GLEN ARBOR — National park partner Preserve Historic Sleeping Bear officials announced a name change Friday: The 30-year-old organization is now “Sleeping Bear Forever.”
Executive Director Susan Pocklington said the rebrand points at increasing organizational capacity and a long-term vision to grow support, partnerships, and philanthropic investment benefiting Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.
“Our preservation mission remains at the heart of everything we do,” Pocklington said in a statement. “But the name Sleeping Bear Forever better reflects how we have grown, and the direction we are going to reawaken these places through expanded interpretation, visitor experiences, community engagement, and stewardship to protect these resources into the future.”
The organization, started in 1998 as a grassroots group to save deteriorating cultural resources in the park — primarily rural farm and maritime buildings — now develops exhibits, operates the Port Oneida Heritage Center; funds park equipment and supplies; orchard restoration; removes invasive vegetation from historic landscapes and natural hiking trails; conducts heritage tours; and co-plans park events such as the Port Oneida Fair and Maple Sugar Days.
The group plans to add a speaker series, traditional trades classes, hiking programs, new tours, and farm-to-table dinners this summer, according to the statement, and incorporate revitalizing more historic properties and school engagement through the ParkART program.
“This evolution allows us to think bigger about how people experience Sleeping Bear,” said Tom Whitaker, the group’s board president, adding that adding public experiences to the history is the best way to preserve it.
“Activating historic properties through meaningful public experiences is one of the strongest ways to ensure their long-term preservation,” Whitaker said.
The group also wants to grow its volunteer force and raise more capital, the statement said. The transition “will unfold” throughout the summer at sleepingbearforever.org