Smoked out: Friday events canceled in Leelanau

The catastrophic wildfires in Minnesota and Canada, and resulting poor air quality over Michigan, has prompted local businesses and organizations to cancel the following events in Leelanau County today. Those cancelations include: Tour de Tart, Empire Anchor Day’s Friday night movie, Beach Bards bonfire, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore ranger programs, Lake Street Studios today, Glen Arbor Arts Center at Thoreson Farm Studio, and Leelanau Conservancy outdoor events. We’ll update this list throughout the day and the weekend.

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Video spotlight: Young journalist documents Northport fireworks

Twelve-year-old Tanner Brown can tell you all about the Fourth of July fireworks in Northport, where he lives. In fact, Brown’s narrated video story, “The flare behind Northport’s Fourth of July fireworks display,” premiers our Meeting Young Journalists Where They Are video storytelling series, which the Sun is publishing online and on social media together with our Benzie County-based sister publication, The Betsie Current.

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Public Health Alert: wildfire smoke affects air quality in Benzie and Leelanau. Some events canceled

The Benzie-Leelanau District Health Department is urging residents to take precautions as wildfire smoke continues to impact air quality across northern Michigan. Some local events have been canceled, and businesses closed, due to the wildfire smoke and air quality. The Glen Arbor Arts Center has closed its Thoreson Farm studio in the Port Oneida Rural Historic District today, July 16. However, the Arts Center’s air-conditioned classroom in Glen Arbor is open this afternoon from 1:30-3 pm. The Leelanau Historical Society has canceled its showing of the Frontier to Freedom documentary tonight at the Leelanau School auditorium. Last night’s benefit concert at the Leelanau County Poor Farm Barn near Maple City was also postponed. Tonight’s Music in the Air concert at the Leland Old Art Building is moving indoors (to an air-conditioned space). Stay tuned for further updates. The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy has issued an air quality alert for Thursday, July 16. Air quality levels in Benzie and Leelanau counties have reached the Unhealthy for Everyone category due to elevated fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) from ongoing Canadian and Minnesota wildfires.

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Air quality alerts issued for northern Michigan as wildfire smoke blankets region

Northern Michigan is enveloped in a thick blanket of brown smoke from wildfires in Minnesota and Canada. Among the outdoor events canceled due to the smoke are tonight’s fundraiser concert at the Leelanau County Poor Farm Barn near Maple City. The story is the same throughout the region. “We currently can’t see across (Lake Charelvoix),” said Jenny Clasman, executive director of the Boyne Area Chamber of Commerce, which canceled an outdoor concert set for Wednesday night. “I can see across the street, but it’s definitely foggy, cloudy. There is ash on our cars right now and it smells like burning tires.” Clasman, who has asthma, said she was having a hard time breathing and was wearing an N-95 mask outdoors.

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Video spotlight: Reading the Declaration of Independence on the Fourth of July

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Every year on the Fourth of July at 10 am, groups gather to read the Declaration of Independence at each Post Office in Leelanau County. These videos feature readings of the Declaration at Post Offices in Glen Arbor and Empire on July 4, 2026—the semiquincentennial, or 250th anniversary of the nation’s birth.

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St. Wenceslaus Parish concludes weekend masses

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Whether directly or indirectly connected to the Gill’s Pier Catholic Church, the termination of full-service masses at “the church in the orchard,” St. Wenceslaus, and moving to limited use, is a historic and cultural loss, a communal and civic loss, and ultimately a loss of vital Leelanau County history. Honored as a Michigan Historical Site both for the church and cemetery, St. Wenceslaus has witnessed almost 136 years of Leelanau County History. It stands as a testament to the births, baptisms, confirmations, weddings, deaths, and many celebrations of this interwoven farming community. By changing to “limited use,” this means a loss of social services, a loss of spiritual education, and ultimately loss of a place of prayer.

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Glen Lake Association seeks help catching giant invasive koi

If you ask any fishing enthusiast what they hope to catch in Glen Lake, most will likely tell you they are seeking perch or bass or perhaps even a pike. However, this summer may be prime time to instead aim for bright orange koi fish, as the invasive species presence is confirmed in the lake for the third summer in a row. Koi, an invasive species known for their bright coloring, are a domesticated form of carp native to eastern Asia. They resemble oversized goldfish, and hold distinct and striking color patterns of orange, black, white and yellow. Their beautiful appearance makes them extremely popular as pets and in ornamental ponds worldwide. It is believed that the koi likely started off as pets, and made their way into the lake through being purposefully released. A single female can lay up to 400,000 eggs per breeding cycle, allowing for the population of koi to easily proliferate. 

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Congressional candidate Callie Barr wins Pete Buttigieg endorsement

Callie Barr, a Democrat running to represent Northern Michigan in Congress, picked up a coveted endorsement today from Pete Buttigieg, a fellow Traverse City resident and former Transportation Secretary during the Biden administration. Barr, who lost during a previous run for Congress in 2024 to incumbent Republican Jack Bergman, faces a primary challenge this year from Upper Peninsula resident Kyle Blomquist. Michiganders will vote in the primary election on Tuesday, Aug. 4.

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Sleeping Bear Forever: new name reflects expanding mission

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A weathered red barn leans gently into the wind at Port Oneida. Rows of apple trees still mark orchards planted generations ago. White farmhouses sit beneath towering maples, their porches looking out across fields first cultivated more than a century ago. In Glen Haven, restored maritime buildings recall an era when steamships connected isolated shoreline communities and commerce shaped life along the lakeshore. These places don’t command the same attention as the dunes. Yet, together they reveal the history, culture and character that give Sleeping Bear its soul. Helping people discover that story has become the defining mission of the nonprofit formerly known as Preserve Historic Sleeping Bear. Now approaching its 30th year, it is entering a new chapter with a new name: Sleeping Bear Forever.

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Sound Garden saxophone surprise in Sleeping Bear Dunes

One might expect to hear the sounds of a saxophone in a sophisticated concert hall, a wedding, or an otherwise lavish, exclusive event. Fewer may expect to hear such sounds in places such as local boutique Cottonseed, or outside Rinco Bros Coffee. This surprise and accessibility is the prime objective of the Sound Garden Project, an initiative by Interlochen Public Radio to “plant classical music in unexpected places”. The Cerus Quartet, an award-winning saxophone quartet, visited Glen Arbor as part of this initiative from June 9-21. The Quartet performed in locations such as Leelanau Coffee Roasters, Cherry Republic, and even the post office before hosting a culminating concert at the Glen Arbor Township Hall.

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