Election 2022: County Commission District 5 race features Kama Ross vs Alan Campbell

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The Leelanau County Board of Commissioners District 5 race features Democrat Kama Ross, a conservationist and retired forester for the Leelanau, Benzie, and Grand Traverse Conservation District, against Republican Alan Campbell, a newspaper reporter, publisher, and owner of the Leelanau Enterprise for more than 40 years. The seat was previously held by Democrat Patricia Soutas-Little, who is retiring. Soutas-Little helped spearhead the Commission’s effort to support early childhood education and broadband Internet in Leelanau County. Click here to read Ross’ and Campbell’s answers to our questions.

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Election 2022: County Commission District 4 race features Wessell vs McMillan

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The Leelanau County Board of Commissioners District 4 race features incumbent Ty Wessell (Democrat) vs challenger Mike McMillan (Republican). Wessel, the current board chair, is a retired educator who has served Northport and Leelanau Township for the past four commission terms. McMillan works for PepsiCo.

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Election 2022: County Commission District 3 race features Bahle vs Rexroat

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The Leelanau County Board of Commissioners District 3 race features incumbent Democrat Lois Bahle of Suttons Bay, who won a special recall election earlier this year against ousted Commissioner Will Bunek. Bahle’s win gave Democrats their first ever 4-3 majority on the Board of Commissioners. Her opponent is Republican Doug Rexroat, a Lake Leelanau native and CFO of an electrical contracting firm. Bahle responded to the Glen Arbor Sun‘s questions; Rexroat did not.

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Reflecting on the Joyous Life of Beryl Skrocki

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For nearly two decades Beryl Skrocki gently worked her way into the hearts of Empire community members, summer visitors and tourists with a unique style of silliness, compassion and joy that magically drew people to her, and also her surf shop and the Empire beach. Beryl’s life was as large as Lake Michigan, and her too-soon departure leaves an equally massive hole in her family and the Empire, surf and Great Lakes advocacy community. She passed away on October 13 at age 61. A public celebration of Beryl’s life will be held on Saturday, November 5, at noon at Sleeping Bear Surf & Kayak in downtown Empire. Click here for more information and learn how to support the Skrocki family.

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Election 2022: County Commission District 2 race features O’Rourke vs Gallagher

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The Leelanau County Board of Commissioners District 2 race in Elmwood Township features two would-be newcomers to County government: Democrat Don Gallagher, a cherry farmer and union electrician, and Republican James O’Rourke, a court deputy bailiff and township trustee. The seat was previously held by Republican Debra Rushton.

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Election 2022: County Commission District 1 race features Robbins vs Kramer

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The Leelanau County Board of Commissioners District 1 race features incumbent Rick Robbins (Republican) vs challenger Jamie Kramer (Democrat). Robbins won his previous election in 2020 by a razor-thin margin of 2 votes. He offered the swing vote on the Commission, proposing an 11th hour compromise to continue funding early childhood education in the County, even after Robbins’ fellow Republicans sought to defund the measure, which voters passed in 2019.

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Anne-Marie Oomen launches “The Mom Book”

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The next event in local writer Anne-Marie Oomen’s prolific career of creating history plays, poems, essays, and creative nonfiction will be the launch of her new memoir As Long As I Know You, The Mom Book on Oct. 6 at Kirkbride Hall in Traverse City at Building 50 from 5:30-7:30 pm. It is also a fundraiser for Michigan Writers Scholarships, and “Everyone’s invited!” The book is dedicated “To my mother, Ruth Jean Oomen, April 28, 1921–November 16, 2020, and to all of those ‘in the homes’.”

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Capturing a plein air Leelanau moment in time

Michelle Jahraus and her dog arrived at Good Harbor beach before dawn. She made it a point to get there early enough to choose the perfect spot to set up her easel and paint supplies in time to capture the sunrise over Lake Michigan. Jahraus, a Maple City resident, had just begun to block in the scene when she felt a powerful whoosh of air accompanied by the sound of beating wings. She looked up to see a bald eagle flying away from a perch right above her head. It is moments like this that draw artists to the act of en plein air, a French expression meaning “in the open air” and the practice of painting outdoors, on location.

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“Thar she rows!”

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On Saturday, Aug. 27, at 7:20 a.m., a whaleboat—the likes of which hunted the world’s largest mammals in the mid-1800s in the North Atlantic Ocean—left the public dock in Glen Arbor as its crew rowed, then sailed across the Manitou Passage. The crew’s goal was not to catch a whale but to reach North Manitou Island. Leelanau local Pam Houtteman spotted the crew at the dock and took photos. She took down captain Shane Brosier’s phone number in order to send him the images, but when she asked for his name, he offered the famous opening line from Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick, “Call me Ishmael.”

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Bird sanctuary just part of Charter’s obsession

For some, birding is an engaging activity. For others, observing and helping our feathered friends is a passion. For Kay Charter, it’s a self-described obsession. “I had an epiphany three years after moving into our home,” said the founder of the non-profit Saving Birds Through Habitat. “I saw a winter wren. It’s the Mozart of the bird world.” Saving Birds Through Habitat is a haven for thousands of birds. “We’ve lost more than 30 percent of our birds. Songbirds and shorebirds are the ones that have taken the hit,” she says.

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