Glen Arbor to celebrate Tree City USA designation, May 9

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It’s practically in the town’s name. So celebrating trees seemed like a no-brainer to Chris Sack of Glen Arbor. Sack, the co-owner of Great Lakes Tea and Spice with his wife Heather, will be on hand at the the town’s May 9 Arbor Day Celebration, the inaugural celebration of Glen Arbor being named a Tree City USA. “We want to get this off the ground on the right foot,” says Sack. The day will start at 10 a.m. with a tree planting ceremony at the corner of Lake Street and State Street, marking Glen Arbor’s first Arbor Day as a recognized Tree City USA community. It will be followed at 10:30 with a community “tree talk” at the Cherry Public House.

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Leelanau Wellness Collective hosts well-being summit

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What does a summit look like? Well, two things: One, a gathering of like-minded individuals to learn about and discuss a topic. The other is the top of a mountain. The two come together May 3 in Glen Arbor. The Leelanau Well-Being Summit will take place at and around The Homestead. Organizer Kat Palms says the event will include a vendor marketplace featuring local wellness brands, creatives, and makers, optional ticketed wellness classes led by regional practitioners, and a guided Bayview Trail Ruck with the Leelanau Ruck Club. Oh, and that second definition of summit? That works too, as the event will include a champagne toast at the top of Bay Mountain, the resort’s ski hill, followed by an optional dinner at Nonna’s.

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Traverse City immigrant joins hunger strike inside Baldwin ICE facility; local faith leaders pray, fast in solidarity

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Soon after Lynn’s husband arrived on March 5 at the North Lake Processing Center — the mammoth ICE detention center in Baldwin, Michigan — the food began to make him sick. “I haven’t seen an orange the whole time I’ve been here,” the husband told Lynn, a U.S. citizen and Traverse City resident who shared their family’s story with the Glen Arbor Sun this week. The couple, who have a 2.5-year-old son, worship at Guadalupe Chapel in southeastern Leelanau County, where local clergy held a prayer service and press conference on Monday to illuminate the plight of detainees in federal custody. Lynn’s husband is one of several immigrants detained, as ICE detentions mount in Northern Michigan.

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Celebration planned for Michelle Crocker, Michigan’s longest-serving current county clerk

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A celebration is planned to honor the longest-serving county clerk in Michigan presently in office upon the 30th anniversary of her being sworn in. Leelanau County Clerk Michelle Crocker assumed office on May 1, 1996. The event celebrating her service will be held Thursday, April 30, at 5 p.m. in the community meeting center at the Leelanau County government center. Snacks, soft drinks and of course cake will be provided. No county funds will be spent on the event. The Glen Arbor Sun named Crocker among a list of Leelanau County “influencers of 2024” for adeptly overseeing the correction of a vote undercount following the November 2024 election.

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Devouring Time: a consuming biography of a northern Michigan legend

It takes nerve to write a biography about such a revered, almost mythological northern Michigan writer as Jim Harrison. Kudos to Todd Goddard for taking on such an important project for posterity with sensitivity, level appreciation, and a North Star dedication to accurately portraying this gigantic personality and prolific writer of master works of poetry and fiction. As well, it takes some daring to share one’s impression of the Harrison biography, writes Tim Mulherin. I’ve long been a fan of Harrison’s work. I’m in awe of his vast intellect and artistic range, his turn-of-phrase genius and ability to connect so deeply with his ardent readership.

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Bearberry General store opens in Lake Leelanau

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Part gently used, part brand new. Part camping necessities, part office supplies. Part collectibles, part home goods, and all of it at Bearberry General Store. It’s all part of the scene at the store in Lake Leelanau. A store owner Sarah Schultz says she had no interest in starting until opportunity came knocking. “It was Bearberry Vintage,” Schultz explains. She was taking items there for resale from her parents’ home after they had passed away when one day the owner told Schultz she was moving to Florida. “Do you want to buy the store?” she asked Schultz.

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Sauna Fest returns to heat cool Northern Michigan

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Long relegated to back yards and backwoods cabins, saunas are enjoying a heyday in northern Michigan. Popup saunas appear at community events, portable saunas are available to rent, and private sauna gatherings transition effortlessly into pot-luck dinners with friends. The Sun interviewed Vlad Borza—co-organizer of the second annual Michigan Sauna Fest this weekend—to get his read on sauna popularity, what’s new at Sauna Fest, spring saunas vs winter saunas, what he does when he’s not sweating in a tiny house, and his vision for a floating sauna on a barge. Borza of Sleeping Bear Saunas and Nick Olson of Hearth Sauna—proselytizers of the local sauna movement—co-organized the Michigan Sauna Fest, which takes place in Traverse City’s Clinch Park from Friday, April 10, until Sunday April 12.

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Power to the books: local nonprofit spreads literacy

An idea born in Suttons Bay has spread across the state. In just 10 years, Kara Gregory’s PoWeR! Book Bags program has grown from concept to some 130 sites in more than one third of Michigan’s counties. It has distributed more than 750,000 books and 120,000 PoWeR! Literacy Bags.

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Former Gilchrist cooks Jackson, Tootla compete on Bravo TV’s “Top Chef”

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Leland resident and former Gilchrist Farm Winery chef Jennifer Lee Jackson found herself once again in the racetrack pit during the opening episode of “Top Chef”—just as when she cooked burgers and fried chicken sandwiches as a teenager at the racetrack her father operated in rural Georgia. But this time she honed her craft in front of hundreds of thousands who watched her on television. Jackson and her partner, Detroit native Justin Tootla, are competing in Season 23 of the popular Bravo show, which premiers March 9. Competing on the show “was so much harder than we thought it would be,” Tootla told the Glen Arbor Sun. “We’ve been huge fans of the show and have watched it since Season 1. For 20 years we’ve played ‘Monday morning quarterback,’ judging contestants as much as they were judged on the show. “But when you’re in the mix, when the clock starts and you’re cooking, it’s intense! Being in other people’s kitchens, you have to adapt on the fly.”

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New Michigan program aims to help farms continue by connecting buyers with sellers

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For the past three years, David Weeks has searched for a young farmer to take over his organic vegetable farm, La Casa Verde, in Cedar. But, so far, he hasn’t found a buyer who intends to keep the property as a working farm. “I strongly want to see this property remain in agriculture and remain a part of the resilient Michigan community and economy,” he said. “The last thing I want is for this property to get bought by some gazillionaire and they knock down the old buildings and build an estate house, and they’re there two weeks out of the year.” In October, Weeks began advertising his farm on MIFarmLink, a new program that helps match aspiring farmers with those looking to retire and hand their operations over to the next generation. One goal of MIFarmLink is to ensure farmland remains farmland amid a push by big developers to convert rural properties to data centers, solar or wind farms, housing, and other projects.

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