Chateau Fontaine: Fruit-forward wines, great hospitality

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Dan Matthies, proprietor of Chateau Fontaine in Lake Leelanau (along with wife Lucie), still remembers the day over 30 years ago that he saw a tiny advertisement in the Leelanau Enterprise: “Looking for farmers to grow wine grapes.” Matthies and his wife had been fascinated with wine and the idea of wine making since they’d first tasted the beverage in the 1970s — but they’d never seriously considered the possibility that their land, acres upon acres of steep hills with south-facing slopes, would be an ideal spot for following the lead of wine maker Bernie Rink. Rink, a neighboring farmer who’d planted a test plot of French-American hybrid grapes as well as a few vinifera varieties on 16 acres of rolling Leelanau County land back in the mid 1960s, had debuted his Boskydel winery, the first winery to open in Leelanau County, in 1975.

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Racing Empire Bluff

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The Empire Hill Climb, which ran from 1964 until 1980 — once in the spring and once in the fall — returns to action on Sept. 20. Approximately 20 drivers have signed up, and they’ll take turns racing the curvy, half-mile route up Wilco Rd. (toward the Empire Bluffs trail parking lot) between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. A racecar expose from 9-9:45 a.m. on Front Street will precede the main event.

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Who’s to blame for stalled immigration reform?

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Immigration reform would be a job creator for Northern Michigan, says Congressman Dan Benishek. But the Republican-controlled House of Representatives won’t move on immigration reform, following the Tea Party defeat of Majority Leader Eric Cantor in June.

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Learning music along the Sleeping Bear Birding Trail

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Taking a stroll down Western Avenue in the village of Glen Arbor, you’ll come to a lawn that is beautifully landscaped in Michigan native plants. This is 6391 Western Avenue, the headquarters of Sleeping Bear Birding Trail (SBBT). What, you wonder, is a birding trail? That’s the most frequently asked question by both tourists and locals coming through the door, said operations director Mick Seymour. “What the heck is a birding trail?”

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A place called home: Paths to affordable ownership in Leelanau

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Leelanau County has long been known as “the land of delight,” but for many of its people, the terrain leading to a place called home appears more difficult. For at least the past 25 years, homes and land have been bought and sold dearly, but a confluence of circumstances has brought the issue of affordable housing to a crisis state today. These include the start of the Great Recession in 2008, a severe tightening of lending practices, a lack of permanent, full-time jobs in a growing tourism and service region, and the refusal of government and some community leaders to recognize and act on long-term solutions to the county’s housing challenges.

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Transporting ourselves back in time

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Our default perspective is from our own place and time. This is natural. It cannot be otherwise. Yet it’s sometimes fun to engineer a shift in the way we see and experience things, and by so doing create more awareness. You can put on the 3-D glasses for another time period by trying out earlier modes of transportation. Some of these are a little hard to find but walking, our original mode of locomotion, is always available. Travel by canoe, ox-cart, stage coach, sleigh, schooner, steamer and train will take a little more effort in the way of arrangement-making, but all are still possible.

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Pegtown Station, a community gathering spot

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By Linda Beaty Sun contributor At least 15 minutes before Pegtown Station restaurant in Maple City opens for breakfast, cars are already pulling into the small parking lot in front. In large part, that’s because Pegtown, owned by Maple City residents Dave and Mary MacDonald for almost 10 years now, serves up some of the […]

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Experience the Port Oneida Fair

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History comes alive at six historic sites during the annual Port Oneida Fair at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Friday and Saturday, August 8-9, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. In addition to the many popular demonstrations, animals and exhibits, the fair will feature a chicken dinner on Friday, and end with solar viewing and an astronomy party on Saturday night. This two-day special event is free. Participants need only purchase the Park Entrance Pass or have an Annual Pass displayed in their vehicle to join in the fun.

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Port Oneida Fair: 21st century workers, 19th century skills

A crew of five young adults are restoring part of Leelanau County’s past, and on Aug. 8-9 they’ll show you how it’s done at the Port Oneida Fair. They are bringing new life to the old Goffar Barn, a 30-foot by 40-foot timber frame building in Glen Arbor Township. Located at the north end of Port Oneida/M-22 on Lake Narada, the 19th century barn is one of 366 historic structures located within the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in varying states of repair.

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Volunteers at Inland Seas

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There are approximately 250 volunteers helping out at the Inland Seas Education Association. “We’d be unable to function without all the amazingly talented and amazingly dedicated volunteers,” says executive director Fred Sitkins. There are doctors, lawyers, teachers, fish biologists, interior decorators, housewives and retirees of all kinds, including retired school administrators, pipe fitters and electronic hospital equipment salesmen.

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