The Glen Arbor Art Association’s Readers’ Theater will hold auditions on Friday, Dec. 7 at 7 p.m. for its next performance, “Notorious”, a Lux Radio Theater playscript based on the 1946 award-winning Alfred Hitchcock movie of the same name.

Empire holds its fifth annual Artisan Marketplace on Saturday, Nov. 24 from noon-5 p.m. at the Township Hall. This is an excellent opportunity to shop local for your Christmas gifts.

Spend your Thanksgiving weekend in Glen Arbor, where the town is busy preparing for a family-friendly weekend with numerous activities. Beat that turkey-induced urge to sleep, and rise early on Friday, Nov. 23, for the annual Pajama Party from 5-7 a.m. Many merchants open their doors and offer discounts on clothing, gourmet food, household decor, children’s items, art and jewelry. Patrons are encouraged to wear their pajamas while shopping around Glen Arbor for holiday gifts.

A special holiday tradition continues as the Glen Lake Community Library kicks off its 14th annual call for children’s books on Nov. 19. The Friends of the Library, in cooperation with Glen Lake School’s “Parenting Communities” program, are once again collecting donations of new children’s books for children whose families are in need of assistance this holiday season.

After a successful inaugural year, the Glen Arbor Art Association will begin its second season of Readers Theater with “The 39 Steps”, a fast-paced thriller about spies, secrets, murder and mayhem directed by Teddy House and featuring an all local cast. The adaption of the Alfred Hitchcock story is slated for Saturday, Dec. 1 at 7 p.m. with a Sunday matinee, Dec. 2 at 3 p.m.

Detroit-based photographer, Susan Tusa, will be the upcoming Artist-in-Residence at the Glen Arbor Art Association (GAAA). She has been documenting “everything imaginable in and around Detroit” for 30 years. Tusa was a staff photographer for the Detroit Free Press for 22 years. Her wide array of subjects include, fashion in Italy, food, prostitutes, Cuban car culture, wedding celebrations, Detroit cityscapes, snowscapes, flowers and more. Tusa looks forward to “turning her camera to the natural world and more personal art photography” while she is in Glen Arbor.

Don’t miss this special evening, as the Beach Bards welcome longtime Michigan musician Claudia Schmidt and her Minneapolis friend Dean Magraw for a house concert at “The Happy Place Lodge” — aka. Gerry Shiffman’s house in Empire (10120 W. Phillips St.) — at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 7.

Interlochen Public Radio and the Leelanau Enterprise will host a forum for candidates for the 101st House seat starting at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 25, at the Glen Arbor Township Hall.

Election season kicks into high gear in Leelanau County next week, as the Grand Traverse Area League of Women Voters holds a candidates forum for Leelanau County Board of Commission candidates (Districts 4, 5, 6, 7) on Monday, Oct. 15 at 7 p.m. at the Leelanau County Government Center.

The Leelanau Peninsula Wine Trail carries on a great holiday tradition in Northern Michigan with the 2013 Toast the Season wine tour either of the first two weekends of November. Choose your weekend to tour the wineries of Leelanau — either Nov. 3-4 or 10-11. The tour is self guided and participants may visit member wineries each day in any order desired, between the hours of 11am to 5pm Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday.