Nestled in the southeast corner of Grand Traverse County, near a juncture of Kalkaska, Wexford and Missaukee counties, Fife Lake is a community rich in history.
Founded in the 1960s, the Fife Lake Historical Society is committed to not only preserving and documenting the area's history but to making it relevant for the future. In this light, the Historical Society launched a capital campaign last month to raise $144,000 for a range of projects. The organizers' ambitious goal is to complete the effort by July 4, 2008.
Already a third of the way there, the society will use the funds in part to purchase and renovate a historic one-room schoolhouse, built in 1878.
Along with the Old Fire Barn and a main museum downtown across from the schoolhouse, the society's extensive array of artifacts, photographs and documents heralds its mission to "honor our past as we build our future.”
"One of our purposes is to enhance this historic village, not just about the past but make it a destination people want to come to,” said Art Van Eck, chair of the capital campaign and president of the historical society.
"People who forget their past tend to forget the values on which the present is built and they become rootless,” he noted.
"Honoring and preserving your past is how you stay connected with your values and traditions,” he added.
The capital campaign has struck a chord so far and their first gathering just after Labor Day brought in $16,050 in pledges. A second event for society members was held last month at the historic schoolhouse, which served as the community's library until last year and is now being purchased by the society. The next phase of fundraising includes reaching out to community and writing grants.
Funds raised by the campaign will also be used for renovations, repairs and maintenance of the three sites. The schoolhouse, which retains its original pressed tin ceiling and walls, will be transformed into a one-room schoolhouse museum. It will feature desks and other items currently housed in a small display across the street.
"The schoolhouse itself was the original North Fife Lake School with land set aside in 1874 but the school is dated 1878 in the round window,” said Fel Brunett, curator of the museum. "It's an amazing building, the rafters are all very decoratively sawed. It's not large but it's amazing how well it was built and preserved.”
The building served as a school only for seven years and then the booming community built a two-story building a few blocks away, dedicating the original to township use. The library moved in during the 1940s and shared space with the township until the 1980s when a new facility was built for the government offices. The 1,000-square-foot building was bursting at the seams until the library moved into a new facility in July of 2006.
The township rejected a request to donate the building to the society and considered other options before accepting a purchase offer.
"Unfortunately it was never registered as a historic site so it doesn't have that protection,” noted Van Eck.
The Old Fire Barn, purchased in July also from the township, includes a 1936 fire truck, 1884 dress uniforms from local firefighters and other pictures and items.
A notable portion of the overall Fife Lake Historical Society collection, what Brunett deems it's "best feature,” is more than 500 photos taken by Willis W. Brower. A former village entrepreneur who served as grocer, undertaker, music director and amateur historian, he photographed or preserved negatives showing life in early Fife Lake.
"We've had several people who have been collectors in the community who have passed on their collections to us as they've gone to their rewards,” said Brunett. "We've got a fantastic amount stuff and it's not as organized and catalogued as we want it to be but I'm retired now.”