Entries by editor

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Nicaraguan priest meets Pope in Rome after taking refuge in Empire

Priest José Luis Díaz Cruz and Sergio Jose Cárdenas Flores, political asylees from Nicaragua, have been living in the rectory at St. Philip Neri Catholic Church in Empire since March after they escaped the autocratic Ortega regime, which has cracked down on dissent and persecuted the Roman Catholic Church. Originally from the city of Matagalpa, Díaz and Cárdenas were among dozens imprisoned for six months in the capital of Managua after living under house arrest in their church last August. In February, they were among 222 political prisoners flown to the United States after being forced to relinquish their Nicaraguan citizenship. “We’re offering them a safe place to be,” said Rev. Ken Stachnik at St. Philip Neri. “This is important because it’s in the gospel. We are watching out for those who are lost and have no place to go.” The push to bring the Nicaraguans to northern Michigan came from Reverend Wayne Dziekan with the Diocese of Gaylord and who co-directs the Justice and Peace Advocacy Center, an organization which helps asylees and migrant workers in northern Michigan. Matagalpa and Gaylord are sister diocese.

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Sleeping Bear Dunes hosts Saturday Winter Programs at the Lakeshore

From now until March 16, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore will host weekly programs on Saturdays. Programs on Saturday, Jan. 20, featured Anishinaabe historian Eric Hemenway. In the morning, he lead a guided hike focused on survival strategies and traditional Anishinaabe activities during the season of biboon (winter). In the afternoon at the Philip A. Hart Visitor Center, Hemenway also shared about traditional Anishinaabe art.

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Empire hosts Songs and Stories of Sleeping Bear, Library hosts Climate Change presentation

This Sunday, Jan. 28, the Friendly Tavern in Empire hosts an afternoon of music, stories and poems highlighting the history of the Sleeping Bear Dunes area. Anne-Marie Oomen and Norm Wheeler will present “A Stone That Rises,” a dramatization of pioneer life in the settlement of Port Oneida, while Chris Skellenger and Patrick Niemisto will perform various songs inspired by local lore. The performance is presented by the Empire Area Community Center, with donations accepted to support their emergency relief fund. Join the fun from 4-6 pm at the Friendly Tavern in Empire.

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Mary Fortuna’s Tree of Life

The Tree of Life is one of the most universal, recurrent, and enduring of all iconographies—a visual metaphor for the interconnectivity of life forms, Earth and the cosmos. Its legacy stretches across religions and cultures. It appears throughout literature, the arts, and even modern science. This ancient motif now graces the Lobby Gallery of the Glen Arbor Arts Center. It is the mixed media installation of Traverse City artist, Mary Fortuna, aptly titled: Tree of Life: Connecting the World. The exhibit will be shown through April 25. Fortuna’s Tree of Life: Connecting the World is a glorious rendition of this most recognizable of images. It is comprised of the tree form itself, which is drawn in Sumi ink on Japanese paper, affixed to which are numerous hand-sewn soft sculptures—a snake, armadillo, turtle, fox, and bee, among other critters.

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State of the State Art Contest winner gets Cherry Republic gift box

Last week, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced the winner of the 2024 State of the State art contest as Vivian Kern of Bay City Central High School. Kern’s artwork will be displayed in the 2024 State of the State program, which the governor will deliver on Wednesday night, Jan. 24, at 7 p.m. Kern will receive a gift box from Cherry Republic. 

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Peninsula Housing sells its first affordable home in Northport

Peninsula Housing announced this weekend that the affordable housing nonprofit is excited to welcome John and Kelly Kehl as new homeowners of an affordable home in the village of Northport. The Leelanau natives are grateful for the community of support that made this possible, and Kelly stated in a press release, “We were the first applicants to reach the finish line through this program, and I can’t wait to show others it’s possible to buy a home in northern Michigan!” The Kehls purchased their home on Ransom Street for $220,000, according to Peninsula Housing founder and board president Larry Mawby.

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Local luthiers craft instruments from specialty wood, castoff paint and found materials

Walk into Bob DeKorne’s garage outside Maple City, and your eye is immediately drawn past the Subaru to the phalanx of guitars in front of a work bench. There are more against the wall, and others in various states of assembly: from guitar bodies and necks to slabs of wood, alongside various amps, electronics and gear. Welcome to the home of Pyramid Point Custom Guitars. DeKorne is a luthier, turning wood, wire and other materials into unique, one-of-a-kind instruments. He’s not the only one plying the trade. Just a few miles away, his friend Kim Hillard proudly shows off his latest creation, a ukulele. Then its near-twin, and his recently completed guitar, one of five acoustics he’s made over the last few years.

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Winter swimming in Lake Michigan

On the first Sunday in January, I pull into the Empire Village Beach parking lot to meet 10 neighbors for a swim. The air temperature is 35 degrees Fahrenheit; Lake Michigan is 37 degrees. The group is made up almost entirely of women with members spanning in age from their early 30s to 70 years old. Most of the people present this first Sunday in January, myself included, have been meeting once or twice weekly for cold water swims since October. Winter swimming, also called cold dipping or polar plunging, is an umbrella term for various ways of submerging in cold water. For this group of brave locals, cold dipping involves a measured entrance into Lake Michigan, partnered with calm breathing. Participants spend 3-5 minutes in the water up to their shoulders, often wearing neoprene booties and gloves to fight against numbness in their extremities. Most of us wear winter hats on our heads and do not go under, though a few brave souls will wear swimming caps and plunge their entire bodies under the waves.

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Confessions of a once reluctant Michigan Wolverine

I admit it: I tried hard to not become a Michigan football fan. As a freshman in Ann Arbor in the fall of 1996 I found myself turned off by the manic, even cultish obsession with the team and the worship that transpired each autumnal Saturday. This wasn’t what attracted me to choose U of M for college. No, I wanted the great university, the vibrant college town, the oasis for radical politics. Then a funny thing happened. The following season Michigan ran the table and won every single game. What I experienced during the Rose Bowl-bound team’s 20-14 victory over Ohio State on a cold late November day at the Big House wasn’t about football, or even sports. It was the power of unity, of euphoria among strangers, of a trance as thousands of us move together in the same rhythm, with the same objective. I felt it again, albeit this time as an adult, when the Wolverines won the national championship last week. We are in our mid-40s now—adults with responsibilities—but we still need that youthful kinship, that unity.

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Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail reports plenty of fluffy snow

Following the blizzard earlier this weekend, the Friends of Sleeping Bear, who manage the Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail, report fresh snow last night and today. Nice, cool temperatures make for fluffy snow and the groomer is leaving a perfect corduroy and classic tracks. Read more for details.

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