The Folded Leaf finds new home at Commongrounds Cooperative in Traverse City

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The Folded Leaf, an independent new & used bookstore and community gathering space rooted in Cedar, has announced a new home within Commongrounds Cooperative at 414 E. Eighth Street in Traverse City, marking a transition shaped by reflection, care, and a continued commitment to community. The announcement comes with mixed emotions for many who have found connection and comfort within The Folded Leaf’s Cedar location. Since opening in April 2025, the space has served as more than a bookstore—it has been a place to gather, rest, and feel less alone. That history remains central to the organization’s identity.

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Art that turns INward

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Winter in Leelanau County draws life inward. In a place so deeply defined by outwardness—by land, water, and expanse—the shift, nevertheless, feels instinctive, even necessary. The season arrives not only as weather, but as a kind of inversion, reshaping both landscape and psychology. Which makes the Glen Arbor Art Center’s (GAAC) first exhibition of 2026, INteriors, so timely and so entirely relevant. The concept for INteriors was developed by Sarah Bearup-Neal, gallery manager of GAAC, whose curatorial instincts invariably have a way of calibrating exhibitions with the emotional temperature of the season. Ever the wizard behind GAAC’s most resonant ideas, Bearup-Neal had been pondering winter itself: what happens when cold and darkness bends attention toward introspection, and how that shift might be reflected, challenged, and expanded through the arts.

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Revelers Wassail at Tandem Ciders

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Locals know a secret about Leelanau County winters. The season lends reprieve from chaos, re-rooting and grounding us after the busy, crowded summer season. Having this sacred place to ourselves for a fleeting moment allows for deeper camaraderie and connection to place. Tandem Ciders co-owners Dan Young and Nikki Rothwell have hosted a wassail celebration at their tasting room on Setterbo Road north of Suttons Bay since 2009, offering an opportunity for locals to connect with each other under the constellations in the depths of Leelanau’s winter. At Tandem Cider’s 16th annual wassail celebration, buoyant echoes of raucous partiers standing around a bonfire are somehow harmonious with the silence that vibrates from the black, night sky of deep winter. A collection of familiar faces represents a community slow to change, slow to grow, until the Covid migration occurred. These are faces that connect our past to this place we call home.

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Fundraiser continues for The Homestead’s Jamaican workers two months in the dark

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Longtime seasonal residents at The Homestead, John and Belynda Hudspeth, offered this Dec. 26 update for their crowdsourcing fundraiser to support 35 seasonal Jamaican workers at the Glen Arbor resort whose communities were impacted by the devastation caused by Hurricane Melissa on Oct. 28. Their campaign has raised $48,000. However, the more than 80 people (including children and the elderly) directly impacted by this fund are only in the very early stages of a massive rebuilding process, write the Hudspeths. Click here to read more and for a link to donate. … In the closing days of 2025, we’re updating key stories that the Glen Arbor Sun published this year.

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The Folded Leaf: A Dream Embraced by Community Connection

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Rachel Zemanek reflects on The Folded Leaf, which opened its doors this Spring in Cedar. Together, with Liz Neddo, owner of Bee Well, and niche jeweler Dana C. Fear, a creative community built on connection was formed. Now, their survival in the town they call home is at risk, following building inspections and a notice that gatherings are not allowed unless the entire building officially changes use.

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Bee Joyful spreads cheer in Country Christmas’ former home

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’Tis the season to be joyful. For Austin and Bethany Jo Bowers, that’s always the case. They opened their Bee Joyful retail storefront late last year on M-72 just west of Traverse City, at the former Country Christmas location. Bethany started the company as a youngster. She started making natural beeswax skin products for her family and friends at her family farm, where her father was a beekeeper. At 14, she officially started her own company, Bee Joyful, selling her soaps and balms at a local farmers market and shops.

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Afghans assimilate and contribute in Leelanau County

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One man returns home in his pickup truck from his job managing a fruit processing plant near Empire to greet his children as they step off the yellow school bus. Another shares a homemade dinner with his wife and kids, then naps before working the nightshift in the radiology unit at Munson Medical Center. A third man retreats upstairs and uses a hand-me-down sewing machine to mend a customer’s torn Christmas stocking—his side gig to make extra money for his family after he works daytime hours at Spectrum. These could be the stories of any hard-working men in Leelanau County. In fact, they represent the everyday rituals of three Afghan refugees who worked with the U.S. military and then fled for their safety after the Taliban took Kabul and seized power four years ago.

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Leelanau Holiday reads: 2025 books by local authors

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We chatted with the experts, the bookworms, and bookstore owners, and here’s our roundup of local books—or books written by local authors—that were published in 2025. All make great holiday gifts! Find them at Leelanau County’s locally owned, independent bookstores: Cottage Book Shop in Glen Arbor, Bay Books in Suttons Bay, Dog Ears Books in Northport, and Leelanau Books in Leland; or at your local library. Happy reading!

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Northport Trinity Church’s Rag Bee members recycle discarded clothing into rugs

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As we travel across this country, we pass giant mounds of landfill—unpleasant evidence of how much we throw away. A group of dedicated neighbors in Northport have been trying for approximately 50 years to reverse that trend by recycling unwanted clothing into rugs. On Tuesday mornings, the members of Rag Bee gather around a table at Trinity Church to accomplish their mission. The next opportunity to purchase rugs is during the Women’s Club bake sale at Trinity Church on Dec. 6.

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Copying and Reexploring the Constitution, Word for Word

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On Saturday, Nov. 22, at 10 am, the Glen Lake Community Library in Empire invites the public to explore the U.S. Constitution, the foundational document of our democracy. In partnership with Michigan Writers, author and Empire Township resident Anne-Marie Oomen will lead this hands-on workshop, with participants copying the entire Constitution, section by section, then reading aloud and discussing their compiled work. This exercise will help refresh and refine our understanding of this core framework of democracy. Contact the library to register in advance. The Sun interviewed Oomen about her inspiration for initiating this event.

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