Sleeping Bear Surf & Kayak in Empire teamed up with FLOW (For Love of Water), Friends of Sleeping Bear Dunes, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Surfrider NoMi, and S’well for an April 22 Earth Day beach cleanup at North Bar Lake.
Cottonseed Apparel owners Laurenn Rudd and Elizabeth Gray have opened a second location in downtown Frankfort at the former location of the Benzie County Record Patriot. Cottonseed Apparel will offer the same line of products at its pop-up shop in Frankfort as they do in their Glen Arbor store.
The McCahill family, who own On the Narrows Marina, purchased Glen Craft Marina from Kathy Aylsworth in March. They have no plans this year to change the marina, which is located on Big Glen Lake, though Conor McCahill said that owning both marinas will help streamline work and allow them to do more with the staff they have. Glen Craft also has eight rental units and boat services. The McCahills had previously outsourced boat services at On the Narrows Marina.
Bardenhagen Berries Farm celebrates its 150th anniversary as a family farm this year by commemorating its rich history and continuing to diversify for its future. While the farm offers a variety of crops, it is perhaps best known for strawberries.
Fried, the new food truck in the Crystal River Outfitters Recreational District, diversifies the Glen Arbor eating scene, as hundreds of thousands of hungry tourists begin arriving to soak up the summer. “Food trucks offer variety and a different, fun atmosphere,” said Raupp. “You get to interface with the guests, which doesn’t happen when you’re a chef in a restaurant. There’s a symbiotic relationship and a more experiential dining experience. With so much tourism up here in Northern Michigan, and lots of little pockets that could use food, snacks and refreshments, there’s room in our industry to grow.”
Saturday, June 4, is National Cheese Day and the anniversary of the bittersweet transition of ownership from John and Anne Hoyt to the new owner-operators of Leelanau Cheese, Josh Hall and Gary Smith. All Michigan-made cheeses are being celebrated at Leelanau Cheese. The shop will host free events for all ages throughout the day, with a few special events with reserved seating.
“We at The Foothills take issues of dependency and overdose very seriously,” says co-owner Shari Bernstein. Now, out in front of the café, is a white metal box that looks comparable to a newspaper carrier, and in it is the naloxone nasal spray. It is there for anyone who may need it, no questions asked.
In October of 2021, the first snow frosted the maples still ablaze with red and orange color. Art instructor Kaz McCue from the Leelanau School saw the opportunity to take his Photography 2 class for a ride. They got great photos, and when Kaz sent one of the best to his wife Pam, an art teacher at St. Johns Country Day in Orange Park, Fla., she replied, “This would make a great puzzle!”
The village of Lake Leelanau soon welcomes Capital Dog, a new casual eatery. Brainchild of locals Kevin and Sue Burns, it opens to the community on May 1, offering indoor and outdoor seating on a quiet backyard patio, in addition to carry out and dock delivery service at The Narrows.
Golden, mineral-rich grains of sand from Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore are commanding top dollar on a growing international market that has attracted the lust and the pocketbooks of mining tycoons and marketeers, Saudi royals and French models.