A Rose by any other name

By Helen Westie Sun contributor Kay and Tom Rose are two extraordinary Empire citizens … well, as all know … they are an integral part of the town’s activities. Both Kay and Tom are devoted, indefatigable workers for their favorite organizations: Tom for the Empire Lions Club and Kay for the Leelanau County Democratic Party. […]

Read more
/by

Park volunteers lend a hand

By Jane Greiner Sun contributor Eleanor Comings, a retired teacher from Frankfort, is approaching her ten thousandth hour of volunteer work at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore (the local branch of the National Park Service), a fact that she didn’t readily share. She was more comfortable talking about her work. “I started because I […]

Read more
/by

Profile Ann Oberschulte: A fashionista returns to her roots

By Nadine Gilmer Sun contributor From her Italian brown leather boots to her equally hip jacket, Ann Oberschulte looks every bit the part of the local boutique owner: fashion savvy and comfortably trendy. She walks around The Cottonseed apparel like the fond owner of a small paradise. The racks of earthy garments and displays of […]

Read more
/by

Local passionate environmentalist fights on

By Jacob Wheeler Sun editor Watching Bob Grooters mingle with the baristas at Glen Arbor’s Leelanau Coffee Roasting Company and greet the few folks seated outside on a typically quiet fall day, he looks as unassuming as any northern Michigan year-rounder. You wouldn’t think Bob is worth $150 million. But that’s the amount of increased […]

Read more
/by

Time to migrate south for Empire’s snowbirds

By Helen Westie Sun contributor A veritable little Empire exists in South Florida every winter. An enclave of snowbirds go to their winter homes in this attractive, well-kept mobile home park, named Holiday Park, which is Northport, Florida, about 100 miles north of Naples. It all started with Caroline Balmer who bought one of the […]

Read more
/by

A new breed of Leelanau farmer

By F. Josephine Arrowood Sun contributor In an era of declining family farms, both in Leelanau County and nationally, it seems almost astonishing to encounter individuals willing to carry on the ancient and honorable traditions of tilling the soil and caring for animals. Maple City sheep farmer Alesha Ashley — intelligent, energetic, and determined — […]

Read more
/by

The Petty’s departure is ripe in the Land of the Sleeping Bear

By Norm Wheeler Sun editor It’s the end of an era at The Leelanau School in Glen Arbor as Duane and Fiffy Petty are heading to Wichita, Kansas. Since 1990 both Pettys have been fixtures at the private high school from which all three of their children, Jason, Michael, and Erin, graduated. In more than […]

Read more
/by

Dropping pounds like they’re going out of fashion

From staff reports Linda Ihme posed the challenge last winter, and Dave Baxter answered. The proprietor of Leelanau Vacation Rentals promised a free elliptical machine to the employee who could lose the most weight between January 1 and July 1, and all winter and spring the slimmer-trimmer Dave resisted offers of free beer and pizza […]

Read more
/by

From China to Empire, diplomats make a local home

By Helen Westie Sun contributor A diplomat couple residing in Beijing is the new owners of the former Bed and Breakfast on South Bar Lake just off LaCore Road in Empire. Bruce Quinn and Teresa Howes, former attaches at the American Embassy in Beijing, purchased the property from William and Susan Chamby, who bought the […]

Read more
/by

Tutoring New Orleans’ students after Katrina

By Joanne Bender Sun contributor One year after the Gulf Coast fell victim to the most destructive and obvious effect of Global Warming that has hit the United States to date, the Glen Arbor Sun brings you the story of another local resident who traveled to the Deep South to help. Answering the call for […]

Read more
/by