Now that the leaves have fallen, the amazing large vines around some of the trees in Highland Recreation Area are exposed to view.

Some are 2 – 3 inches in diameter. They look large and strong enough to support a climber!

They are another of the great things that nature has to offer for viewing in Highland State Recreation Area. Get outside and see something “divine”… sorry for the bad pun.

www.fohra.org

Members of Highland State Recreation Area’s support group, FOHRA, got together on November 8 and cleared away years of brush in front of the Haven Hill Gate House. The old building can now be seen from the M-59 entrance station as visitors enter the park.

Above: Heavy brush blocks the view of the Haven Hill Gate House.

Above: Members clip and pull the years of brush that had obscured the Gate House from view.

Above: FOHRA members Tim Wiles and Jerry McManus review the clearing.

Above: The Haven Hill Gate House, once the entrance to Edsel Ford’s Haven Hill Estate, exposed to public view beyond the entrance station turn-around at Highland Recreation Area.

Above: Friends of Highland Recreation Area marvel at the new view.

FOHRA plans to improve these sites within the park. The Haven Hill Gate House may become an informative Visitors Center some day. Come on out and help the effort. Visit www.fohra.org for more info.

Last weekend’s fall color inside Highland Recreation Area was gorgeous! Maybe this weekend will be even better.

A pair of swans circled the lake…

Check out www.fohra.org for more info about preserving the wonderful resources inside Highland State Recreation Area.

Images © copyright Jay Fitzgerald, White Lake, MI.

PRESS RELEASE

The Friends of Highland Recreation Area (FOHRA), a 501(c)(3) volunteer organization based in Highland, Michigan, is now operating under Lease agreement with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources for the historic Edsel Ford Haven Hill Estate structures within the Haven Hill section of the park at 5200 Highland Road (M-59) in White Lake, Michigan.

The Haven Hill section of the park contains the remaining original structures of what was once a country home of Edsel and Eleanor Ford. The Lease Agreement covers all of the former Haven Hill Estate structures.

FOHRA will be revitalizing the structures for public enjoyment.  The public is encouraged to visit the organization’s website at www.fohra.org.

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

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.

Watch a quick video of the Haven Hill Road repairs inside the Highland Recreation Area. Special thanks again to Cadillac Asphalt, LLC!

Come on out and join the volunteer effort.

www.fohra.org

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.

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.

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!