Mike and Mary Shimek have transformed their farm near Maple City from forests and cherry orchards into rolling meadows covered in swirls of lavender and dotted with lilies. We spoke with Mike the last week in July at their “Bohemian Lavender Farm” about their move from cherries into lavender.
It’s July 2020, but in my mind it’s late summer, August 2019, out on South Fox Island. I’m lying on my back in the lacey shade of towering maples. Dunes range up the hill behind my head, as soft-looking as caramel-sweetened whipped cream. Every island is a tiny earth and South Fox Island, lapped by the rhythmic turquoise-and-indigo waters of Lake Michigan, may be one of the tiniest.
According to Leelanau County officials, three paths exist to remove Tom Eckerle, the Leelanau County road commissioner who used the N— word just before the road commission’s monthly meeting on Tuesday night, doubled down and repeated his racist rants to the press today, and now faces a firestorm of calls that he resign or be forced from elected office.
Dr. Jerry Harrison and his wife Shane Boland Harrison have owned Leelanau Veterinary Care in Lake Leelanau for 18 years, specializing in caring for dogs and cats. Dr. Jerry earned his DVM degree from MSU, and has practiced for 34 years. Shane does bookkeeping for LVC, and is also a full-time educator, teaching middle school science at Pathfinder in Traverse City.
By Maria Okorn Sun contributor I didn’t need another grandmother. With both paternal and maternal grandmothers living nearby and thriving in their elderly years, I considered myself extremely fortunate. Loving, attentive, lively, and very engaged in my life, their influence and my experiences with them were numerous and treasured. My relationships with them both were […]
Take a period of unprecedented disturbance, add a cup of communal spirit, a dash of post-retirement creativity, a couple handfuls of craftsmanship and sprinkle on a liberal desire to share and give back: the delicious result would most certainly resemble The Big House Farm Stand, featuring Adelade’s Baked Goods and locally grown produce in Northport.
Samantha and Aaron TwoCrow are rising leaders in the Native American community in Leelanau County, based in Peshawbestown. Samantha, the Indian Education Director at Suttons Bay Public Schools, inherits the scars her mother suffered at an Indian boarding school, and that inspired her to pursue education. Her husband Aaron, who recently ran for a seat on the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians’ Tribal Council, contrasts the dominant narrative that we learn as white Americans with the historical trauma suffered by Native peoples. This series is inspired by the #BlackLivesMatter movement, which is provoking conversations nationwide about racial inequities. Read other stories by and about people of color and how they are treated here in Leelanau County, including profiles on African-American Marshall Collins, Jr., Mexican-American Bea Cruz, and second-generation Iranian-American Cyrus Ghaemi.
They remember it like yesterday: August 2, 2015. The Pryors were in their summer home in the Woodstone neighborhood of Glen Arbor. “Around 4 p.m. it got super dark,” Zach recalls, “dark as night. There was deep thunder but no lightning. Then the wind hit. We heard the cracking of trees going down in our front yard.”
Many places are struggling to stay open these days, and some of our small towns and businesses are having to adjust to make things work. At the tip of the peninsula, Northport has a strong local community, and has been able to stay thriving during these difficult times. In Northport, a great example of “making it work” is the Mitten Brewing Company. They’ve been able to open safely, and provide for the local community. We caught up with taproom manager, Dan Frank, to get an update on what they’re doing to keep the taps open in Northport.
Diehard Detroit Tiger fans Tim Sutherland (l) and Jack Lane (r) showed up at Comerica Park for the home opener on July 27, but of course were unable to get inside the ballpark. Major League Baseball is playing—for now at least—in front of empty stadiums to mitigate the spread of the Coronavirus.