Each year on September 11, Glen Arbor holds a memorial ceremony at the Fire Department at 8:30 am to commemorate the anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks. This year marks 25 years since the attacks. Glen Arbor resident Ted Peterson designed the memorial which sits in front of the Fire Department and features a beam that was salvaged from the wreckage at Ground Zero in New York City standing over a reflecting pool. That beam came from the Twin Towers and arrived in Glen Arbor in 2012.
For centuries, humans have been captivated by the idea of flight—not only as a physical act, but as a symbol of possibility, freedom, and transformation, writes Katie Dunn. That longing to rise beyond the limits of the earth continues to stir our imagination, inviting all of us to ask: What does “taking flight” conjure? That same question of what it means to take flight lands at the Glen Arbor Arts Center, where the current exhibition, Taking Flight, brings together artists Shanny Brooke, Cynthia Marks, and Michelle Tock York, each offering distinct interpretations of movement, becoming, and emergence.
In 2020, the coronavirus pandemic brought confusion and uncertainty to public school extracurricular programs across the U.S. In Leelanau County schools, sports seasons were cancelled or postponed, various academic and creative clubs were brought to a halt—and student actors and musicians were left wondering when they would get to perform again. Since students returned to in-person learning, the County’s four public schools have gradually revived their theater, band, and choir opportunities. Read our feature story about the state of theater and performing arts local schools.
A reception Aug. 12 with featured artist Adam VanHouten officially kicked off both the opening of the new art gallery at The Homestead and its partnership with Oliver Art Center. In addition to works by VanHouten, the gallery includes a number of works by area artists depicting scenes and views around the Sleeping Bear area. “It has taken a while to get here, but I am very pleased with the results,” said Bob Kuras, owner and CEO of the Glen Arbor resort. “Our permanent gallery and the rotating works will showcase some of the vibrant art and the artists who call the area home.”
Some 226 years ago Thomas Jefferson wrote, “I never considered a difference of opinion in politics, in religion, in philosophy, as cause for withdrawing from a friend.” Today, a group of Leelanau County neighbors is now testing whether that idea still holds true: that disagreeing with someone on fundamental issues doesn’t have to mean losing them. The results have come to fruition in a local storytelling campaign titled Community Conversations: Exploring What Matters to Our Neighbors. The initiative examines the values and life experiences of 17 residents of the Grand Traverse Region through personal narratives. Those conversations have evolved into an exhibit of photography portraits paired with each storyteller’s words.
In his new memoir, “Here All Along: Finding my way to Cherry Republic,” Bob Sutherland, the founder of Glen Arbor’s iconic company, wrote about the Beach Bards Bonfire and his role leading children’s hour during the 1990s. The Beach Bards holds its final summer evening of by-heart storytelling, poetry, and music on Friday, Aug. 21, at 8 pm near The Leelanau School beach, one mile northeast of Glen Arbor. Here’s an excerpt from “Here All Along.”
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.
Several Glen Arbor residents who frequently run or paint in the Port Oneida Rural Historic District expressed chagrin at the National Park’s decision in late July to mow down wildflower fields at the Olsen and Dechow farmsteads. The concerned locals claimed the fields were mowed at the height of pollinator season, with monarch butterfly migration—and the Port Oneida Fair—just weeks away. Read here for the Park’s response.
Legal supporters of Youth for Christ in Leland and Bear man Jim VanSteenhouse announced in a press release today that they filed suit against Leland Township yesterday afternoon in the federal district court for the Western District of Michigan as part of their bid for a youth ministry in a building VanSteenhouse owns in the heart of Leland’s business district. The Leland Planning Commission this spring rejected Apollos Properties’ bid for a special use permit following months of deliberation, legal analysis, and passionate public debate.
In the primary election on Tuesday, Aug. 4, the 46 percent of eligible Leelanau County voters who cast ballots sided with the winners of those races. Leelanau voters also approved all the township millages put before them. Leelanau voted for the following primary winners: Abdul El-Sayed for Senate, Jack Bergman and Callie Barr for the Congressional race, and Jocelyn Benson and John James for the governor’s race.