Leland filmmaker says go fly a kite

James Weston Schaberg says there’s nothing like the view from the sky. As a longtime commercial pilot, he would know. But that’s not necessarily what he means. The Leland native has turned his love of the sky into multiple businesses while reveling in the joy of flying the skies – and flying a kite. That was the inspiration for his film Eye of the Wind, a documentary that was due to be released on video earlier this month. “I didn’t set out to make a movie, just a video journal,” Schaberg says. It premiered for a sold-out show at the Bay Theatre in Suttons Bay before a similarly receptive audience at the Garden Theater in Frankfort.

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Writing the books she’d want to read: a conversation with Sarah Shoemaker

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Novelist Sarah Shoemaker of Northport has been an educator, university research librarian, world traveler, wife, mother, and grandmother. She recently spoke with the Sun about her most recent books, Children of the Catastrophe (2022) and Mr. Rochester (2017). Shoemaker will appear at the Glen Arbor Arts Center on Saturday, Aug. 26, at 11 a.m. for “Coffee With the Authors.” Other events this fall can be found on her website, SarahShoemaker.net.

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Pete Edwards proselytizes Nordic ski walking

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Today, 15 million Europeans are using specially designed Nordic ski walking poles, and that trend is slowly spreading to the United States—even right here in Leelanau County. It is a modern-day walking sport that started in Finland. For decades, beginning sometime in the mid-1900s, skiers deprived of snow in Finland kept in shape for winter cross-country skiing by walking in the summers using their snow ski poles. They simply called it “ski-walking.” Here, at home, we have the ski pole companies, American Nordic Walking System and Ski Walking.com headquartered in Empire, both founded and owned by Pete Edwards.

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Peninsula Perennial Nursery helps shape Leelanau landscape

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Betsy Ernst gazed at a lobelia cardinalis, admiring the perennial flower’s cardinal red blooms as she worked at Peninsula Perennial Nursery, the business she owns with her husband, Kris Ernst. The 20-acre nursery, located on Swede Road near Northport, cultivates and sells a variety of perennials, flowering shrubs and trees, ornamental grasses, and groundcovers suited for the 45th parallel’s climate. “We try to take moments of gratitude,” Betsy said. “People are really friendly. They come in with unique ideas and issues. We are very happy to be here.”

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No whales or sharks in the Great Lakes, but Empire has a dinosaur

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He’s a showstopper, that’s for sure. Any number of people driving past Gilbert on M-72 are stopping to get a photo with him. Because who doesn’t love a copper-colored, life-size T-Rex? Gilbert is the brainchild of Curtis Warnes, and was crafted by sculptor Enoch Flaugher. Warnes is the owner of Steel Appeal, a firm specializing in metal work & custom furniture. He hired his cohort Flaugher to build the dinosaur, which now stands next to the building Warnes is using as a gallery to promote the “functional art” side of his business. “People are lining up” to see and take photos of Gilbert, says Warnes.

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Three generations of Kelloggs, one river, one canoe race

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You could say that the famed AuSable River runs through the veins of Lindy Kellogg, a Cedar resident who works at the Leelanau Conservancy. The AuSable River Canoe Marathon, which held its 75th race on July 29, runs from Grayling to Oscoda, a distance of 120 miles. This year, Lindy joined the marathon for the first time together with Kolee.

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Cyclist visits Glen Arbor on 2,400-mile trek to help incarcerated reenter society

Tim Ward is eager for more people to know about the Chance for Life (CFL) organization. That’s why he recently completed a remarkable 22-day journey to build awareness and raise funds for the groundbreaking program that successfully trains individuals incarcerated in prisons as they return to communities. Ward stopped in Glen Arbor as part of the 2,400-mile Trace Michigan tour. He and his wife, Mary, are part-time Glen Arbor residents after buying a home here in 2015, just before the Aug. 2 megastorm. Family, friends, and colleagues gathered at Rinco Bros, the coffee roastery next to Lake Street Studios on Saturday, July 29, to encourage Ward as he began another day on the road.

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Michelle Leask is an artist, too!

“Wow, this is good! I did this?” exclaims Michelle Leask, after writing a poem as part of the Consenses art project, a multi-genre game of telephone hatched by the Old Art Building in Leland. Starting with the purple glass Infinity Disk in front of the OAB, artists were invited to take inspiration from and respond to the creation of only the previous artist in the series, resulting in multiple expressions in a linear creative conversation. The show opened in July, and viewers can walk from work to work to see the multi-media series as it was created, one art form at a time. Michelle’s poem is her response to “a nice soft watercolor of flowers in a vase. The poem is called Beauty in Brokenness, because I saw so many contrasts of old and new.”

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In Vino Veritas: the wisdom of Leelanau’s early winemakers

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“In wine, there is truth.” Overquoted? Maybe. But in the case of the early winery owners and their family members of the Leelanau Peninsula, the expression holds true. Writing for the Glen Arbor Sun, Rebecca Carlson set out to understand the origins of the current successful wine industry in Leelanau. Through years of experimenting, working and taming the soil and vines, “In Vino Veritas” is in the lifeblood of these early Leelanau Peninsula vintners.

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Artistry by Kristin MacKenzie Hussey

Nestled amid the picturesque landscapes of Leelanau County, artist Kristin MacKenzie Hussey has made a name for herself with her charming watercolor paintings that capture the whimsical and nostalgic essence of this beautiful region. A gifted designer and co-owner of The Warren Collective in Leland, Hussey’s art has blossomed in popularity, captivating locals and visitors alike. One of the most awe-inspiring experiences for Hussey was her participation in the Consenses Walks project in Leland. “Participating in the Consenses project was such a beautiful experience. I was so honored to be asked to join a handful of incredible local artists to play a game of Art Telephone, so to speak,” she said.

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