Sleeping Bear Surf & Kayak, the beloved shop in Empire, will celebrate its 20th birthday this weekend, June 28-30, with “Beryl Days”—an homage to co-founder Beryl Skrocki, who passed away in October 2022 at age 61. The business is run by her husband Frank and their children, Ella, Reiss and Annabel. Click here for the full Beryl Days lineup. And read family friend Jim Lively’s reflections on Beryl, which the Sun published in 2022.
The photos and cell phone videos suggested a typical northern Michigan summer wedding. But the ceremony held between Daniel Carboni and Cristina Fernandez on Sunday, June 16, at the Lodge at Hickory Hills—Traverse City’s municipal-owned ski hill—was anything but typical. The nuptials were the culmination of a four-day “Spiritual Life Summit” held by the Twin Flames Universe, a new age relationship cult run by Suttons Bay residents Jeff and Shaleia Ayan. They are accused of charging their cult members thousands of dollars while pressing them into toxic relationships and manipulating their emotional and mental health struggles. To avoid detection, the summit’s organizers used alias names when they booked Traverse City venues. Even so, an informal group of concerned individuals who call themselves Citizens for the Prevention of Predatory Commerce have worked behind the scenes, contacting many venues in the Traverse City region and Leelanau County and encouraging them to exercise due diligence if contacted by Twin Flames Universe. In February, the National Writers Series hosted author Janja Lalich—an authority on cults—and Twin Flames survivor Keely Griffin to the Traverse City Opera House for an event packed with drama, emotion and education about the nature of cults, then and now.
Summer is that amazing time of year when farm stands come alive and are filled with a cornucopia of fruits and vegetables. Here in Leelanau, farm stands dot the peninsula and generally operate from June until November. The farm stands vary from a table underneath a pop-up tent, a pull-cart loaded with product, to a permanent structure displaying a farm’s produce offerings. The VerSnyder Orchards farm stand, which began operating in the early 2000s, is located just south of Lake Leelanau at 1530 South Lake Shore Drive at the front of the larger twenty-acre farm. This sesquicentennial farm was first homesteaded in the 1870s by Kevin’s great-great grandfather, Mathias VerSnyder, who arrived to the area from New York.
Lake Street Studios/Center Gallery in Glen Arbor dedicates itself to promoting and celebrating the arts with its annual summer exhibitions—titled “Center Gallery Art Shows”—serving as the centerpiece of its mission. This year marks the 34th anniversary of the weekly series of art openings that showcase local artists and include contributions from other prominent Michigan creative practitioners. They run every Friday evening from 6-8 pm. A total of nine artists will display their work this summer, June 28 through Aug. 31. To commence the 2024 summer season, Glen Arbor-based artist, Shirley Hoagland, will exhibit her pastel work. Hoagland has deep ties with Glen Arbor’s art community. She has been an instrumental part of the GAAC, serving as its vice-president in 2003 and then president from 2004-06.
Leland resident Scott Craig, an award-winning documentary filmmaker who worked for CBS, NBC, PBS, Turner Broadcasting and HGTV—and later moved to Leelanau County where his plays, radio features, and stories have been omnipresent on the airwaves, at local restaurants and cafes, and on stage at the Old Art Building—died on Thursday, April 18, at age 89. A celebration of Scott’s life will take place on his 90th birthday, Monday June 24, at 4 pm at the Old Art Building, a place where he helped create a lot of theater magic. “I’m never happier than when I’m working on a creative project,” Scott told the Glen Arbor Sun in 2020. “I’ve only been bored a half a day since I retired … because I’ve always found something creative to do.”
Laura and Bruce Hood have finished their teaching careers at the Leelanau School after 31 years. Bruce delivered an emotional graduation speech at the school’s 93rd commencement ceremony on June 1 that included these words: “I believe our lives, like careers, are made from the moments, the unpredictable times that happen when you are together, that fill in all the time between the milestones, those moments that you will remember for the rest of your life, the ones that shaped who you are and set you on a course for who you will become. Our challenge is to live those moments, to understand them for what they are before they become only memories…” What a bunch of moments and memories these master teachers have shared with more than three decades of students!
What do you call someone who combines activism with health, wellness and mindfulness? Who founded a recording label and an all-things-to-all-people festival, both named for his family farm? Don’t forget to throw in gifts as a singer, songwriter and musician known for collaborating with others from across the musical spectrum, and plying those gifts for the benefit of others. The answer is Seth Bernard. One of Michigan’s favorite musical sons, he is returning to LivelyLands with cellist and good friend Jordan Hamilton in tow. They will open the festival’s new season June 16, a.k.a. Father’s Day. Groove-based world music jam band SoSoHiFi will close the show.
A double agent who worked for the Allies during World War II under the codename “Treasure” and played a significant role in deceiving the Germans about the location of the D-Day invasion rests in Solon Cemetery, near Cedar in Leelanau County. The D-Day landings in Normandy, France, 80 years ago today played a pivotal role in the war and the liberation of western Europe from Nazi Germany. The spy was Russian-born Nathalie “Lily” Sergueiew, who was born in 1912 in St. Petersburg and fled with her family to France following the Russian Revolution of 1917. On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of D-Day, the Glen Arbor Sun interviewed British writer Peter Winnington, author of the new book “Codename TREASURE,” which chronicles Sergueiew’s heroics.
On Wednesday, June 5, Habitat for Humanity will join Haley Ball and her family to dedicate the land where their new home be built at the New Waves site on the corner of M-72 and Bugai Road in Elmwood Township. Ball is a single mother of two, with a daughter in elementary school and a preschooler. In 2022, their small family needed to very quickly transition from their family home to a safe and stable environment.
Change is difficult for many people, but it is also challenging to lead change. This is what the Telgards have been doing for five generations in Leland and how they became a local legacy family influential in protecting the town’s heritage and character, writes Abby Chatfield. The Telgards own the iconic Bluebird Restaurant and Tavern, which was recently demolished and is being rebuilt. Common threads throughout the family’s history are forward thought towards its future generations’ ability to thrive and the important role they play in providing a social hub for the community. Their reputation is based on a foundation of consideration for their community’s needs—not an easy role to maintain for well over a century.