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Vintage Views and Early Michigan Travel
Historical FeatureOn July 12–17, 1915, the third annual auto Pike Tour commenced. The route followed the Michigan lakeshore route of what everyone knows as U.S. 31, once called the West Michigan Pike in the early days of auto travel, writes Rebecca G Carlson in this fifth story in our series on the history of Leelanau County resorts and getaways. Averaging “14” miles per hour, this auto group of an estimated “100” automobiles would cover “635 ½” miles in total beginning in the St. Joseph-Benton Harbor area, and ending the five-day tour in Manistee, according to Byron and Wilson’s book “Vintage Views Along the West Michigan Pike.”
Teenagers picking cherries: a migrant farmworker’s memoir
Historical FeatureHere’s an excerpt from Robert “Carlos” Fuentes’ self-published book, “The Vacation: a Teenage Migrant Farmworker’s Experience Picking Cherries in Michigan”—a coming-of-age story that intertwines the bonds of family and friends, emphasizes the importance of heritage, captures the sweetness of first love, and showcases the quiet dignity of hard work. According to Rubén O. Martinez, professor emeritis at Michigan State University’s Julia Samora Research Institute, Fuentes’ story, which is set in 1969 not long before the introduction of the mechanized cherry shaker, “provides a window to family, religion, race relations, and short-term community life among migrant farm working families through the experiences of an adolescent boy who is coming of age in a migrant camp and the orchards of cherry growers.” Fuentes’ book “The Vacation” is available at Leelanau County bookstores.
Michigan By The Bottle expands local wine downstate
Business FeatureTaylor and Sam Simpson know wine. They were brought up in the business, and today Simpson Family Estates includes Aurora Cellars, Good Harbor Vineyards and Harbor Hill Fruit Farms. So, too, do Geoff Hamelin and his parents Paul and Marty Hamelin, who have owned and run Verterra Winery since 2007. Now the two families have teamed up to showcase not only their wines but those of more than a dozen other wineries from across the state. They have purchased Michigan By The Bottle. The tasting rooms in the metro Detroit area offer patrons the chance to try wines from all around Michigan. “The mission is to bring Michigan wines to more consumers,” says Taylor. “It’s not limited to the Leelanau Peninsula. It’s all AVAs.”
The Anishinaabek: Michigan’s original people
Historical Feature, Local PersonalityTim Mulherin, author of “This Magnetic North: Candid Conversations on a Changing Northern Michigan” includes an excerpt of his book that features JoAnne Cook, chief appellate court judge for the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians and an outreach educator. Cook sometimes teaches an adult education course at Northwestern Michigan College, “The History of the Anishinaabek.” Her historical overview incorporates cultural and spiritual aspects of the band, and she covers the legal issues involving treaties (which are still ongoing) leading up to tribal life in modern time and the efforts to restore and advance Native traditions.
Where “change” feeds the soul: 5Loaves2Fish hosts annual fundraiser
Upcoming EventIn an effort to restore dignity and fight the growing crisis of food insecurity, a local nonprofit is employing a radical yet compassionate approach: No Questions Asked. At the heart of their mission is the simple, irrefutable idea that everyone deserves to eat, without judgment or bureaucracy. By easing those barriers and societal stigma, 5Loaves2Fish hopes to not only nourish bodies but also challenge long-held perceptions of the homeless and food insecure populations, reminding the community that humanity begins with empathy. Founders Michelle and Bill White meet people in need where they are, both literally and figuratively, through 5Loaves2Fish’s uniquely mobile food outreach organization. On Aug. 12, the nonprofit is hosting its fourth annual Big Change Equals Big Change Fundraiser, an evening promising inspiration and impact. Set at the bucolic Dune Bird Winery in Northport, this event draws community members together in support of an objective that goes beyond food: a reminder that no one is invisible.
Restoring the iconic Bicentennial Barn art
Local PersonalityScott Stone wants to update the old tradition of a community barn raising. He’s hoping to enlist friends, neighbors and any other interested parties in a community barn painting. This isn’t just about slapping some red and white on an old barn. It’s about restoring an iconic piece of the county’s landscape: the bicentennial barn just off West Harbor Highway outside Maple City. And it’s about honoring the way in which the barn was first repainted to celebrate the nation’s bicentennial. When Scott and Tamara Stone heard the property was for sale, they were intrigued. They read about it in a copy of the Glen Arbor Sun while they were vacationing at The Homestead.
Step back in time at Port Oneida Fair
Upcoming EventStep back in time at the Port Oneida Fair on Friday and Saturday, August 8-9. The fair runs each day from 10 am to 4 pm and includes more than 60 demonstrators of traditional skills and crafts at four historic sites. This year’s sites are all concentrated at Port Oneida Road and Harbor Highway (M-22), four miles northeast of Glen Arbor, and include Dechow Farm, Kelderhouse Farm, Olsen Farm, and Port Oneida Schoolhouse.
Tapping into the County’s music
Upcoming EventThree diverse musical acts are among those on the horizon across the county in the coming weeks: upbeat reggae and country from the Sun Dogs, Cajun and zydeco from K Jones and the Benzie Playboys, and bracing brass traversing the musical spectrum, courtesy Bourbon & Brass Company.
Glen Lake Library explores Hemingway
Upcoming EventThe Glen Lake Library will host lecturer Dr. Robert Van Dellen on Tuesday, Aug. 5, at 7 pm. Van Dellen will explore how Ernest Hemingway’s tempestuous personal life, especially his experiences in Key West and Cuba, helped shaped The Old Man and the Sea, considered to be one of his greatest novels.
Leelanau Clean Water, HereSay host storytelling event
Upcoming EventJoin Leelanau Clean Water (LCW) and Here:Say Storytelling on Monday, Aug. 4, at 7:30 pm at the Lively NeighborFood Market on M-72 for an evening of live storytelling featuring true, first-person stories that celebrate water, in all its forms, anywhere in the world. This free show features an engaging collection of stories from LCW storytelling shows staged in 2022 and 2024. Leelanau Clean Water is a nonprofit whose mission is to restore, protect and sustain water resources, promote public awareness of issues with environmental and economic importance, and provide accurate information to assist public participation in water resource decisions.