How Climate Change will affect Sleeping Bear Dunes

On August 21, scientist Lukas Bell-Dereske gave a public presentation to a packed house at the Sleeping Bear Dunes Visitor Center in Empire that offered a window into how climate change will affect our cherished National Park.

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Banging the drum for Climate Change action

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Fifteen-year-olds Annabel Skrocki and Annie Lively, both sophomores at Glen Lake School, stood in complete silence with more than 400,000 other climate activists at the People’s Climate march on Sept. 21—mourning, for the melting glaciers, the rising oceans, the dryer mid-continents, the stronger storms, the disappearing islands and the paralyzed politicians.

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Paid parking here to stay at Empire Beach

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The Empire Village Council voted yesterday to implement and enforce paid parking at Empire Beach next summer, following what members perceive as a successful trial run in 2014. The parking meter near the picnic area, which charged visitors $1 per hour, generated more than $23,000 between July 3 and September 10, despite summer weather marred by rain and cold temperatures. Empire’s popular beach, which has 87 parking spots, sits in the middle of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.

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Gardening from Monticello to Leelanau County

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Celebrated professional gardener, author, and historic landscape authority Peter J. Hatch will visit Leelanau County, Oct. 1-3, for a series of public lectures and programs. Hatch served as director of Gardens and Grounds at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello for 35 years and has published four books on Monticello’s botanic legacy including A Rich Spot of Earth: Thomas Jefferson’s Revolutionary Garden at Monticello. He lectures extensively on Jefferson and the history of garden plants, and currently consults on public garden projects and private estate landscapes.

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Leelanau League of Women Voters examines public education, past and present

The League of Women Voters Leelanau County will host a presentation on Public Education: Past and Present on Wednesday Oct. 1 at noon in the lower level public meeting room of the Leelanau County Government Center. The October meeting will be the first session of a two-part discussion on public education.

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Faithful Companion

I dreamed about him when I was working in the prisons of California. I felt him one night in the room as I was falling asleep and thought I could smell him. I missed him at a subliminal, subconscious level all the time but missed him consciously, in ways I’d never anticipated, on the days after work when I was tired and saw no hope for my students, most of whom were going to be behind bars for a long time and, if they got out, would have no families, no jobs, no future.

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Marriage equality in Northern Michigan

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At the moment these words were put to paper, somewhere around 287,000 people in Michigan were barred from marriage. About 44,000 of these people have created a life together anyway. Some of them share in the task of raising children. We’re talking, of course, about gay Michiganders.

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Dennos Museum to feature Ken Scott photography

The Dennos Museum Center at Northwestern Michigan College will present an exhibition by photographer Ken Scott, Sept. 21-Oct. 26. The exhibition is being presented in collaboration with the Leelanau Conservancy.

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Sustaining a beautiful legacy at Longview winery

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With Charlie Edson, owner and winemaker at Bel Lago Vineyards and Winery mentoring them, the Alan Eaker and Linda Ackley selected vines, and planted 10 acres of wine grapes on their land. Today there are 12 acres of grapes, including hybrids Cayuga and Frontenac, and vinifera varieties Riesling, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris and Cabernet Franc.

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Maps as tapestries

Traverse City artist Lisa Perrine Brown will talk about her sewn and woven maps on Sunday, Sept. 21, 1 p.m. at Center Gallery, 6023 S. Lake St., Glen Arbor. Brown began interpreting maps of local waterways and landform in 2012. After enlarging the maps, Brown translates them into woven tapestries and sewn constructions that use both new and recycled fiber materials. These works are part of an exhibition of contemporary fiber at Center Gallery, also featuring Stephen Kostyshyn’s woven vessels and mixed media clay forms by Kathy Brady.

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