Coming of age: Glen Lake Narrows Bridge Walk turns 30

From staff reports

The 0.3-mile parade over the Glen Lake Narrows Bridge on Labor Day Monday is the punctuation mark at the end of a sentence. The sentence is the high summer tourism season in Leelanau County, which wraps up this weekend. This year marks 30 years of bridge walks.

This year’s bridge walk leaves from the north side of the Glen Lake narrows (M-22) on Monday, Sept. 1, at noon. As in past years, t-shirts and hot dogs will be available, and certificates will be presented on site.

Inspired by the enthusiasm of longtime organizers Bill and Dotti Thompson, JoAnne Beare of the Empire Area Community Center has committed to carry on the tradition, which the Thompsons started in 1995.

“Because they had one in Mackinaw, we thought we should, too,” said Bill Thompson, who for years ran the Dune Dogs’ Chicago-style hotdog wagon next to the Sportsman’s Shop in Glen Arbor, as well as the White Gull Inn together with Dotti.

The event is uncomplicated and attracts dozens of participants every year. It works like this: 1.) Walkers show up at the Glen Lake Narrows at noon. 2.) Walkers walk from the north side of the bridge to the south side. 3.) Walkers high five or whoop or bathe in the silent satisfaction in having completed the 0.3-mile walk.

Michigan’s late lieutenant governor, and Glen Arbor local, Connie Binsfeld led the procession during the bridge walk’s first decade, either on foot or riding in a golf cart or a sheriff’s squad car.

“For us the bridge walk is nostalgic,” Binsfeld told the Sun. “For over 50 years we’ve crossed that bridge, since the days when we lived on Little Glen Lake. Longtime residents and newcomers alike both enjoy the walk.”

Binsfeld’s favorite bridge walk memory was in 2000, when a ceremony to celebrate the millennium unfolded and flowers were thrown into the lake as a tribute “to those who came before us.”