PAST PROJECTS

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 PROJECTS

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. 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. 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. In the center of the Park's shoreline, in front of the beach house, will be revitalized with a 150' long boulder retaining wall, new concrete walkways, a picnic area, native landscaping, and a seating area for sunset viewing. All the components of this area will be ADA accessible to welcome visitors of all abilities to the beachfront area. Handicap parking is available at the adjoining roadside. Phase I construction is slated to start mid-August 2024 and continue with Phase II in 2025. This project is being funded by grants and donations. 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.

PAST PROJECTS

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 PROJECTS

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. 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. 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. In the center of the Park's shoreline, in front of the beach house, will be revitalized with a 150' long boulder retaining wall, new concrete walkways, a picnic area, native landscaping, and a seating area for sunset viewing. All the components of this area will be ADA accessible to welcome visitors of all abilities to the beachfront area. Handicap parking is available at the adjoining roadside. Phase I construction is slated to start mid-August 2024 and continue with Phase II in 2025. This project is being funded by grants and donations. 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.