GLEN HAVEN -- Carolyn Bumgardner carries her possessions in a bag as she shuffles between temporary stays at her mother's home near Maple City and her daughter's Empire residence.
The former Glen Haven resident was evicted from her home Nov. 8 as part of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore's efforts to turn the historic village into a public area.
"I am still living out of a suitcase and I'm still trying to find stuff in storage, which has been hard with the weather," Bumgardner, 70, said. "All the buildings and things that were there are gone, so there went a lifetime of memories."
Bumgardner lived in a double-wide trailer behind her childhood home off Glen Haven Road since 1972. Park officials contend they purchased the property through eminent domain in 1980. Bumgardner, who was paid about $36,000 for the lot, was the last village resident.
Bumgardner was given about an hour to collect her belongings and federal authorities put the rest, including presents she planned to give out for Christmas, into a storage unit at her expense.
"It's just so indefinite. It has been a month ... and sometimes it seems like a lifetime," she said, adding that authorities allowed her to return to her home days after the eviction to collect items the movers left behind.
"My bed was smashed up and thrown outside," she said.
Sleeping Bear Superintendent Dusty Shultz said the park paid to move Bumgardner out of her trailer, which has since been removed from the property. The park is moving ahead with plans to "restore and interpret" the village, she said.
"We remove the structures on the site that are not historical," Shultz said. "We just wish Carolyn well and we look forward to continuing our efforts to restore Glen Haven historic village."
Village improvements so far include a boat museum at the former cannery, a rehabilitated store that serves as an information center and a restored blacksmith shop, Shultz said.
The park eventually expects to install a boardwalk system and improve parking.
Meanwhile, Bumgardner continues to pay about $300 a month to store her things while family members work to continue her decades-long dispute with the park.
"We have had a couple of meetings with people who think they may be able to get her some pro bono legal help ... but we have to find all the paperwork," said Zoe Smith, Bumgardner's daughter.
"It's a dismal Christmas, that's for sure," Bumgardner said.
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