Entries by editor

My Labor of Love: Remembering the Martin Basch farmstead

By Kristin Seitz Sun contributor “A handful of pine seeds will cover mountains with the green majesty forests. I too will set my face to the wind and throw my handful of seed on high.” Fiona Macleod For generations people have thrown their own seeds to the wind in this beautiful region. With blood, sweat […]

Being a Bean Babe

By Jen Semanco Sun contributor Each morning around 400 million cups of coffee are consumed in the United States, making it the world’s largest consumer of coffee drinks. While many people still choose to fire up the “Mr. Coffee,” countless others seek out the gourmet coffee drinks offered by their local cafe. In Glen Arbor, […]

Fanfare for the Sleeping Bear at Dune Climb kicks off Manitou Music Festival

from staff reports The Glen Arbor Art Association’s Manitou Music Festival has a new director this year, but the quality and diversity of the concerts that will resonate from the Glen Arbor area this summer haven’t changed. Debra Fayroian, a cellist in the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, takes over for Crispin Campbell, a cellist at the […]

Michigan Land Use Institute’s Smart Growth Coalition targets Leelanau County

By Jacob Wheeler Sun editor It’s a common misconception. Smart growth does not mean no growth. So forget nightmarish images of tree-hugging activists tearing up infrastructure and highways to rid the land of mankind’s tracks. Throw out that loaded word, communist, too. The Michigan Land Use Institute has no intention of gobbling up tracts of […]

No Newbies! Taghon’s Garage has been community’s lifeline for decades

By Christina Campbell Sun staff writer The movie Night on Earth has a poignant scene between a high-powered casting agent and her young, female taxi driver. The casting agent says she has a part the cab driver would be perfect for. Wouldn’t she like to be a movie star? The young woman agrees it’s a […]

Ice Cream Scoopers are ripe in the Land of the Sleeping Bear

By Norm Wheeler Sun editor The cool, wet weather of June and early July put scowls on many faces, but it was great for the restaurants in town. Bad beach days pack the lunch tables. Brendan Burroughs (Good Harbor Grill) and Tim Barr (Art’s) both report records for the week after July Fourth. When folks […]

Preserving Native American lore — excerpts from “Lies to Live By”

By Lois Bearslee Michigan State University Press, published 2003 Lois Beardslee, author of Lies to Live By, is an accomplished Native American artist, teacher and writer in Leelanau County. She practices many traditional art forms, including birch bark biting, quillwork, and sweetgrass basketry, as well as painting and illustration. In publishing these excerpts from Lies […]

Disc Golf: A Totally Different Spin on a Familiar Sport

By Torin Yeager Sun staff writer In an area populated by more than a few picturesque golf courses, it is generally not surprising when yet another large expanse of neatly tended greens appears. However, when a course is created that puts an entirely new spin on a time-honored sport, interest grows substantially.

New doctor, surf boarders making waves in Empire

By Jacob Wheeler Sun editor A couple of new businesses have opened their doors in town — a surf shop and a doctor’s office — and as long as you play it safe, there should be no causal relationship between the two. As a matter of fact, the Glen Arbor Sun wouldn’t even mention them […]

A Boatwatcher’s Guide to the Manitou Passage

By Thomas Benn Sun contributor Far out in the lake, the “long boats” approaching from the south look like floating logs with small knots protruding above one or both ends. Some are on a course slanting in toward shore and the Manitou Passage. Coming closer, bulk carriers over a thousand feet in length can be […]