With the Memorial Day weekend, also comes the traditional start of the summer season on the shores of Lake Michigan.
If school’s not out, it’s just days away and thousands of people will be beating a sandy path to the beach. While the lake’s water might still be frigid, the sun will heat up the sand and give children a place to make elaborate sand castles while parents relax and reach for sunscreen.
And, like every Memorial Day weekend, park officials are ready.
Officials overseeing the beaches dotting the Lake Michigan shoreline said their crews have put in weeks worth of work to get things ready for the Memorial Day weekend.
“It’s a very busy time for us in the weeks and months leading up to swim season,” said Brandt Baughman, property manager of the Indiana Dunes State Park in Chesterton.
The park covers 3 miles of beachfront, about a half-mile of it open to swimming and staffed by lifeguards.
“Now is the time when we’re grooming our beach, getting our lifeguard station in order,” Baughman said. “There’s quite a bit of preparation that goes into opening up on Memorial Day weekend.”
The state park typically has about 60 full-time and part-time employees, with eight of them directly involved in sprucing up the sandy places.
The controversial pavilion, which is being remodeled by a private company into a banquet hall and other facilities, will be closed with about five food trucks providing goodies to beachgoers, Baughman said.
Like the state park, about six Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore maintenance workers spent time over the past month plowing sand from parking lots and trails, getting ready for opening day, said Park Ranger and Public Information Officer Bruce Rowe.
“Most people just figure the beach looks the same way as when they left last summer,” he said.
Not true. Winter winds and high waves of early spring mean beach erosion, Baughman explained. The national park operates six beaches stretched across 15 miles from Gary to Michigan City, but one beach, Central Avenue beach, will be closed this year because of erosion, he said.
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Patrons can make the park’s life a little easier by cleaning up after themselves and staying on designated trails and lots, Baughman said.
“We really want to urge people, when they come to the beaches, to leave them as clean as they found them,” he said. “It’s their park, but we need the help of our visitors and a lot of volunteers throughout the year.”
Michael Gonzalez is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.