The Glen Lake Library in Empire will host a presentation by Amanda Wetzel of the Grand Traverse Lighthouse Museum on Tuesday, March 31, at 7 p.m., at the Empire Township Hall. Wetzel will discuss the history of two aircraft carriers that served on Lake Michigan between 1943 and 1945, providing critical training for thousands of World War II pilots, including future president George H. W. Bush.
Pianist/composer Jeff Haas is the next “Talk About Art” interview on April 8 at 7:30 p.m. at the Glen Arbor Art Association (GAAA), 6031 S. Lake St., Glen Arbor. Haas, a Traverse City resident, has spent his adult life making music work. He’s a classically trained pianist who has become the voice of jazz and blues in this region thanks to his long-running public radio program “The New Jazz Archive”, a weekly series that explores jazz’s place in the American story.
The League of Women Voters Leelanau County will celebrate Women’s History Month with a potluck lunch and presentation at noon on Wednesday, March 4, at the Leelanau County Government Center. Bring a dish to pass and a festive place setting. Drinks will be provided. During lunch there will be an informal discussion of women who have impacted our lives and an entertaining quiz on women in history.
The League of Women Voters Leelanau County Big Picture Society will be held at the Old Art Building at 111 Main Street in Leland on Monday, March 9, at 4 p.m. The Big Picture Society features films of public interest on current political/environmental and/or social justice topics on the second Monday of the month from October through June.
In old New Orleans on Mardi Gras Tuesday, brass bands march in Second Line Parades through the neighborhoods that birthed jazz music, provoking intoxicating revelry on every street corner. Twelve hundred miles to the north, tiny Cedar, Mich., will host its own Mardi Gras parade and celebration this Saturday, Feb. 21.
Children ages 6-9 have been having fun with paint and other art materials at the Glen Arbor Art Association (GAAA) this winter. Another four-week series of after-school classes will take place on Wednesdays in March. Children enjoy the camaraderie of other young creators and they go home with a finished project. Snack and art supplies are included in the $45 tuition fee. Tuition assistance is available. Glen Lake students may ride the bus to the Art Association after school and parents pick them up at the GAAA at 5:15 p.m.
“Motherhood Out Loud” is coming to Glen Arbor from off-Broadway on Friday, Feb. 27, Sat., Feb. 28 and Sunday, March 1. This delightful play encompasses the hilarity and struggles of motherhood. Harriett Mittelberger directs the cast, which includes Karen and Peter Van Nort, Susan McConnell, Teddy House, Rhonda Richards, Mary Sharry, Linda Dewey, Pete La Placa and Mike Duwe, each playing multiple roles. “Motherhood Out Loud” has mature themes and is rated 14+ for the public. For all you mothers, grandmothers, daughters and the men who love them, this play is for you.
The seventh annual M-22 Challenge, the popular and unique triathlon in the Sleeping Bear Dunes and around the majestic Glen Lakes, will be held on Saturday, June 13, 2015. The race is presented by Northpeak Brewing Company.
On Monday, Feb. 23, the League of Women Voters Leelanau County, along with Child and Family Services of Northwestern Michigan, Samaritans’ Closet, Leelanau Peninsula Chamber of Commerce, Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, Leelanau Early Childhood Development Commission, NW Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health and the Leelanau County Family Coordinating Council will show a second episode in The Raising of America documentary series: “Once Upon a Time: When Childcare for All Wasn’t Just a Fairytale.”
Since the mid-winter freeze is here, and since Empire and Glen Arbor’s “Winterfest” celebrations return this weekend, we decided to chat with Wayne “Soni” Aylsworth, whose all-season apparel outfitter, Empire Outdoors, is wrapping up its first year in business.