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Glen Arbor Arts Center hosts 15th annual Plein Air weekend
Upcoming EventMore than 75 talented artists from across Michigan and throughout the Midwest will converge on Glen Arbor on August 2-3 for the annual Plein Air Weekend hosted by The Glen Arbor Arts Center. The event includes two outdoor painting competitions and exhibitions of original work at the Glen Arbor Town Hall on Friday and Saturday evenings. The weekend begins with the popular Quick Draw on August 2. This year’s theme is “Country Roads, Take Me Home” and artists will have a 3-hour window of time to paint in the Glen Arbor area.
Glen Arbor Arts Center and LIFT team up kids with art
Local PersonalityIf it’s July, then it must be time for art projects for Glen Lake middle schoolers. Same for August. And September, October—you get the idea. Thanks to a partnership between the Glen Arbor Arts Center and Leelanau Investing For Teens—the Suttons Bay-based center for after-school activities commonly known by its acronym LIFT—each month the art center offers a class for students from Glen Lake Middle School. The partnership started in April 2024 and programs will continue through April 2025, or until all 12 classes are fulfilled, though both GAAC and LIFT are hopeful additional funding will allow it to continue.
Empire seeks input for Master Plan
Upcoming EventThe Village of Empire is updating their Master Plan, a long-term policy document that sets goals for how the Village of Empire will develop in the next 5-10 years. It is used by elected officials, staff, residents, and others to guide decision-making about how land is used, where new development occurs, where and when new infrastructure is provided in the Village, how streets are designed for different types of transportation, and more. The Village is releasing a community questionnaire to gauge what the community thinks about the Village currently and in the future. The questionnaire is available online or in print and will be open through August 11.
Goats and chickens and elderberries, oh my
Business Feature, Food/Organic Living, Local PersonalityIt’s part farm, part café, part farm market, part AirBnB—and all a dream come true for Samantha Fall. Fall, the owner of Elderberry Farms Estate, has a varied background. She is also a long-time agriculture enthusiast. She worked at Michigan State’s campus farms while earning her degree in communication. After graduating, she started her own mini-farm outside East Lansing, complete with dairy goats, chickens, produce, soap- and lotion-making. She was also a long-standing fan of elderberries.
Moran mends at Center Gallery
Local Personality, Upcoming EventFor many years now, to accompany the excitement of the Glen Arbor Art Center’s annual Plein Air paint out weekend, Center Gallery Lake Street Studios has featured an artist who works in a medium other than paint. This year we are featuring fiber artist Susan Moran, and hosting a stitching event called a “Mend In.” Moran, who hails from Ann Arbor, uses the processes of silkscreen, dyeing and resist dyeing, drawing, collage and embroidery to create her works of art. Moran’s art will be shown Aug. 2-8 and we will hold a reception for her on Friday evening, Aug. 2 from 6-8 p.m. She will also be one of the menders at our “Mend In.”
Bardenhagen’s farm stand worth a stop
Business Feature, Food/Organic LivingWhat are the little purple, pink, yellow, and ruby red balls found on the corners of the roads throughout the peninsula this time of year? Spilled cherries. Big trucks and small trucks hauling tanks of freshly harvested cherries are everywhere. It’s July and this means it’s cherry season. For all of us following or waiting behind these trucks carrying tanks with water spilling over the sides, it is a good reminder to be a little more patient while driving in the area. These hardworking farmers are doing their best to harvest and deliver the delicious stone fruit to processors as quickly as possible. Most local farm stands are bursting with colorful displays of all cherry varieties, usually picked the same day they are stocked. One such place in the Leelanau Peninsula that is an essential stop for any farm stand devotee is the Bardenhagen Farms farm stand located at 7881 Pertner Road. Part of our series on local farm stands in Leelanau County.
In defense of journalism, civil liberties, and a more perfect union
Historical Feature, Letter to editor/Opinion, Local PersonalityLongtime Leelanau Enterprise reporter Eric Carlson delivered the following address at Old Settlers Park on July 4 as part of the Glen Lake Woman’s Club annual Flag Raising ceremony. Carlson spoke about his career in journalism, both locally and in conflict zones, about the importance (and sometimes inconvenience) of a free press, about civil liberties, and this fraught political moment in American history.
Cherry Republic’s Bob Sutherland takes stage with “True Gretch”
Local Personality, Upcoming EventGovernor Gretchen Whitmer will visit the Traverse City Opera House on Wednesday, July 31, to promote her new book, “True Gretch,” as part of the National Writers Series. Michigan’s popular second-term governor has a national profile and co-chairs Vice President Kamala Harris’ bid for the White House—a role she also held for President’s Biden’s campaign before he exited the race earlier this month. Cherry Republic founder and president, and Glen Arbor native, Bob Sutherland will guest host the event and interview Whitmer on stage. The Sun chatted with Sutherland about Whitmer—whom he has hosted at Cherry Public House—about his support for progressive candidates and environmental causes, and about the need for businesses to get involved in important issues. “Businesses are one of the few institutions that people still trust,” said Sutherland. In-person tickets to the July 31 are sold out. Click here to purchase a virtual ticket.
Five out of five kids recommend golf at Glen Arbor’s new River Club
Business Feature, News, Sports/AdventureGlen Arbor’s newest attraction is not your average putting course experience. Many of you have been to the River Club already, but for those of you who haven’t, here is a review, courtesy of 11-year-old Martin Ludden and four other kids between ages 8 and 11. During our two visits to River Club so far, there have been families on most of the course’s 18 holes, but they move quick. It’s a fun vibe, and with people talking and laughing it feels almost like a community treasure hunt. Plus, you can finish and start a new game. With your day-pass wrist band the place offers unlimited minigolf while your parents eat and drink, relax by the river or listen to live music!
Traverse City Dance Project performs at The Homestead
Upcoming EventThe Traverse City Dance Project performs at The Homestead resort near Glen Arbor on Saturday, July 27, at 7:30 pm. Pre-show begins at 6:30 pm. Featuring live music by composer, cellist, and vocalist Jordan Hamilton, the Traverse City Dance Project brings top-tier professional dance to Northern Michigan. Enjoy pre-show music by Hamilton before experiencing choreography by Matthew Neenan, Jennifer McQuiston Lott, Rachel Harris, and a premiere by artistic director Brent Whitney. The group’s 2024 summer tour includes performances in in Kalkaska (Railroad Square, 3 pm) on July 28, Frankfort (Garden Theater, 7:30 pm) on July 30, Charlevoix (East Park Pavilion, 7:30 pm) on July 31, Traverse City (Rotary Square, 7:30 pm) on August 3, and the Grand Traverse Commons Historic Barns Park on August 6, from 7-10 pm.