The Michigan Land Use Institute has announced that tickets to the annual Taste the Local Difference Summer Celebration are now on sale. The Celebration, in its third year, is one of the region’s premier local food and farm events.
Cindy Rosiek will return Mondays and Wednesdays at 11 am to the Pine Patch at The Cottage Book Shop in Glen Arbor for a summer of fun activities. Each day has a theme and Ciindy is transformed into a character while leading a project and reading related books.
Preserve Historic Sleeping Bear (PHSB), a partner of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, is announcing its first “We Love Our Park!” photography contest. This year, the subject is historic and cultural resources in the Park. The deadline for digital submissions is July 16. Participants can enter up to two photos of historic buildings located in the park, for $20, or three photos for $25. PHSB invites people to get out and visit the historic buildings in the Park and experience first-hand the magnitude and value of this heritage.
Misers’ Hoard will hold a grand re-opening celebration on Friday, June 24. After many years of dealing antiques, the Empire store recently expanded its business to include new items. Paul and Heidi Skinner’s expansion included giving up almost their entire first floor of living space — what dedication!
The Glen Lake Community Library in Empire will host a series of children’s programs beginning June 23. No advance registration is needed. All programs will take place on Thursdays at 11 a.m. unless otherwise noted.
Fiber artist Rachel Meginnes from San Francisco will present her Artist-in-Residence talk for the public on Thursday, June 23, at 7:30pm, at the Glen Arbor Art Association building on Studio Lane across from Cherry Republic. The program is free and light refreshment will be served.
Volunteers can help restore the cultural landscape at the Ole Oleson farm in the Port Oneida Rural Historic District on Friday, June 24 between 9 am and 4 pm. Preserve Historic Sleeping Bear seeks 10-15 volunteers for their annual field clearing project to remove invasive and non-native plant species, as well as spreading tree saplings.
The Dunegrass Festival — which since the early 1990s has been held the first weekend of August, either in Empire or on the Empire Eagles Field on M-72 eight miles east of town — has officially announced its move to Benzie County.
Visit Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore (the local branch of the National Park Service) on Saturday, June 18, at 9 p.m. for an evening with the stars. Join a Park Ranger and the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society at the mouth of the Platte River on Lake Michigan Drive in Benzie County to learn about and celebrate the night sky. Watch the sun set into Lake Michigan, view the starry constellations, and spot the rings of Saturn through huge telescopes. If you are lucky, you may even get to see the elusive green flash as the sun sinks below the horizon.
Don’t miss the third annual M22-Challenge Saturday morning. This year’s competitors will run 2.5 miles up the Dune Climb, bike 17 miles around the Glen Lakes, and paddle 2.5 miles in Little Glen Lake. Due to rising demand, founders Matt and Keegan Myers opened up this M-22 Challenge to 550 athletes. Watch videos of last year’s race below.