Fighting fires with a smile

,

By Nadine Gilmer Sun contributor Twice a week, Mr. Happy drives to work for a 24-hour shift. Mr. Happy is a firefighter, and also goes by the aliases of “tinker-boy” and his given name, Andrew Anthony. I call him “Mr. Happy” because that is what the vanity plate on his truck reads. The name suits […]

Read more
/by

Candidate John Arens

,

By Jacob Wheeler Sun editor Avid readers of this newspaper who also frequent the Leelanau Coffee Roasting Company and have talked with John Arens, part owner of the Glen Arbor business, know that our politics don’t align. In fact, on some days our perspectives on current issues seem as far apart as the distance from […]

Read more
/by

“Why Leelanau?” goes viral

By Pat Stinson Sun contributor Empire resident Julie Weeks loves creating slideshows she posts on YouTube for family and friends to view. Using music and digital images of family members, vacation trips and activities she and her husband enjoy, Weeks produces a montage of gorgeously-framed and sometimes funny pictures and video she shares as a […]

Read more
/by

Empire community glimpses life in space

,

By Pat Stinson Sun contributor Hard work, enthusiasm and a sense of humor can take you pretty far in this world. If you’re Greg Johnson, a NASA astronaut and retired Air Force colonel, that combination and a diverse skill set can also propel you 200 miles into space and onto the orbiting International Space Station […]

Read more
/by

Bobby Jones wails the blues on Arizona Princess

By Norm Wheeler Sun editor (Editor’s Note: Bobby’s CD was released back in 2008, and the Sun apologizes for the delay in trumpeting the coolness of his musical project in his own hometown’s paper!) There comes a time in the life of any amateur musician who has picked with a band or two over the […]

Read more
/by

Glen Lake bids goodbye to 137 years of teaching experience

,

By Chloe Gribbin Sun contributor As an alumna of Glen Lake Community Schools, I finally feel that I am able to appreciate, without any bitterness or hard feelings of a looming assignment to cloud my view, all of the character and effort it takes to be a full-time educator. These men and women become second […]

Read more
/by

Running in the family

,

By Nadine Gilmer Sun contributor I used to call myself an avid runner, but after hearing about Norm Plumstead, I think I’ll call myself an avid couch potato now. Plumstead has lived in Empire’s “New Neighborhood” for seven years, he is a father, husband and Honor State Bank employee, and he recently raced 100 miles. […]

Read more
/by

Meet the Grand Marshals

,

By Michael Buhler Sun editor Lou Batori claims to be running out of steam. “As you age, your energy depletes by 5 percent each year, so I’m in negative territory now,” he chuckles. But this 99-year-old Glen Arbor resident is actually full of vigor, skiing virtually every day last winter at Crystal Mountain, and riding […]

Read more
/by

With a hoe in his hand

,

By F. Josephine Arrowood Sun contributor On a bright June afternoon, a first glimpse of Irwin “Irv” Beck, Jr. reveals the 82-year-old sailing along on his red Farm-all tractor, as proud as a mariner, through the furrowed expanse of his 10 acres in Empire Twp. It’s the middle of strawberry season, and Irv is taking […]

Read more
/by

Bobby Jones wails the blues on Arizona Princess

By Norm Wheeler Sun editor (Editor’s Note: Bobby’s CD was released back in 2008, and the Sun apologizes for the delay in trumpeting the coolness of his musical project in his own hometown’s paper!) There comes a time in the life of any amateur musician who has picked with a band or two over the […]

Read more
/by