Sleeping Bear Dunes offers guided snowshoe hikes

Come explore Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore on snowshoes this winter. Join park rangers for a guided snowshoe hike this holiday season and every Saturday throughout the winter. The first hike of the season will be on Saturday, Dec. 27, 2014 at 1 p.m. The snowshoe hikes will continue to be offered every Saturday at 1 p.m. through March 7, 2015. Meet at the National Lakeshore’s Philip A. Hart Visitor Center in Empire. If you don’t have your own snowshoes, a pair will be loaned at no charge. Participants need only purchase the park entrance pass or have an annual pass to join in the fun.

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PBS Masterpiece producer to visit Glen Arbor

The Glen Lake Library will host a presentation by Susanne Simpson, a senior series producer of PBS Masterpiece programs, on Tuesday, Dec. 23 at 4 p.m., at the Glen Arbor Township Hall. Susanne will provide behind-the-scenes insights about critically acclaimed programs such as Downton Abbey, Sherlock and Mr. Selfridge. A graduate of the University of Michigan, Susanne was a producer for NOVA for 20 years. She has twice been nominated for Academy Awards, and has received two Emmy Awards. Her presentation is made possible by the Friends of the Glen Lake Library.

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Empire Emergency Fund hosts concert by E Minor and Libby Liberty

The next Empire Area Community Emergency Fund Concert will be held on Sunday, Dec. 21 from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Empire Town Hall. We are in for another treat with a special musical performance by E Minor and Libby Liberty. Mr. Empire Dave Taghon will also conduct a live auction and sell many unique and unusual items.

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Wings of Wonder releases Bald Eagle

Wings of Wonder invites the public to its next raptor release scheduled for Sunday. Dec. 14 3 p.m. at the Grand Traverse Area Veterans Memorial Park. The Empire-based organization will release a beautiful young female Bald Eagle in honor of our area veterans of war. Several area nonprofit organizations have been invited to attend including A Matter of Honor, Veterans for Peace and Military Working Dog Team Support Association. The public is welcome to attend. Dress warmly, leave your dog at home and please don’t be late. For more information please contact Wings of Wonder at 231-326-4663.

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Friends of Glen Lake Library hold children’s holiday book drive

A special holiday tradition continues, Nov. 12 until Dec. 14, as the Friends of the Glen Lake Community Library kick off their annual call for children’s books. The Friends of the Library, in cooperation with Glen Lake School’s “Parenting Communities and Early Head Start Program”, are once again collecting donations of new children’s books for children whose families are in need of assistance this holiday season.

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Whaddaya do up there all winter?

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I’ve fielded the “Whaddaya do up there all winter?” question. A lot. I’m a seasonal employee at a retail establishment in Glen Arbor. My place of employment is visited during the summer and fall months by out-of-towners, many of whom express a reasonable curiosity about life UpNorth after summer’s omnipresent sunny-ness fades. One such inquisitor was completely sold on Glen Arbor in the summer. But the winter? Not so much, she said.

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Glen Arbor Art Association announces Readers’ Theater cast selection for “A Christmas Carol”

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The Glen Arbor Art Association announced the cast for its December Readers’ Theater production of the play “A Christmas Carol”. All of the performers and staging assistants are locals to Leelanau County. Several of the cast members will play multiple roles, including four students from Glen Lake School.

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National Lakeshore proposes fee increase: citizens want one-day pass

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Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is requesting public comment as the Park considers an increase to entrance and camping fees beginning in January 2016. The current entrance fees and first come-first served camping fees have been in place since 2004 with only a slight increase in fees for reservable campsites which occurred in 2006. The National Lakeshore is one of only 131 of the 401 National Park Service (NPS) sites that charge entrance fees and were recently authorized by NPS Director Jon Jarvis to consider fee increases based upon a new fee structure.

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Tis the season for PJ Party, tree lighting and holiday marketplaces

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It’s here again. A Glen Arbor original, “better than a bustling city’s Black Friday,” our version of the day-after-Thanksgiving shopping, is the annual PJ party, on Friday morning, Nov. 28, from 5-8 a.m.

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Grocer’s Daughter Chocolate celebrates 10th birthday

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Join the staff of Grocer’s Daughter Chocolate to celebrate the company’s 10th birthday in Empire, between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Founder Mimi Wheeler will make a special appearance from 10 a.m. until noon to serve complimentary chocolate birthday cake while it lasts. Grocer’s Daughter will launch a brand new chocolate bar and will preview a soon-to-be-released Michigan-made wholesale packaging.

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