Leelanau Wine trail holds Harvest Stompede, Sept. 7-8

This annual weekend features a spectacular race through Leelanau’s vineyards followed by a self-guided wine tour along the Leelanau Peninsula Wine Trail featuring world class wines and culinary delights that reflect the season’s bounty.

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Water wranglers balance water levels, river flows in Glen Lake watershed

Meet Bill Meserve and Cal Killen, two of the people responsible for managing water levels in the Glen Lakes as well as the Crystal River. Under the auspices of the Glen Lake Association (GLA), these volunteers serve on the Water Level Committee appointed to balance the needs and demands of both lake shore and river’s edge owners, as well as the businesses that depend on these stunningly beautiful and fragile water resources.

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Leelanau’s housing shortage—a symptom of low wages and larger societal problems

The ever-widening gap between the wealthy and the working class is probably the greatest cause of Leelanau County’s affordable housing crisis, says Timothy Young. We are never going to solve the housing crisis until we solve the labor pay scale.

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Amanda “Cheeks” Popa returns after last summer’s hike

Amanda Popa walked 2,652 miles last summer, the entire length of the Pacific Crest Trail. “It took me 5 months and 5 days,” she remembers, “from April 21 to September 26, 2018.” Starting in Campo, a small town on the United States-Mexico border, the trail goes through California, Oregon, and Washington before reaching its northern terminus at the United States-Canada border in Manning Park, British Columbia.

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Riverside Inn survives fire, pours smoky cocktails

The inspiration to make smoky cocktails was irresistible. Leland’s cherished Riverside Inn finally reopened on Aug. 20 to cheers, hugs and words of “welcome back” from faithful local customers. Ten months and one day after smoke from a fire destroyed much of the Inn, and after months of negotiating with insurance companies, bartenders gleefully poured drinks named “Ignition”, “Combustion”, “Inferno”, “Rescue”, “Fixer”, and best of “The Adjuster”. Welcome back, Riverside!

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Growing home, healing flowers

Alissa Thomson’s company IndieGrow Flowers has bloomed like a field of wildflowers this summer, just three years after she and her husband Jackson left the stifling corporate culture of Washington, D.C., and returned to their native northern Michigan with their daughter Arianna. (She and Jackson met at the former Woody’s Bar in Northport, where she worked summers.

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Leland, Glen Arbor hold Labor Day Bridge Walks

Labor Day bridge walks will be held Monday, Sept. 2, both in Leland and in Glen Arbor at high noon.

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Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore welcomes 50 millionth visitor

On Monday, Aug. 19, the National Park Service (NPS) welcomed the 50 millionth visitor to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. Deputy Superintendent Tom Ulrich greeted Meghan Boertman and her family of Norton Shores, Mich., with enthusiasm and gifts, at the Philip A. Hart Visitor Center in Empire. Ulrich announced the occasion to a full visitor center, and park rangers and the rest of the visitors applauded as Meghan and her family walked through the door.

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Best Seat in the House

Artist Hank Feeley, who splits his time between Glen Arbor and New York, calls this late summer painting “Best Seat in the House”.

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“Find Your Park” After Dark: Summer Star Party at Sleeping Bear Dunes

Take advantage of the very young moon to relax under the stars, view distant celestial objects, observe Jupiter, Saturn and the summer Milky Way at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. Join park rangers and astronomers from the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society (GTAS) on Saturday, Aug. 31 (Labor Day weekend), at the Dune Climb.

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