You may have read The New York Times late May story on how to spend 36 Hours in Traverse City and Leelanau County. Oh, but 36 hours is so painfully short! We asked our Glen Arbor Sun writers how they would spend 36 DAYS in our beautiful peninsula—with an emphasis on slowing down, breathing, observing, and reflecting on this special place. Click here for our recommendations.
Leland resident Scott Craig, an award-winning documentary filmmaker who worked for CBS, NBC, PBS, Turner Broadcasting and HGTV—and later moved to Leelanau County where his plays, radio features, and stories have been omnipresent on the airwaves, at local restaurants and cafes, and on stage at the Old Art Building—died on Thursday, April 18, at age 89. A celebration of Scott’s life will take place on his 90th birthday, Monday June 24, at 4 pm at the Old Art Building, a place where he helped create a lot of theater magic. “I’m never happier than when I’m working on a creative project,” Scott told the Glen Arbor Sun in 2020. “I’ve only been bored a half a day since I retired … because I’ve always found something creative to do.”
Who among us in Leelanau has not walked our lovely beaches and often pick up an interesting rock or two? We may have sometimes wondered just what the seemingly endless array of rocks strewn on the beaches exactly are. What are they made up of, how did they get here, and where did they come from? Most importantly, what stories might they tell us?
The Dune Climb Inn is proud to announce the renovation and rebrand of a classic motel, formerly Duneswood Resort, on M-109 in the heart of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. Inspired by the nature surrounding it, the rooms are dressed in blues and greens and feature local art and photography, retaining that intimate motel feeling with a colorful refresh. It is the perfect home base for an outdoor adventures and escape.
On Wednesday, June 5, Habitat for Humanity will join Haley Ball and her family to dedicate the land where their new home be built at the New Waves site on the corner of M-72 and Bugai Road in Elmwood Township. Ball is a single mother of two, with a daughter in elementary school and a preschooler. In 2022, their small family needed to very quickly transition from their family home to a safe and stable environment.
The North Manitou Island deer hunt in Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is held each year to manage the introduced/non-native deer population to allow for the recovery of the forests. This year, the National Park Service is only accepting 200 applications in 2024. The application period will open on Monday, June 3, and close Monday, Sept. 30, or when 200 applications are received.
It’s been part of the conversation for weeks, ever since the unseasonably warm weather in late March: Is it spring yet? Is it really spring? Will there be another frost? Have you seen all the blooms on those lilacs? In order: Yes, yes, probably not, and it’s not just lilacs—it’s everywhere and most everything.
Peninsula Housing, the community land trust dedicated to providing secure, affordable housing for Leelanau County, has launched a newly designed website which, according to founder Larry Mawby, “reflects our work well, gives users more information about us, shows the projects we are working on, while inviting users to participate in our work.”
They may be beautiful. They may look nice as lawn ornamentation. They may even be as familiar as the bouquet from the florist. But make no mistake: non-native plants and animals threaten native flora and fauna as well as the enjoyment residents and visitors derive from the area. Knotweed, barberry, baby’s breath and Eurasian milfoil are just a few of the invasive species found in our fields and forests, lakes and waterways. Some target specific hosts, such as hemlock wooly adelgid, and before that, the emerald ash borer. Others simply crowd out native plants, such as garlic mustard or autumn olive. The Northwest Michigan Invasive Species Network works with a number of partners, including the Leelanau Conservancy, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, the Leelanau Conservation District, the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore and numerous private landowners to combat these and other invasives.
Unfrosted, the comedic farce directed by Jerry Seinfeld which launched on Netflix Friday, has a Glen Arbor connection—sort of. The film, which stars Seinfeld as well as Melissa McCarthy, Jim Gaffigan, Hugh Grand and Amy Schumer, is (very) loosely based on the true story of how the Pop-Tart toaster pastries were created in 1963 in Battle Creek, Michigan. The real founder of Pop-Tarts was Bill Post, who lived for 20 years in Glen Arbor. Post passed away in February. His kids, who were his guinea pigs for the first Pop-Tarts, attended the movie’s premier this week in Hollywood. Dan Post talked to the Sun about his experiences.