By the time you read this, Andrew Pritchard, Kwin Morris, Jeff Guy, Joe Lorenz and J Mueller may be sitting at Frankfort’s Stormcloud Brewery, tipping back a round of well-deserved pints. Or they may be still en route, traversing 60 miles across Lake Michigan, from Wisconsin to Frankfort beach on standup paddleboards. The goal of the journey is to raise $10,000 for the Alliance for the Great Lakes, which has preserved and protected the “freshwater seas” since 1970.
The University of Virginia women’s Division One soccer team will play a preseason match against Michigan State University (MSU) women’s soccer team on Friday, Aug. 15, at 1 p.m. at Myles Kimmerly Park, one mile west of Maple City. The event is free and open to the public. Bring a lawn chair or blanket, and prepare to enjoy a fast-paced game of the world’s sport.
Emilio Sánchez Vicario, founder of the Sanchez-Casal Academy, the top leading Tennis Academy in Europe and one of the most prestigious in the world, located in Barcelona, Spain and Naples, Florida, will host a tennis clinic in Glen Arbor on Saturday, August 9, beginning at 8:45 a.m. at the Glen Arbor Public Tennis Courts.
This summer, Sleeping Bear Surf & Kayak—the originators of Northern Michigan’s surf culture—celebrates a decade of being in business. Located in Empire, this family owned and operated shop is the region’s go-to for everything freshwater activity-related.
Join the Glen Arbor Women’s Club as it hosts the eighth annual Running Bear 5K Run/Walk and ½ Mile Kids’ Run on Tuesday, July 22nd. This is a favorite event for local residents and visitors. The 5K is open to everyone. You can run or walk, so young runners and seniors can both take part. The addition of the ½ Mile Kids’ Run makes this a family affair. The little ones get to run with the Bear and take home a ribbon, a coupon for an ice cream cone from Riverfront Pizza and a coupon for a game of miniature golf at Dale’s of Glen Arbor.
BATA’s “Bike-n-Ride” program, which allows cyclists to pedal paved trails one way and ride the bus back in Grand Traverse and Leelanau Counties, is in its second season this summer—and it’s growing. Due to its popularity and demand for more service, a new Loop route has been added as well as additional weeks of service.
Imagine 900 kayaks lying side by side in rows on the banks of Little Glen Lake near Glen Arbor. A few yards away, picture 900 bikes hanging in organized racks. Beyond the bikes looms the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore where 900 athletes, ranging from 14-71 years old and hailing from 15 states and countries as far away as Switzerland, will run up the famous “Dune Climb”. You are picturing the sixth annual M-22 Challenge, which features athletes competing in the “Most Beautiful Place in America”.
Beginning Wednesday, June 11, 300 cyclists participating in the 2014 NorthWest Biking The Bear Tour will begin the annual five-day tour of the Sleeping Bear Dunes, Traverse City, Leelanau and Frankfort areas. Each day, cyclists will ride a looped route that starts from their base camp at Indigo Bluffs RV Park. They will visit the following areas to enjoy the scenery, restaurants, and tourist attractions of Northwest Michigan.
The coveted prize to the winners of the Asparagus Festival 5K race wasn’t available this year, so we made the best substitution. The event is appropriately called the “Kick Your Ass-paragus Run” because it starts at the beach and in the first mile rises to peak elevation above Empire, the top of Wilco Road at the parking lot for Empire Bluffs. That’s a huff and a puff for anyone and this year we had one contestant of the 120 with a competition baby stroller, complete with baby inside. I warned her of the steepness of Wilco Road and examined, if she made it to the top, whether her three-wheeled device had brakes or not. It did so we felt she (and the baby) had a chance of making it back down without injury.
Kerry Kelly, Friends of Sleeping Bear Dunes chairman of the board, reports excellent ski conditions on the Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail, which was last groomed on Friday, January 17. “Additional snow last night (and right now) adds nice soft snow,” says Kelly. “The trees are beautiful covered in snow too.”