Partners
Leelanau County Historic Preservation Society partners with nonprofit groups aligned with our mission. This helps us accomplish more through shared goals, expertise, and manpower.
Benzie Area Historical Society and Museum (BAHS) has co-sponsored programs with LCHPS on poor farms, as Benzie’s poor farm residence is still standing. Their mission: “BAHS will connect people to the past through the vibrant story of our region. By collecting, preserving, and interpreting the history of the Benzie area, we will link past with present and inspire future generations.”
Row-by-Row (formerlyBuckets of Rain). is an organization that raises vegetables to be given to people in need. It aims “to support…by…growing hope, feeding lives one garden at a time.” In the fall of 2017, the LCHPS Board approached BoR President, Chris Skellenger to establish a garden at the Poor Farm. Row-by-Row partners with Food Rescue of Northwest MI, which is a wonderful food distribution network for the produce raised at the Leelanau County Poor Farm by the Row-by-Row volunteers.
President of Bucket of Rain, Chris Skellenger and Treasurer, Mike Binsfeld have made some significant changes and the “UP North” branch of this organization has been renamed to Row by Row. The Glen Arbor Sun’s co-editor, Norm Wheeler, wrote an article about big changes for Buckets of Rain to Row by Row, which was posted on July 6, 2022. Click on Chris’s name to learn more about Row by Row and other transitions for Chris Skellenger,
Empire Area History Group and Museum co-sponsors programs with LCHPS and helps provide volunteers for our various work days. Director, Dave Taghon, is also on our Discovery Days committee.
Explore Historic Leelanau is an informal collaboration of 17 history related nonprofit organizations within Leelanau County. Guiding goals are to increase visitations to network member’s venues, build awareness and appreciation for the Leelanau Peninsula’s history, and to improve collaboration in order to effectively support and promote one another. This network developed and printed 10,000 copies of the map and brochure in 2018 and 5,000 in 2019.
Glen Lake Schools “aim to inspire and prepare students to achieve at their highest potential for today’s every-changing world.” They have established an active relationship with local nonprofits. Students grow seedlings in the greenhouse for the Buckets of Rain gardens, adopt a grave at the Glen Arbor Cemetery and research a person buried there, and have participated in the Michigan Archeological Society exploratory workshop.
Leelanau Historical Society and Museum (LHSM) is curating and housing the permanent Leelanau County Poor Farm Collection. Through our partnership, over 100 photos and documents have been scanned and ten people have been interviewed. LHSM’s mission is “to preserve and share the history of Leelanau County to inspire others to explore and interpret the past for future generations to learn and appreciate.” New director Kim Kelderhouse serves on our Discovery Days committee and LHSM co-sponsors historical programs.
Leelanau Press, a Michigan nonprofit, produced a book for LCHPS on Leelanau County’s 42 recognized historic sites. Through a collaboration with authors M. Christine Byron and Thomas R. Wilson and the Leelanau Press all sales of the book, Historic Leelanau: Recognized Sites and Places of Historical Significance, went to LCHPS to fund the Michigan Historical Marker and a preservation fund.
Michigan Archeological Society (MAS) “is an organization with close ties between professional and amateur archaeologists who investigate, research, record, and conserve archaeological sites and artifacts. They cooperate with universities, colleges, and museums with similar interests, and exchange and disseminate information on such subjects.” MAS held a two-day exploratory workshop in May, 2019 at the Poor Farm site. Under the direction of MAS President, David Cusack and archeologist, Stacy Tchorzynski, nine archeologists from all over Michigan came to work with twelve Glen Lake Community School high school students. Twelve students were mentored in exploration approaches and GPS mapping techniques.
Northwest Michigan Draft Horse and Mule Association (NMDHMA) has “the goal of keeping the draft horse and mule heritage alive for future generations.” They provided two teams of draft horses for each of our two Plow Day events, historical reenactments of plowing the vegetable garden in preparation for planting. NMDHMA president Susan Zenker of Fantail Farm and Kathy Shutt each brought a team and demonstrated harnessing.