The Michigan legislature is considering whether to continue, or expand, a new state pilot project that is increasing business from schools for a significant number of farms and related food companies throughout the state and in Leelanau County.
On Wednesday, April 5, at noon at the Leelanau County Government Center the Farm Labor Task Force of the League of Women Voters Leelanau County will highlight the impact current immigration policy has on area agricultural employers and their workforce. The forum is titled “Immigration Challenges in Leelanau: Who Will Harvest Our Produce?”
The Sleeping Bear Ale Trail celebrates half a dozen (relatively) new breweries along the M-22 and US-31 corridors in Leelanau and Benzie counties. Patrons could foreseeably visit all six over the course of a weekend. The Ale Trail complement’s the region’s already well-established wine tourism pilgrimages and traditional drinking holes.
Big Glen Lake resident Chip Hoagland — dubbed the “Warren Buffet of food” in a recent Traverse Magazine feature story — will be honored with the Milliken Leadership Award by the Groundwork Center for Resilient Communities on Saturday, Oct. 8 at the nonprofit’s annual Harvest at the Commons celebration. Tickets to the event, including dinner and entertainment, cost $45 and are available at MyNorthTickets.com.
Iron Fish Distillery opened over Labor Day weekend on a 119-acre farm on Dzuibanek Road, a dirt road that is three miles from Crystal Mountain Resort and five miles from downtown Thompsonville, just south of the Manistee-Benzie county line. Nearby meanders the tranquil Betsie River. The rural property is so beautiful that you might sip a spirit and stay all afternoon, and it is so remote that you would slip into the 19th century if it were not for the buzzing of the smart phone in your pocket.
Cheers to local craft breweries! Two of six breweries on the newly minted “Sleeping Bear Ale Trail” made the top five of MLive’s Best New Michigan Brewery search. Frankfort’s Stormcloud Brewing Company won the gold medal earlier this month, and Hop Lot in Suttons Bay came in fourth.
Singer-songwriter Chris Skellenger, a longtime entertainer at local watering holes, recently posted this news flash on Facebook about his nonprofit. “I just heard that starting tomorrow, Buckets of Rain is working on an urban garden with a free Muslim health clinic in the heart of one of the most destroyed parts of Detroit, a predominantly African-American community. We’re all in this together, brothers in arms.”
As I listened to the rustle of the trees, I could feel that the air was unsettled, but I just couldn’t put my finger on it. There weren’t any bird noises — which is unusual as normally the morning noises include the chirps of the finches, cardinals and an occasional screech of a passing heron or an obnoxious blue jay. This humid morning, however, there was only sound of the rustle of leaves coming from the on shore breeze as it swirled through the trees and out across the bay. I didn’t know what it was, but I sensed things were off. Little did I anticipate it being the wild storms our shores were about to weather.
It’s that time of year again for the annual salute to the beginning of summer, with delicious local fare and the best of Northern Michigan microbrews. The Glen Lake Chamber’s family-friendly BBQ and Brew summer celebration happens the third Saturday in June each year. This year the anticipated event falls on June 20, from 2 until 8 p.m.
Here are the winners from this year’s Empire Asparagus Festival recipe contest.