Entries by editor

Glory the poplar tree

Glen Arbor resident and acclaimed artist Linda Dewey is the steward of a poplar tree that stands sentinel on her beach along Sleeping Bear Bay. It is her touchstone. Steadfast, resilient, evocative. Dewey most aptly anointed this magnificent poplar “Glory.” On what seemed like an otherwise ordinary afternoon this past November, Glory remained resolute in the face of a veritable tempest. Once the storm abated and the skies above the bay began to clear, a rainbow appeared. It was as if nature itself had exhaled. The rainbow gravitated toward Glory, slowly but persistently. Inevitably, the two fused into one. The convergence of Glory and the rainbow was a rarity of sorts—maybe nature’s own form of poetry. It was a gentle moment when the enduring and the ephemeral met.

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Preserve Historic Sleeping Bear appoints new board chair

Preserve Historic Sleeping Bear welcomes the appointment of Tom Whitaker as their next Chair of the Board of Directors. Whitaker first became involved in Preserve as a volunteer on North Manitou Island projects in 2012, and later wrote their Historic Structures Report for the island’s Boardman Cottage. In 2023, Tom joined Preserve’s Board where he has been an active member of the Preservation Projects Committee.

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Op-ed: Shelters needed at all bus stops

The Bay Area Transportation Authority (BATA) is a public service. It is funded by our tax dollars. It is an essential service, and recognized as such, and that is the reason we have it. It provides transportation to those of us who otherwise would not have it. It allows us to survive. It gets us to the grocery store, the library, and the doctor’s office. Let’s take a minute, stop and think, and ask ourselves this question: would we want our elderly mother, our pregnant friend, our frail and possibly demented grandfather, or our twelve-year-old child, waiting at a bus stop in a storm, and with no shelter? Shelters are basic, like seatbelts.

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Leelanau Laminator Jerry Morawski has many nicknames

Little Glen Lake’s Jerry Morawski is everywhere. The retired teacher, coach, principal, and athletic director seldom misses a local event, be it a ballgame, a tennis match, a Grocer’s Daughter Chocolate 20th anniversary party, or a gathering at either Cherry Republic or St. Philip Neri Church. He is always upbeat, positive, affable, approachable, smiling, and ready with a story. When he sees something in a local newspaper about an athlete, a family, or a local character, he carefully laminates it and then presents it to the subject of the story so that they can keep it forever. That’s how he got the nickname “The Leelanau Laminator.” His smile is infectious, and his stories are heartfelt and uplifting.

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Bear crazy: DNR study seeks answers to human-bear conflict

With so many reports of bear sightings in northern Michigan—the Michigan Department of Natural Resources estimates there are 2,000 black bears living here, with more than 10,000 in the Upper Peninsula—author Tim Mulherin selected the black bear as a subject of interest as part of his research for a book on Michigan’s wildlife. The Empire “sugar bear” made headlines when it broke into Grocer’s Daughter Chocolate this past April; in our May edition of we examined how humans struggle to coexist with black bears as our encroachment upon their habitat continues. Last spring, the DNR connected Mulherin with researchers from Utah State University, who are conducting a study called the Baldwin Bear Project. The project “aims to understand the ecology and human dimensions of black bears in Michigan,” with an emphasis on examining the growing population here.

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Homestead hires Becsey, awaits snow

The Homestead announced that Jim Becsey has been hired as the new manager of building and grounds at the Glen Arbor resort. As such, he will be responsible for the upkeep of resort-owned buildings and maintenance of the grounds, including the resort’s ski facilities. Ski hills are hoping for a La Niña weather pattern, which would bring a more typical snowy winter. While hoping to open just after Christmas, The Homestead will also offer a creative array of family-friendly activities, which could include live entertainment like magicians and jugglers, art shows and collaborations with the Leelanau Peninsula Wine Trail.

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Sleeping Bear educational programs offer wintry experience

You can read about how animals and plants survive winter or how to identify trees, but it’s more fun and more engaging to see up close and personal. That’s the premise of the winter experience programs offered by Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore rangers. “We show what plants and animals do, evolutionary strategies … like rabbits changing coat colors, cedar boughs have scaly leaves (for) less water loss,” says David Fenlon, the Education Lead at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.

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Old Art Building hosts third annual Variety Show Spectacular

Holiday festivities continue this month at the Old Art Building in Leland as they host their third Annual ‘Christmas at the Old Art Building – A Variety Show Spectacular’ on Saturday, Dec. 14. Hosted by Andrew Dost, this retro-inspired performance will include caroling, comedy and holiday cheer. Imagine Lawrence Welk, Dolly Parton, and the Muppets collaborating to put on a festive show. The evening will feature a wide assortment of talented musicians, a jazz combo, sketch comedy, and more.

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Leelanau School hosts holiday cheer

The Leelanau School, the private school located just north of Glen Arbor on 1 Old Homestead Rd, invites the community to join in an evening of holiday cheer on Friday, Dec. 13, from 7:30-9:30 pm. Stop by the school’s auditorium for music and sing-along at 7:30, a dramatic reading of A Christmas Carol at 8 by local actors Don Kuehlhorn and Drew Gibson, followed by cookies and punch at 9. The event is free, but reservations are requested by visiting leelanau.org/scrooge.

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Leelanau locals plant seeds, grow cultural exchanges in Guatemala

Twenty years ago, when Paul Sutherland joined the board of Safe Passage, which launched a school for the children of the Guatemala City garbage dump, he also helped kickstart what has become a dynamic and ongoing relationship between Leelanau County citizens and Guatemala. In the decades since then, local schools have sent students, and teams of volunteers have joined cultural exchange trips to the beautiful, yet economically unequal, Central American nation. Since the COVID-19 pandemic abated, Guatemalan nonprofit Planting Seeds has hosted “service learning” groups from Northwestern Michigan College as well as Leelanau Investing for Teens (LIFT) and Leland High School. Planting Seeds co-director and Illinois native Mac Philips will visit Leelanau County this weekend to raise awareness about the nonprofit and build support in northern Michigan. He’ll visit Grocer’s Daughter Chocolate on Saturday, Suttons Bay Congregational Church on Sunday, and students in Suttons Bay and Leland.

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