Leelanau’s influencers of 2024

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With 2024 in the rearview mirror and 2025 upon us, we’re recognizing 25 “influencers” we covered in the Glen Arbor Sun this past year who are making a meaningful impact on Leelanau County communities, commerce, and culture. Read below about those 25 local influencers, who include everyone from the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, to Leelanau Investing for Teens, to Empire’s polar dippers, to popular new destinations River Club Glen Arbor, the Sleeping Bear Inn, and the Lively’s NeighborFood Market.

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Glory the poplar tree

Glen Arbor resident and acclaimed artist Linda Dewey is the steward of a poplar tree that stands sentinel on her beach along Sleeping Bear Bay. It is her touchstone. Steadfast, resilient, evocative. Dewey most aptly anointed this magnificent poplar “Glory.” On what seemed like an otherwise ordinary afternoon this past November, Glory remained resolute in the face of a veritable tempest. Once the storm abated and the skies above the bay began to clear, a rainbow appeared. It was as if nature itself had exhaled. The rainbow gravitated toward Glory, slowly but persistently. Inevitably, the two fused into one. The convergence of Glory and the rainbow was a rarity of sorts—maybe nature’s own form of poetry. It was a gentle moment when the enduring and the ephemeral met.

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Leelanau Laminator Jerry Morawski has many nicknames

Little Glen Lake’s Jerry Morawski is everywhere. The retired teacher, coach, principal, and athletic director seldom misses a local event, be it a ballgame, a tennis match, a Grocer’s Daughter Chocolate 20th anniversary party, or a gathering at either Cherry Republic or St. Philip Neri Church. He is always upbeat, positive, affable, approachable, smiling, and ready with a story. When he sees something in a local newspaper about an athlete, a family, or a local character, he carefully laminates it and then presents it to the subject of the story so that they can keep it forever. That’s how he got the nickname “The Leelanau Laminator.” His smile is infectious, and his stories are heartfelt and uplifting.

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Leelanau locals plant seeds, grow cultural exchanges in Guatemala

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Twenty years ago, when Paul Sutherland joined the board of Safe Passage, which launched a school for the children of the Guatemala City garbage dump, he also helped kickstart what has become a dynamic and ongoing relationship between Leelanau County citizens and Guatemala. In the decades since then, local schools have sent students, and teams of volunteers have joined cultural exchange trips to the beautiful, yet economically unequal, Central American nation. Since the COVID-19 pandemic abated, Guatemalan nonprofit Planting Seeds has hosted “service learning” groups from Northwestern Michigan College as well as Leelanau Investing for Teens (LIFT) and Leland High School. Planting Seeds co-director and Illinois native Mac Philips will visit Leelanau County this weekend to raise awareness about the nonprofit and build support in northern Michigan. He’ll visit Grocer’s Daughter Chocolate on Saturday, Suttons Bay Congregational Church on Sunday, and students in Suttons Bay and Leland.

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Cherries in black and white: Nik Burkhart captures changing landscape and industry

Artists in northern Michigan are known for landscape paintings: Green hills plunging into blue water, sunsets over Lake Michigan. But Nik Burkhart’s landscapes are a little different than most. His black and white paintings depict ripped out, cut down cherry orchards and ask questions about the region’s changing landscape. This story was adapted from a radio piece last month by Interlochen Public Radio.

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Democracy in Leelanau: what unites us in politically divided times

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In the run-up to the heated and divisive Nov. 5 presidential election, we decided to produce a series of short video profiles which featured Leelanau County residents of different generations, different genders, and different political persuasions. The goal was to explore what unites us—what traits we have in common—in these politically divided times. We asked 10 residents the following questions: “What do you like about living in Leelanau County?”; “What are your favorite autumn traditions?”; “What are you eating these days?” and “What does living in a democracy mean to you?” The message in these video profiles is to show that—while your neighbor or your family member might display a different political yard sign and vote differently than you—we have more in common than we think, and we should remember and embrace what binds us together despite the caustic atmosphere around the election campaigns.

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What unifies us in politically divided times. Life and democracy in Leelanau

“What do you like about living in Leelanau County?” “What are your favorite autumn traditions?” “What are you eating these days?” “What does living in a democracy mean to you?” These are the questions we’re asking a few County residents as we explore what unifies us in these politically divided times with the Nov. 5 presidential election looming just days away. The message in these short video profiles is to show that—while your neighbor or your family member might display a different political yard sign and vote differently than you—we have more in common than we think, and we should remember and embrace what binds us together despite the caustic atmosphere around the election campaigns. Our first video features musician Luke Woltanski, who lives in Maple City.

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“I know this place.” Stones buy iconic Bicentennial Farm

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Scott Stone, a woodworker and retired metallurgist from Ferndale, Michigan, was at Cavanaugh’s grocery at The Homestead resort in August waiting for his pizza when he picked up a copy of our Aug. 22 edition of the Glen Arbor Sun, flipped to page 2, and read a story about the iconic bicentennial barn property at the corner of M-22 and Bohemian Road being for sale again. The 1890s farmhouse and barn on a 4-acre property in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore was purchased in February 2021 by Greg and Heather (Nachazel) Ford. “I know this place,” from biking by it on the Sleeping Heritage Trail, Scott told himself. Fast forward to Oct. 17, when Scott and his wife Tamara bought the bicentennial farm from the Fords, who are moving out of state. The Stones have vacationed in the Glen Arbor area for 23 summers, they love the National Park, the vibe here, the sense of community, and proximity to Lake Michigan. For the past year they’ve been casually looking for a place to buy.

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Congressional candidate Callie Barr, District 1 maverick

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It’s safe to say every American of a certain age remembers what they were doing when terrorist extremists struck on Sept. 11, 2001. For some, it drastically changed the trajectory of their lives. Callie Barr is the Democratic candidate for Michigan’s 1st Congressional District, but her road to politics was neither anticipated nor aspirational. A fifth-generation Traverse City and Cheboygan resident, Barr and her then-boyfriend Matt were high school students on that fateful day. Mere hours after the Twin Towers were hit, leaving Americans reeling in shock, Matt enlisted in the Marine Corps. He left for boot camp the day after he graduated from Cheboygan Area High School and later was deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. The couple married in-between tours when Barr was 18 and Matt was 19, and went on to move five times over 15 years. While Matt was in his second deployment, Barr graduated as valedictorian of her class at Cheboygan. She earned her secondary education degree from Central Michigan University and settled into the comfortable role of a high school English teacher. Their lives were upended when Matt returned from his tour with an undiagnosed traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Even so, he knew he was one of the lucky ones.

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District 2 Leelanau County Commission candidates address housing, clean energy, broadband

The Nov. 5 election will determine which party controls the Leelanau County Board of Commissioners (BOC), and which policies and initiatives they pursue next year. The Commission is currently deadlocked between three Democrats and three Republicans, with one seat vacant. In District 2, which serves Elmwood and Bingham Townships, Democrat Scott Perry faces Republican Mark Walter. Incumbent James O’Rourke, a Republican, is not seeking reelection. The Glen Arbor Sun reached out to all 14 candidates for the BOC and asked about their positions on issues or initiatives that are key to Leelanau County citizens: namely, affordable housing, renewable energy, broadband access and services for both seniors and families with young children. Our questions, and their responses are below. Today we’re featuring Perry and Walter, who are vying for the open District 2 seat.

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