Local Personality

Developing Glen Lake’s film people

By F. Josephine Arrowood Sun contributor As Hollywood embraces northern Michigan for the second annual Traverse City Film Festival on July 31-August 6, the Glen Arbor Sun profiles two local residents who are developing their chosen crafts in acting and production in LA’s legendary movie industry. Budding filmmaker Lark Arrowood vividly remembers the thrill of […]

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Latinos in our midst: a Quichua indigena from Ecuador

By Jacob Wheeler Sun editor Miriam comes from south of the border. Her skin is darker than the white hue covering most of us. And when she speaks English (which is totally fluent), the r’s roll of her tongue like waves on the ocean. What separates Miriam from other Latinos in northern Michigan is that […]

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Tim Lewis bids the Big Apple goodbye for “ideal” Empire

By Corin Blust Sun contributor Timothy Lewis, an Empire watercolorist, was raised in Midland, attended Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, and lived in New York City for most of his adult life, but he spent his childhood summers hanging out at his grandfather’s barbershop in downtown Empire. “I could go down and hang out at […]

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Transformative Portal: The Paintings of William Allen

By F. Josephine Arrowood Sun contributor Leelanau County artist William Allen has been known both locally and nationally as a metal sculptor, with works included in permanent collections as diverse as the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore, the University of Florida, the Detroit Zoo, Crystal Mountain’s Art Park and the collection of Jeopardy’s Alex […]

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Spanglish: A Mexican-American in our midst

By Nadine Gilmer Sun contributor Part two in a series on local Hispanics living in northern Michigan I remember two childhoods. There is one in Mexico, with my cousins and my numerous relatives, and good food, and noise and life filling every nook and cranny. I also remember my childhood in the United States This […]

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Mississippi couple finds refuge in Glen Arbor

By E. Byron Dennis Sun contributor An experience of a lifetime. When Hurricane Katrina relieved us of all our material possessions, it led us into one of the highlights of my life. At age 81, my wife of less than a year and a half, Bettylu and I were faced with the prospect of beginning […]

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Singing in the Summertime

Dick DeVinney of Glen Arbor aims to change this trend, in Leelanau County, at least. Three years ago, the intrepid choir director began Summer Singers, sponsored by the Glen Arbor Arts Association, as a way to offer musical participation to anyone who wanted to sing, regardless of their experience or perceived ability.

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The Irrepressible Educator

By F. Josephine Arrowood Sun contributor When I heard in July that Glen Lake Community Schools’ bus driver Chad Kahler had been hired as the new middle school science teacher, my first thought was, “Brilliant!“ My second thought was, “From bus driver to middle school teacher? That seems like leaping from the frying pan into […]

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The Midwife’s Spiral Dance

By F. Josephine Arrowood Sun contributor Amy Marowitz always knew she wanted to be a midwife. Yet the journey along her chosen career path has followed a circuitous route that has taken her from her native Ohio to western Leelanau County, from the bustle of Midwest academia to a remote Indian reservation, and from the […]

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A walk through history with “Mr. Empire”

By Helen Westie Sun contributor Some residents of Empire refer to Dave Taghon as “Mr. Empire”. He certainly deserves such an appellation because he has done more for the town than any other single person. Affable and always upbeat, Dave knows everyone in town and also knows every facet of Empire history. Born in the […]

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