Fall Color Started at Haven Hill Lake

The colors are beginning to change on the shores of Haven Hill Lake in the Highland Recreation Area. Get your cameras (or just yourself) and go capture one of the area's best fall color photos!

Despite a cool day yesterday, the colors still popped. This is the western edge of the Lake which has a nice combination of forest types.

The Highland Recreation Area is located off of M-59 in White Lake/Highland, Michigan and is the home of the Friends of Highland Recreation Area.

www.fohra.org

FOHRA on the Highland Equestrian Conservancy Barn Tour

The Friends of Highland Recreation Area showcased the Haven Hill Carriage House and the Edsel Ford Barn on this year's Highland Equestrian Conservancy Barn Tour this last Sunday. The building was selected as a surprise location on the Barn Tour circuit. Special thanks goes to the HEC for having Haven Hill on the Tour this year.

Above: Vintage Ford automobiles provide to the Barn Tour by the Highland Rollers Car Club depict what it might have looked like when Edsel Ford's own vehicles were at the Haven Hill Carriage House many years ago. Visitors were given guided tours of the Lodge footprint and the Carriage House area, and walked amongst the shiny vehicles that added a special atmosphere to the scene.

Above: The Haven Hill Carriage House's tall stone chimney (top right) looks down onto the cars below.

Visitors arrived and departed the top of Haven Hill in shuttle buses (provided by Heavner Canoe of Milford) that traveled up and down the newly-repaired Haven Hill Road. FOHRA displayed historical maps, artifacts, and Highland Recreation Area photographs for guests as they gathered at the shuttle stop to return down the Hill.

Come join us at www.FOHRA.org to learn more about the Friends of Highland Recreation Area. We need your help and support. FOHRA is a 501(c)(3) organization.

Haven Hill Road Repair Video!

Watch a quick video of the Haven Hill Road repairs inside the Highland Recreation Area. Special thanks again to Cadillac Asphalt, LLC! [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oftg1nlAJto]

Come on out and join the volunteer effort.

www.fohra.org

FOHRA "Paves the Road" to Haven Hill

The Friends of Highland Recreation Area, the MDNR, and Cadillac Asphalt, L.L.C. worked together to put some much-needed repairs into the Haven Hill Road up to the historic Edsel Ford Carriage House and Lodge site this last weekend.

Some areas required small patches, others whole sections of roadway.

Repairs were in dire need, as sections of the roadway were worsening with the spring run-offs each year.

The team at Cadillac Asphalt put down 30 tons of asphalt into many severe potholes and damaged sections of the old road. Donated manpower, time, and energy were a much-appreciated gift from the folks at Cadillac.

The Friends of Highland Recreation Area are assuming a Lease soon that includes the upper section of the road. Eventually, even the old parking area up near the site will be refinished.

There's a lot going on with FOHRA at Highland Recreation Area. Come on out and join us as we "pave the road" to saving the historic features of the Recreation Area.

Haven Hill Road Work Day, Sunday September 13

The Friends of Highland Recreation Area (FOHRA) are sponsoring a big volunteer work day on Sunday, September 13 to clean and repair the Haven Hill Road up to the Edsel Ford Carriage House and Lodge footprint. FOHRA will soon receive the Lease of the historic Haven Hill structures, which will include the road up to the top of the hill and the parking area below the lodge location. The work day will be a continuation of the group's efforts to rehabilitate the beautiful road up Haven Hill.  Come on out and help! Come out to Highland State Recreation Area anytime between 9 and 4 pm that Sunday to help. Rakes, shovels, scrapers,  and other yard tools will be helpful. Wear gloves for sure, and work clothes and insect spray are also a smart idea.

To reach the work party, enter the Highland Recreation Area off of M-59 in White Lake. Drive Haven Hill Road past the Goose Meadow Picnic area, and past the Crown V Ranch entrance. The next right-hand turn is the continuation of Haven Hill Road. Park in the lot on the left and walk west to the Haven Hill road gate past the MDNR maintenance complex. FOHRA volunteer vehicles will be visible all around.

Water, soda pop, and snack foods will be provided all day by FOHRA for a small donation. Volunteers, new members, donors, everyone is welcome to attend!

Visit the FOHRA Website for more info.

Fords, Friends, and Fun Fantastic!

