St. Wenceslaus Parish concludes weekend masses

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Whether directly or indirectly connected to the Gill’s Pier Catholic Church, the termination of full-service masses at “the church in the orchard,” St. Wenceslaus, and moving to limited use, is a historic and cultural loss, a communal and civic loss, and ultimately a loss of vital Leelanau County history. Honored as a Michigan Historical Site both for the church and cemetery, St. Wenceslaus has witnessed almost 136 years of Leelanau County History. It stands as a testament to the births, baptisms, confirmations, weddings, deaths, and many celebrations of this interwoven farming community. By changing to “limited use,” this means a loss of social services, a loss of spiritual education, and ultimately loss of a place of prayer.

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Sleeping Bear Forever: new name reflects expanding mission

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A weathered red barn leans gently into the wind at Port Oneida. Rows of apple trees still mark orchards planted generations ago. White farmhouses sit beneath towering maples, their porches looking out across fields first cultivated more than a century ago. In Glen Haven, restored maritime buildings recall an era when steamships connected isolated shoreline communities and commerce shaped life along the lakeshore. These places don’t command the same attention as the dunes. Yet, together they reveal the history, culture and character that give Sleeping Bear its soul. Helping people discover that story has become the defining mission of the nonprofit formerly known as Preserve Historic Sleeping Bear. Now approaching its 30th year, it is entering a new chapter with a new name: Sleeping Bear Forever.

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Gazing into a pool of courage

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On the occasion of the nation’s 250th birthday, Leelanau resident and reverend Lucy Waechter Webb shares a journey her family took earlier this year to Webster Groves, Missouri, to celebrate Benny Gordon, Jr, an African-American civic leader who fought Jim Crow segregation and pushed for the opening of the local swimming pool for everyone. Webb’s great-grandfather, “Happy” Appel, the mayor of Webster Groves, denied Black residents access to swim in the city pool. She recently learned about her family’s role in this story when she began asking questions about her ancestry and her people’s relationship to the history of racial violence in this country.

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Readers declaim the Declaration of Independence

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One might wonder why people are gathered at the post office in Glen Arbor on the Fourth of July when it is closed. The story is the same across Leelanau County, in Omena, in Empire, in Lake Leelanau. Then promptly at 10 a.m. the reason is revealed. “When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another,” booms a voice. “And to assume among the powers of the earth,” says another. “The separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them,” continues a third. Welcome to the Fourth of July in Leelanau County, where nine people—one at each post office—read aloud the Declaration of Independence.

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Lanphier Observatory celebrates 50 years

This summer marks the 50th summer of stargazing at The Leelanau School’s Lanphier Observatory. Open to the public on Wednesday and Thursday nights from June 24 to Aug. 20, from dusk to midnight (clear skies permitting, $5 for adults and $4 for students), this gift from Charles “Chick” Lanphier five decades ago has inspired and astonished thousands of summer guests and generations of high school students as they viewed the heavens through the powerful 14-inch Celestron Schmidt-Cassegranian reflecting telescope and learned the constellations twinkling over Sleeping Bear Bay.

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Glen Arbor Arts Center observes the Nation’s Semiquincentennial with American Tree

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As the United States approaches its 250th anniversary, the nation’s layered story of people and place comes into sharper focus. Across the country, this milestone is being marked through ceremony, exhibitions, and public celebration, as communities revisit the question of what it means to inhabit—and be formed by—this history. The Glen Arbor Arts Center responds to that question with American Tree. The exhibition contemplates the role trees played in the formation of the United States 250 years ago—and the role they will continue to play as the nation moves into its next 250 years.

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“Give me liberty or give me death.” Honoring our nation’s Black founding fathers and mothers

Our history books tell us about Patrick Henry, the founding father who in 1775 famously proclaimed, “Give me liberty, or give me death!” But who were the slaves who worked his fields or cooked his meals the morning he uttered those words at the Second Virginia Convention at St. John’s Church in Richmond? In the final days of the Revolutionary War for independence from Great Britain, who were the free Black men who fought with General George Washington? They, too, are our founding fathers. They, too, birthed the nation that celebrates its 250th birthday this summer. Genealogist Orice Jenkins and writer Isiah Smith explored the nation’s fraught and complex history surrounding race, slavery, family history, and calls for reparations during a live podcast conversation on May 8 at the Alluvion in Traverse City.

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Iconic Bluebird continues family tradition, now as riverfront restaurant

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The highly esteemed Bluebird in Leland reopened quietly this past fall by owners Skip and Lynn Telgard along with their family and loyal staff. The original Bluebird was the family home as well as the local café. The restaurant is a family tradition, with four generations of Telgards who have brought the business from a two-room little shack to a thriving corner business known far and wide. An iconic and nostalgic place since it was established in 1927, the Bluebird, affectionately nicknamed the “Bird,” takes full advantage of its location on the historic Leland River. Indoors, it gives diners delightful up-close and year-round views of the river through its new wide glass windows.

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Dune Bird launches Woolsey Red to support airport restoration

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On Thursday June 4, from 4-8 pm Dune Bird Winery, set along Michigan’s scenic M-22 in the heart of Leelanau County, celebrates the launch of a new varietal red wine, Woolsey Red, a partnership with the Save Woolsey Airport Terminal project, a group of dedicated community volunteers and partners working with Leelanau Township to Save Woolsey Airport Terminal, an 1870s-era, hand-laid stone building that once served as a farm creamery.

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Meet the Fishtown Family

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When most people think of Fishtown, they probably picture the busy thrill of excited summer crowds enjoying Cheese Shop sandwiches, submersed in the authentic atmosphere of a historic commercial fishing village. But Abby Chatfield thinks of a sweet moment there last December, with businesses closed for the season and only a handful of locals gathered around under the falling snow, watching her children and those of other Fishtown retailers circle around a giant red button as they anticipated the honor of pushing it to light up the shanty rooftops, together, in a legendary holiday light display. Each child was honored with a key to Fishtown, inviting them to become the future caretakers of this place that many consider to be the heart of Leland. Fishtown faces numerous challenges today, including threats to its tax-exempt status from powerbrokers new to the community, and the lack of regular commercial ferry service this year to the Manitou Islands. As such, Leland residents are reflecting on what makes Fishtown special and important to their town.

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