News & Stories
Revitalizing Thompsonville: A Community Dream in Motion
Photo credit: Thompsonville Area Revitalization Project
Image description: Two TARP volunteers planting spring flowers in downtown Thompsonville.
Thompsonville, a small town just a few miles east of Crystal Mountain in Benzie County, is an area rich in history, resources, and recreation. As Chuck Kraus, Board President of the Thompsonville Area Revitalization Project (TARP) and historian, recalls, the town was once home to an important railroad crossing that linked Traverse City to Chicago and Frankfort to Toledo via Ann Arbor. Part of the rail bed that saw Thompsonville grow during the logging era of the early 1900s now serves as the popular Betsie Valley Trail.
The spirit of the booming railway era still lives on in Thompsonville through TARP, one of our grant partners, whose members are helping Thompsonville realize its potential with an ambitious community renewal effort, campaigning to build a new visitor’s center and a multi-use trailhead, along with restoring the town’s campground to attract visitors. We helped fund TARP when they were just beginning their journey.
Chuck, who’s been with TARP since its inception in 2020 and assisted as a grant writer, was thrilled when TARP received one of our Community Funds grants in 2022.
“We’d had a lot of people tell us our project was a pie-in-the-sky idea,” Chuck said. “Getting Community Foundation support affirmed we were on the right track. I know it helped other foundations see us as legitimate, even though we were so new.”
TARP used their flexible Community Funds grant to build capacity for more monetary support. They made a promotional video outlining their plans for the village and created a historic marker for the center of town. They also hired a grant writer to apply for a Natural Resources Trust Fund grant.
As the result of our initial investment and support from other funders—including Rotary Charities of Traverse City, the Oleson Foundation, the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, the Art and Mary Schmuckal Family Foundation, Impact 100 of Traverse City, and more—TARP has closed in on $1,176,250 in grants and private donations. The organization is less than $100,000 away from the sum they need to complete their planned revitalization projects.
“Community Foundation staff directed us to apply for Oleson Foundation funding,” Chuck recounted. “I remember thinking that we’d never applied for such a large grant before, and then lo and behold, we received $50,000. We just kept building off Community Foundation support.”
In addition to TARP’s efforts, there have been other inspiring signs of community revitalization in Thompsonville. Recently, a couple transformed an old building into the Whistle Stop Child Care Center. There’s a new skate park in place of an abandoned tennis court. Village President, Ken Pasanski helped repair a basketball court to offer kids more recreational opportunities. Habitat for Humanity Grand Traverse Region has also been building affordable housing in the area.
“There’s enormous potential here,” Chuck emphasized. “We can’t take credit for everything residents are doing to revitalize the town. But we think our projects are going to inspire people and bring commerce into the Village.”