Shady Lane Cellars plans to celebrate the harvest season in Suttons Bay style. This year, the estate winery will welcome crowds to a Celebrate Harvest Pig Roast on Sunday, Oct. 1, from 2-6 pm. Chef Larry Burdek of Traverse City’s Chef’s Pride Catering will prepare a succulent roasted pig and serve a full menu made to pair with Shady Lane Cellars wines. The estate winery’s 150 acres of rolling hills will serve as a backdrop to live music and the high-octane rockabilly sounds of Delilah DeWylde.
A fundraising event is planned for long-time local non-profit Row-by-Row (formerly Buckets of Rain) at Broomstack Kitchen & Taphouse in Maple City on Sunday, Sept. 24. Festivities run from 3 to 6 pm and include food, a silent auction, live music by the Dune Brothers and a tribute to the music of Gordon Lightfoot by Paul Koss, Patrick Niemisto and Chris Skellenger. Row-by-Row has been involved in food security in northern Michigan, Detroit, Guatemala, and several parts of Africa since 2007. The majority of their efforts in recent years focus on providing fresh, locally grown vegetables to area pantries and shelters via Northern Michigan Food Rescue.
On Tuesday, Sept. 19, at 1pm, the Leland Township Public Library will host Heather Smith, waterkeeper at the Watershed Center Grand Traverse Bay, for a program called “Microplastics in the Great Lakes.” Plastic is the most prevalent type of marine debris found in our oceans and Great Lakes. Plastic debris can come in all shapes and sizes, but those that are less than five millimeters in length (or about the size of a sesame seed) are called “microplastics.”
Ann Arbor fiber artist Susan Moran will use her Glen Arbor Arts Center residency to begin a body of work “specifically inspired” by Leelanau County. Using photographs and sketches of mosses, fungi, and rock surfaces, Moran plans to create a series of hand-dyed, printed and stitched textile collages. She will talk about her project during a public presentation on Sept. 22 at noon, at the Glen Arbor Arts Center. The presentation is free. Click here to learn more about this and other upcoming GAAC events.
Join the Leelanau Historical Society on Saturday, Sept. 16, from 10 am to 3 pm for a celebration of Leelanau’s dynamic maritime past. Come learn about the peninsula’s vital and sometimes tragic connection to the Great Lakes. The second annual Leelanau Maritime History Festival will be hosted at the Leelanau Historical Society Museum in Leland.
Leelanau UnCaged is a quintessential Northport take on a daylong, free festival that could only happen in September—after the summer tourism rush subsides. It’s unique and flavored with the profiles of this quirky, joyous town near the tip of the Leelanau peninsula. Founded 10 years ago and inspired by the avant garde artist, composer and philosopher John Cage—who once said, “Get yourself out of whatever cage you find yourself in”—Leelanau UnCaged takes place on Sept. 30.
The Glen Lake Library will host art lecturer Linda Young on Tuesday, Sept. 12, for an illustrated talk entitled “By the Sea,” highlighting works by 19th and 20th century artists. Her “arm chair traveler” program will cover paintings from around the globe including the Arctic “Sea of Ice.” Denmark coast, the Mediterranean, the eastern seaboard of the US, and the Caribbean.
The Leelanau Farmers Markets Association will hold “Leelanau Farm-to-Table,” a fundraising dinner at the Willowbrook Mill in Northport on Tuesday, Sept. 12, from 6-9:30 pm. Six local chefs will delight their dinner guests with delectable courses using the freshest ingredients from our local farmers. Each course will be complimented by the perfect wine from a local Leelanau winery.
Quicksand, a feature film that Nick and Chris Loud of The Boardman Review helped produce, debuts in northern Michigan with a showing on Thursday, Sept. 7, at the City Opera House in Traverse City and a Sept. 18 date at the Garden Theatre in Frankfort. The Loud brothers’ family lives in Northport, and part of the movie was filmed in Leelanau County. Visit the Quicksand website for more showings across the state.
The Glen Lake Library in Empire will host a community blood drive on Tuesday, Aug. 29, from 11 am-3:30 pm. The collection will be managed by Versiti Blood Center of Michigan, the primary supplier of blood to hospitals throughout the state. The summer months are a more challenging time to collect these critical supplies, so donors are encouraged to participate. This will be the second drive hosted by the library this summer.