“Henry Ford and Family: From Roots to Branches”
ANNOUNCEMENT: Historical Speakers’ Event at Haven Hill
Cost: Free/Voluntary Donation
Steven Stanford operates “H is for Henry” Publications in Howell. He is an author and lecturer specializing in subjects involving the early auto industry. His presentations have included Albert Kahn, Thomas Edison, The Rouge Factory, and a number of variations on his favorite theme, Henry Ford. He is an avid researcher and enjoys the process of research as much as the writing and presenting. He serves on the Board of Directors for the Henry Ford Heritage Association and serves as the Associate Treasurer for Elderwise. He is also a member of the Society of Automotive Historians and the MotorCities National Heritage Area.
Recreation Passport Required for State Park Entry
Visit www.fohra.org and www.henryford150.com for more information
“Redbud Reveal” Ceremony to be Held Sunday, April 28, at Highland State Recreation Area
The Friends of Highland Recreation Area are proud to announce a season-opening event at Highland State Recreation Area in Highland/White Lake, Michigan. To celebrate the arrival of the 2013 spring and summer season, the “Redbud Reveal” will be held from 12 noon until 4:00 pm on Sunday, April 28. Visitors are encouraged to come and see the historic Haven Hill Gate House, the Edsel Ford Barn, the Carriage House, and informative art and history displays atop Haven Hill. At 1:00 pm, FOHRA President Mr. Dick Russell will give a public address on the Gate House lawn highlighting the Friends group’s recent activities and event plans for the coming year. Light refreshments will be served among the many new trees planted last fall around Edsel and Eleanor Fords’ beautiful historic estate entrance.
Historic Gate House Garage Opening to the Public
The Friends of Highland Recreation Area are excited to reveal the Gate House Garage interior to the public this year! The Fords’ garage at the Gate House held vehicles ready to shuttle their guests into the Haven Hill estate. New windows have been installed, several sections of beautiful yard fence have been put up, new electrical service has been activated, and the interior walls have been hand-plastered by expert craftsmen. The space will be open to the public from 12 noon until 4:00 pm on April 28 throughout the day of this year’s Redbud Reveal event. A “before and after” photo exhibit of the renovation progress will be on display all day.
Art on the Hill, and Haven Hill Lodge Historic Displays
From 12 noon until 4:00 pm on the day of the Redbud Reveal event, “Art on the Hill” and the Ford Lodge Historic displays will be shown atop beautiful Haven Hill. Park at the circle hill lot and have an enjoyable stroll up Haven Hill road to see a Haven Hill art exhibit and the historic Lodge displays. Come and enjoy a spring day in the park!
“Redbud Reveal” Ceremony to be Held Sunday, April 28, at Highland State Recreation Area
The Friends of Highland Recreation Area volunteers are proud to announce a season-opening event at Highland State Recreation Area in Highland/White Lake, Michigan. To celebrate the arrival of the 2013 spring and summer season, the “Redbud Reveal” will be held from 12 noon until 4:00 pm on Sunday, April 28. Visitors are encouraged to come and see the historic Haven Hill Gate House, the Edsel Ford Barn, the Carriage House, and informative art and history displays atop Haven Hill.
At 1:00 pm, FOHRA President Mr. Dick Russell will give a public address on the Gate House lawn highlighting the Friends group’s recent activities and event plans for the coming year. Light refreshments will be served among the many new trees planted last fall around Edsel and Eleanor Fords’ beautiful historic estate entrance.
Come out and enjoy at spring day in the park!
Snow Snakes Return to Highland Recreation Area
The Chief Pontiac Trail Committee of the Boy Scouts of America with support of the Friends of Highland Recreation Area (FOHRA) helped kids young and old release their snow snakes in Highland State Recreation Area today. A great time was had by all as the snakes slithered and slid through the snow this year.
The event is held yearly near the Haven Hill Edsel Ford Barn in Highland State Recreation Area, Highland/White Lake, Michigan. Snow Snake racing is a fun winter activity with roots in Native American sport.
Haven Hill Gate House Garage – Interior Plastering Underway!
This weekend the Friends of Highland Rec and a volunteer great crew of experienced professional plasterers began repairing the interior walls of the Haven Hill Gate House. The wonderful historic building is at the entrance to the Highland State Recreation Area across the road to the east of the entrance station.
The interior walls have been prepared and insulation has been installed prior to the application of the new plaster.
Above: The Haven Hill Gate House walls before the plaster installation. Saturday, December 7, 2012.
Above: The Haven Hill Gate House walls AFTER the plaster installation. Saturday, December 7, 2012.
Above: One of the crew of volunteer plasterers applies fresh material to the new interior walls at the Haven Hill Gate House.
More new windows will go in soon. The Gate House garage work is a great example of the progress of the Friends group. Great to see these historic buildings coming to life again!
2012 FOHRA Annual Meeting – November 7
When: Wednesday, November 7, 2012 Time: 6:30 PM ~ 8:30 PM Where: White Lake Township Community Hall, 7500 Highland Road (M-59), White Lake, MI Contact: info@fohra.org, www.fohra.org On behalf of the Board of Directors of the Friends of Highland Recreation Area, we would like to invite you to attend our 2012 FOHRA Annual Meeting and Social. Our yearly event summarizes FOHRA’s 2012 activity at the Highland State Recreation Area, invigorates your continued support, and welcomes new members to the organization. Interesting and enjoyable Haven Hill displays and a video slideshow will be presented. Agenda
- 6:30 – 7:00 pm: Sign-In and Socializing Sign our guestbook, and enjoy visiting with FOHRA members and seeing some informative Haven Hill exhibits. Appetizers, desserts, and light beverages will be provided. Can’t make it at 6:30? Please feel free to drop in anytime during the evening!
