Art’s Tavern will host the Beach Bards poetry and storytelling troupe together with musicians Jim Crockett, Patrick Niemisto and John Kumjian on Sunday, April 28, from 4-6 pm. All free-will offerings and donations will support the efforts of the Empire Area Community Emergency Fund to assist members of the community who have fallen on hard times. For more information visit EmpireAreaCommunityCenter.org.
Cherry Republic will host a Friends of Sleeping Bear Dunes fundraiser on Sunday, Dec. 10, from 1-4 pm at the Cherry Public House in Glen Arbor. The Beach Bards will entertain with a fun afternoon of original (or new takes) on old songs, stories, and poems highlighting the history of the Sleeping Bear Dunes area.
Art’s Tavern in Glen Arbor hosts music and poetry with singer-songwriters Jim Crockett, Patrick Niemisto, John Kumjian, and The Beach Bards poetry and storytelling troupe on Sunday, April 30, from 4-6 p.m. Admission is free. Patrons are encouraged to make a good will offering to the Empire Area Community Center for those in the community who have fallen on hard times. The EACC is a 501(c)3 public charity.
The Glen Arbor Arts Center will host the Beach Bards, Leelanau County’s hometown wordsmiths, for an evening of poetry, stories and music about flags on August 2 from 7-9 p.m. The event takes place in the forest grove behind the Arts Center. This special edition of the Beach Bards is open to poets and writers of any skill level. Bring a poem or story to share. No pre-registration is required.
On Saturday, July 28 at 8 p.m. at the Platte River Campground Amphitheater, the poet/storyteller troupe The Beach Bards teams up with the musical group Goodboy! to perform Michigan’s state story, “The Legend of The Sleeping Bear,” as well as some history and lore of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.
Historic Sleeping Bear (formerly named Preserve Historic Sleeping Bear) celebrates its 20th anniversary as a partner of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore working to preserve and interpret the historic structures, landscapes, and heritage of the National Lakeshore.
The next Empire Area Community Emergency Fund Concert will be held on Sunday, April 26, from 4-6 p.m. at Art’s Tavern in Glen Arbor. This event celebrates the third year anniversary of the Emergency Fund Program with a wonderful featured performance by Jim Crockett and the Beach Bards.
Gerry Shiffman, president of the Empire Area Community Center, reports that last Sunday’s Empire Area Emergency Fund Concert was a blast — and marked the two-year anniversary of the unique, community supported effort. The performers at Art’s Tavern were folksinger Jim Crockett along with Chris Skellenger, Patrick Niemisto and the gifted Beach Bards including Norm Wheeler, Bronwyn Jones and Joe Vandermeulen, who played to a full house. The impromptu appearance of Louan Lechler, Sandy Blumenfeld and the Leelanau School’s budding musicians was icing on the cake.
The next Empire Area Community Emergency Fund Concert will be held on Sunday, April 27, from 4-6 p.m. at Art’s Tavern in Glen Arbor. The featured performers include the legendary “Jim Crockett and the Beach Bards” . Come out and celebrate the second anniversary of the Empire Area Community Emergency Fund Program.
On Aug. 9, the Beach Bards bonfire rounds out its 25th season of by-heart storytelling, poetry and music. The festival is held every Friday night from mid-June until early August at The Leelanau School beach one mile north of Glen Arbor. Children’s hour begins at 8 p.m. with slapstick, sing-along performer James “ Fuzz” Foster and the occasional appearance by Cherry Republic president Bob Sutherland.