Northwoods Hardware in Glen Arbor will officially open its Back Barn on May 2 with an exciting array of garden related items and outdoor living essentials. Stop by between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. and browse through the “back barn” which the store has cleverly transformed into a gardeners delight.

The Glen Arbor Art Association has unveiled its 2011 lineup of gallery shows. The Art Association is located behind Lake Street Studios across from Cherry Republic in downtown Glen Arbor. For more information call (231) 334-6112, e-mail office@glenarborart.org or visit www.glenarborart.org.

Join in the celebration of our country’s 394 national park sites right in your own backyard at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. The theme for National Park Week 2011 is “Healthy Parks, Healthy People.” Get moving and attend a FREE Park Ranger-led program or just get to the park and enjoy some of the healthy activities the National Lakeshore has to offer during National Park Week, April 16-24.

For the second year in a row, the Original 3rd Coast lineup of Dick Anthony, Patrick Niemisto, and Chris Skellenger will play Saturdays in April at Art’s Bar in Glen Arbor. Come join this month long reunion and enjoy suds and great music.

The Glen Arbor Art Association has released its 2011 Artists in Residence schedule and presentation dates. The Art Association is located behind Lake Street Studios across from Cherry Republic in downtown Glen Arbor. For more information call (231) 334-6112, email office@glenarborart.org or visit www.glenarborart.org.

Don’t miss this rare opportunity to view and purchase artwork from over 100 Michigan artists under one roof. Enjoy music, refreshments, original films and support the Women’s Cancer Fund. From Women’s Hands is a one-of-a-kind, all-female art exhibition and sale. It is also a fundraiser for the Women’s Cancer Center. After a two-year hiatus, this year’s show looks to be the best one yet.

Attend a ranger-led program at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore this April during “Saturdays at the Lakeshore”. Explore the park while learning about myths and legends, spring love , becoming a Junior Ranger, and figuring out what is lurking in the trees, all while getting healthy. Join a Park Ranger as they share some of their favorite places.

A boat wash workshop will be held on April 28 from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the Leelanau Community Government Center Community Meeting Room, lower level. Learn protocol for washing your own watercraft and recreational equipment and the importance of using the boat wash at the DNR site on Little Glen Lake.

The Leelanau Peninsula Chamber of Commerce will hold its first annual Bird Fest, June 1-5. This event is billed as “a unique birding festival with a conservation theme.” The festival will offer a wide variety of unique field trips including Birding by Tallship, endangered Great Lakes Piping Plovers, a 300 acre prairie, and pontoon boat to the Leelanau Conservancy’s Cedar River Preserve.

The Glen Arbor Art Association (GAAA) will present the next event in its popular “Talk About Art” series at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 31 at the GAAA building, 6000 Pine St., in Glen Arbor. The talk is free and open to the public. The evening’s speaker will be Traverse City artist Flora Ricca Hoffman, whose wide-ranging practice includes printmaking and construction of found-object assemblages.