Yesterday's 1st annual Fords, Friends, and Fun in the Park event at Highland Recreation Area was terrific! Vintage Ford Model A and Model T vehicles lined the Goose Meadow Parking lot and attracted visitors from all over the Detroit metro area to what was once Edsel Fords' Haven Hill Estate.

Park Users' Groups such as the Highland Trail Riders, the United Flying Organization, and even visitor groups such as the Pontiac Lake Horseman's Association (PLHA), the Kensington Trail Riders, Michigan Barn Network, the Highland Equestrian Conservancy, and the White Lake Historical Society (to name a few) all put on great displays for the visiting public as well. Kyler's Koral of wonderful petting farm animals was a big hit too.

Below: A smiling goat who's about to get a snack in Kyler's Corral from the PLHA.

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources had the park and meadow in tip-top shape for everyone. The smell of grilled hot dogs, donated baked goods and the sounds of music, all traveled across the Meadow on a light breeze during the warm summer day. Ice cream and cold pop and water were enjoyed buy all.

Above: The Highland Trail Riders display at Fords, Friends, and Fun in the Park 2009.

Games for young and old kids included fishing casting, wiffle ball golf, butterfly collecting, and frisbee toss. Below, an Optimist's volunteer shows fishing tackle to a family enjoying the day.

Members of "the Livingston A's", a regional Model A Restorer's Club (MARC), brought their prized vehicles from all over the area. Horns tooting and vintage engines purring made everyone reminisce of a by-gone era, while overhead the wizz of model airplanes from the United Flying Organization filled the sky.

The Highland State Recreation Area provides visitors with a wealth of activities from quiet forest hikes, to horseback riding and model airplane flying. The Haven Hill section of the park, entrance located off of Highland Road (M-59), is the site of what was once Edsel Ford's grand country estate. The estate was built in the 1920's and 30's, and preservation/repurposing plans for the historic structures are being pursued by the MDNR and the Friends of Highland Recreation Area (FOHRA).

Above: Pam Sienkiewicz, , Marge Sawruk, and Dick Russell, all members of FOHRA, pose amidst the vintage Ford cars.

The Fords, Friends, and Fun in the Park event was held primarily as a fund raiser for the Friends of Highland Recreation Area (FOHRA), the parks' support organization. Thanks goes out to everyone who attended and supported yesterday's event. Web links to groups' websites include:

Highland Trail Riders

Pontiac Lake Horseman's Association and Kyler's Corral

Kensington Trail Riders

Michigan Barn Preservation Network

The White Lake Historical Society

Crown V Ranch

Community Sharing

The Highland Equestrian Conservancy

The MDNR

The United Flying Organization

and FOHRA...

Have a great summer!

Edsel Ford Barn Clean-Up Nearing Completion

The storm-damaged Edsel Ford Barn within the Highland Recreation Area has been given tender loving care just about every two weekends on Sundays this Spring and Summer. The Friends of Highland Recreation Area volunteers, with the help of Oakland County WWAM teams and the MDNR, have cleared of debris over 2/3 of what was the barn's interior concrete pad. The June 8, 2009 storm heavily damaged the barn when 80+ mile per hour winds roared through Oakland County, Michigan.

Great progress has been made through teh efforts of FOHRA, the parks charitable support group. Plans continue forward for a revitalization of the barn into a shared public space for the area's residents. A conceptual drawing can be seen below.

Heavy equipment and heavy-lifting volunteers have made all of the difference... a coordinated effort to rejuvenate an amazing historic structure commissioned by Edsel Ford and his family in what was once his Haven Hill Estate.

Come on out for future workdays and help with the project. The debris is being salvaged as much as possible for re-use. Hand sorting of wood, metal, functional components, etcetera is a tedious business. Work day information can be found at the FOHRA website, www.fohra.org.

The Ford Model A in the Park!

Did you know that there were two separate production runs of Model A Fords built in the company's history? The 1st was built from 1903 until 1904, and the 2nd was built from 1927 - 1931. The earlier Model A was the 1st car produced by Ford Motor company! Only 1750 of these original Ford automobiles were ever built. They were all made at the factory in the color red, and were responsible for Henry Ford and the Ford Motor Company's 1st profit.

The 1927 - 1931 Model A:

Above: A "newer" Model A Ford, a 1930 Town Sedan, owned by Dianna and Tom Mosier of Milford, Michigan.

