Annual Holiday Dinner & Program

Monday, December 10, 2012

“A Matter of Taste” at Tapawingo

9502 Lake Street, Ellsworth MI

5:30 Cocktail Hour – Cash Bar

6:30 Dinner – $30 per person

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Menu

Appetizers – Cheese, crudités, smoked whitefish pate, vegetables and hummus

(Served during cocktail hour)

Salad – Lake Michigan Salad (Recipe from Henry Ford family)

Entrée – Choice of:

> Northwest Michigan Chicken Breast

(With Morel and Shitake mushrooms in white wine sauce)

Wild Rice Pilaf and Jasmine Rice Pilaf

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> Parmesan Encrusted Whitefish

Roasted New Potatoes with Lemon Dill Butter

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Honey Maple Glazed Pork Loin with Apple Cider Sauce

Roasted New Potatoes with Lemon Butter

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> Vegetable – Thinly Sliced Zucchini, Squash and Asparagus

(Lightly steamed and topped with Parmesan)

> Side Dish – Handmade Pasta

(Tossed with light garlic sauce and Julienne Vegetables)

> Dessert – Apple Crisp with Ice Cream

> Beverages – Assortment of Coffees and Teas

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Evening’s Program:

The History of Tapawingo … of course!

RESERVATIONS accepted until November 30th. For more information call Jane (582-6202) or Georganna

(582-5326). Send check payable to CCHPS to 946 N. Advance Rd., Boyne City, MI 49712.

Please include Entrée selection, Name, and Contact information for each reservation.

“Seeking Charlevoix County Views of the Eisenhower Election”

Speaker:   Dr. George A. Colburn

Monday, March 26, 2012 at 7:00 PM

Boyne District Library Community Room

Join us for a sneak preview of Dr. Colburn’s new documentary film on the Eisenhower election and presidency.  His program will be a two-hour special on television; however for CCHPS, this special preview will be limited to the first hour – on why Ike ran, and how he won. Dr. Colburn invites you to enliven the presentation with some good “Ike” tales.  You may even be invited to be included in this film, which is scheduled to be aired on public TV in the fall.  Too young to remember?  No matter your age, everyone is invited to attend this preview, to learn about one of our nation’s most notable presidents, and share views on this history-based documentary program.  George A. Colburn, Ph.D., is President and Director of Operations for Starbright Media Corporation. His best known national television credit is as SMC’s writer and producer of a major documentary series on Dwight D. Eisenhower’s military and political careers, 1941 – 1961. Produced in association with Gancie Television, and entitled “The Eisenhower Legacy,” the five-hour series was hosted by Gen. Colin L. Powell. Dr. Colburn’s credits as an independent producer include more than two dozen national, media-based educational programs, linked to major documentary series. For more information please call 231-582-5326.  This program is free and open to the public.

Beaver Island: Evolving Economics of Survival

Seamus Noorgard

The Charlevoix County History Preservation Society sponsored on Monday, October 24th, at 7:00 PM in the Boyne District Library Community Room  a historic and evolutionary sketch of one the Great Lakes’ island’s nature-based means of survival.   Featuring clips from first-person video interviews conducted for the Beaver Island Historical Society, this presentation offered moving personal accounts of both the pride and rigors of fishing and logging for a living. We heard some inspiring stories and gained personal insights into some of Beaver Island’s historic nature-based means of sustenance.

Presenter Seamus Norgaard, a history and environment professor and interviewer for the Beaver Island Historical Society, offered an environmental perspective of how Beaver Island is transitioning from a past dependence on resource extraction, toward a future based on the technologies of information, research, history, and environmental appreciation..

ANNUAL HOLIDAY DINNER & PROGRAM

This year Charlevoix County History Preservation Society Annual Holiday Dinner was held in the historic Jordan Inn.

The Evening’s Program:

“The History of Hunting in Northern Michigan”

As told with Vintage Photographs

The program is on a CD with over 75 vintage photos of Northern Michigan Hunting and Fishing scenes dating back to the late 1800’s.

The CD is available from CCHPS for $5.  It is a PowerPoint slideshow, with PowerPoint Viewer on the CD, made to automatically load and run when the CD is inserted into a computer CD Drive.

Almost Famous: Foster Boat Company

Event Summary

A large audience crowded the Charlevoix Depot Museum’s assembly room to hear Geoffrey Reynolds present a program on Charlevoix’s Foster Boat Company on September 26, 2011.  Mr. Reynold’s is the Director of the Joint Archives of Holland at Hope College and formerly attended Charlevoix Public Schools.

In the 1930s Harry Foster, an Alden Michigan native, founded the Foster Boat Company in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  The Company relocated to Charlevoix in 1940, occupying the former Ferry Seed Company building on Ferry Avenue.  Production began on small wooden recreation boats.  By the spring of 1941 the Company had 15 employees but was struggling financially.

