Celebrating Glen Arbor’s spirit

By Ross Boissoneau
Sun contributor

When Donna Burgan decided to invite friends and community members to commemorate the opening of her store Wildflowers in 1980, she had no idea that people would be celebrating the return of electricity more than the store’s birthday.

What was planned as a 35th anniversary became instead a “resilience party,” honoring the spirit of Glen Arbor and all those who came through the storm.

Before that, though, it was simply a way to observe a milestone. “We’d been here 35 years, and I thought we should have a party sometime this summer,” said Burgan.

She was still kicking around the idea when old friends John and Sandy Stout stopped in. The two musicians were part of a band that Burgan and her longtime beau Kit Knowles used to regularly enjoy at the Hayloft, west of Traverse City.

The Stouts had tired of the weekly grind and left the band. They stopped at Wildflowers on the spur of the moment, and soon the conversation turned to the possibility of their performing at the store.

Wildflowers used to host regular weekly jam sessions in the summer. So Burgan called and asking if the Stouts were really interested in playing at a store anniversary party — the next week.

When they said yes, Burgan decided to hold the event Friday, Aug. 7, making the final decision Wednesday, July 29, to make sure it got into the local weekly paper.

Then, less than a week before the festivities, the area suffered one of the worst storms on record. Trees that had stood for decades were demolished and uprooted, power lines across the county were downed, and businesses of all types were closed from Empire to Lake Leelanau.

Hardest hit was Glen Arbor, smack in the storm’s bulls-eye. Trees came down everywhere on the store property and at Burgan’s house just across the road.

Burgan had moved her cars outdoors — a new Buick and a vintage Jaguar — to clean her garage. Miraculously, both cars, as well as the house and store, were spared.

While the storm caused massive damage, it didn’t dampen Burgan’s spirit. “I thought, ‘Should we cancel?’ Everyone worked so hard (following the storm), I thought by Friday it would be nice to lay down the saws and get together and have a resilience party, celebrating the resilience of the community.”

Unfortunately, Mother Nature once again dealt her a blow. By afternoon, sunshine was replaced by clouds, then by rain, keeping the attendees to a minimum.

“I think we’d have had two-thirds of the community here if it wasn’t for the rain,” Burgan said. Still, she philosophized, the small number in attendance meant she could take her time speaking with those who showed up, rather than having to flit from one end of the store to another without being able to engage anyone personally.

True to their word, the Stouts performed, singing songs ranging from Jimmy Buffet and John Denver to Patsy Cline and Mary Chapin Carpenter. They were joined at times by Knowles on harmonica.

Shoppers and guests hailed from both nearby and as far away as Belmont. Among those on hand were Carole and Jim Kleinfelder of Northport. Their son Alex is in charge of the gardens at Wildflowers. They’d stopped by earlier, then gone home to see Billy Strings at the Village Park.

When it started to rain, however, and the concert moved inside to Tucker’s, they decided to return and support their son and his friends rather than brave the crowd indoors. “We thought we’d come back,” said Jim.

Burgan opened the store all these years ago, combining her two hobbies: gardening and designing her home. Those interests are reflected in the flowers, plants and garden accessories outdoors, and the various home décor items indoors.

As the years went by, she didn’t stop there. Today Wildflowers boasts an eclectic inventory, from dresses, sweaters and shoes to wind chimes, lamps, lotions, artwork, candles and cards. That’s what happens when you’ve been in business for going on 36 years.

Will Burgan have another anniversary celebration in five years? Perhaps, though you can be sure she hopes it’s not also in response to Mother Nature’s fury.

But no matter. When you’re made of stern stuff like the citizens of this community, a resilience party may be just the thing.