Celebrating Leelanau County’s influencers of 2021
From staff reports
As the clock ticks down on 2021, it’s time to recognize a few Leelanau County “influencers” we’ve covered in the Glen Arbor Sun this year who have made important impacts on local news, culture, business and the arts.
Meet the public health workers protecting us from COVID-19
In prosperous, care-free times, public health workers seem almost invisible. Because their job is to prevent health crises from happening, they remain in the background. Few people learn about their true impact. But since the COVID-19 global pandemic officially hit Michigan in March 2020, the Benzie-Leelanau District Health Department, as well as local nurses, doctors, and hospital workers, suddenly played an outsized role in coaching us on how to survive this deadly pathogen and avoid spreading it to others. Masking, social distancing, washing hands and contact tracing were the mitigation tools of 2020. This year our public health workers have held vaccination clinics in gymnasiums, administrative buildings, restaurants and popup tents.
“Save the Mill” wins referendum; LOGA sparks important zoning discussion
Turner Booth’s campaign to rezone and develop the Brammer parcel next to the historic gristmill on the Crystal River won a special zoning referendum vote on August 3. Booth, who bought the mill in 2018, enjoyed the support of many in the Glen Arbor business community, including Cherry Republic owner Bob Sutherland. Glen Arbor voters approved the Township Board’s decision in February to rezone the neighboring parcel from “residential” to “recreational.” The outcome will impact the stretch of M-22 northeast of Glen Arbor, where the river makes an oxbow before heading north toward Lake Michigan.
Despite losing the referendum, the group Love Old Glen Arbor (LOGA) sparked an important, and at times heated, conversation about local zoning, and its role in guiding future development. LOGA stated that the rezoning of the Brammer parcel conflicted with Glen Arbor’s 2019 Master Plan, which seeks to keep new commerce within the unincorporated village, itself, and curb sprawl. The citizen group also contended that the Township Board bypassed procedures, dismissed neighbors’ concerns, and ignored calls for transparency when it rezoned the Brammer parcel.
Crystal River Outfitters survives fire; Wiesens acquire Riverfront Pizza
Crystal River Outfitters were unable to rent kayaks or canoes through the last third of the summer after a tragic car accident early in the morning on Aug. 7, when a driver crashed into the kayak livery, setting the building on fire. Owners Matt and Katy Wiesen are rebuilding the livery. They also purchased Riverfront Pizza next-door from Tim and Sue Nichols and plan to rebrand and reopen in 2022 as “Riverfront Social.”
“We want to thank this wonderful community for all the support and love you have shown us since 1983!” said Tim and Sue Nichols. It has been a lot of fun with a lot of challenges, but most of all it has been a great place to have a business and to have the opportunity to meet so many great people! We have left our business in great hands and can’t wait to see the new and improved version!”
Music, art, and coffee converge at Lake Street Studios
Though the Glen Arbor Arts Center’s Manitou Music series was canceled in 2021, music returned to Lake Street Studios in July as organizer Harry Fried, along with booking agent Seamus Shinners of Connemara Concerts, lined up four acts to perform on the Studio Stage, continuing a live music tradition that Fried took over back in 2004.
The newest addition to the Lake Street Studios complex is Rinco Bros Coffee Roasters on the back corner of the building behind the Forest Gallery. Rinco Bros. Coffee Roasters is the creation of brothers Mark and Brendan Ringlever, whose father left his Rinco coffee roasting business in the Netherlands in 1965 and moved to Grand Rapids.
A stargazing Good Samaritan tourist sounds the alarm on Le Bear’s fire
A fire at Le Bear Resort on the north end of Lake Street in the early hours of May 15 shut down the resort and temporarily closed restaurant Blu. Luckily, a Good Samaritan walking the beach that night noticed the blaze and called the fire department. Kari Beitler, a Detroit area native who lives in Cleveland, had traveled north on a road trip with her parents that weekend to witness and photograph the Aurora Borealis. At about 3:40 a.m., Gary glanced east in the direction of Le Bear Resort—a fractionally-owned luxury residential club with 14 private residencies—and blurted, “What is that?” Kari saw the orange and red glow down the beach and replied, “It must be a bonfire.” They had seen one earlier the previous evening along Sleeping Bear Bay. Kari took a closer look and recognized that the fire was high off the ground. It wasn’t a bonfire.
Grocers Daughter Chocolate adds garden and picnic area; Gelateria next
Jody and DC Hayden, who own Grocers Daughter Chocolate in Empire, added a public garden and picnic area on top of a drainage field in the space north of the shop that used to be Anchor Hardware. The Haydens are also building a gelato shop and larger bakery on the south side of the chocolate shop in 2022. The gelato shop and bakery will operate out of the building that previously housed Traci Apsey’s Lighthouse Insurance office.
LivelyLands Music brings people together, breaks down barriers
The fields at Backyard Burdickville came to life once again with the sound of music. The LivelyLands Music Festival returned, Aug. 20-22, to the former Empire Eagles’ campground on M-72 east of Empire, which the Lively family purchased in 2019. LivelyLands was canceled in 2020 during the COVID-19 shutdown. With guitar picking and beautiful melodies crooning through the fields and forests, this intimate, “backyard” festival carries the legacy of Leelanau County summer music festivals.