After the entry of the United States into the war in December 1941 the Company quickly changed to war production.  In 1942 it was awarded a contract to build aircraft rearming boats – craft used to ferry men and munitions to seaplanes.  Soon work expanded to construction of sailing dinghies for the Navy and dinghies for the Coast Guard.  The Company’s sail and canvas division made portable arctic shelters.  After the Battle of the Bulge the Company hired extra workers and manufactured hundreds of storm boats intended for river crossings in Germany.  At its peak 175 employees labored in the Company’s 3 plants (2 in Charlevoix and 1 in Petoskey).

After the war the Company returned to the recreational boat market, supplementing its line of row boats and other small craft with a 26 foot cruiser designed by Charlevoix native, Jim Bellinger.  The transition back to wooden recreational boats proved difficult and the Company expanded its offerings to include toboggans, snow scooters (a ski with seat attached), kapok life vests, oars, and a variety of canvas products.  Though many of its products were well received, ultimately its efforts were unsuccessful.

In 1953 the Company relocated to Conway, Arkansas where it continued to make oars and paddles for the world market until the 1990s.  The Ferry Avenue building, now housing the Foster Boat Works condominiums was sold to Robert Schleman’s South Bend Tools & Die company and used to manufacture fiberglass recreational equipment for a number of years.

Mr. Reynold’s review of this fascinating history was illustrated by numerous projected photographs tracking the development of the Company, its products, and personnel.

Tony Duerr,

CCHPS Secretary

This was a wonderful and well attended event!  Below are a few photos of the event.

Geoffrey with Tony Duerr and a Foster Boat Works Bump Jumper

Geoffrey listens to some personal Foster Boat Works experiences by a member of the audience

An Audience of Nearly One Hundred Filled the Depot for the Event

Who is Geoffrey Reynolds?

Geoffrey D. Reynolds has been the Director of the Joint Archives of Holland at Hope College since July 2001. Previous to that he served as the collections archivist since January 1997.

He graduated from Wayne State University with a Masters in Library and Information Science (MLIS) and an Archival Administration Certificate in 1995.

He has worked at various times for Infoflo as a records management specialist, Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village, General Motors Media Archives and Little Caesar’s Enterprises on its Detroit Tiger baseball club archival materials.

He currently serves as the treasurer of the Dutch-American Historical Commission, membership chairperson for the Association for the Advancement of Dutch American Studies, webmaster of the Michigan Oral History Association, Executive Director of the Holland Area Historical Society, newsletter and yearbook editor of the Water Wonderland Chapter of the Antique and Classic Boat Society, and member of the History Advisory Council for Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park.

His research and writing interests include the pleasure boat building industry of Holland and vintage race boat history.

Park Avenue Prowl — the book!

At last!  Purchase The Park Avenue Prowl  at Pine River Books, LLC, 104 Park Avenue, Charlevoix, and at all CCHPS events.  All proceeds help us to “preserve the past for the future.”

 

 

Undine Exhibit Postcards

Purchase keepsake postcards featuring photographs from the exhibit at the Harsha House Museum and at all CCHPS events.  The address side of each postcard includes a caption that explains the historic picture on the front.

Our signature image, left, can be purchased as a postcard for $1.

A set of six postcards, each featuring a striking photograph from the exhibit, can be purchased for $5.

Proceeds from the sale of postcards will be used to publish the Undine book in 2012.

See pictures from the June 24 exhibit opening HERE. 

1910 Building – Rededicated July 20, 2011!

Lt. Gov. Brian Calley and former State Representative Kevin Elsenheimer, along with officials from the Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA), and the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO), came to Boyne City Wednesday July 20, 2011 for the ribbon cutting ceremony at the 1910 Water Works Building. Calley attended because state grants helped improve the city water system and restore the 100-year-old building which is located at the intersection of Park and Division Streets. They joined many city officials, residents and CCHPS members for the celebration. CCHPS member Candy Brennen braved the heat and took pictures of the event for CCHPS. Candy is also a member of Questers Petoskey Chapter who recently chose to contribute to CCHPS, in support of its efforts to construct a historical display inside the Water Works Building. The Water Works Building in Boyne City was built in 1910 and is the oldest building the city owns. For more than 30 years, the building sat vacant and wasn’t being used, but it has received a facelift, and Wednesday the ribbon was cut. Boyne City City Manager Michael Cain said “The suggestion came up from our waste water superintendent how about restoring it to part of our active water system, and through that, we were able to get some grants, put in a lot of city money in regards to it, also some private donations, and what we have today is a success of all of these efforts,” The Water Works Building will now have public restrooms for passersby on the multi-use path and will soon be the new home of a historical interpretation center. 

After 3 years of discussions, advocacy, and work, Boyne City has completed this preservation and restoration project. Read about the project and see “before” pictures HERE.

100-year-old landmark gets a face lift

... and a new life as a water booster station.

A Bronze Plaque for Lennie’s House

Plaque at 108 Park

The City of Charlevoix has purchased and installed a bronze plaque describing the house that once stood at 108 Park Avenue.  The plaque sits atop a large stone at the base of a curved bench.  It is in front of the parking lot that now occupies the site.  CCHPS provided the “history lesson” on the plaque.  Click the pic to read it.