The Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore and surrounding communities are suffering growing pains as we’ve become a prime destination for tourists from all over the world. Conscious of these growing pains, a new group called the Sleeping Bear Gateways Council is stepping forward to facilitate dialogue between the National Lakeshore, local business leaders and civic leaders.
Linda Alice Dewey’s painting “Dawn’s Bliss” reminds us that the water is still warm, and those foggy early mornings offer the best opportunity for a paddle on a placid lake.
It’s back to school for the Glen Arbor Arts Center’s (GAAC) popular After School Art program, which begins Tuesday, September 24.
Leelanau Christian Neighbors is auctioning off one pass for two people to experience a once-in-a-lifetime climb of the 552-foot tower of the Mackinac Bridge as part of the Mackinac Bridge Authority’s limited Tower Tour. As of press time, bidding was at $350. Bidding ends on Sept. 29. Click here to bid in the auction: LeelanauChristianNeighbors.org/auction.
At the Empire Hill Climb on Saturday, Sept. 14, look for cars sporting the blue Thompson Racing Fabrication (TRF) logo as they zoom up Wilco Road. This is the sixth annual race in downtown Empire (it took place from 1964 until 1980 before taking a 34-year hiatus). Runs begin at 10 a.m. and conclude at 5:30 p.m.
Knitting and crocheting, long dismissed as home hobby and granny-craft, are at the forefront of the current revolution in fiber arts. As part of its “Fiber Without Borders” exhibition, the Glen Arbor Arts Center (GAAC) will host a screening of the 2016 documentary Yarn,and audience talk-back discussion on Sept. 19 at 7 pm at the Empire Township Hall, 10088 W. Front St., Empire.Yarn is presented in collaboration with the Glen Lake Community Library.
The sign on the porch wall of Dotti and Bill Thompson’s White Gull Inn says “Downers Grove There’s No Place Like Home.” That can be interpreted as both a bit of nostalgia and a message. It harkens back to 1993 when they left Downers Grove for good and made Glen Arbor their home. Bill’s roots around here go way back to 1925 when his relatives “took the boat up from Chicago to the big dock at Glen Haven and walked to their cottage on Sleeping Bear Bay.” So Bill’s dad was already coming here as a boy before it was Bill’s turn to visit “Aunt Madge”. Then Dotti chimes in, “I came first in 1959 when we were dating.” It was obviously just a matter of time before the Thompsons made Glen Arbor their “home,” and Downers Grove a place to visit.
Yarn bombs are set to drop on the Glen Arbor Arts Center on Sunday, September 15, at 9:30 am. Volunteers are needed to help install hand-knit “bombs” on trees in the GAAC’s backyard grove as part of the newly-opened exhibition “Fiber Without Borders,” a juried exhibition of contemporary fiber art.
Emily Bate will discuss the music she made as part of her 2019 artist’s residency with the Glen Arbor Arts Center. The presentation is September 13, noon at the GAAC, 6031 S. Lake St., Glen Arbor.
Jeff Katofsky’s iconic St. Clair Inn on Lake St. Clair is scheduled to re-open in late September. A grand opening will be Saturday, Sept. 21. That’s important for Leelanau County residents, because Katofsky also owns Sugar Loaf, the derelict and mothballed ski resort that has been closed since 2000.