Local Personality

Foothills Café and Motel seeks the ‘right buyer’ to carry on its legacy

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You know the overused adage, “All good things must come to an end”?  Though admittedly cliché, it’s with that very sentiment Shari Bernstein, the owner of The Foothills Café and Motel in Maple City, concludes her 16-year journey at the property she calls “magic.”  “There’s an old oak tree, an old maple tree,” Bernstein smiled. “It feels… It’s got a vibe.” But, alas, “We are all ready for our next chapters, filled with new opportunities, growth and experiences, where we can slow the pace and be present,” Bernstein wrote last fall in a Facebook post. “That’s why we are selling.” She and her family listed the “double whammy” that is the motel and cafe in December. And because winter is famously quiet in these parts, Bernstein “didn’t expect interest until people started coming up for the season.” So far this summer, there’s been “a lot of interest.”

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Of Stars and Flowers: Alyssa Smith’s Meditations on the Earthly and the Infinite

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When writer Katie Dunn stepped into Alyssa Smith’s Traverse City studio in for a preview of her upcoming exhibition, “Of Stars and Flowers” at V Gallery in Omena, she entered a space that felt both serene and animated. Perched high above the world outside, the studio carried the steady cadence of creation: paintings leaning against walls, ceramic pieces resting nearby, and carefully arranged collections of plants, dried flowers, and gathered objects. The windows were flung open, allowing birdsong to drift through the room—something Smith spoke of with affection, describing the sounds of nature as a constant presence and source of inspiration from her elevated vantage point.

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Sleeping Bear Surf updates look, holds same dedication to the water

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When Sleeping Bear Surf opened its doors in Empire in 2004, it was billed as the state’s first surf shop. Today it still stakes its claim as the state’s only full-service surf shop, serving as a hub for Great Lakes surfing and general water merriment, with sales, rentals and classes. And with a 20-plus year history, manager Ella Skrocki decided it was time for a reset. “As I choose the state of evolution, it felt like I needed some new energy,” she says.

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Sleeping Bear Equestrian Club: no horse required

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A horse is a horse, of course, of course but what image does “equestrian club member” conjure up? Affluence, designer gear and prestige speak to the stereotype that one local club is turning on its head. Founded just over a year and a half ago, the Sleeping Bear Equestrian Club achieves a unique goal for Northern Michigan: creating one organization where every kind of horse enthusiast—regardless of discipline, experience level or even horse ownership—is welcome. The club serves the regions of Leelanau, Benzie, Antrim and Grand Traverse. Debunking the myth that equestrians require deep pockets, its membership rates start at $10.

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Michigan nonagenarian speaks out against ICE detention

“We’ve got to speak up and say ‘this is not right!’” 90-year-old Clarice McKenzie explained why she stood alone along M-37 near Baldwin during a No Kings protest this spring. Baldwin is home to the North Lake Processing Center, the largest ICE detention center in the Midwest. A devout United Methodist inspired by social action, McKenzie joined Grand Rapids clergy on a visit with detainees at North Lake this spring.

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Cherry Republic founder Bob Sutherland writes memoir “Here All Along”

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In 1989, Bob Sutherland started Cherry Republic selling T-shirts out of the trunk of his beat-up old Toyota Tercel. He’d park the car under the streetlight at Art’s Tavern and spend summer evenings chatting up tourists at the bar then taking them out to the bungeed-down trunk. They’d hand him $15 for a T-shirt, resplendent with Kristin Hurlin’s original cherry tree and the now-iconic phrase, “Life, Liberty, Beaches & Pie.” In his new book “Here All Along,” which publishes this month and is available at the store, Sutherland shares deeply personal stories of loss, wayfinding, wildness, adventure, and hard sticky work that built Cherry Republic.

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Gazing into a pool of courage

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On the occasion of the nation’s 250th birthday, Leelanau resident and reverend Lucy Waechter Webb shares a journey her family took earlier this year to Webster Groves, Missouri, to celebrate Benny Gordon, Jr, an African-American civic leader who fought Jim Crow segregation and pushed for the opening of the local swimming pool for everyone. Webb’s great-grandfather, “Happy” Appel, the mayor of Webster Groves, denied Black residents access to swim in the city pool. She recently learned about her family’s role in this story when she began asking questions about her ancestry and her people’s relationship to the history of racial violence in this country.

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“Welcome to America,” to belong once again

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On the nation’s 250th birthday, a member of our Leelanau community—albeit one who remains anonymous to protect her immigration status—shares her story of arriving in this land of immigrants. “Welcome to America,” an immigration officer told us at the Fort Lauderdale-Miami Airport. With those words, he stamped our papers, confirming that everything was in order with our process and that, finally, we could enter the country. He had no way of knowing the profound commotion his words had caused within me. That “Welcome to America” lingered, echoing in my ears as we walked down a narrow hallway toward the exit of the crowded airport. With one hand I pulled a small suitcase, and with the other, I held my daughter, who looked just as disoriented as I felt. A few steps ahead walked my husband, quickening his pace alongside our youngest son. I felt a whirlwind of emotions: peace, disbelief, confusion, fear, joy, solace, gratitude, and nostalgia.

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Bicentennial Barn holds July 5 open house

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Leelanau residents and visitors are invited to lock eyes with General George Washington, pay homage to the nation’s 250th birthday, and celebrate an historic Leelanau County barn that is now receiving a new round of tender loving care. Scott and Tamara Stone, residents of southeast Michigan who two years ago purchased the Bicentennial Barn on M-22 and Bohemian Road, 7.5 miles northeast of Glen Arbor, will host a rededication open house on Sunday, July 5, from 11 am until 4 pm.

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Readers declaim the Declaration of Independence

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One might wonder why people are gathered at the post office in Glen Arbor on the Fourth of July when it is closed. The story is the same across Leelanau County, in Omena, in Empire, in Lake Leelanau. Then promptly at 10 a.m. the reason is revealed. “When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another,” booms a voice. “And to assume among the powers of the earth,” says another. “The separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them,” continues a third. Welcome to the Fourth of July in Leelanau County, where nine people—one at each post office—read aloud the Declaration of Independence.

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