Willowbrook Mill in Northport will host a Beaujolais Nouveau Day Dinner on Thursday, Nov. 17, from 6-9 p.m. The five-course French meal includes wine pairings created by guest chef Guillaume Hazael-Massieux of La Becasse restaurant. Limited seating is available, and going fast. Tickets cost $129 per person and are available online at MyNorthTickets.com.
The Glen Arbor Arts Center’s 2022 Small Works Holiday Exhibition is an annual showcase of 2D + 3D work that offers small, original art at affordable prices, $150 or less. The exhibition takes place November 4-December 15, and features more than 100 works of art, 12” x 12” or smaller, by 17 artists working in mixed media, collage, paper, painting, wood, clay, and photography. The GAAC hosts a holiday kickoff on November 4, from 5-7 pm.
The League of Women Voters of Leelanau County will host a webinar on Wednesday, Nov. 2, at noon with Len Niehof, University of Michigan Law Professor and First Amendment and Media Attorney, as he narrates the recent Roe v. Wade decision, the Supreme Court Justices’ process to this decision and his own thoughts and ramifications of this important legal decision.
Control of the 110-seat Michigan State House of Representatives could be up for grabs this election, and the new 103rd District, which includes Leelanau County, might prove pivotal in that race. Facing off are Republican incumbent Jack O’Malley and Democrat Betsy Coffia, who has attacked O’Malley over his record on abortion and his casting doubt on the 2020 election results. According to AdImpact Politics, more money has been spent to win the 103rd than any other State House seat.
The Leland Township Library, the Suttons Bay-Bingham District Library and the Friendship Community Center have teamed up to bring Here:Say Storytelling to Leelanau County. On Wednesday, Oct. 19 at 7 pm, six storytellers will take the stage at the Friendship Community Center in Suttons Bay to tell true stories from their lives. The theme for the evening is “Beyond Expectations” and will be interpreted differently by each storyteller.
The Old Art Building in Leland will host the 40th Anniversary Revival of North Country Opera, a musical play by renowned Michigan playwright and songwriter, Jay Stielstra. The performance will tour around Michigan, visiting five locations with the Old Art Building as its landing place for the Leelanau – Grand Traverse region. The performance will take place on Wednesday, October 12, at 7:30 pm. Tickets are still available for $30 by calling the Old Art Building or visiting their website.
The Old Art Building in Leland will present the 21st annual Focus on Fiber event over the weekend of October 7-9. This year’s event highlights the work of Chicago-based artist Georgina Valverde and her exhibition entitled Atavia. An artist conversation will take place on Friday, October 7. The free reception opens at 5:30 pm with the artist talk beginning at 6:00 pm. The exhibit will continue from 10 am-4 pm both Saturday and Sunday.
Sophie Gilroy came out to her parents last October. “My daughter told us she had bisexual feelings. She was nervous and sweaty, and she started to cry. She asked us, ‘Is that OK?’” her father Joseph remembered. Joseph saw that his daughter was struggling to feel included, to feel celebrated. Two weeks later he took Sophie to the inaugural Northport Pride Tea Dance at Northport Pub and Grill, an event organized by the Michael Chetcuti Foundation which headlined drag queen and reality television personality Scarlet Envy. The Tea Dance returns this year on Sunday, Oct. 2, from Noon to 4 p.m. and features drag star Kim Chi together with music by DJ Jace.
Last year, following the death of 17-year-old Tommy Reay, his friends at Glen Lake School formed a peer support group called Tommy’s First Mates, which raised $40,000 to train school staff and local teens—with the help of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP), a national organization that raises funding for programming, training, research and governmental advocacy. Throughout the United States, the Walk Out of Darkness offers an opportunity for people affected by suicide and mental illness to gather, remember, share and also raise funds. The Traverse City walk features teams from all over Northern Michigan that will meet at the TC Open Space on Saturday, Sept. 17, beginning at 9 a.m.
The Crystal River near Glen Arbor in Leelanau County is one of the central features in a new documentary film to be screened on WCMU Public Television at Noon on Sunday, Oct. 2. Restoring Aquatic Ecosystems shines a light on Michigan’s first indigenous-led, multi-agency collaborative created to restore and protect the ecology of streams and rivers across the entire region. Led by the Grand Traverse Band (GTB) of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, the Tribal Stream and Michigan Fruitbelt Collaborative includes more than a dozen nonprofit organizations and governmental agencies working together to remove blockages to the natural flow of water in Michigan’s streams and rivers—often called “the arteries of mother earth.”