July 20, 2005
Dinner and a movie out on the township
Long Lake Township holds community fund-raiser on site of proposed library site
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
Popcorn and candy - two bits!
Long Lake Township hosted a community event Saturday that culminated with the showing of the original Herbie the Love Bug movie. As more than 60 people of all ages spread out on the lawn of the township's proposed library site, munching movie fare and laughing at the lovable Beetle's antics, another slice of community was formed.
The event, which also featured an all-day car wash, family dinner and children's games, was part fund-raiser for the library, part community event and part outreach event. The overarching goal, beyond the $800 raised that day toward a proposed new library, was to build relationships among residents and get the word out about the library.
"This felt like a reunion, it was a small turnout and a lot of community people that you know," said Kip Ray, a resident of the township and gym teacher at Long Lake Elementary School.
Ray contrived more than a dozen games that kept kids romping and soaked at Haywood Park before the movie started. Tug-of-war, three-legged races, baseball batting practice, a limbo contest, a tire roll and a fishing game were just some of the ideas that had participants playing and laughing.
"Some of them I tried to come up with a book theme, like the broom race for Harry Potter," she said. "I knew it was going to be hot, so I wanted lots of water."
At dusk, the movie began, starting with old Drive In announcements and previews broadcast on a homemade screen made of insulation and one by fours. The impromptu theater was the proposed site of the Long Lake Library, at the corner of Manhattan and North Long Lake Roads.
This future library would be a branch of the Traverse Area District Library. If built, the library would also be a community center for the growing township, whose booming population is just under 8,000 residents. The township has had a reading room open for minimal hours in the township hall since 1997.
The Friends of the Long Lake Library formed in 2002 to raise money and awareness about the library. After extensive investigation and deliberation about locating the facility at Twin Lakes Camp, the township has decided to build it according to the original plan on property adjacent to their township hall.
The Long Lake Township board will address a proposed millage of up to one mil for up to three years to fund construction at their August meeting, noted Tina Allen, treasurer for the township. If approved, residents can vote on whether an average household cost of 23 cents a day is worth it for a library with community facilities in their township.
"You know, I just want a library," Allen said. "Right now people are talking about it and keep saying they want it but we need to make a decision and make it right away. And to be honest, if people vote No now, then we know that we are done."
To date, Friends of the Long Lake Library have hosted numerous community events, ranging from a sledding-spaghetti party to a book sale, and raised $200,000. Geared to different segments of the township's population, each of which might use the library, the events have built community no matter what happens with the library.
"People are having fun and people with kids are saying we should have a movie like this once a month," Allen said.
She also added that the library fundraising and awareness efforts over the past three years has snagged some on a mindset where residents identify as part of Traverse City first, not Long Lake Township. The township's lack of civic groups, such as Kiwanis or Rotary, plus not having a newspaper, can shift residents' identity into town.
"So things like this are things that make people feel more a sense of community here," Allen noted.