The Trailhead Project
Posted by John Ester
on Oct 27, 2015
On the 10th anniversary of the completion of the Beulah Trailhead, former Sunrise President Bill Parris gave a PowerPoint presentation on the effort that constituted the Club's Centennial Project.
Having received its charter from Rotary International in March of 2000, Benzie Sunrise Rotary was a young club in 2003 when it began working with the DNR, Friends of the Betsie Valley Trail and the Village of Beulah on plans to construct a building at the site of the old train station in Beulah. By 2005 the parties had entered into a contract, hired an architect and commenced construction, with Dick Lutz of the Frankfort Club acting as Project Manager.
In the meantime Sunrise Rotary had the task of raising $230,000. Its fundraisers included a steak cookout, a Krispy Kreme doughnut sale, a garage sale and a tee shirt sale. More importantly, the Club was able to leverage initial contributions of $5,875 from Club members with matching grants to bring its contribution to $41,000. With a $50,000 grant from Rotary Charities, $107,000 from the DNR and $35,000 from the Friends of the Betsie Valley Trail, the Club was able to put together the financing of the $310,000 required to complete the project.
The Trailhead was dedicated on October 12, 2015, and it continues to draw bikers, hikers and other visitors to Beulah every day.