Step back in time at the Port Oneida Fair on Friday and Saturday, August 8-9. The fair runs each day from 10 am to 4 pm and includes more than 60 demonstrators of traditional skills and crafts at four historic sites. This year’s sites are all concentrated at Port Oneida Road and Harbor Highway (M-22), four miles northeast of Glen Arbor, and include Dechow Farm, Kelderhouse Farm, Olsen Farm, and Port Oneida Schoolhouse.
Three diverse musical acts are among those on the horizon across the county in the coming weeks: upbeat reggae and country from the Sun Dogs, Cajun and zydeco from K Jones and the Benzie Playboys, and bracing brass traversing the musical spectrum, courtesy Bourbon & Brass Company.
The Glen Lake Library will host lecturer Dr. Robert Van Dellen on Tuesday, Aug. 5, at 7 pm. Van Dellen will explore how Ernest Hemingway’s tempestuous personal life, especially his experiences in Key West and Cuba, helped shaped The Old Man and the Sea, considered to be one of his greatest novels.
Join Leelanau Clean Water (LCW) and Here:Say Storytelling on Monday, Aug. 4, at 7:30 pm at the Lively NeighborFood Market on M-72 for an evening of live storytelling featuring true, first-person stories that celebrate water, in all its forms, anywhere in the world. This free show features an engaging collection of stories from LCW storytelling shows staged in 2022 and 2024. Leelanau Clean Water is a nonprofit whose mission is to restore, protect and sustain water resources, promote public awareness of issues with environmental and economic importance, and provide accurate information to assist public participation in water resource decisions.
Due to the defunding of the Youth LGBTQ+ Suicide Prevention Hotline, the Folded Leaf bookstore in Cedar will host a benefit concert and silent auction on Saturday, Aug. 2, from 2-6 pm to support suicide prevention efforts in northern Michigan and across the nation. Please join the Folded Leaf for an afternoon of music, conversation, and conscious community involvement to support LGBTQ+ youth.
Local musician Patrick Niemisto was just set to play at the Little Traverse Inn when the big storm of August 2, 2015, came howling through. He had set up inside as everyone knew big weather was coming. “Suddenly there was stuff flying in the air outside, and the power went out right away. M-22 was blocked just east of the Inn, and stranded folks came into the Inn and hung out,” he recalled. So Niemisto played acoustic music for “three or four” hours, then managed to pick his way home on back roads. The megastorm that pummeled Glen Arbor on that memorable Sunday afternoon 10 years ago packed straight-line wind speeds of more than 100 miles per hour—equivalent to a tornado or a type-2 hurricane. The winds toppled tens of thousands of trees, particularly on Alligator Hill and on the north side of Big Glen Lake, and knocked out power for a week during the height of the tourism season. No one died, desperate several near misses and dramatic stories. We devoted our entire Aug. 13, 2015, edition to coverage of the storm and Glen Arbor’s community resilience that followed, as neighbors helped neighbors. Much of the nation tuned into the coverage: “Glen Arbor” was briefly the top trending term on Facebook, and in the days after the Aug. 2 storm, our website, GlenArbor.com, attracted more than 100,000 views.
The legacy of plein air painting continues each summer in Leelanau County with the Glen Arbor Arts Center’s annual Plein Air Weekend. Scores of artists set up easels across orchards, along shorelines, and on the lively streets of downtown Glen Arbor—racing to capture the shifting light and spirit of this magical corner of northern Michigan. “It brings me immense joy to see so many artists setting up their easels all over town,” said Glen Arborite Kate McCarty. “You’ll see someone painting in the middle of a field, along the Crystal River, or right across from Art’s Tavern, capturing the energy of that busy little corner. I really admire their passion and curiosity. It’s inspiring to watch them interpret this landscape in real time.” Though best known as a premier destination for outdoor recreation, Glen Arbor has long been a haven for the arts. With its galleries, working artists, and deeply engaged community, Glen Arbor offers far more than bike trails and kayaking adventures. It is the very kind of place where a flourishing arts culture makes something like a recurring plein air event not just possible, but inevitable.
Park rangers at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore often refer to Lake Michigan as “the boss.” She’s calm and soothing on some days and deceptive and deadly on others. Sometimes private citizens make decisions that save lives. On July 19, 2024, Polish immigrant Marcin Arszylo saved the lives of a family that drifted a mile into Lake Michigan near the mouth of the Platte River. They floated in inflatable tubes but were not wearing life jackets. Arszylo was honored with the Citizen’s Award for Bravery at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore headquarters in Empire on July 18—one day shy of the one-year anniversary of his heroic act.
As I write this piece, thunder rumbles in the distance. It sounds like it’s moving closer, writes Jessica Sharry. Wind pushes through the window screens. I wonder if I’ll get to run this morning. I love weekend mornings. I lace up my running shoes, unhurried, and head out the door and onto the streets of Empire. I often choose the same route because, for me, running is less about the destination or itinerary, and more about the experience, and benefits derived. I like morning runs the best, though some days I run in the evening after work. I always have running shoes and running-ready attire in my car.
Sitting atop a bluff overlooking tranquil Omena Bay, Sunset Lodge is one of the last original Leelanau Peninsula resorts. It is the early 20th century postcards sent from the lodge to friends and family back home that offer a unique glimpse into early Leelanau Peninsula resort history and life. This is the fourth story in our series on the history of Leelanau County resorts and getaways.