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Moar Than Us on the Water
Local Personality, Sports/AdventureJulie Bennett, who has Glen Arbor roots, plans to row 2,800 miles across Pacific Ocean. “We know it takes a whole community of people to get us on the water,” said Bennett, as she prepares to take on the World’s Toughest Row next summer—a 2,800 mile trek over 50 days across the mid-Pacific Ocean from Monterey, Calif., to Kauai, Hawaii. Bennett will become the first woman in Michigan to make this Pacific Ocean journey where she will bring along her crewmates. She is proud to represent Leelanau County, her Christian school in Grand Rapids, and the greater rowing community.
Painting the positive
NewsDebra Graetz used the cover story on Cindi John from our July 31 edition in her plein-air painting last month. She artfully painted over the text about the Walmart stabbing, and left untouched the narrative about John’s role as a local tribal fisherwoman.
Honoring the workers who powered us through the summer
Business Feature, Local Personality, Photo SpreadMany local Leelanau County businesses rely, in part, on J-1 international student workers to shoulder the load through the busy summer tourism season. Each Labor Day weekend, we honor and thank those workers. Meet a few of them here—from Anderson’s Market, Art’s Tavern, Grocers Daughter Chocolate, Blu, Crystal River Outfitters and La Becasse.
Reflecting on a Mighty Mac Swim
Sports/AdventureI’d been in the water for five hours before I began to hallucinate. It was subtle at first. Kind of like at Thanksgiving dinner when you eat too much, sit on the couch and start to go into that dream state where you can kind-of still hear everyone’s voices around you, but you’re also probably drooling. It was Labor Day, and while 40,000 people walked across the Mackinaw Bridge, 80 of us were swimming underneath it, writes Matt Soderquist, who shared this story at the Leelanau Clean Water and Here:Say storytelling event “Bubbling Up” on Aug. 4 at the Lively NeighborFood Market.
Glen Arbor Arts Center launches creative wellness month in September
Upcoming EventThe Glen Arbor Arts Center is proud to introduce Creative Wellness Month, a new, expanded initiative launching this September. A month-long series of art, movement, mindfulness, and community programs designed to support well-being and inspire reflection, renewal, and creative exploration. Building on their former Creative Wellness Retreat, this reimagined, month-long series invites participants to slow down, reflect, and reconnect through visual arts, writing, movement, meditation, and nature-based practices. Program offerings will take place at both the Glen Arbor Arts Center and the GAAC Ceramics Studio at historic Thoreson Farm, part of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.
Coming of age: Glen Lake Narrows Bridge Walk turns 30
Upcoming EventThe 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.
Young artists take creativity outdoors during GAAC’s Youth Plein Air Month
NewsIn July, the Glen Arbor Arts Center (GAAC) launched its first annual Youth Plein Air Month, a month-long celebration of creativity designed to introduce children ages 6–12 to the art of painting outdoors. Nearly 150 free plein air art kits were checked out by young artists, encouraging them to explore the joy of creating in nature. The month concluded with a gallery exhibition and community awards ceremony on July 31, showcasing 58 original works of art.
All work done well deserves our utmost respect
Letter to editor/OpinionIn 1974, an important book about an obvious yet quite overlooked subject was published: Studs Terkel’s “Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do.” An NPR piece on September 6, 2004, called it “the quintessential book about Labor Day.” Terkel, the renowned Chicago radio broadcaster, interviewed more than 130 “ordinary men and women about their jobs,” NPR reporter Susan Stamberg said. Thanks to Terkel’s deft interviewing and storytelling, the ordinary turned out to be extraordinary. Indeed, people often don’t realize how interesting their work is to others, no matter how mundane it might appear to be at first glance. At the time Tim Mulherin read Working, back in the mid-eighties while working full time on an English degree in nonfiction writing, he was a bar manager in Indianapolis. He had also remarried and had two small children. Indeed, he had a visceral understanding of what working was all about.
The Finchers’ Labor Day reflections
Historical Feature, Local PersonalityWhen Labor Day pops up on the calendar, people respond in a variety of ways, maybe sad that summer is ending or just happy for a day off. When Glen Arbor resident Russ Fincher reflects on Labor Day, he begins with the story of his parents. Harold and Edith grew up in Corbin, Kentucky, where coal companies were the major employers, and work was hard to find. Both of them had friends or family members who had been injured in the mines. When the people in southern Kentucky spoke up to demand safe working conditions, they were often beaten or fired. Those are the people that come to mind when Russ thinks about Labor Day.
Witnessing a rebirth. Park releases Piping Plover chicks into the wild
NewsSleeping Bear Dunes wildlife biologist Vince Cavalieri has taken part in dozens of piping plover chick releases. “They are always special as they represent the culmination of hundreds of hours of work by a lot of different people and, of course, offer a second chance at life for the birds,” he said following the release of five captive reared plovers at Glen Haven on Wednesday, Aug. 20. “This one was a little extra special as I had actually been present at the hatching of two of the five chicks in the vehicle I was driving.”