Southwest Michigan Land Conservancy is immensely grateful to the community for the outpouring of support in creating a place that protects nature while providing people with meaningful access to it. SWMLC continues to own the property, and care for the natural areas and wildlife. In 2017, the South Haven Area Recreational Authority (SHARA) entered into an agreement with SWMLC, with SHARA taking responsibility for general maintenance and management, and making public access improvements to the preserve. A master plan was developed, based on this community input, that includes many of the improvements that are now in place. Knowing that Pilgrim Haven is dear to the hearts of so many, people from the community were invited to make suggestions and share ideas about how they wanted to see the land used. Parish passed away in 2010, her estate donated the property to Southwest Michigan Land Conservancy, with the intent that Pilgrim Haven remain as open space to be shared with the greater South Haven community and beyond. Parish protected the lakeshore haven from development for more than 20 years, despite repeated financial offers.Īfter Mrs. Suzanne Upjohn DeLano Parish – former World War II Women’s Airforce Service Pilot (WASP) and co-founder of the Air Zoo in Portage, Michigan – purchased the property after the camp’s closing in the early 1980’s. Many families enjoyed happy summers here, the camp so beloved that a Facebook page called Remembering Pilgrim Haven was created to collect campers’ memories, over 20 years after it closed. The mid-century UCC emphasis on the importance of natural outdoor experiences for health and well-being foreshadowed the modern UCC’s ministries in environmental justice and climate issues.Ĭamp Pilgrim Haven grew to include a second East Camp, a ball field, a lovely spot overlooking the lake for evening vespers, a meeting house, and a dining lodge whose chimney still stands today. In 1948, the Michigan Congregational Conference of the United Church of Christ (UCC) bought the property and renamed it Camp Pilgrim Haven.
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