Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore attracted 481,137 visitors in July, which is more than 110,000 fewer than July 2020, when the Park drew 592,404 guests—a single-month record. Nevertheless, Sleeping Bear remains on pace for a record year in 2021. Visitation figures are still 6.96 percent ahead of last year at this time.
The farms of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore offer sweeping views of land, barns, farmhouses, and various outbuildings. They have interested painter David Giordan for decades. Driving up from their Lansing home, he and his wife would see the farms on their way to Lake Leelanau. One day they stopped and fortuitously met a park ranger who told them about the rich history of the Port Oneida farms. At that time, the National Lakeshore’s plan was to let the farms languish and be removed.
On Friday, August 13 at 10:30 a.m., as part of their Children’s Summer Program, Leland Township Library will host storyteller Jenifer Strauss. Jenifer will be performing her “Don’t You Like My Tail?” story on the lawn of the Leland Library.
Local food aficionados know that Leelanau County and Traverse City are both hubs of talent and great ingredients. But did you know that we have a home-grown winner of the noted reality TV show headed by Chef Gordon Ramsay, Hell’s Kitchen? Kim Ryan, graduate of the Culinary Institute of Michigan won Hell’s Kitchen Season 16 in 2017. Ryan, fresh from a year of growing and defining her own catering company, Lucky Cook Catering LLC, has been brain storming with Mimi Heberlein, owner of the Willowbrook event space in Northport to organize special dinners featuring her and four of her fellow Hell’s Kitchen alumnae.
Glen Lake High School alum Kathryn Covington is the author of The Ripple of Stones, a novel about self-discovery, love, and what could be if we only were brave enough to open up our hearts. She will sign copies of her book on Friday, Aug. 13, from 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. at Yard & Lake in Northport.
The Glen Arbor Arts Center will host the Traverse City Dance Project [TCDP] and the Traverse City Orchestra string quartet for an evening of orchestral music and dance at its Thoreson Farm campus tonight, August 11, at 7 pm. The event is sold out.
“I’d always felt comfortable in the woods. At that moment, I felt so much more. I felt I was a part of this forest. I was not there to learn the names of the flora and fauna surrounding us. I did not look forward to a lecture. And, so Doug’s guiding words, all of which were brief and meaningful, did not intrude—but allowed for the peacefulness of the experience. At the end of the path, fittingly near a place in the creek where the water formed a wide and quiet pool and the sunlight streamed through the leaves, we sat together enjoying tea and conversation. It was a memorable moment.”
The interest in traditional sailing ships—both here in the Grand Traverse region and throughout much of the world—fascinates many. This enthusiasm for both reconstructing and maintaining these boats visually connects maritime history with current times. Schooners would grace the waterways not only out of need in the early days of our area being settled, but again today, bringing a deep recreational satisfaction to many. Being aboard, skimming over the water, feeling the wooden planks underneath one’s feet, winds whipping the face, is sheer exhilaration for the adventurous.
A driver speeding through Glen Arbor early yesterday morning, Saturday, Aug. 7, allegedly crashed into Crystal River Outfitters on M-22 just east of downtown, setting the building on fire. The identity and condition of the driver has not been officially announced. On its Facebook page yesterday, Crystal River Outfitters referred to the crash as a “tragic event and fire.”
The Glen Arbor Arts Center’s (GAAC) 12th annual Plein Air Weekend opens Friday, August 6, with the Quick Draw. Artists will fan out around Glen Arbor and create in a designated two-hour period of time work to this year’s theme: “Capturing Village Life: Images of Empire and Glen Arbor.” The public is welcome to watch the artists in action.