Bob Kuras

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The Homestead hosts Ullr Festival

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The Homestead’s Ullr Festival will continue every weekend through February and potentially into March as well, depending on the weather. Named for the Norse God of snow and winter, the Ullr Festival offers residents and visitors fun on the slopes and additional activities above and beyond slicing through the snow. “We came up with the idea of an Ullr Festival as a way to help non-skiers enjoy their time. It’s also a great way for those who do want to hit the slopes to further enjoy the area and our resort,” said Robert Kuras, owner and CEO of The Homestead.

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The Homestead resort upgrades skiing, food

The Homestead resort, located just east of Glen Arbor, recently completed a three-vear plan to upgrade its on and off-mountain ski offerings. The Homestead ski hill opens at 9 a.m. on Monday, Dec. 26. All chairlifts are open and ready to go. As part of their efforts to support the community, the Sleeping Bear Dunes Visitors Bureau in partnership with The Homestead have provided 10 season passes and rentals for members of the LIFT Teen Center based in Suttons Bay.

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Grist mill zoning spat confounds Glen Arbor Township

Glen Arbor was described in 2011 by the Good Morning America TV show as “The Most Beautiful Place in America.” Today Glen Arbor Township, which has experienced unprecedented growth pressure as a resort destination, faces a community reckoning. It involves a new resident with ambitious development plans, deep pockets, and close partnership with regional heavy hitters; longtime neighbors; zoning irregularities; and old wounds from a 40-year-old environmental controversy.

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Old mill’s new owner: smart, young, free and open to whatever develops

Turner Booth, a former University of Michigan football player who left the New York City legal grind to follow his Glen Arbor dreams, is now the proud owner of the Kelderhouse-Brammer mill on the Crystal River.

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Glen Arbor’s 19th century grist mill has new owner

Robert Kuras, owner of The Homestead, has announced that the historic grist mill and miller’s residence on the banks of the Crystal River in Glen Arbor have been sold to The Mill Glen Arbor, LLC. The acquiring entity is owned and operated by Turner Booth, a Michigan native who has relocated to Glen Arbor to rehabilitate and preserve the historic structures. Turner is a graduate of the University of Michigan and U of M Law School.

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Loss and longing: the art of Michael Huey

Michael Huey spent the first decade of his life in an enchanted kingdom: The Leelanau School and Camp Leelanau for Boys. Huey, 52, grew up here with his grandparents and great aunt, who founded the school and camp, his parents, and two siblings. In his 2013 book Straight As the Pine, Sturdy As the Oak, a history of the school and camp, Michael Huey writes: “We lived on-site year ‘round … When thick, heavy snowflakes fell around The Homestead on quiet December afternoons … it simply intensified the feeling I always had anyway of being tucked in under the shelter of Prospect Hill. There, more or less alone, with the hill behind us, and the Crystal River, its dune, and Sleeping Bear Bay before us, our lives seemed as complete and as safe as they possibly could be.”

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Golfing in Leelanau, yesterday and today—Part I

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Here’s your guide to Leelanau County golf courses, past and present, with a little inside info from a few avid local golfers. Part one of our two-part series looks at the courses closest to Glen Arbor and Empire. In the next edition, we will expand to Leland, Northport and Suttons Bay.

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Community Resilience: How Glen Arbor picked itself up after the megastorm

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During one extraordinary week in August 2015, the sounds that dominated our town were the whirr of winds and the ugly crack of trees, followed by the buzz of chainsaws, the hum of generators, and the cheering and car honking as Consumers Power trucks and linemen rolled into town like a liberating army.

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How Sleeping Bear was voted America’s most beautiful place

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Ever since Wednesday, August 17, Northern Michiganders have both embraced and grappled with the news that the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore and surrounding region are considered the “most beautiful place in America” — at least according to 22 percent of 100,000 voters who participated in the ABC show Good Morning America’s online competition the second week of August.

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The Homestead named top wedding destination nationwide

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The national wedding magazine, The Knot, has named The Homestead resort north of Glen Arbor as the 2011 Best of Weddings pick among wedding venues nationwide. The Homestead, as well as other northwest-lower Michigan wedding destinations including the Inn at Bay Harbor in Petoskey, Crystal Mountain Resort in Thompsonville and Mission Point Resort and the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island were featured in a story today in the Grand Rapids Press.

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