Plein Air Weekend — the calm before the storm

At about 4 p.m. on Saturday evening, Aug. 1, more than 60 artists gathered for a thank-you dinner given by the Glen Arbor Art Association (GAAA) before the Plein Air Paint Out Wet Painting Sale Reception. Art lovers began lining up at 5 to view the artwork that culminated the weekend’s events. The GAAA was filled with close to 300 art patrons and artists enjoying a lovely evening. Who would ever imagine that fewer than 24 hours later Glen Arbor would be hit by a megastorm that ravaged Leelanau County. That evening was literally the calm before the storm.

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Progress continues with debris cleanup

Citizens Reminded Not to Place Private Property Debris in Right-of-Way From staff reports With cleanup efforts continuing in hard-hit Leelanau County, the Office of Emergency Management/9-1-1 is reminding citizens not to place fallen tree debris on road shoulders for pickup. Fallen tree debris on private property is the responsibility of homeowners and not the Leelanau […]

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Community Resilience: How Glen Arbor picked itself up after the megastorm

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During one extraordinary week in August 2015, the sounds that dominated our town were the whirr of winds and the ugly crack of trees, followed by the buzz of chainsaws, the hum of generators, and the cheering and car honking as Consumers Power trucks and linemen rolled into town like a liberating army.

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The Grand Traverse Stone and other local, lost relics

Albert Einstein once wrote, “The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious.” He said it was fodder for everything from great scientific discovery to art. In the greater Grand Traverse region, such mysteries are unearthed in old articles, uprooted by the farmer’s plow, and some hidden away for protection. Each reveals something about the people who once lived here, whether the prehistoric native peoples or early settlers, they tantalize us with the mystique of the unknown.

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Which Glen Arbor roads are impassable

The Aug. 2, 2015, super storm that hit Glen Arbor dropped hundreds of old-growth trees on nearby roads, making it difficult to access our town. Particular trouble spots are M-22 south of Glen Arbor and Dunn’s Farm Road, between the Foothills Motel and Miller Hill.

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Friends of Glen Lake Library hold Used Book Sale

The Friends of the Glen Lake Community Library will hold their annual Used Book Sale August 5-7 at the Glen Arbor Township Hall. This 3-day fundraising event offers gently used and some new books, games and puzzles, as well as recordings. It is scheduled as follows.

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Solar arrays are ripe in the Land of the Sleeping Bear

Out in our meadow beyond the vintage apple trees planted by Irish immigrant potato farmers named Sullivan over a century ago, Don Lessard set up a tripod topped by a round sheet of curved graph paper under a plastic globe. We could see the nearby trees and hills reflected upside down in the globe, and Don traced the shadow lines on the graph paper as he said, “This is a great spot for a solar panel!” He then sent the graph and our energy use information to his son Ambrose down in Lansing, and from GPS data and records of sunshine in Leelanau County recorded over many years, they calculated the size of the solar panel needed to produce the kilowatts we require to cover our annual electric needs.

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Mapping your route

The Friends of Sleeping Bear Dunes is your go-to source for maps of the popular Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail, which now stretches 17.5 miles, from Empire, to the Dune Climb, to Glen Arbor, to the Port Oneida Rural Historic District. Visit FriendsofSleepingBear.org to view their interactive trail map, featuring photos, trail details and resources along […]

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Can riparian landowners fix their Lake Michigan beach?

With Lake Michigan as high as it is right now, 579.6 feet, that means less than one foot of elevation from the water’s edge would require a DEQ permit if a beach owner wanted to “move around” the sand or remove vegetation.

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Leelanau Conservancy publishes book on protected lands

Working with iconic Leelanau photographer Ken Scott, the Leelanau Conservancy has published a book of photos and essays about the lands that the Leelanau Conservancy has protected over the last 27 years. The 56-page book, titled Why We Preserve features 52 stunning color photographs and seven essays by a cache of writers including renowned chef Mario Batali, CBS Sunday Morning News correspondent Martha Teichner and Traverse Magazine publisher Deborah Wyatt Fellows.

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