Always wanted to learn to fish? Curious about local fish species? Need more information about fishing regulations, or preventing the spread of aquatic invasive species? The wait is over! Stop by Loon Lake in Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore on Saturday, July 2, for a day of festivities aiming to provide safe and barrier-free opportunities to engage youth (primarily K-5th graders) in fishing!
Last month, I took swim lessons for the first time. Always a lover of the water and often the first person in Lake Michigan during a beach gathering with friends, this has been somewhat surprising information to share with people. Don’t I already know how to swim? But I want to do what I love better, perhaps with a bit more efficiency and definitely with better breathing techniques.
Simply put, yoga is a path of self-discovery. The word itself comes from the Sanskrit root yuj, to unite or to yoke. This union or joining together in the context of yoga practice has to do with balancing and uniting opposing forces within the body and mind. On a physical level this can have to do with strength and flexibility, rest and motion, left and right, hot and cold, etc. Mentally and emotionally through yoga one can achieve balance in life via thought and emotion. How? That is to be learned via the instruction and guidance of a teacher and the various methods of yoga available.
On Thursday, June 30, at 2 p.m., the Leland Township Library and the Leelanau Historical Society will host the authors of Irish Immigrants in Michigan: A History in Stories, Pat Commins and Elizabeth Rice.
The beloved Up North destination we all know as Fishtown has been a commercial fishing spot since the late 1800s. Located in Leland at the mouth of the Leland River, which flows into mighty Lake Michigan, it’s a portal caught back in time—a collection of well-weathered old fishing shanties, fishing tugs and charter boats that are lined up along the Leland River. Here we can watch hundreds of years of continuous history oozing with charm that unfolds, day in, day out. Here, too, we can still see and feel a connection to the long tradition of fishing in the Great Lakes, a tradition far older than even the country we live in. Visitors from all over come to visit and fish here.
It has been well over two years since the Traverse City icon and Good Will Ambassador, the Tall Ship Madeline,gracefully sailed over West Grand Traverse Bay’s waters and beyond. The 55-foot ship, with a sparred length of 92 feet, was built between 1985 and 1990 by more than 165 Maritime Heritage Alliance (MHA) volunteers who gave over 40,000 hours to build the schooner, a replica of an 1840s commercial vessel that once sailed our local waters.
Summer programing officially kicks off Saturday, June 25, with two guided hikes as part of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore’s Anishinaabe Lifeways project. Join special guest and Anishinaabe historian, Eric Hemenway, to explore the lakeshore while learning about the Anishinaabek connection to the area.
The Old Town Playhouse (OTP) in Traverse City just finished a run of CHICAGO, the Musical. It created tremendous buzz as one of the best-ever productions at OTP. Directed by Brett Nichols, the show included three Leelanau County women who brought great energy, talent, and pizzazz to their roles. Karen Cross played Matron “Mama” Morton, Elena Sica Mosher played Katalin Hunyak and was a dance captain, and Miishen Willis was understudy for Roxie Hart, and played Liz in the ensemble.
The excellence of the singing and dancing by these three women was astonishing for an amateur theater production. The Glen Arbor Sun asked each of them to summarize how they got interested in theater, how their auditions went, how they inhabited their characters, how they navigated several COVID-related delays, what their day jobs are, and when we can expect to be wowed by them on stage again.
The Glen Arbor Players will stage Oscar Wilde’s most endearing comedy, The Importance of Being Earnest, on June 23-25. Troupe co-founder, Harriett Mittelberger will direct a large and very talented cast with over 200 years of collective theatrical experience. The play takes place in London circa 1895 and has been called “A trivial comedy for serious people.” Wilde displays his wit and genius at capturing the foibles of the British upper class.
Fiber artist Valerie Mann will explore and fabricate a new body of work based on grief, both personal and global, during her Glen Arbor Arts Center (GAAC) residency June 12-25. Mann, a resident of Saline, Michigan, will combine and sew repurposed materials into sculptural pieces.