There’s a flash of hope today in Empire, amidst very dark times nationwide and worldwide. Frank Lerchen, who owns the Friendly Tavern and Empire Village Inn, is opening a pop-up grocery store in the Village Inn space once occupied by Gemma’s cafe.
My grandmother, Beulah Abigail Holliday Whitson, worked as a young woman at Cook County Hospital in Chicago during the 1918 Spanish Flu. As such, she was quarantined in the hospital for many weeks. Her brother Victor gave her a candle stick for Christmas to be used as a simple means to let him know that she was OK. Every night after her shift, she would place the candle in the window of her dorm room and light it to let him know that she was still alive.
Tourists and owners of vacation homes here could conclude that rural northwest Michigan is a safer place to be than in a densely populated metro area during the coronavirus pandemic. But that conclusion is a dangerous one. Here in the Grand Traverse region—as with rural areas across the United States—Munson Medical Center is woefully unprepared to accept a deluge of infected COVID-19 patients.
The Platte River Campground, White Pine Campground and Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore restrooms are closed until further notice. All park trails and beaches will remain open to provide healthy options for the public. The Phillip A. Hart Visitor Center in Empire remains closed until further notice.
Leelanau County’s first confirmed case of COVID-19 coronavirus has been released from Munson Medical Center in Traverse City. The gentleman is out of isolation, free of coronavirus, and poses no risk to the public, according to Michelle Klein, director of personal health at the Benzie-Leelanau District Health Department.
Here’s a comprehensive (and growing) list of schools, businesses and organizations in Leelanau County that are stepping up or changing their practices to help people during this unprecedented Coronavirus pandemic. (We’ll update this list, so please let us know who else deserves to be included.)
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is closing the Philip A. Hart Visitor Center in Empire. In making these decisions, the National Lakeshore is following guidance from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
The Benzie-Leelanau District Health Department completed contact investigation for the first positive COVID-19 case in Leelanau County and determined that, based on the individual’s activities, the risk to the public is very low.
Glen Lake Community Schools is delivering free breakfasts and lunches to families of its students who qualify for free- or reduced-price meals during the statewide school shutdown. According to superintendent secretary Bethany Pousho, this includes approximately 25% of Glen Lake’s 200 students.
Anderson’s Market in Glen Arbor is offering free curbside pickup and free local deliveries during the Coronavirus global pandemic.