Empire celebrates Anchor Day each year on the third Saturday in July—this year on July 15—with a parade down Front Street, a pop-up book sale at the library, a chicken dinner at the town hall, and an evening street dance with live music. The party is now sponsored by The Empire Area Community Center. This unique, small-town celebration commemorates the raising of an anchor from the depths of Lake Michigan in July 1977.
Amy Hubbell leads Yoga on the Beach sessions every Friday morning at 10 a.m. throughout the summer at the Sleeping Bear Point Coast Guard Station Maritime Museum near Glen Haven. To join, all you need is a beach towel, water, and some sunscreen to enjoy this gentle all-level class. This is a donation-based class that provides funds to projects within the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. The suggested donation is $10 per class.
The Inland Seas Education Association (ISEA) will welcome the schooner Alliance when she arrives in West Grand Traverse Bay following a month-long, 3,000-mile voyage from Georgetown, Maryland. Alliance’s arrival in Suttons Bay is scheduled for Friday, July 14, around 4 pm. The public is invited to witness the arrival and welcome her to her new port. The acquisition of Alliance, a 105-foot, three-masted schooner was in response to the growing demand for ISEA’s programming across the Great Lakes. “The addition of the Schooner Alliance to the ISEA Schoolship fleet marks a pivotal moment in the history of our organization and the future stewardship of the Great Lakes,” said ISEA executive director Fred Sitkins.
To know Harry Goldson was to know a man who truly “marched to his own tune” both professionally and in his personal life. On Saturday, July 8, from 1-9 pm, the Suttons Bay JazzFest will honor the memory of Harry under the Big Tent at Marina Park in Suttons Bay. The Harry Goldson Memorial JazzFest will celebrate the legacy Harry brought to American Classic Jazz with talented musicians who played with him. These include internationally acclaimed jazz pianist, composer, and producer Bob James, who headlines the event, along with Steve Sandner & Friends, the Jeff Haas Trio, David Chown Combo. The Interlochen Student Jazz Band will lead off the event.
Capture your postcard perfect photos of the Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore and collect a prize at the photo celebration from the Friends of Sleeping Bear Dunes. Families, friends, and kids can participate in the Instagram photo adventure celebrating the natural beauty of the park and the fun of discovery it inspires. Sponsored by the Friends of Sleeping Bear Dunes, the photo special event is intended to lead you to explore new places and share your favorite moments on Instagram. Upload your snapshots from the park, #sleepingbearfriends by July 8, then, join at the Cherry Republic Glen Arbor Flagship store from 1-3 pm on July 9 to collect your prize.
The Glen Lake Community Church Men’s Group’s annual Concert in the Park benefit features Newt Cole and the Fabulous Horndogs with the Burdickville Boys as the opening act on Saturday, July 8, from 6-9 pm at Old Settlers Park on the east side of Big Glen Lake. The concert raises money to support the Empire Area Community Center Emergency Fund and Leelanau HelpLink, a ministry of Glen Lake Church. Both charities work cooperatively to identify and support local neighbors in need. A “free-will offering” will be taken during the intermission.
When Leelanau County singer-songwriter Joshua Davis introduced his song “Up to the Light” at an April concert at the Old Art Building, he shared the story about the song’s inspiration and announced its part in the Consenses Walks project about to be unveiled in Leland, an artistic game of “Telephone” including seven local artists. The game challenged another artist, anonymous to him, to respond to his song in their own creative format, just as he’d sat down with the Infinite Disc sculpture on the Leland River to form his own creative response to it. The chain was to continue until all of the artists formed creative interpretations in their own mediums. Davis, sculptor Charlie Hall, painter Kristin MacKenzie Hussey, poet Michelle Leask, potter Benjamin Maier, fabric designer Maggie Mielczarek, and ice cream maker Joe Welsh are part of Consenses, a challenge for artists of varying mediums living in the same community to work together in an anonymous chain of inspiration until all five senses are represented. Leland is home to the second completed Consenses Walks founded by Sally Taylor, an artist, musician and former music professor at Berklee College of Music.
Glen Arbor’s celebrated Fourth of July parade—proudly an “anything goes” fete for 60 years—has a few rules and structure now. But not too much will change. In late founder Stan Brubaker’s absence, the Glen Arbor Township will manage the parade, which lines up in Glen Haven and leaves for Glen Arbor at noon. Water guns, cannons and water balloons won’t be allowed this year. “People have complained in the past, and we’re getting rid of things that can hurt little kids or make older people wet. Getting creamed in the head by a water balloon you weren’t expecting is no fun, especially when you’re 75 years old.” Glen Arbor’s iconic citizen kazoo corps returns to the Fourth of July parade this year, following a three-year hiatus prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Glen Lake Woman’s Club’s annual flag raising ceremony begins at 10 am on July 4 at the Old Settlers Picnic Grounds, located on the southeastern shore of Glen Lake near the corner of Dunn’s Farm Rd. (CR 675) and Burdickville Rd (CR 616). Please bring your own lawn chairs. Captain Kevin M. Quarderer, U. S. Naval Attache to the United States Embassy in Australia, will be the featured speaker.
To enhance its presence and augment its own legacy, the Glen Arbor Arts Center has developed a new program, Late Night Fridays (LNF). Designed to facilitate further creative engagement with the community, the GAAC Main Gallery will be open to the public every Friday from 5 to 8 p.m., June 9 through Aug. 25. Additionally, LNF includes four events this summer: two opening receptions for art exhibitions and two Front Porch Concerts. “We’re keeping the lights on a little longer on Friday nights this summer during Light Night Fridays,” shared Sarah Bearup-Neal, GAAC gallery manager.