The 1927 - 1931 Model A was the 2nd huge success story at Ford after the Model T that it replaced after 18 years of production. 4,849,340 (yes 4 million) Model A's were produced during it's production run of 5 years. And one last trivial fact: The Ford Model A was the 1st car to have safety glass! - Info Source: Wikipedia

Come out to Fords, Friends, and Fun in the Park on Saturday, August 15th in the Highland Recreation Area to see a collection of these fine automobiles from our nation's past, right here in the present! The event will be the Highland Recreation Area's support group fund raiser. Food items will be sold to raise money for the efforts of the Friends of Highland Recreation Area. FOHRA is making great strides to preserve and rejuvenate Edsel Fords' historic Haven Hill Estate that lies within the boundaries of the rec. area in Oakland County, Michigan.

Go to www.fordsfriendsfun.com for more information.

Fords, Friends, and Fun in the Park

Friends of Highland Recreation Area members are readying themselves for a great summer family event: "Fords, Friends, and Fun in the Park" will take place on Saturday, August 15, 2009 at Highland State Recreation Area in Highland/White Lake, Michigan.

The big day will be an alternative to the famous "Dream Cruise" which will occur the same weekend on Woodward Avenue. The event will feature vintage Ford automobiles such as Model T's and Model A's. "The old cars don't take kindly to the slow speeds of cruising. These vintage car owners often drive them to locations and gather for picnics, contests, barbeques, and other activities, but they don't cruise much at all", said Jay Fitzgerald, event coordinator.

Activities for families will include the "Kyler's Corral" petting farm, historic displays, park Users Groups displays, educational information about the Haven Hill Estate (once owned by Edsel Ford), and radio controlled model plane flying demonstrations. Children's activities such as kite making, butterfly/bug hunting, frisbee toss, fishing pole casting pools, and more will be available all day. A "Family Horseshoe Challenge" will allow families to throw horseshoes for points to win prizes. Food sales will include hot dogs, ice cream, popcorn, and other summer items. Period music will be played all day to add to the atmosphere.

Fitzgerald said, "A fun item for sale at our food pavilion will be a picnic basket of 4 hot dogs, 4 cookies, and 4 soft drinks of your choice. The whole basket of items will be sold at a discount compared to the individual price of each item. We're hoping to encourage families to come out and enjoy a picnic in the park!"

FOHRA will use the day as a fundraising event for the Recreation Area, and as a membership drive.

The event will be free of charge, except for the normal $6.00 vehicle permit pass for Michigan State Parks, or an existing $24.oo annual vehicle permit sticker which many people already have in their car window. "We've put together a fun time for a whole family in the outdoors where the expenses add up to far less than the price of a single movie ticket and a trip to the snack bar. You can't beat the Fords, Friends, and Fun in the Park event for something to do at such a low cost to you for your family".

The fun will be from 10 am until 4 pm Saturday at the Goose meadow picnic site of of Haven Hill Road. Highland Recreation Area is in Oakland County off of M-59 between Bogey Lake and Duck Lake roads.

"Vintage vehicle owners need to contact us at "info@fohra.org" or call 248-787-1750. We also have a website just for the event, www.fordsfriendsfun.com", commented Fitzgerald. "Owners will be let in free for the day, but need to register so that we can get them on a list for free entry into the park."

www.fohra.org

Edsel Ford Barn Project: FOHRA Signage In Place

This last weekend at one of the regular 2nd and 4th Sunday FOHRA work sessions, a new sign advertising FOHRA work days was installed on the front of the Edsel Ford Barn inside the Highland Recreation Area. The sign was assembled on the ground and installed using a lift.

Great progress has been achieved throughout the spring and into this summer on the green salvage project of the debris field in back of the damaged Edsel Ford Barn. The barn's animal quarters, comprising nearly 3/4 of it's total length, was severely damaged during a June 2008 storm.

As can be seen above, the huge concrete pad beneath the barn is being exposed nicely. Team members expect full clearing of the pad in upcoming weeks. FOHRA members, community volunteers, Oakland Community College students and professors, and WWAM work crews, plus many more folks, have all contributed to the hours worked to save the barn's resources for the rebuild.

Come on out and join us to help finish up the salvaging of the barn's materials - check the FOHRA website at www.fohra.org for details! Below... a conceptual drawing of the future plan for the barn's rise!

The Friends of Highland Recreation Area are a 501(c)(3) organization.