That quaint bed & breakfast in the heart of Glen Arbor, across M-22 from bustling Anderson’s Market, is approaching a major milestone next year—the building’s 150th birthday. The evidence lies in a newspaper clipping from the July 5, 1873, edition of Woodhull & Claflin’s Weekly, which inn owners Patricia and Larry Widmayer found beneath five layers of wallpaper when they renovated the interior.
On July 9, the Benzie Area Symphony Orchestra (BASO), under the direction of Tom Riccobono, will perform the world premiere of Ransom Lake and Platte Plains as part of their concert program featuring Manitou Winds. The concert will be held at St. Andrews Presbyterian Church (8190 Lincoln Rd, Beulah). The Manitou Winds ensemble includes Jason McKinney, a composer and arranger of orchestral and chamber music who lives in Maple City; horn player and guitarist Laura Hood who lives in Cedar, as well as bassoonist Lauren Murphy, piccolo and flutist Sam Clark, clarinetist Anne Bara, and reader and narrator Jan Ross.
Local troubadour and gardener Chris Skellenger and former Buckets of Rain treasurer Mike Binsfeld have created a new nonprofit called Row by Row, which helps economically challenged Guatemala women establish community gardens on vacant public land. Buckets of Rain previously taught bucket drip irrigation to communities in Lesotho and Detroit. Skellenger also plays guitar and sings at Boonedocks, Little Traverse Inn, French Valley Vineyard, Cherry Republic, and Lake Ann Brewery with an assortment of his musical friends. And Skellenger is the new nursery manager at the expanded Northwood’s Hardware & Garden Center in Glen Arbor. “We are so happy to have Chris Skellenger to help us get this going,” said co-owner Jeff Gietzen. “He is a skilled, legitimate nursery person.”
The Glen Arbor Arts Center’s second, 2022 artist PopUP is July 10 from 11 a.m.–3 p.m. The PopUP turns the GAAC’s front yard and parking area into open-air exhibition and music venues.
Following a two-year hiatus due to COVID-19, the Men’s Bible Study group at Glen Lake Community Church is again presenting a “free benefit concert” at Old Settlers Park for the Leelanau, Benzie and Grand Traverse communities. This year’s July 9 concert will feature Aaron Boyd, an internationally renowned Christian recording artist.
As we approach Independence Day, I wonder at the concepts of “freedom” and “equality.” At the ways our governing bodies have historically made laws that only represent a portion of our population, writes Mae Stier in our Fourth of July weekend edition of the Glen Arbor Sun. From the inception of our country, wealthy white men have been protected by the laws they created for themselves, but people of color, women, children, and impoverished people have not received the same protections. As a woman born in the late 1980s, it feels difficult to see Roe v. Wade overturned. Women now have less autonomy than they did when I was born, and I fear what comes next. I now see abortion access as a necessary step toward equity, especially in a society that does little for parents and their children once they have left the womb.
By Zinnia Dungjen Sun contributor Young leaders are more important now than ever before—in schools, in extracurricular groups, in sports, and in community service—as a changing climate, a global pandemic, and societal rifts pose ever more challenges for teenagers and young adults. We profiled five students at Glen Lake School who are rising to the […]
If you’ve spent any time in Beulah, on the east shore of Crystal Lake, you’ve probably enjoyed a bagel from L’Chayim (the Hebrew word for “to life”), the deli which has been a mainstay of Benzie County life for 30 years. L’Chayim has expanded its business to Glen Arbor, where a deli opened on July 1 in the M-22-facing retail space of the building owned by the Martin Company.
“This has to be one of the only Fourth of July parades in America that include a snowplow,” joked the Glen Arbor parade’s unofficial organizer Stan Brubaker. “I called the Leelanau County Road Commission chairman last week and reminded him that we’re looking forward to see the snowplow there. Anything goes in our parade!” True story. Glen Arbor’s parade features antique cars and firetrucks, the Kazoo Corps and Cherry Republic bear, a team of Elvis impersonators, live music played from a flatbed trailer, and local newspapers tossed from a convertible. Anything goes.
Relax and enjoy music on the front lawn of Leland’s Old Art Building during the second annual Music in the Air summer concert series. This series of free concerts kicks off on Thursday, June 30, at 7 pm with Traverse Symphony Orchestra’s Brass Quintet performing patriotic brass. Nine more performances, including a variety of musical genres, will follow throughout the summer. The public is welcome to bring along their own blankets, chairs, food, and beverages.