Check out the Little Free Library that Blu owner and chef Randy Chamberlain installed in front of his restaurant at the end of Lake Street in Glen Arbor early this summer, as a way to share his abundance of worldly cookbooks and travel books with other readers. Be careful. Open a page, and you might be tempted into Blu for a delicious meal.
“The wine industry is a sea of men,” confirmed Kasey Wierzba, head winemaker at Shady Lane Cellars in Suttons Bay, as we sat down to discuss her experiences in the wine industry and the path she took to arrive where she is—in charge of production at one of the region’s most beloved wineries, winning accolades alongside her colleagues.
Lover of variety Amy Hubbell has about as many employment experiences as there are positions in hatha yoga. We met huddled under Bob Babich’s food tent in a downpour at the Hiawatha Music Festival in Marquette in 2010. During our stand-up lunch that July day, I learned that she had just moved to Traverse City. Amy grew up in Haslett, Mich., near Lansing, and she graduated from the University of Michigan in 1999.
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer will be the featured speaker at the Cherry Public House in Glen Arbor today, Thursday, Aug. 8, from noon until 1:30 p.m. She will discuss the challenges and opportunities surrounding our Great Lakes and inland waterways. Cherry Republic will host this Michigan League of Conservation Voters event.
On Saturday, August 10 at 10:30 am, Teresa Scollon, poet, essayist, editor, and educator, will lead a poetry workshop in the Munnecke Room at Leland Township Library. “A poem doesn’t setout to tell the entire narrative the way a story does,” said Scollon. “And yet, a poem, by capturing a particular moment, can illuminate a world and draw in the reader in profound ways.” The workshop is free and open to the public. “No matter your level of experience in reading or writing poetry. All are welcome,” Scollon said.
Those who are interested in the Port Oneida historic district of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore might be interested to know that a new book about the place is now available. Tom Van Zoeren’s A Port Oneida Collection: Images, Oral History, Maps presents the story of each of the farms of Port Oneida, based mainly, as the title suggests, on oral history interviews conducted with residents of the community, and on photographs collected from them. It is illustrated with a detailed map of each farm.
If you have been to the Empire Village Inn in the last two years, you have likely noticed some changes. The menu has been revamped, the beer menu has expanded, and the bar has been rebuilt, all thanks to the newest general manager, Riley Scott, who was hired by owner Frank Lerchen in the fall of 2017. Scott had been working in the restaurant industry in Grand Rapids, and moved north when offered a management position to help make some changes to the establishment.
Late in June the Leelanau Conservancy closed on an 80-acre parcel adjacent to the Cedar River Preserve, growing the property to a total of 546 acres. This piece of land has been on the Conservancy’s priority list for nearly 30 years when founders Ed and Bobbie Collins first dreamt of protecting the unique, undisturbed property filled with rare plants and incredible wildlife habitat.
Higher Lake Michigan levels have shrunk beach areas and are exacerbating the struggle between public beachgoers and private landowners over access to our shoreline. A prime example can be found at the 60-foot-wide beach access at Reynolds Street in Leland, which for decades has been called “South Beach”.
Doug Manning, an avid outdoorsman, hunter, sailor and connoisseur of fine colas, passed away on June 9. A realtor with a big personality and tremendous sense of humor, Manning and friend Michelle Stryker found an anchor off Empire beach in 1977 that prompted the town to celebrate its annual Anchor Day Festival. Manning was a regular at the Leelanau Coffee Roasters. Though a patriot and proud conservative, he once jokingly dressed as Fidel Castro for this real estate poster. RIP, Doug!