- 7:00 – 7:30 pm: FOHRA Annual Business Meeting 2012 Overview, History, Required Votes
- 7:30 – 8:00 pm: 2012 Video Slideshow An entertaining and informative review of FOHRA’s hard work (and fun!) during 2012
- 8:00 – 8:15 pm: Overview of Future Programs FOHRA Focus for 2013 – Mr. Dick Russell
- 8:15 – 8:30 pm: Questions and Answers
- 8:30 pm: Adjournment
- 8:30 – 8:45 pm: Light Refreshments and Dessert Among “Friends”
FOHRA is committed to helping support the Highland State Recreation Area by assisting and promoting interpretive, scientific, historical, and educational visitor services. Please join us for a fun and interesting evening at the Annual Meeting of the Friends of Highland Recreation Area! Sincerely, Board of Directors Friends of Highland Recreation Area 
Highland Recreation Area’s Haven Hill Lake Shore is Alive with Fall Color!
Every year in the fall I head over to a few special spots on the shore of Haven Hill Lake in Highland State Recreation Area to take in the magnificent fall color palette. This morning the conditions were not perfect (window and cloudy), but the forest surrounding the lake didn’t disappoint!
And the Haven Hill forest all around this wonderful Michigan park is amazing this time of year too! Here’s an area just off of Haven Hill road showing off bright yellow hues this morning…
Get out and enjoy the fresh air and colors at Highland State Recreation Area!
Laetiporus… a Chicken in the Woods!
Along with the historic structures of the former Haven Hill estate that was inhabited by Edsel and Eleanor Ford and their family so many years ago, the adjacent Haven Hill Natural National Landmark area is filled with many amazing forest inhabitants…including lots of mushrooms! One of my favorite species are the large and dramatically colored “Sulfur Shelf” or “Chicken of the Woods” mushrooms that are in the park at this time of year. Scientific name laetiporus.
In the photo below, this big guy and a little brother are located on a trail in the northwest corner of the Haven Hill section of the park..
They say these are edible, hence the name “chicken of the woods”, but I’ll pass on that idea for now and just enjoy them in their natural setting, on the side of a fallen tree on the edge of a nice shady walking trail.
I’ve started GPS mapping some of my hikes at Highland Recreation Area to share with others. See below… amazing what you can do with a cell phone nowadays! Try clicking on the link below the screen clip to see the hike details, photos, etc. Pretty cool if it works!
Haven Hill Hike Sep 15, 2012 – Link
Get out to Haven Hill and enjoy discoveries like these for yourself! Have a enjoyable and healthy hike!
Jay Fitzgerald
Haven Hill Hiking: Feel Changes in the Season
A nice hike around the trails of the Haven Hill Natural Area, and Goose Meadow, on September 2, 2012.
An end of summer hike was in order yesterday so I headed into the Haven Hill National Natural Landmark in the early morning on September 2, Labor Day weekend. Quiet forests with the mystical quality of Haven Hill met me with open arms. Love this place!
Found a few beautiful mushrooms alongside the trail…
And a squirrel or two…
Did you know that a chipmunk is actually just a small striped squirrel?
The squirrel above was too busy gathering nuts for winter to worry about me.. he stopped for a peek down from his tree and then headed on to his store somewhere.
Above: Orange Jewelweed is along Haven Hill Lake at this time of year.
The Great Blue Lobelia (Lobelia siphilitica) is gorgeous if you look really closely at its’ delicate flowers.
Above: Some mushrooms can get kind of prickly when they mature. Ouch!
Okay I did it, above… posted a picture of early fall color at Haven Hill! Sorry. But the change of the season is here… mums are at the roadside stands, and the stores are starting to put out hay bales and scare crows. And rumor has it that a cider mill or two are open already…
Every time that I have ventured into the wilderness around Haven Hill I have found an interesting and new wonder of nature. This time of year is a time of transition. You can feel it in the air. Squirrels working on winter food supplies, leaves changing color a little bit, mushrooms giving life one last shot before the cold air returns. Walk the woods of Haven Hill to feel the spirit of the seasons!
2012 Haven Hill Festival to Feature Livingston A’s Vintage Model A Ford Driving Club Cars
The 2012 Haven Hill Festival at Highland State Recreation Area will have something for everyone to enjoy, and a very special display for vintage car enthusiasts!
On Saturday, August 25, at Goose Meadow in the Highland State Recreation Area, the Livingston A’s (members of the Model A Restorers Club, MARC, www.modelaford.org) will bring a collection of their beautiful Model A Ford automobiles for display. The A’s have driven their fine Ford automobiles to the Haven Hill Festival every year since its inception in 2009 as dedicated supporters of the Friends of Highland Recreation Area.
Above: A beautiful Model A Ford owned by Tom and Dianna Mosier, members of the Livingston A’s.
The Livingston A’s own many absolutely gorgeous Model A Ford cars of all types and colors. Between 1928 and 1932 nearly 5 million of nine different body styles of Model A Fords were sold across America, 5 million! Prices ranged from $385 for a base model, to $1400 for the top-of-the-line “Town Car”. The design team for the Model A was led by Henry Ford’s son Edsel, who with his wife Eleanor and their children were the original residents of the beautiful Haven Hill Estate that is now the location of the Highland State Recreation Area and the Haven Hill Festival.
The Friends of Highland Recreation Area wish to thank the Livingston A’s for their dedication to the Haven Hill Festival and the sincere efforts of the Friends of Highland Recreation Area support group.
Come on out and see the “A’s” on August 25th.
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