This continues a series adapted from the book, “A Port Oneida Collection,” Volume 1 of the twopart set, “Oral History, Photographs, and Maps from the Sleeping Bear Region,” produced by Tom Van Zoeren in partnership with Preserve Historic Sleeping Bear. Here we conclude our look at the Goffar Farm, along M-22 on Lake Narada. Picking up after the passing of Olive Manney-- Following Olive’s passing, the farm was purchased by Glen Arbor dentist Leo Roman, whose family used it as a weekend retreat. With the advent of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Dr. Roman sold the place to the Park with a 25-year retention-of-use provision. After he died in 1984, the family sold the retention rights to a company that rented it out.
One of the last occupants before the retention expired was Breanna Malm, who provided the following perspective at the 2010 Port Oneida Fair. Starting with how long she had lived there, Breanna answered, wistfully, “My whole life--thirteen years. I love it. It’s really a great place. It’s going to be hard moving out, because I’ve spent my whole life there. It’s just a beautiful place to live. It’s wide open. There’s like a bunch of places you can go just to explore more things. I love Narada Lake. It’s so beautiful at night, watching the sunset. It’s just pretty . . .
“We have a rowboat that we put out every summer, and we row out there. Sometimes I put my bathing suit on and go out there and jump out in the middle of the lake — Not up front, because it’s swampy, and the bottom is really mucky; (but in the middle) you can’t really reach because it is really deep.
