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Confessions of a recovering rockhound
Poetry/EssayIt’s really no surprise that the Great Lakes Rocks & Minerals Facebook page has almost than 340,000 members, writes Tim Mulherin. First-time visitors to Lake Michigan, especially here along Leelanau County’s magnificent stretch of the big lake’s beach, are drawn to the stones, fossils and beach glass offered up with each wave that lands ashore. Even those who are not geologically inclined can’t ignore the eons-old rocky scatterings of water-glossed beauty at their feet. The photographs that especially get my attention are those displaying dozens of beach stones arranged for a self-congratulatory photo shoot. Typically, I’m moved to pose a single suggestive question: Catch and release? It often garners several laughing emojis. And yet… I’m serious. For years, my wife has discouraged me from collecting geological keepsakes for my ever-expanding collection: Petoskey stones, Charlevoix stones, agates, chain coral, and crinoids being my favorites. She habitually instructs me to return them before we decamp from the beach and head home.
Ice Storm Farm Relief Fund launched for northern Michigan Farmers
NewsA dozen counties in northern Lower Michigan experienced a disastrous ice storm that lasted from March 28-30. The storm is long gone but the damage remains, and farmers need help. Reports from local farms have been staggering: entire plantings and livestock lost, miles of fencing down, greenhouses collapsed, maple forests for syruping destroyed, debris hindering future farming efforts. With farmer livelihoods under threat, Groundwork Center for Resilient Communities, Crosshatch Center for Art and Ecology, and the Local Food Alliance have partnered to launch the Ice Storm Farm Relief Fund to help the region’s farmers recover. Click here to read more and access the GoFundMe Ice Storm Farm Relief Fund.
Celebrating songs of Leelanau: Laura Hood’s “Eddy Up”
Local PersonalityOur story series celebrating songs inspired by Leelanau County and the Sleeping Bear Dunes continues with Laura Hood’s “Eddy Up,” which the retired music teacher and Cedar resident first wrote for The Leelanau School’s graduating class of 2000. For the past 25 years, Hood has performed “Eddy Up” as the benediction music at the school’s graduation ceremony, sending the graduating seniors off into the big wide world, and giving the families and school community a moment to reflect on the growth and pride of such an important transition in life.
Sleeping Bear Dunes hosts National Trails Day Project
Upcoming EventSleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore invites those interested in assisting the Park to join in a National Trails Day project on Saturday, June 7. Park Rangers will meet participants at the Shauger Hill Trailhead parking lot at 9 am and will conclude at noon. The project will put the finishing touches on this year’s cleanup of Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive’s Lake Michigan Overlook.
Members Create at Glen Arbor Arts Center
Upcoming EventAn annual tradition returns. The Glen Arbor Arts Center’s Members Create exhibition opens June 6 at 5 pm with a public reception featuring the work of 55 current GAAC members. A showcase of members’ talent, Members Create runs through August 7. The exhibit includes work in a wide range of media: paint to fiber, clay to metal.
Spear your Asparagus in Empire
Upcoming EventThe Empire Asparagus Festival returns on Saturday, June 7. This day-long, quirky and unique festival includes a Kick-yer-Assparagus 5 km Fun Run Walk at 10 am, an asparagus recipe contest at noon at the Township Hall, asparagus eats with food vendors, local beers and music from noon-6 pm on closed-off Front St, an open house at the Empire Area Museum from 1-2 pm, the “Ode to Asparagus” poetry contest at 2 pm at the Glen Lake Community Library, a visit from “Miss Asparagus on Stilts” from 2-4 pm, and a Children’s Magic Show with Gordon Russ from 3-4 pm.
National nutrition education program with local impact slated for elimination by Congress
Investigative Article, NewsJane Rapin, a community nutrition instructor with Michigan State University Extension, offered a food demonstration that featured fresh asparagus and quinoa salad earlier this spring at Leelanau Christian Neighbors’ food pantry in Lake Leelanau. May and early June are asparagus season in northwest Michigan, and LCN received a donation of locally grown stalks. “It was very well received. People were inspired by it,” said Rapin. “We did a short presentation about why this is nutritious and how cook with it. It’s important that we reach people who may not be familiar with asparagus.” Rapin’s work at the food pantry and other Leelanau locations including Northport high school and the Benodjenh tribal Head Start preschool in Peshawbestown is funded by the Nutrition Education and Obesity Prevention Grant Program, or commonly known as SNAP-Ed. The national nutrition education program is slated for elimination under the budget bill passed on May 22 by a single vote by the Republican-controlled House of Representatives. The Senate will pass its own bill in the coming weeks.
Childhood diseases are not harmless
Historical FeatureWhen I was growing up, “rubella baby” was a term that everyone in our community knew. The worldwide 1963–1965 epidemic of German measles hit Michigan so hard that the Michigan School for the Deaf had to start up a special unit for preschoolers who’d been born both deaf and blind. Their mothers had been exposed to the virus during their first trimester of pregnancy, writes Lois Beardslee, an author and tribal member who lives in Leelanau County. Epidemics often hit Michigan’s Native American communities harder than other communities, because the culture of northern Michigan in the first half of the 20th century dictated closing off roads to infected Indian communities, not even letting in doctors. Vaccinating one’s children should be an important social obligation that transcends economic cultural affiliations.
High Five, River Club
NewsThe River Club in Glen Arbor received two prestigious awards last month from the Traverse City Tourism High Five Awards, which honor top professionals in the region’s hospitality industry. Award recipients (l-r) include River Club general manager Stephen Brotschul (Front of the House Award) and owners Gina and Mike Sheldon (Cheer & Leadership Award).
Origin Stories: remembering our resorting history
Historical FeatureEveryone has an “origin story” for how their family arrived, found, or landed in this area, writes Rebecca G Carlson in this first installment in our series on the history of Leelanau County resorts and getaways. Which category does your family fall into: Campers? Resorters? Hotel guests? Fishing trips? Connections to the area? In the following editions of the Sun, Carlson will highlight local resorts such as Fountain Point, The Jolli Lodge, The Leelanau Country Inn (now the Little Traverse Inn), Perrins Landing, Sunset Lodge, and other vacation destinations that attracted many voyagers to the area.