Local Personality

Looking East for the answers to addiction

By Ian Vertel Sun contributor Buddhism is a philosophical theory about the mind. It is a “precise science of the mind,” says David Hendricks — a science of nature, and of consciousness. With this understanding of the nature of the mind, locals Sharon and David Hendricks have applied their Buddhist teachings and philosophy toward healing […]

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Chef Mario brings gusto Italiano to Homestead resort

By Jacob Wheeler Sun editor Mario Deruda has a food motto: “keep it fresh, keep it simple.” That blends well with the cuisine at America’s Freshwater Resort, where Chef Mario arrived in mid-May after The Homestead resort hired the native of the Italian island of Sardinia as its executive chef. “I’ll be making traditional central […]

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Center Gallery opens with clay-based art

from staff reports Pottery has returned to the Lake Street Studios after a hiatus of half a decade. And for the first time, ever, it is on display at the Center Gallery in Glen Arbor. Thirty-two-year-old Matthew McGovern, a native of Vermont who has also lived in Maine, California, Wisconsin and South Africa, and just […]

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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. […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 — […]

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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 […]

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