Grand old flag tradition continues at Old Settlers on July Fourth

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Among the many Fourth of July celebrations in Leelanau County, one of the longest running may be the Flag Raising Ceremony held at the century-plus Old Settlers Picnic Grounds in Burdickville. Sponsored by the Glen Lake Women’s Club, chairwoman Josephine Zara promises “an old-fashioned, country flag-raising,” beginning at 10 o’clock with services by local Cub Scout Pack #111. Retired United States Navy officer Peter Van Nort of Glen Arbor, who served with Admiral Hyman G. Rickover, will give the address, “We Are the People.” Soprano Susan Pocklington of Empire will perform “The Star-Spangled Banner,” accompanied by Maple City’s Patrick Niemisto on keyboard, Amy Peterson on flute, and David Watt on drum, both of Glen Arbor. A community sing-along, free flags for the children, cookies and lemonade will conclude the event.

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Fourth of July serendipity

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Glen Arbor is a small world with serendipitous encounters happening all the time. Last summer yielded one such instance, and the result is that the only known 1948 Ford from the Dunesmobile fleet will lead this year’s Fourth of July Parade.

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Ben Bricker: fanfare for an uncommon man

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The sudden death of Ben Bricker, early on Monday, December 12, has saddened and shaken not only the Glen Arbor community, but people who loved him in places near and far: his children Cherrie, Bruce, and Beth and their spouses, his brother Bill and sister Barbara, his grandchildren and great-grandchildren, nieces, nephews, in-laws, friends, colleagues, neighbors, and acquaintances from the many phases of a life long and well-lived.

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Local diver reveals details of Westmoreland shipwreck

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Details surrounding the history, legend and exciting 2010 discovery of one of the Great Lakes’ most sought-after shipwrecks will be disclosed during the Empire Area Heritage Group’s Dec. 2, free public program at the Empire Township Hall.

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Finding Mrs. Boizard

I became a Boizard geek after reading The Boizard Letters: Letters From a Pioneer Homestead (1993) and I’ve explored several themes in those letters in this summer series of articles. In this final article in that series, I mention things I’ve found and areas still in need of further looking. One of the things I have found in my search for Mrs. Boizard is her tombstone in Maple Grove Cemetery.

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Port Oneida Historic Landscape Plan raises question of preservation vs. recreation

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This summer, the National Park Service (NPS) unveiled its options for the Historic Landscape Management Plan of the Port Oneida Rural Historic District. Some four miles east of Glen Arbor, the shoreline settlement was founded as a logging community, with subsistence (family) farming and fishing, in the early 1860s by immigrant pioneers from Prussia and Hanover (now parts of modern Germany), and lived in continuously until the 1970s. It is defined as a “historic vernacular landscape … that has evolved through use by ordinary people” over a “period of significance of 1870-1945,” in the Plan’s Executive Summary, and it is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

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Empire’s 39th Heritage Day features hands-on history

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The aroma of apples and fresh-cut wood. The taste of homemade maple candy and ice cream. The sounds of old-time music and old-fashioned hard work. Free activities, demonstrations and exhibits celebrating the area’s lifestyle of 100 years ago will fill the senses when Leelanau County’s southernmost museum hosts its 39th annual Heritage Day on Oct. 8.

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Glen Arbor Sun writers remember 9/11

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On the 10-year anniversary of the terrorist attacks, Glen Arbor Sun writers Anne-Marie Oomen, Mike Buhler, Mary Sharry, Pat Stinson, Waleed Al-Shamma and Jacob Wheeler reflect on September 11, 2001.

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“The Birds Are Burning”: September 11, 2001

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I walk to the island in my mind. I start in Leonia, New Jersey, the town I grew up in. At some point I am sixteen again and wearing heavy-duty hiking boots as I trudge up the stairs to the pedestrian walkway that leads across the massive, vibrating George Washington Bridge. The broad, serene Hudson River lies far below and the buildings of Manhattan stretch out to the distant lower end of the island. The World Trade Center isn’t there yet. I remember the feeling of space, and slight dizziness, suspended at such a great height; the exhilaration of crossing from one state to the next on foot.

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Miss Boizard Looks for Love

With summer comes thoughts of romance. Those of us who have spent any time around Glen Arbor and Glen Lake during the summer can attest to the alchemy of sun, sand, water, hot days, warm nights, and gorgeous surroundings, all tossed together to yield the alluring gold of romance. You could say that Glen Arbor is the elixir of love.

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