The Crystal River Outfitters Recreational District will host the fourth district-wide Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday, April 19, at the M22 Glen Arbor store. The afternoon will be full of Easter activities with spring drink specials and Peep S’mores by the fires. The event will kick off at 12:30 pm with the Easter Bunny arriving via kayak on the river.
More than mere proof of motion, walking is an act both ordinary and extraordinary. It has the unique ability to shape human experience in both subtle and profound ways. A first step marks the beginning of independence, like those of a small child—something Leah Hilton Turner, lifelong Glen Arborite, knows well. The mother of twin daughters, now almost three, recalled the pure joy and excitement of that milestone.It is this vast spectrum of meaning—walking as both instinct and intention—that is the focus of the latest exhibition of the Glen Arbor Arts Center (GAAC): Walking. Sarah Bearup-Neal, GAAC’s gallery manager, is the visionary behind Walking. Predictably, Bearup-Neal infused the exhibit with her signature energy and curiosity. As with past shows, her concepts, while deceptively simple, are profoundly cerebral. The exhibit remains on display through May 29.
Made in Michigan, a popular film series hosted by The Bay Community Theatre in Suttons Bay highlighting great films made in the state of Michigan, concludes on Sunday, April 13, at 4 pm with a special screening of filmmaker Keith Famie’s Detroit: The City of Chefs, an inspiring documentary that celebrates the rich heritage of Detroit’s culinary scene. The Made in Michigan 2025 series is proudly presented by French Valley Vineyard and Hendryx House.
Last spring, a farmer in Centerville Township started applying a kind of fertilizer to his fields: Sewage pumped from septic tanks, often called “septage.” That kicked off a local fight about whether it’s legal to apply that septage waste and sparked concerns about contaminating the land and water. Neighbors and officials concerned about the use of septage to fertilize fields pointed to the township’s zoning ordinance which requires a special permit for septage application on land. But Centerville Township attorney Chris Bzdok said at a township board meeting in mid-March that their hands are tied when it comes to stopping the use of septic tank waste on a local farm. The site falls under the purview of the state Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy, which had granted a permit to use septage at that site. This story was originally reported by Interlochen Public Radio in mid-March.
Holly T. Bird, a local attorney, indigenous activist, and member of the Traverse City Area Public Schools Board of Education—and whose family had roots on Little Glen Lake—joined the ancestors on April 3. Bird was co-executive director of TitleTrack and advocated for everything from indigenous visibility and racial justice, to clean water and energy, to LGTBQ+ rights. A proud member of the Thunder Clan, she traced her heritage from Apache, Yaqui, and Perépucha Tribes and joined the Standing Rock protests against the Dakota Access Pipe Line in North Dakota in 2016. Click here to read the poignant note Bird wrote to her friend, now State Rep. Betsy Coffia, in September 2018.
As many as 4,000 demonstrators rallied at the Traverse City Governmental Center on Saturday, April 5, as part of nationwide “Hands Off” protests to oppose the Trump administration’s aggressive policies on trade tariffs, cuts to social services, health programs and National Parks, and threats against immigrants and free speech. Hundreds more protested along state highways in towns including Benzonia and Suttons Bay. Huge crowds at the “Hands Off” rallies suggested that the resistance to Trump’s policies has awoken.
The Glen Lake Community Library will host a special community screening of Free for All: The Public Library on Wednesday, April 9, at 7 pm—as part of its National Library Week celebration. The film tells the story of the quiet revolutionaries who created a civic institution where everything is free and the doors are open to all. Director Dawn Logsdon travels the United States, discovering historic and modern-day figures, especially women, who contributed to the library’s integral position within democracy.
The Trump regime plans to carry out a mass deportation of the Piping Plover, an endangered migratory shorebird that nests on the beaches of Sleeping Bear Dunes between early April and mid August before spending the winter along the Gulf of Mexico. The Glen Arbor Sun learned the news when a reporter was inadvertently added to an unencrypted text message thread between Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins. “I want them gone. Gone from our Beautiful Country!” wrote Trump. “Those birds are Losers. They’re un-American, they’re vermin!”
How can Leelanau County ensure that its places, spaces, and services are designed for people of all abilities, including those born with a disability and those facing physical challenges over time? That question will be front and center at a public forum titled “Universally Accessible Leelanau?” which the League of Women Voters of Leelanau County will hold on Wednesday, April 2, at noon at the Leelanau County Government Center on M-204 between Lake Leelanau and Suttons Bay.
Longtime Glen Arbor custodian Leonard Ole Thoreson, passed away on March 15 at age 98. Thoreson was born on November 28, 1926, in Port Oneida (on the Thoreson Farm). As a young boy his father worked the fields with horses until he purchased the Ford Tractor that is on the farm today. A lifelong resident of Leelanau County, Thoreson served in the U.S. Army during World War II and was a dedicated member of St. Philip Neri Catholic Church.