At the Empire Hill Climb on Saturday, Sept. 14, look for cars sporting the blue Thompson Racing Fabrication (TRF) logo as they zoom up Wilco Road. This is the sixth annual race in downtown Empire (it took place from 1964 until 1980 before taking a 34-year hiatus). Runs begin at 10 a.m. and conclude at 5:30 p.m.
Knitting and crocheting, long dismissed as home hobby and granny-craft, are at the forefront of the current revolution in fiber arts. As part of its “Fiber Without Borders” exhibition, the Glen Arbor Arts Center (GAAC) will host a screening of the 2016 documentary Yarn,and audience talk-back discussion on Sept. 19 at 7 pm at the Empire Township Hall, 10088 W. Front St., Empire.Yarn is presented in collaboration with the Glen Lake Community Library.
The sign on the porch wall of Dotti and Bill Thompson’s White Gull Inn says “Downers Grove There’s No Place Like Home.” That can be interpreted as both a bit of nostalgia and a message. It harkens back to 1993 when they left Downers Grove for good and made Glen Arbor their home. Bill’s roots around here go way back to 1925 when his relatives “took the boat up from Chicago to the big dock at Glen Haven and walked to their cottage on Sleeping Bear Bay.” So Bill’s dad was already coming here as a boy before it was Bill’s turn to visit “Aunt Madge”. Then Dotti chimes in, “I came first in 1959 when we were dating.” It was obviously just a matter of time before the Thompsons made Glen Arbor their “home,” and Downers Grove a place to visit.
Yarn bombs are set to drop on the Glen Arbor Arts Center on Sunday, September 15, at 9:30 am. Volunteers are needed to help install hand-knit “bombs” on trees in the GAAC’s backyard grove as part of the newly-opened exhibition “Fiber Without Borders,” a juried exhibition of contemporary fiber art.
Emily Bate will discuss the music she made as part of her 2019 artist’s residency with the Glen Arbor Arts Center. The presentation is September 13, noon at the GAAC, 6031 S. Lake St., Glen Arbor.
Jeff Katofsky’s iconic St. Clair Inn on Lake St. Clair is scheduled to re-open in late September. A grand opening will be Saturday, Sept. 21. That’s important for Leelanau County residents, because Katofsky also owns Sugar Loaf, the derelict and mothballed ski resort that has been closed since 2000.
Come celebrate Fiber Without Borders, a juried exhibition of 2D- and 3D-work exploring fiber materials in fresh, original ways. A reception to launch the exhibition is Friday, Sept. 13, from 6-8 pm at the Glen Arbor Arts Center, 6031 S. Lake Street, Glen Arbor.
The Leelanau Community Cultural Center will host the second annual Leland Musical Arts Celebration on September 14 at 7:30 pm. The initial idea for Leland Musical Arts Celebration was raised by local resident and oboist, Mezraq Ramli. He envisioned an evening of classical music highlighting musicians from across the country and even the world.
After a year-long process, preliminary design for the Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail from County Road 669 to County Road 651 is wrapping up and a trail alignment is being recommended for consideration by Cleveland and Centerville Townships. The recommended trail alignment will be presented by OHM Advisors at the Cleveland Township Board meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 10 at 7 pm. The Township will then vote on a resolution on whether or not to support the recommended alignment within Cleveland Township.
Taylor Simpson grew up at Good Harbor Vineyards, located on M-22 west of Leland. Her dad, with his degree from the University of California at Davis where he studied wine making and grape growing, managed the back of the house, tending the grapes, making the wine, along with the family fruit farm, while her mom ran the tasting room. “The school bus would drop us off here and we would wash glasses from the day’s visitors.”