By Ashlea Turner Sun staff writer For asparagus lovers, a drizzly spring day was fitting for the 1st Annual Empire Asparagus Festival held last Saturday, May 22nd. Folks from all over the region came to celebrate the town’s new favorite vegetable, asparagus. At the climax of the asparagus harvest season, Empire partied for hours with […]
By Jacob R. Wheeler Sun editor Taped to my refrigerator, in an apartment far from northern Michigan, is a postcard-sized Suzanne Wilson watercolor of the lighthouse on South Manitou Island. The old white tower looks down on a serene beach setting. Spruce trees creep up to the water’s edge, and I can almost visualize Suzanne […]
By Jacob R. Wheeler Sun editor As the sparkplug behind community events, the eternal optimist and the spiritual aid at any time of day or night, Grace Cochran left an indelible mark on the local community as well as on Christian Scientists all over the country. Grace passed away on December 29 in her home […]
By Jo Anne Wilson Sun correspondent SAIGNON, France (March 18, 2004) — It’s the middle of March and I’m in Southern France. I needed a break after a bitter Northern Michigan winter. Here, the climate is mild and the sun shines three hundred and twenty days a year. Serious snowfall happens a couple of times […]
By Norm Wheeler Sun editor Or one could write “Lilacs,” or “Apple Blossoms,” or “Prom Gowns,” or “Temporary Barricades,” or even, as Swift Lathers wrote, “Boiled Dandelions.” Growing up in Oceana County in the 50s, I read The Smallest Newspaper in the World, The Mears Newz, published weekly by Mr. Swift Lathers, of Mears, MI, […]
By Jane Greiner Sun staff writer This is the time of year when spring wildflowers uplift the hearts of nature lovers everywhere. One of the best places to see them in delightful profusion is along the Treat Farm trail just south of Empire. The trail offers the triple treat of a woods walk, historical farm […]
By Jane Greiner Sun staff writer After a long northern winter, everyone looks forward to spring. But spring is especially welcome to me this year because both my parents died this past winter. Though long expected, their closely spaced deaths left a hole in my heart, which has been slow to heal. Now I am […]
By Jo Anne Wilson Sun contributor “I’m moving to Provence,” I announced. “Provence?” My neighbor stared at me. “As in Southern France?” I could see her mind going. Me, the retired teacher of French had finally gone over the edge. “Not forever,” I hastened to add, “Just for a year or two.” “But you just […]
by Ashlea Turner Sun staff writer This column is devoted to budget travelers who enjoy fresh food and quality time spent off the beaten path in Leelanau County. Aaaahh, winter in Leelanau County. The snowbirds have fled to the Bahamas, Arizona and Florida and only the heartiest of souls are left here to battle the […]
By Jacob Wheeler Sun International Correspondent UTILA (Islas de la Bahia), Honduras – How he found me down here I have no idea. But I have no doubt it was he who renewed the hex. The two Chicagoans and I were as far from Wrigleyville as possible (a sleazy sports bar in the Guatemalan highlands, […]