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Crystal River Outfitters Recreational District hosts fifth annual Strolling Lights Festival
Business Feature, Upcoming EventThe Strolling Lights Festival within The Crystal River Outfitters Recreational District has become an annual tradition for both families, groups or individuals to join together to decorate a holiday tree in honor of a worthy cause, or to get visitors in the holiday spirit when they light up The District in Glen Arbor. Proceeds from the 2025 Strolling Lights Festival will support the Empire Area Food Pantry which serves all of Leelanau County. This once-a-week Food Pantry, which is hosted at Glen Lake Community Reformed Church on Tuesdays year-round, serves an enormous need in our community to help support those who are struggling to put food on their tables.
The last of the Leelanau schooners: “The boat doesn’t sink and nobody dies”
Historical Feature, Local PersonalityOn the 50th anniversary of the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald—the most famous shipwreck on the Great Lakes—our story series celebrating songs inspired by Leelanau County and the Sleeping Bear Dunes continues with Paul Koss’s “The Last of the Leelanau Schooners”. Koss wrote his classic homage to the era of the tall ships back in the early 1990s when he was working with the Maritime Heritage Alliance preparing to launch the schooner Madeline. “I always had a love of sailing and maritime history because my Grandpa on my Mom’s side was a sea captain in the Merchant Marines,” Paul said. “The Madeline was modeled on a school ship moored in Bowers Harbor, and working on it planted the seed of an idea for a song. Not a song about “The Boat”—Gordon Lightfoot and Stan Rogers had already written those songs—but I wanted to write a song about the end of the tall ship era in our corner of the Great Lakes.” As Paul says when he performs this song: “The boat doesn’t sink and nobody dies!”
The Witch of November: Recounting Fall Storms on the Great Lakes
Historical FeatureTo commemorate the 50th anniversary of the infamous wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald on Nov. 10, 1975, we’re reprinting Jed Jaworski’s riveting account—originally published in The Betsie Current, our sister publication in Benzie County—of a dramatic journey on board the car ferry Viking across Lake Michigan during a November gale. “All hands on deck, we are leaving the dock!” shouted the watchstander. Moments later, the ship’s mighty horn sounded one long blast, followed by a short blast and another long one, to summon any of the crewmembers who had not heeded the captain’s request to stay aboard. The scene below, on deck at the loading apron, was tense. One of the steel cables holding the ship to the dock had snapped, and the others were straining as the 350-foot ship lurched at its moorings. The wind had veered enough westward to send storm-wave energy into Lake Betsie, long known to be the harbor’s failing. There was no way to keep the ship at the dock. We would be forced to cross Lake Michigan in a full-on November storm.
Nobody talks about bedbugs, but we should
Poetry/EssayYou won’t get bedbugs from reading this. Since we all grew up with the nursery rhyme, “Sleep tight. Don’t let the bedbugs bite,” and were told they didn’t exist anymore, we thought bedbugs were mythical. What did a bedbug even look like? A mosquito? A beetle? And ant? No one knew because, pretty much, there weren’t any.
Apply with Confidence: GAAC offers artist exhibit application tutorial
Upcoming EventWant to apply to one of the Glen Arbor Arts Center’s 2026 exhibitions, but not sure of the process? The GAAC will host a one-hour tutorial about its online application process November 8, 11 am. There is no charge. Gallery Manager Sarah Bearup-Neal will discuss how to apply using the online application, creating effective photographic images of one’s artwork, and writing an artist’s statement.
Inspired by Mamdani’s win in New York, Northwest Michigan Democratic Socialists organize
Local Personality, NewsThe Sun interviewed Jen Kruch and Taylor Moore, co-chairs of the Northwest Michigan Democratic Socialists of America chapter in mid-October—several weeks before Zohran Mamdani won the mayoral election in New York City on Nov. 4. Mamdani’s swift rise to power has been a shot in the arm for Democratic Socialists nationwide, at a moment when many feel alienated by the two country’s two main political parties. We asked Kruch and Moore about: their inspiration for launching the local DSA group; their thoughts on the Democratic Party and on Mamdani’s win and what it means for the DSA nationwide; what particular issues or policy proposals they may champion locally, and what misconceptions exist about DSA.
Government cuts SNAP benefits, local organizations step up to help
Food/Organic Living, Investigative Article, NewsCounty residents in need of food assistance flock each Monday afternoon to Leelanau Christian Neighbors, where the food pantry shelves are stocked with fresh vegetables, from onions to butternut squash, and canned goods that cover all the food groups. Some lined up early on Nov. 3, two days after the federal government froze funding for SNAP—more commonly known as food stamps—which approximately 42 million Americans rely on for food each month. The floodgates weren’t open yet. “Now this is the month they’ll get way behind,” LCN executive director Mary Stanton predicted. “I’m anticipating December and January will be tough—especially as utilities kick in. But we’ve had a great outpouring of the community anticipating that it will get bad.” At a perilous moment for working people, Leelanau Christian Neighbors are stepping up, along with other community organizations including Food Rescue and the Northwest Food Coalition, 5 Loaves 2 Fish, the Empire Area Food Pantry, Folded Leaf, Lively NeighborFood Market, Art’s Tavern and the Empire Area Community Center—all of which have pledged additional support.
Leelanau League of Women Voters examines Federal Dollars & Rural Healthcare
Upcoming EventOn Wednesday, Nov. 5, at noon the League of Women Voters of Leelanau County will host a public forum: “Federal Dollars & Rural Healthcare: What’s Ahead for Our Region?” at the Leelanau County Government Center off M-204, between Lake Leelanau and Suttons Bay.
Stuck in Glen Arbor, Jamaican workers worry about families after Hurricane Melissa ravages island
Local Personality, NewsPatricia Brown hasn’t heard from her 4-year-old daughter who lives with her grandmother on the southern coast of Jamaica, which Hurricane Melissa pummeled on Tuesday, Oct. 28, as a Category 5 hurricane. Telecommunications are spotty around the country in the aftermath of the storm—the strongest to strike the island in modern history. Brown has worked as a seasonal employee at The Homestead resort in Glen Arbor for the past 14 years. The Homestead employs 35 Jamaicans as housekeepers on a seasonal basis. Some have returned to the job in Glen Arbor for 20 years. They work hard, and play an indispensable role in Leelanau County’s tourism-based economy. We’ll update this story as we learn how the families are doing—and how the Leelanau County community can support them as Jamaica recovers from Hurricane Melissa.
Drilling for clean energy
Photo SpreadThis future environmentalist playfully drills for renewable energy at the solar array on M-72 near Traverse City, as part of the Groundwork Center for Resilient Communities’ sheep and solar open house on Oct. 4. The event allowed guests to discover one of the most exciting developments in solar energy: growing pasture and crops among solar panel installations. It helps farmers earn income at a time when this is much needed and also addresses the concern of solar replacing farmland.