome. This event is funded by local businesses and other donors. Click here to see more photos of this event. Crafty Flea Market A joint venture in September with the Iron Mountain Daily News, brings about 2,000 people to the park for a one day outdoor craft and flea market. The Daily News shares funds generated by booth fees and gate donations and usually nets between $1,500-$1,900 which we use for park improvements like new signage. Vendors are so pleased with being at this event that they want to reserve sites for the following year before the current year has concluded. Fall Fest Offered in October and provides a local day for family fun to over 1,000 visitors. Lights at the Lake We invite local businesses and organizations to decorate campsites. In 2023, 48 campsites were filled, lighting the park for six weeks, and thousands drove through this free community event. Thanks to Upper Limits Media, people living in the rest of the country were able to see this event via video - Lights at the Lake 2023 Video. Register for Lights at the Lake. KOALA Our newest event includes a winter kite show, Kites Over Awesome Lake Antoine (KOALA), with professional kiters from the upper Midwest putting on a spectacular show on the ice. Free to the public and involving lots of local sponsorship.