Glen Arbor cemetery holds memorial ceremony, library presentation

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The fourth annual Glen Arbor Cemetery Memorial Ceremony, commemorating the nearly lost site, will be held at 10 am on Friday, May 26. John Sawyer of Traverse City will deliver a eulogy detailing the life of one of the four Civil War veterans buried at the cemetery, James Lawrence Green. And on Wednesday, May 24, the Glen Lake Community Library in Empire will host a presentation about the history of the Glen Arbor Township Cemetery, which served the Glen Lake area from 1880-1927, and the renewed effort to reclaim this long-neglected resting place. Last week, ground penetrating radar revealed an additional mass grave of more than 50 bodies buried at the cemetery sometime between the late 1800s and early 1900s. This cemetery in the woods off Forest Haven Road, west of downtown Glen Arbor, was nearly lost to history before Glen Arbor Township regained control over it from the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore after the big storm of August 2015. Click on the story to watch a narrated video tour of the cemetery.

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Poor Farm Barn celebrates rehabilitation

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On Saturday, May 27, the Leelanau County Historic Preservation Society invites the community to a family-friendly, free event to celebrate the rehabilitation of the Leelanau County Poor Farm Barn. The event is being held to honor the dedicated community of contractors, volunteers, and community partners who worked tirelessly to preserve this historic structure.

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Businesses change in a changing town

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It’s hard for anyone to pinpoint exactly when a town changes. Most of the time we’re too busy with our daily life to notice the subtle transformations, writes Julie Zapoli, co-owner of Glen Arbor’s Inn and Trail Gourmet. Living in one place prohibits noticing much beyond our typical path, but we adjust: a clothing shop becomes a food market, the old school house becomes a vacation rental, a bed and breakfast changes hands after 23 years. The Glen Arbor Bed and Breakfast, which was purchased earlier this year by Michael Aragon, was originally built as a boarding house 150 years ago for the loggers who came to northern Michigan to cut timber. Some of that Michigan timber helped to rebuild Chicago after the Great Fire of 1871 ravaged the city when Mrs. O’Leary’s cow (supposedly) kicked over a lantern … it’s that kind of history that makes you appreciate a place.

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Glen Arbor Fourth of July Parade organizer Stan Brubaker dies

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Stan Brubaker, the unofficial organizer and grand marshal selector for Glen Arbor’s “anything goes” Fourth of July parade, died on Monday, March 6, at age 95 at Munson Medical Center in Traverse City. According to his daughter Kristi, longtime family friend and former Glen Lake fire chief John DePuy will take over parade duties. This will be the 60th year of the parade.

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Leelanau Historical Society retires “You Are Here” maps exhibit

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After three years of delighting historians and patrons, sparking curiosity, and sharing long forgotten information about this beloved area, the Leelanau Historical Society’s “You Are Here: Maps & Roads of Leelanau” exhibit will retire on Jan. 27.

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Iconic Cedar Tavern for sale

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The iconic Cedar Tavern in the heart of Leelanau County hit the market this week with a listing price of $1.2 million. Owner Ellen Stachnik confirmed the news on Facebook: “Well it’s out there. After a lot of talking we have decided to list the Tavern for sale. We love you all and appreciate your support and kindness over the years. 45 years it’s been a great time!!” In our 2013 feature story about the Cedar Tavern, Stachnik narrated the history of the business and its importance to campers and locals, alike.

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Boy in the blue jacket

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“Depending on how you look at things, it was either pure chance or divine intervention,” Chet Janik laughed as he described how he was able to leave Communist Poland as a young boy and immigrate to Cedar, Michigan. “Without the town supporting my great uncle, and without the kindness of the consular official, I never would have grown up here.” Reflecting on his life in the United States and his career as he winds down his time as Leelanau County’s longest serving administrator, Chet narrates the journey with vivid details.

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Taking Account

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This summer, Petoskey-based writer Alexandra Dailey attended a national Road to Healing event in Pellston—part of a year-long tour by U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland and Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Bryan Newland (a Michigan native) to provide a platform for survivors of the federal Indian boarding schools to share their experiences and grievances. On Thanksgiving today, as she and her white family members gather and express thanks for their homes, shelters, and jobs, she plans to recognize her privilege of not having familial trauma associated with the Indian boarding school system. She writes in the Glen Arbor Sun that she will be grateful for the healing that is occurring within the tribal communities—grateful that she was able to witness the beginnings of the healing that is yet to come for our Native neighbors.

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Reviving the historic Manor on Glen Lake

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Chicagoans Robert and Sue Rife plan to revive the historic Manor on Glen Lake, whose restaurant overlooking Little Glen Lake closed after Sue’s sister Nancy Wright passed away in 2020. Nancy had managed the fine dining establishment since 2004. The Rifes aspire to revive the kitchen space, renovate three cottages in the back of the property, and eventually restore the inn’s upstairs, whose rooms they will rent out. Caitlin Olmsted-Phillips, a descendant of D.H. Day and an adaptive reuse planner and preservationist in Ann Arbor, is helping guide this project.

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Reflecting on a Manitou solitaire with the endangered piping plovers

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Back in early July, on a windy Sunday, I woke before sunrise at the southern end of North Manitou Island and headed out onto the beach for the day’s work. There at Dimmick’s Point, a broad wing of dunes and wave-turned stones reaching out into the Manitou Passage, we find the largest nesting concentration of Great Lakes piping plovers in the world. Roughly a quarter of the population nests on the island, with another quarter nesting just across the passage. Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is home to nearly half the breeding pairs of this endangered shorebird. At Dimmick’s Point, four days a week during nesting season from May to August, I walk the beach and monitor the plover activity. The point is closed to park visitors during that time, so I am typically the only human among the birds.

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