Entries by editor

6ft Apart Art: Glen Arbor Arts Center calls for Clothesline Exhibit entries

The Glen Arbor Arts Center is moving art outdoor as part of its 6ft Apart Art series of creative, pop-up events. The first event is the Clothesline Exhibit, July 24 – August 27. Open to the public, the challenge is to create an unframed painting, drawing, photograph or collage on a single sheet of paper that creatively interprets northern Michigan’s landscape and woodlands. Each work will be placed in a sealed plastic envelope and pinned to a clothesline in front of the GAAC building at 6031 S. Lake St., Glen Arbor.

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Salons, gyms, movie theaters may reopen in Northern Michigan June 10

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced today that—as documented COVID-19 cases flatten—Regions 6 and 8 of Northern Michigan (which includes Leelanau County) are now in Phase 5 of the state’s plan to reopen. As such, hair salons, gyms and movie theaters may reopen, starting Wednesday, June 10.

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Live music returns to Little Traverse Inn

Little Traverse Inn, on M-22 between Glen Arbor and Leland, kept busy during the coronavirus stay-at-home lockdown this spring by preparing “Feed the Community” meals which customers picked up curbside. The Inn reopened on Memorial Day weekend, to scotch, beer, pub food and good cheer. Now live music is back, too.

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Four sheriffs, one state lawmaker, one April 15 protest in Lansing

On April 15, four sheriffs in northwest lower Michigan jointly issued a press release that questioned Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s stay-at-home executive orders at the height of the COVID-19 crisis in Michigan. It happened to fall on the same day that demonstrators planned “Operating Gridlock”, their first of what became several protests at the State Capitol in Lansing against Whitmer’s orders. State Representative Jack O’Malley and his staff helped the sheriffs organize and write the release.

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50 years of Sleeping Bear Dunes: looking back at 5 decades of events, milestones and movements

The Glen Arbor Sun will use this 50 year anniversary of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore as an opportunity to publish a year-long series of stories that highlight key events, milestones and movements that have changed the Sleeping Bear Dunes region since 1970. What stories do YOU think we should include in this anniversary series?

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The other 2020 crisis—record-high water levels wash away beaches

Social distancing of 6 feet or more during the coronavirus pandemic is even more difficult this spring and summer because record-high Great Lakes water levels have eaten away beaches where we otherwise could walk at our leisure.

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Glen Lake EMTs adjust to emergencies during coronavirus

Aaron Brown, a lieutenant at the Glen Lake Fire Department, is one of 19 first responders in Leelanau County equipped to handle calls that involve potential COVID-19 cases. The coronavirus pandemic has forced the fire department, and EMTs everywhere, to adapt in significant ways this spring.

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Canceled Empire Asparagus Festival doesn’t stop virtual poetry, recipe contests

Though the 2020 Empire Asparagus Festival was canceled last weekend due to the coronavirus pandemic, the virtual Ode to Asparagus poetry reading on Saturday, May 16, drew 19 submissions and 20 people who tuned in via Zoom to read their poems or to listen.

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Masks, Gloves, Social Distancing: Spring in the Time of Coronavirus

Listen. Do you hear it? A robin chirrs from its perch on a nearby branch. In response, a blue jay jeers from its nest. A squirrel scampers through leaves. Where humans retreat, if only temporarily, nature fills the void. Such is the soundtrack of spring in Leelanau County during the time of the coronavirus—the pandemic that has ravaged the world, infected millions, killed hundreds of thousands, scared us all, forced us to distance ourselves from one another, and brought our economy to its knees.

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Ready, set, reopen during a pandemic?: Leelanau businesses both embrace and brace for tourists

The bustle of late-May and the annual race toward Memorial Day weekend are obvious at businesses in Glen Arbor. Of course, there is NOTHING normal about this holiday weekend—the typical start to the tourism season in Leelanau County. The state, the nation, and the world remain on virtual lockdown—and yet, restaurants and bars in Northern Michigan were suddenly given the exclusive green light by Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer on Monday to reopen today. No one knows how busy—or not—this Memorial Day weekend will be.

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