What makes Empire unique?

By Helen Westie Sun contributor What makes Empire a unique and interesting community? When confronted with this question, the town’s residents have always been vociferous in expressing their ideas. The two unique summer celebrations come to mind immediately: the Asparagus Festival the weekend before Memorial Day in May and the Anchor Day the third weekend […]

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Restaurant mogul Frank embraces Friendly Empire

By Pat Stinson Sun contributor New restaurant mogul, Frank Lerchen, couldn’t be more modest about his transition from general manager of two restaurant-taverns to owner of three local food service establishments in less than six months, here in the seasonally somnolent village of Empire. As Frank tells it, he was being groomed for ownership for […]

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Taghon’s New Garage is ripe in the Land of the Sleeping Bear

By Norm Wheeler Sun editor One of Empire’s longest running businesses just packed up and left its historic digs on the corner of M-22 and M-72. Taghon’s Auto Service Garage has been a fixture in the village of Empire since 1924 when Charles and Louise Taghon established a car repair shop on the current site […]

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National Park to spruce up Port Oneida

By Jacob Wheeler Sun editor At long last, the check is on its way. After waiting for over a decade the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore (our local branch of the National Park Service) will finally get funds of $1.1 million from Washington to restore, rehabilitate and promote the Port Oneida rural historic district, located […]

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Chamber takes show on road

By Jane Greiner Sun contributor The Glen Lake Chamber of Commerce has been stepping out in new directions. This year’s participation in the Leelanau Business Expo is just one example of how the chamber is looking for new ways to make itself useful and fun. At the Expo kickoff breakfast the chamber gave a lively, […]

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Shipwrecks are moving in our midst

By Jane Greiner Sun contributor Who can resist the romance and mystery of a shipwreck? All you have to do is go to Empire beach and you can see one for yourself. This wreck lies half uncovered at the north end of Empire beach. It appears to be a section from the bottom of a […]

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Of Mulching and Turnip Blessings

By Holly Wren Spaulding Sun contributor We move back and forth between stone walls under a low ceiling and even lower light. The root cellar is musty, dark with odors of long-stored root crops, new onion starts and leeks, seeds ready for planting. Field maps, shears and clipboards clutter the spare nooks and crannies. Robert […]

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Winners, 2006 Empire Asparagus Festival Poetry Contest

Roadside Stand By Nora Stone First prize, Youth Poetry Driving home after school we’re tired with end-of-the-week relief and our stepfather pulls over on Herkner Road where there is a little table with a coffee can marked “honor system,” and he buys two bundles of asparagus, pert and dripping from a dented pie tin, and […]

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Glen Arbor serves up Ping Pong

By Jane Greiner Sun contributor Every Wednesday is Ping Pong Night at the Glen Arbor Town Hall. As soon as Gene Thompson arrives to open the doors, the tables are rolled out and the fun begins. Ping pong lovers of all ages gather for an hour or two of fast and friendly sport. It’s a […]

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Glen Arbor Sun to resume publishing on Memorial Day

Welcome back, northern Michigan beach lovers, We’ll kick off our eleventh season of producing the Glen Arbor Sun newspaper on May 25, just before the tourists arrive in beautiful Leelanau County for Memorial Day weekend. Thereafter, look for news from our area in local restaurants, grocery stores and boutiques, or here on our website, every […]

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