Entries by editor

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Mulvahill’s “The Lost Woman”

Karen Mulvahill has always been a reader. After her sister taught her to read at age four, she regularly checked out the maximum number of books allowed by her local library. With the publication of her novel, “The Lost Woman,” she has transitioned from spiral notebooks to a computer keyboard. The Friends of the Leelanau Township Library in Northport will hold a celebration of the book launch at the Willowbrook Mill on July 8. Leelanau County has been and remains an environment where writers and artists can thrive.

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Music on the Mountain returns to The Homestead

This summer, the sounds of blues, bluegrass, pop, reggae, rock and jazz will once again fill the air at The Homestead. The popular Music on the Mountain series is returning for the first time since before the pandemic. The shows will take place at 7 p.m. on alternate Thursdays, beginning July 10 with the Luke Winslow-King duo. They will take place at the top of Bay Mountain, the resort’s ski hill. Patrons can ride the ski lift to the top. The backdrop, with the sun setting behind the sparkling waters of Sleeping Bear Bay, is like no other in the area.

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Inland Seas expands, announces fundraising campaign

When Tom Kelly, John Elder and Peter Doren founded the Inland Seas Education Association in 1989, they were no doubt pleased it served over 1,100 students on the chartered schooner Malabar that first year. In the three decades since, the organization’s popularity has soared. According to the history timeline on its website, the ISEA has impacted 150,000 individuals since its founding. “It’s the story of our growth, the result of 36 years of doing the work,” says ISEA Executive Director Fred Sitkins. Today, the demand for its programs has outpaced its capacity. Rather than scaling back its mission, the ISEA is pushing forward with the Campaign for the Future of Great Lakes Education, an $11 million initiative to expand its campus, capacity and capabilities to meet the needs of tens of thousands of underserved urban and rural youths around the Great Lakes states.

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When ‘Anything Goes’ dries up

“Over the past 62 years, Glen Arbor’s Fourth of July parade has become well-known for its ‘anything goes’ spirit. This approach is a point of local pride for many, encouraging the patriotic participation that has transformed a small-town procession into a northern Michigan tradition unlike any other,” writes Trace St. Julian in this op-ed for the Sun. “However, in 2023, the Glen Arbor Township Board broke away from the ‘anything goes’ tradition, announcing a ‘no water’ rule that bans long-time parade hallmarks of ‘water guns, blasters, balloons, bottles, or other water items.’ Fast forward to 2025—the water ban is still in effect, and the Township Board appears more determined than ever to enforce it.”

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Life, liberty, beaches and pie—for our foreign-born workers, for us all

July 4 has always been my favorite holiday since I was a young child running around Glen Arbor in the 1970s. I felt such pride being an American. Recently, our chef at the Cherry Public House told me that he saw a border patrol agent driving down M-22. He was miffed that they were patrolling Leelanau—200 miles from a border that happens to be the safest in the world. It is nerve-wracking for our foreign and local workers at Cherry Republic because we are a team and family and we don’t want to be broken up any more than the hard-working families we’ve seen on television torn apart in pools of tears these last six months. Cherry Republic is hosting a refugee family from Central America. The father has taken on the difficult job of stirring our four giant scalding jam and salsa kettles in our Empire plant. Unfortunately, because of the legal wrangling going on between the courts and The White House, our Central American refugees can no longer work. The pot stirrer in Washington shutting down the pot stirrer in Empire.

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Glen Lake Woman’s Club holds July 4 flag raising at Old Settlers Park

Join community members of all ages in celebrating the founding of our nation in a joyous and patriotic ceremony at 10 am, July 4, at Old Settlers Picnic Grounds on the western shore of Big Glen Lake. The traditional raising of the flag by the Glen Lake Fire Department will be led by Chief Bryan Ferguson and will be followed by a singalong of well-loved and familiar patriotic songs.

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Keeping tradition: Ricker’s black Cadillac leads Glen Arbor Fourth of July Parade

Ed Ricker has driven the grand marshal in Glen Arbor’s Fourth of July parade in his iconic 1976 black Cadillac for decades. This year, Glen Arbor Township has bestowed the honor of grand marshal on Ricker, himself. The owner of Glen Lodge, pride of Miami University (Ohio) and longtime fixture at Art’s Tavern, passed away under tragic circumstances last November. Ricker was 95. Former Art’s owner Tim Barr will drive the Cadillac; Ricker’s daughter, Glen Lake Chamber president Darci will ride next to him.

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Celebrating songs of Leelanau: Ingemar Johansson’s Pearl of America

Our story series celebrating songs inspired by Leelanau County and the Sleeping Bear Dunes continues with “Pearl of America,” written by Ingemar Johansson of the band Song of the Lakes. For many, the song “Pearl of America” encapsulates the serene beauty and profound connection to northern Michigan’s stunning landscape. But for its creator, Johansson, the journey to this musical ode was a personal odyssey that began across the Atlantic. Song of the Lakes perform every Wednesday during July and August at the Manitou Tallship in Traverse City West Bay for the sunset cruise.

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Yoga cultivates connection and strengthens community

Yoga is a popular pursuit these days. Once perceived as an obscure or esoteric practice, the millennia-old science of yoga has become mainstream in our Western world. Here in northern Michigan, we enjoy a vast array of yoga and meditation offerings to serve various interests and lifestyles. There are daily fitness-style yoga classes at luxury studios, and weekly free community yoga sessions in local churches and halls. Traditional practices focused on breath and energy provide a quiet contrast to modern flows with music and dance mixed in. Summer brings yoga outdoors with seasonal classes at wineries, meditation along a river, and yoga in the park or on the beach. The traditionally Indian practice of yoga is now valued by people from all walks of life for its physical, mental, and communal experience.

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Police raid Twin Flames Universe home: Michigan AG announces investigation

Shortly after 11 am this morning, federal, state and local law enforcement officers raided the Leelanau County home of Jeff and Shaleia Divine, leaders of the Twin Flames Universe organization, which critics and multiple documentaries have described as a cult that manipulates its online followers. A neighbor observed a police officer carrying out a box of papers from their residence near Suttons Bay. Early in the afternoon, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel issued a press release that announced an ongoing investigation into the Twin Flames Universe as well as a second raid against people associated with the coercive group. According to Nessel’s office, the search warrants were carried out by special agents from the Department of Attorney General, along with the U.S. Department of Labor—Office of Inspector General, and law enforcement officers from Michigan State Police, the Leelanau County Sheriff’s Office and the Grand Traverse County Sheriff’s Office.

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