Kent Kelly reports that the group, Friends of Sleeping Bear — which is independent of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore but helps the local Park maintain amenities such as the new Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail — seeks trail ambassadors for the Trail. Friends of Sleeping Bear will hold a kick-off meeting on Thursday, May 2, at 2 p.m. at the Blacksmith Shop in Glen Haven, one mile west of Glen Arbor.
The People and the Olive, a feature-length documentary about the daily joys and struggles of Palestinian olive farmers living under the occupation, and last year’s Run Across Palestine (an initiative of the Traverse City-based nonprofit On the Ground, which supports fair-trade farmers around the world), will show at The Leelanau School north of Glen Arbor on Tuesday, May 7, from 2-4 p.m. The event is free, and the public are invited to attend. The film was created by Traverse City filmmaker Aaron Dennis and journalist Jacob Wheeler (founding editor of the Glen Arbor Sun). Wheeler will attend and take part in a question-and-answer session following the screening.
The Glen Lake Community Library will host a poetry contest as part of the 10th annual Empire Asparagus Festival. Aspiring poets are invited to submit their asparagus-inspired verse to the library by Monday, May 13. Entries will be judged in youth (ages 18 and younger) and adult categories, with prizes awarded in both groups. Poems may be emailed to info@glenlakelibrary.net; or mailed to Glen Lake Community Library, P.O. Box 33, Empire, Mich. 49630; or can be dropped off at the library itself. On Saturday, May 18, at 2 p.m., all verses submitted in the contest will be shared in a poetry reading at the Empire Township Hall. Contestants are encouraged to attend this fun gathering to present their own “Ode to Asparagus”!
The Glen Arbor Art Association (GAAA) will host nine artists in 2013 — five visual artists, two writers and two photographers — from May to October, in a series of two-week residencies. The GAAA Artist-in-Residence program provides artists with uninterrupted time to focus on their practice. Janice Dumas, a watercolor artist from Milford, Michigan, is the first resident of the 2013 program.
Dick Devinney, a longtime resident of Glen Arbor and Grand Rapids, founding director of the popular Summer Singers and former owner of Synchronicity Gallery, died recently while traveling in Paris. He is survived by his wife, Marion. Our thoughts are with the Devinney family, and we’re grateful for all Dick and Marion have done for the Glen Arbor community. Please read our feature story about Dick, “Singing in the Summertime,” which we published in June 2006.
To mark its 25th anniversary, the Leelanau Conservancy will hold a speaker series over the next two years that features national environmental and conservation leaders. The series is part of an effort to engage members and the public on topics important to Leelanau County.
Glen Arbor residents might recognize John Farah. The dentist from Ann Arbor owns a condominium at the Homestead Resort and likes to jog a 15-mile route around Big Glen Lake during his summer visits up north. On Monday in Boston, Farah was maintaining a solid pace, despite nagging small injuries that had interrupted his training cycle of late. He was hoping to finish the marathon at 4 hours and 15 minutes, and then greet his wife Jackie and her daughter Erin at the finish line. The plan was to take a train to Erin’s apartment so Farah could shower and change, and then head to Logan Airport for a flight back to Detroit.
In the hospital now, phone recharged, and finally have a laptop. I might as well post a longer update while everything is still fresh in my head. Though I doubt I’ll ever forget much of it. The funny thing is, the race was going really well up until everything happened. My mom and I waited to cheer my dad on at the 18-mile marker. He passed through right on schedule, ahead of most of the people with similar qualifying numbers. We handed him a protein shake, took some clothes he didn’t need, and then hurried over to the train to try and catch him at the finish line. The train was of course packed with people trying to do the same thing, and we had to let at least 3 go by until we could find one with enough space.
There is trash on our beaches, the climate is changing, and Glen Lake High School’s Students for World Awareness (SWA) want our community to do something about it. With Earth Day approaching, the students of the club have planned an event to increase environmental consciousness within their Leelanau County community.
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is teaming up with the Clean Energy Coalition to reduce the environmental impact of its fleet by 15 percent and to share information about alternative fuels and fuel-efficient driving habits with the 1.3 million visitors who visit the National Lakeshore each year.