Susan Pocklington is the Executive Director of Preserve Historic Sleeping Bear, a nonprofit 501 (c) (3) organization committed to preserving and interpreting the 366 historic buildings and landscapes, and stories in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore and providing heritage experiences for visitors and community enrichment.
Susan shared a wealth of wonderful pictures covering the many buildings and landscapes across the six regions of the park that her organization is tasked with preserving and interpreting. She spoke about Park’s decision in the late 1990s to get rid of buildings, with some exceptions, and how her organization, founded in 1998, was able to step in and act as a resource and partner to the Park to ensure that the significant and important history could be protected.
The role of Preserve History Sleeping Bear is to raise money for preservation projects, collaborate with the Park and the Friends of Sleeping Bear Dunes, and do the heavy lifting to carry out the restoration on the buildings and gardens with the help of dedicated and talented volunteers and some contractors with specialized skills.
What’s next? More projects are in the pipeline, awaiting approval from the Park, workshops to train people on how to do things like restoring windows, and fun events. Check out their website! And they always have volunteer opportunities!