Posts

The Folded Leaf finds new home at Commongrounds Cooperative in Traverse City

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The Folded Leaf, an independent new & used bookstore and community gathering space rooted in Cedar, has announced a new home within Commongrounds Cooperative at 414 E. Eighth Street in Traverse City, marking a transition shaped by reflection, care, and a continued commitment to community. The announcement comes with mixed emotions for many who have found connection and comfort within The Folded Leaf’s Cedar location. Since opening in April 2025, the space has served as more than a bookstore—it has been a place to gather, rest, and feel less alone. That history remains central to the organization’s identity.

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Meet Me at the Loaf: Leelanau Historical Society celebrates Sugar Loaf stories

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The Leelanau Historical Society, in partnership with Here:Say Storytelling, will present Meet Me at the Loaf: A Celebration of Sugar Loaf in Stories. The Jan. 29 event at Solon Township Hall near Cedar will feature memories and voices connected to one of Leelanau County’s most beloved landmarks: Sugar Loaf Mountain. Doors open at 5:30 pm, offering guests the chance to reconnect with old friends, neighbors, and fellow “Sugar Loafers.” The storytelling program begins at 6:30.

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The Folded Leaf: A Dream Embraced by Community Connection

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Rachel Zemanek reflects on The Folded Leaf, which opened its doors this Spring in Cedar. Together, with Liz Neddo, owner of Bee Well, and niche jeweler Dana C. Fear, a creative community built on connection was formed. Now, their survival in the town they call home is at risk, following building inspections and a notice that gatherings are not allowed unless the entire building officially changes use.

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An autumn invitation to be an ordinary mystic

“By the time you read this, I’ll be gone for the year. I left with the annual southbound migration. Songbirds, hummingbirds, raptors, monarch butterflies, hand-sized common green darner dragonflies, downstaters, out-of-staters, and me,” writes Tim Mulherin, author of This Magnetic North: Candid Conversations on a Changing Northern Michigan. “About 10 p.m. on a Sunday night in September, a Cedar neighbor excitedly posted, ‘The northern lights are on!’ So I forced myself out of bed and went outside. Peering through the stand of towering sugar maple trees on the northside of our property, I instantly discerned that telltale ghostly glow. Minutes later, I was leaning against my car in a nearby vacant lot, awed by the incredible celestial light show.”

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Celebrating songs of Leelanau: André Villoch’s “Cedar”

Our story series celebrating songs inspired by Leelanau County and the Sleeping Bear Dunes continues with André Villoch’s “Cedar.” “This song was written around 1996,” said Villoch. “I was in college at the time working summers as a dishwasher in the kitchen at a summer camp in Leelanau County. We had a cook’s assistant named Marcus who was quite adventurous—like a big brother who was great about encouraging us out of our comfort zones. A couple of us in the kitchen played guitar and without television or internet, we spent a lot of our evenings teaching each other songs outside our bunkhouse or down on the beach.

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Bee Well in Cedar buzzes with excitement

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When the building across the street from the Cedar yarn shop Wool & Honey had a vacancy, its landlord approached the owner. Liz Neddo immediately was intrigued: It would be a great place for her excess inventory. “I’d always been interested in that space for storage,” she says. Then she had another idea, one born in part from personal experience. Two and a half years ago, her daughter Cecily was diagnosed with brain cancer at age 7. The subsequent surgery and follow-up treatment took up time, money, energy and joy. Cecily was able to recapture some of the lattermost when playing with other kids at Detroit’s Gilda’s Club, the nation-wide organization for those battling cancer and their families. So as she looked around the space, Neddo reflected on the family’s journey and Cecily’s ongoing recovery. “I went in and the wheels started turning,” she says. Instead of just using it for storage, she decided to transform it into a space where children could enjoy toys, games and one another, a place that was worry-free for parents. “In Leelanau, we have art, food, etc., but we don’t have places for locals where kids and parents can relax,” says Neddo.

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A quest for learning: Green Door Folk School’s roots

Kristina Schnepf left the corporate world in 2019 in pursuit of a simpler, more fulfilling life by becoming a business consultant and operating their family business—the Traverse City franchise location of Peace, Love, & Little Donuts. In 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Schnepfs moved to Interlochen full time, replacing the small cottage they had originally bought in 2012. It was here that Kristina’s quest for learning sparked the creation of the new Green Door Folk School, located in Cedar.

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Cedar holds 43th annual Polka Fest, Aug. 21-24

The Cedar Polka Fest is an annual festival celebrating the town’s rich Polish history. The celebration lasts four days and nights, and attracts nearly 10,000 people for family fun in the heart of Leelanau County. Come to Cedar and eat, drink, and dance the nights away. With live Polka music from the best polka bands in the nation, this festival is a real treat for Polka fans. Food vendors offer beer, polish food, ribs, hotdogs, popcorn and more. Kids will enjoy games, while adults can indulge in the unique atmosphere that Polka Fest creates.

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Achieving flow in art and life: Cedar jeweler Dana Fear

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There was great beauty in the design: the raised sterling circle and the bezel-set rose-cut pink sapphire and blue/black spinels drew my eye, writes Bronwyn Jones. But it was the sound accompanying the movement of rounded sterling wires as they slid from their slender tubes and tapped gently against the inside of the raised circle that called out to me, a group of tiny chimes giving gentle voice in response to the movement of my hand and body. Such is the magical multi-sensory aesthetic of Dana C. Fear’s unique and stunning hand-crafted kinetic jewelry. It must be seen and touched within the context of her compelling studio and retail space on Kasson Road in downtown Cedar to fully comprehend its brilliance. That ring became mine; its fluid movement speaks as I write.

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Folded Leaf hosts benefit for LGBTQ+ youth suicide prevention

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Due to the defunding of the Youth LGBTQ+ Suicide Prevention Hotline, the Folded Leaf bookstore in Cedar will host a benefit concert and silent auction on Saturday, Aug. 2, from 2-6 pm to support suicide prevention efforts in northern Michigan and across the nation. Please join the Folded Leaf for an afternoon of music, conversation, and conscious community involvement to support LGBTQ+ youth.

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