EMPIRE, MI - When the Skrocki family opened the Sleeping Bear Surf shop in the tiny beach town of Empire in 2004, there were more than a few people who raised their eyebrows, wondering how a shop dedicated to Great Lakes surfing would fare in a community more known for boating, its sandy stretches and famous dunes just up the road. Fast forward two decades and this shop just blocks from Lake Michigan has an international customer list. It’s well-known in the surfing community, and not just by the increasing number who love riding freshwater waves.
Their fans and friends are destination surfers who not only come to them for good equipment, but the family feel and the joy over their place in Northern Michigan that seems to seep into every relationship. This weekend, festivities celebrating Sleeping Bear Surf & Kayak’s 20th anniversary are set to take over this small town between Frankfort and Glen Arbor. The Friday to Sunday events are being billed as “Beryl Days,” a loving tribute to the family matriarch and surf shop co-founder who passed away in late 2022 shortly after she was diagnosed with cancer.
She was 61. “We are bringing to life the shindig of the summer with big joy at the heart of the weekend’s events,” said Ella Skrocki, the daughter of shop founders Beryl and Frank Skrocki. “The founder of Sleeping Bear Surf, Beryl Skrocki, lived life overflowing with good energy, and established Sleeping Bear Surf on a foundation of joy itself.
The first inaugural.