Cedar River Coffee heralds community revival
Cedar River Coffee Company opened for business in the former Chase Bank building in downtown Cedar with a grand opening on May 1. The coffee shop is owned by Cedar resident Cindy Gale, a healthcare supervisor at Munson Medical Center. Cindy’s husband Andy runs Bay Area Recycling for Charities. “I’ve always been a coffee drinker and a coffee lover,” said Cindy. “I attempted many years ago to open a coffee shop, and it fell through. Ever since then, it’s been something I have wanted to do.”
Maple City welcomes homes, not budget box stores
Here’s an affordable housing success story in Leelanau County. Habitat for Humanity broke ground Nov. 16 on three duplex units that, as soon as a year from now, will house six families at the Maple City Crossings development at the corner of Maple Street and Western Avenue. Kal Excavating is preparing the two-acre parcel for the project. That’s the land, previously owned by Marilyn Flaska, where Dollar General sought in 2019 to build a small-box discount store. Kasson Township zoning laws, and staunch community opposition spearheaded by neighbor Scott Mills, stopped that sale and development.
Linger over Nittolo’s wood-fired pizzas, seafood social in Lake Leelanau
“When we make reservations for you, it’s for the table, not for the time,” Eric Nittolo reminds customers. “You’re not rushed. We take the European approach to dining.” Nittolo opened his wood-fired pizzeria on February 20 at the former home of Bella Fortuna in Lake Leelanau. The New Jersey native is a graduate of the Great Lakes Culinary Institute at Northwestern Michigan College and former executive chef at The Boathouse Restaurant on Traverse City’s Old Mission Peninsula, Reflect Bistro at Cambria Suites, Bonobo Winery and LochenHeath Golf Course in Williamsburg. He has long wanted to open his own restaurant.
The North Manitou “Crib” Lighthouse gets a makeover, offers tours
On June 19, the North Manitou Light Keepers, four families who own “The Crib” lighthouse led four supporters of the project on their first official tour. The next tour went on July 3, and 10 more followed after that, mostly on Saturdays through the summer. Part owner Dan Oginsky estimates they took approximately 50 people to the lighthouse in 2021. “The best part was to see the joy people felt,” Dan said. “Some didn’t talk much because they were soaking in the moment, looking out at the islands, looking back at the dunes, seeing freighters go by. They were blown away by the experience.”
Supporters who sponsored a window were encouraged to hang a temporary sign next to “their” window. Permanent plaques will ultimately replace those signs. Dan remembers that one trip included a few 60-somethings who quickly found folding chairs in the lighthouse and took them onto the deck to lounge in them as they faced the Manitou Passage. “I felt like these guys got it. They knew exactly what to do. Pull out those chairs and enjoy the moment.”
Cheesemakers Gary Smith and Joshua Hall purchase Leelanau Cheese
Leelanau Cheese founders John and Anne Hoyt have found successor cheesemakers Gary Smith and Joshua Hall to continue to produce their award winning, handcrafted raclette and fromage blanc cheeses upon their retirement. The sale of Leelanau Cheese Company—announced Saturday in a press release—includes all property, equipment, inventory, recipes and formulas at their location on M-22 south of Suttons Bay.
The Hoyts are pioneers in the local food movement in northwest lower Michigan. Their many loyal fans have followed their remarkable story and their efforts to preserve Leelanau Cheese. The answer was found in these two co-workers from Michigan State University (MSU) in East Lansing. Gary Smith provides a strong foundation in cheese making operations. He received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in food science from MSU. He has served as a quality assurance manager and food safety officer at the MSU Dairy Plant and is a dairy processing extension specialist helping other dairy processors
throughout the State.
Northport community protects its public beach
Josh Rutila, a born-and-raised life-long Northport resident, was in the right place at the right time on July 4. His wife Ellie and young daughter, along with two visiting friends, had gone down to the beach near their home at the end of Seventh Street in Northport to cool off for a few minutes, when his wife was approached by a young man from a neighboring seasonal property, who told them that this was not a public beach and they couldn’t be there. Confused, Ellie called Josh to come help. Other units of government in Leelanau County have taken steps to protect the rights of citizens to access popular public beaches. In June, following a show of force by Leland residents who packed a meeting at Leland Public School, the Leelanau County Road Commission and Leland Township Board backed out of a legal settlement with private landowners who sought to curtail public access to Lake Michigan beaches on county road ends that neighbor their property.
Early childhood services will not be starved of funding. The Leelanau County Board of Commissioners unanimously reached a bipartisan compromise late on Tuesday, September 21, to continue to fund the early childhood services program, albeit at 0.1988 mills rather than the 0.2488 mills which voters approved in November 2019. The new amount will provide approximately $620,710 for 2022 programming. Commissioner Rick Robbins, a Republican and sometimes considered the body’s swing vote, proposed the motion, which was approved by all three Democrats and his fellow three Republicans.
