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Copying and Reexploring the Constitution, Word for Word

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On Saturday, Nov. 22, at 10 am, the Glen Lake Community Library in Empire invites the public to explore the U.S. Constitution, the foundational document of our democracy. In partnership with Michigan Writers, author and Empire Township resident Anne-Marie Oomen will lead this hands-on workshop, with participants copying the entire Constitution, section by section, then reading aloud and discussing their compiled work. This exercise will help refresh and refine our understanding of this core framework of democracy. Contact the library to register in advance. The Sun interviewed Oomen about her inspiration for initiating this event.

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Preserve hosts Page to Page: A Writing and Hiking Experience

Preserve Historic Sleeping Bear is offering the return of the program, “Port Oneida Path to Page” on Friday, Oct. 17, from 12-4 pm, for writers at any level, but especially for those interested in creating history-inspired pieces. Participants will explore their creative muse hiking this fall through select farms, woods and fields of the lovely Port Oneida historic region with local poet and playwright Anne-Marie Oomen.

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Glen Lake Library welcomes author Bonnie Jo Campbell

The Glen Lake Community Library in Empire will celebrate and host Michigan Notable Book Award winner and national best-selling author Bonnie Jo Campbell on Saturday, May 24 from 2-3 pm. Campbell will read from, discuss, and sign copies of her highly acclaimed 2024 novel, The Waters. Fellow Notable Author and Empire resident Anne-Marie Oomen will lead the discussion. Books sales are courtesy of Glen Arbor’s Cottage Book Shop.

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Oomen-Yamasaki collaboration features “Innocents in Peril”

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“If art heightens our awareness or makes us more conscious of the victims of wrongdoing, then maybe we move the needle,” as writer Anne-Marie Oomen said, “one iota of one iota.” The artistic collaboration between award-winning photographer Taro Yamasaki and writer Anne-Marie Oomen—both Leelanau County residents—strives to do just that. Their exhibit, titled Innocents in Peril, is now displayed in the Erie room at the State Library of Michigan in Lansing. The exhibit consists of 22 of Yamasaki’s award-winning photographs and oral histories paired with 19 of Oomen’s poems, inspired by the photographs. The exhibit features Yamasaki’s photographs of children surviving conditions of war or living under oppressive regimes. Yamasaki’s photographs of innocents ravaged by war, disease, natural disasters, and the cruelty of tyrants, will also be featured on May 13 at the Dennos Museum’s Milliken Auditorium at Northwestern Michigan College in Traverse City. The free event, which commemorates achievements by Asian American and Pacific Islander communities, is titled “Speaking truth to power,” and runs from 5-8 pm.

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Leelanau’s influencers of 2024

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With 2024 in the rearview mirror and 2025 upon us, we’re recognizing 25 “influencers” we covered in the Glen Arbor Sun this past year who are making a meaningful impact on Leelanau County communities, commerce, and culture. Read below about those 25 local influencers, who include everyone from the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, to Leelanau Investing for Teens, to Empire’s polar dippers, to popular new destinations River Club Glen Arbor, the Sleeping Bear Inn, and the Lively’s NeighborFood Market.

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Childless locals care for Leelanau’s future

There are many reasons women choose not to have children, and there are situations where it is not even a matter of choice but a physical impossibility. Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance asked in a 2021 interview with Fox News’ Tucker Carlson, “How does it make any sense that we’ve turned our country over to people who don’t really have a direct stake in it?” A group Vance targeted with this question is one he defines as “a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they’ve made and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable, too.” Not long after, while speaking at a recent Trump rally, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Arkansas Governor and former White House Press Secretary for Donald Trump, claimed that her children are “a permanent reminder of what’s important,” following with a comment about Vice President Kamala Harris’ lack of anything to keep her humble. What Vance and Sanders are alluding to is their belief that women without biological children are inherently selfish and see no direct stake in the future of our nation. At a time when politicians are taking to the national stage to chastise women without biological children, Abby Chatfield spoke to 10 Leelanau women without kids of their own who collectively believe that we all have a stake in the future, regardless of whether or not we bear children. These locals show their dedication to Leelanau County’s future by investing in its youth, improving services for senior citizens, and fighting for the environment.

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Empire to honor Michigan Author Award winner Anne-Marie Oomen

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Empire writer Anne-Marie Oomen has received the 2024 Michigan Author Award, an award given by the State Library of Michigan to a Michigan author for lifetime achievement. In celebration of this honor, the Empire Area Community Center and Glen Lake Community Library Friends of the Library will hold a reception in honor of her award and to celebrate her books on Sunday, Sept. 8, from 4-7 pm at the Empire Town Hall. Oomen is author of eight nonfiction books, editor of two anthologies, and co-author of two tales of fiction for young people. She has won numerous awards over the years. The Michigan Author Award is given through a nomination process from librarians and others, and David Diller of the Glen Lake Community Library was one of the nominators this year. “I’m so grateful to the librarians I’ve worked with over the years, but our local library has become particularly special to me,” said Oomen.

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Empire hosts Songs and Stories of Sleeping Bear, Library hosts Climate Change presentation

This Sunday, Jan. 28, the Friendly Tavern in Empire hosts an afternoon of music, stories and poems highlighting the history of the Sleeping Bear Dunes area. Anne-Marie Oomen and Norm Wheeler will present “A Stone That Rises,” a dramatization of pioneer life in the settlement of Port Oneida, while Chris Skellenger and Patrick Niemisto will perform various songs inspired by local lore. The performance is presented by the Empire Area Community Center, with donations accepted to support their emergency relief fund. Join the fun from 4-6 pm at the Friendly Tavern in Empire.

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Oomen wins Michigan Author Award

The Library of Michigan (LM) has announced Empire resident Anne-Marie Oomen as the recipient of the 2023-2024 Michigan Author Award. Oomen is the founding editor of Dunes Review; former president of Michigan Writers, Inc.; and instructor at Solstice MFA in Creative Writing at Lasell University in Massachusetts and at Interlochen College of Creative Arts. She appears at conferences throughout the country.

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Leelanau Fall reads: a rundown of local new books in 2023

We chatted with the experts, the bookworms, and bookstore owners, and here’s our roundup of local books, or books written by local authors, that were published in 2023. Find them at Leelanau County’s locally-owned, independent bookstores: Cottage Book Shop in Glen Arbor, Bay Books in Suttons Bay, Dog Ears Books in Northport, and Leelanau Books in Leland; or at your local library. Happy reading!

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