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Tom Van Zoeren, environmental activist
Investigative Article, Local PersonalityRetirement is an interpretive experience. For one guy it might mean a pastured life. For another, there’s the Tom Van Zoeren School of Retirement: Not! A former ranger with the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore (SBDNL), Van Zoeren’s post-professional life is a blueprint of engaged, purposeful work.
Friends of Glen Lake Community Library hold Children’s Holiday Book Drive
Upcoming EventA special holiday tradition is underway, as the Friends of the Glen Lake Community Library kick off their 17th annual call for children’s books.The Friends of the Library, in cooperation with Glen Lake School’s Parenting Communities and Early Head Start Programs, are once again collecting donations of new children’s books for children whose families are in need of assistance this holiday season.
Sleeping Bear Dunes reopens part of Alligator Hill Trail
Talk of the TownSleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore reported in a press release today that it will officially reopen portions of the Alligator Hill Trail on Thursday, Nov. 19. The trail has been impassable since a severe storm blew down thousands of trees on Aug. 2. National Park Service crews and National Lakeshore volunteers have completed work on the Easy Loop, Advanced Loop, Islands Lookout, and Big Glen Lookout. More than 2,800 trees have been cleared on six miles of trail. Clearing of approximately 1,000 more trees from the two-mile Intermediate Loop and trail access from Forest Haven Drive will take place in the spring of 2016.
Interpreting the storm through art
Upcoming EventA week after the storm Shira Klein, a seasonal resident, approached Peg McCarty, director of the Glen Arbor Art Association (GAAA), and planted the seed for an exhibition, a show of art predicated on the hopeful belief that there was beauty to be found in the storm’s destruction. That seed-of-an-idea grew into New Views: A Storm of Art, which will be held next June 10-23 at the GAAA, on 6031 S. Lake St. in Glen Arbor. For artists wishing to exhibit their work, a prospectus describing this juried exhibition is now online at GlenArborArt.org.
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore to increase fees in 2016
NewsAfter careful consideration, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore increase entrance and camping fees beginning January 1, 2016 in order to fund important maintenance and visitor service projects within the park and comply with a nationwide review of national park entrance fees.
Fire department offers free home safety inspections
Business Feature, Local PersonalityHave you had the Glen Lake Fire Department come to your home for your free safety inspection? The program is new. Its purpose is to advise residents and point out potential fire and safety hazards. Plus, the department will not cite you for infractions.
Cedar Rustic Inn will become Big Cat Brewing Company
Business FeatureSometime within the next few months, Cedar Rustic Inn will officially adopt the name Big Cat Brewing Company, as owners Aaron and Nikki Ackley transition their cozy, popular restaurant just north of Cedar into a brewpub. The metamorphosis has been five years in the making, as chef Aaron became more interested in microbrews and decided he wanted to broaden the restaurant’s appeal to also include the millennials and young professionals who have grown more visible in the Traverse City region.
Township, Park officials disagree on Alligator Hill wildfire potential
Investigative Article“The Park has got to figure out how to address the dead fall hazard,” declared Glen Lake Fire Department chief John Dodson after the October Glen Arbor Emergency Services meeting. The “Park” he refers to is the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore (SBDNL). All that dead wood, he says, “is fuel building up. Our fire department does not have the staff to maintain a wildfire the size of Alligator Hill.”
A history of fairways and pines on Alligator Hill
Historical FeatureAlthough my friend, Bonnie Gonzales, didn’t quite make it up Alligator Hill when she tried the first time, she felt it was doable. She wanted to try it one last time before she left for the winter. The trick would be to take the fairways rather than the impassable trail. I was game, so we met at the trailhead entrance by the charcoal ovens one sunny Sunday in mid-October.
Clearing Alligator Hill Trail
Talk of the TownThis week, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore workers began clearing the Alligator Hill Trail of downed trees, following the Aug. 2 storm that decimated local forests. Alligator Hill is located just west of downtown Glen Arbor, north of Little Glen Lake, and offers stunning views of Sleeping Bear Bay.