Polka Fest has fresh legs this year. For the first time, Michigan-made vodka and Polish beer will be served in Cedar. Native son Rifino Valentine, who developed the wildly successful, high-quality Valentine Vodka spirits brand in Detroit, will return “home” and toast to his roots. Cedar has an energetic new booster in Kathleen Bittner Koch, a 37-year-old Hamtramck native who moved here five years ago to buy a farm.
Having tested the waters in other climes, Leelanau County local Mike Gauthier boomeranged back home from South Carolina for good in 2002. He has been slingin’ beers and mixin’ drinks behind the bar at Art’s Tavern since 2008.
Greg Kowalski, the “Godfather of Hamtramck History” will visit Cedar (the little Poland of the north) for a book signing on Saturday, May 25, from 10 am-6 pm, and Sunday, May 26, from noon until 4 pm, at the Polish Art Center in Cedar.
The Polish Art Center in Cedar is offering pisanki egg decorating classes on the next three Sundays between now and Easter. The art of egg decorating is a treasured Polish tradition each spring.
Pigs, goats, chickens, guinea hens, ducks, cats, and a couple small children roam the pastures, pathways, and vegetable patch of the Polish Heritage Farm in Cedar. “We came up five years ago [from Hamtramck, a Detroit neighborhood]. We had this vision: doing a farm and raising our kids on a farm, knowing where their food came from,” bubbles Kathleen Bittner Koch.
The “Heavenly” Garden Walk will be held Saturday, Sept. 8, from noon until 6 p.m. at Fr. Ken and Ray Stachnik’s home at 9059 Nelson Street in Cedar. A donation of $15 per person is requested. A tour of the Cedar Fire Station will follow the garden walk. All proceeds benefit the Cedar Fire and Rescue Equipment Fund. Questions may be directed to Ray Pleva at 231- 631-5150.
Victoria Creek has long been a staple of Cedar, and it is about to undergo some significant improvements. The Cedar Community Marina project is set to begin construction in the spring of 2019, bringing with it major changes and a new standard for Cedar’s future.
The air is alive with small town energy as visitors to Cedar are carried from shop to shop by friendly locals and unique treasures. This Michigan town is a marriage of the natural beauty of National Park land and the familiar bustle of Leelanau County. Home to a variety of stores, eateries, and sights, a day-trip to Cedar is one to remember.
A Benefit Dinner & Auction will be held for Randy Weber on Saturday, Oct. 21, at St. Rita’s Hall at 9243 S. Maple City Rd. in Maple City. Randy Weber was seriously injured on Sept. 21 when a tree fell on him as he was cutting wood.
Jeff Katofsky, the new owner of Sugar Loaf, visited the dilapidated onetime ski resort for the first time on Wednesday, Dec. 14 — a biting cold and snowy day in Leelanau County. Katofsky acquired Sugar Loaf from Remo Polselli this fall.