Before the end of this year, Congress may approve “wilderness” legislation for the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore that — despite the implication of the word — would forever guarantee public access to the Park’s pristine beaches along county roads, to historic manmade structures, and continue to allow hunting and fishing within the Lakeshore.

Kathleen Stocking will give a 30-minute lecture about African-American pioneers on Glen Lake at the Empire Museum at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 2. Please spread the word among friends, neighbors, and while waiting in the grocery line.

More than 200 patriotic Americans, local townspeople and students from two high schools attended an emotionally stirring September 11 Memorial Service at the Glen Lake Fire Department this morning — an annual event in Glen Arbor to remember the fallen, to honor those that serve in uniform and risk their lives for our communities and our nation, and as a reminder that evil still exists today in a dangerous world.

Local nonprofits Buckets of Rain and Great Lakes Friends of Safe Passage are organizing a “music marathon” next week in Traverse City which, if successful, will feature Woody Guthrie’s patriotic ballad “This Land is Your Land” sung, over and over again, for 72 hours straight. The performance will begin at noon on Tuesday, Sept. 17 and conclude at noon on Friday, Sept. 20.

The Bay Film Series begins its new season of foreign films this Sunday, Sept. 15, with “Renoir” a biographical drama about famous French Impressionist Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Set on the French Riviera in 1915, a young and radiantly beautiful young woman enters the life of the aging artist capturing his attention, as well as that of his son, Jean’s. She becomes Renoir’s last model.

I am a 95-pound, 7-year-old, American Bulldog. My master and best buddy, Dave Tris, rescued me from the Animal Care and Control shelter on Chicago’s South Side. I was less than a year old at the time. Dave picked me because I was the friendliest dog in the shelter. Hambone was the name given to me at the shelter. People always chuckle and pet me more when they hear my name.

Cedar’s fire department, like others in Leelanau County, is experiencing noticeable growing pains, with increased demand from the four townships it serves: Solon, Centerville, Cleveland and Kasson. The latest available data is from 2012, where Fire Chief Dan Petroskey wrote that the CFD had “the most calls ever in the history of the department, with a total of 686 responses.” These included 444 ambulance responses, 242 fire runs, and 17 mutual aid responses to other emergency servers, for a total increase over 2011’s 544 calls.

Mark T. Meyer is the next Glen Arbor Art Association (GAAA) artist-resident. His working retreat begins Sept. 1, and will allow the Traverse City resident to study “the visual details that make up the vistas that attract us to the area,” he said.

The League of Women Voters Leelanau County (LWVLC) will present “The Weather Machine Shifts Gears,” with guest speaker Dave Barrons, at noon on Wednesday, Sept. 4, in the Leelanau County Government Center.

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore Superintendent Dusty Shultz announced that the National Park Service proposes to restore, as much as practicable, the hydrological connection between the Mill Pond and Little Glen Lake. To do so, the National Lakeshore will prepare an Environmental Assessment (EA) which will describe and analyze alternatives for this hydrological connection.