Here are winners of this year’s 2019 Empire Asparagus Festival poetry contest.

Here are winners of this year’s 2019 Empire Asparagus Festival recipe contest

Traverse City author Kathleen Stocking’s new book, From the Place of the Gathering Light—her second book of Leelanau County essays—is the topic of conversation at the next Talk About Art interview June 9, at 2 p.m. at the Glen Arbor Arts Center, 6031 S. Lake St., Glen Arbor.

The annual M22 Challenge takes place on Saturday, June 8, beginning at 8 a.m., on M-109 near the Sleeping Bear Dune Climb. The run-bike-paddle triathlon capitalizes on the majestic landscape and waterscape of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.

Customers of Taghon’s Garage in Empire will start seeing changes to the facility very soon. Traverse City-based Dave’s Garage has purchased the long-standing car repair shop and began operations yesterday.

Pack away those dreams of walking miles from bay to bay along the shores of Lake Michigan this summer—unless you want to get wet, that is.

Two K Farms Cidery and Winery offers estate grown and bottled European and Colonial-style ciders and wines. Brothers George and Maxwell Koskela manage the 80-acre farm with its iconic centennial barn.

When I ask Skip Harriger of Empire what driveway on his route is the most difficult to plow, he doesn’t hesitate. “YOURS!”

Acelebration/service “par-tay” (as Phil may have called it) for the late Phil Thiel—who passed away in March—is scheduled for Saturday, June 1, at the Telford Farm, north of Cedar off Schomberg Road.

The Leelanau Community Cultural Center will host the performance of the Mark Lavengood Band at the Old Art Building in Leland on May 31 at 8 pm. Lavengood will be joined by Justin Wierenga on Guitars, Justin Avdek on bass, and Dutcher Snedeker on Keys.