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Run faster than the Bear

On July 28, the Running Bear 5K Run/Walk & ½ Mile Kids’ Run takes off for its ninth year. What makes a beautiful summer day even better? Spending it with family and friends who take the challenge. You can run or walk the 5K. Runners compete in 10 different age categories from 10 & under to 80+ with first and second place metals and prizes in each from Cherry Republic and Crystal River Outfitters and the Cyclery. In addition, we have the ½ Mile Kids’ Run for our younger runners. They get to run with the Bear and take home a ribbon and coupons for an ice cream cone from Riverfront Ice Cream and for a game of miniature golf from Dale’s of Glen Arbor. Bring the whole family and enjoy a great day.

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Is a home near work in Glen Arbor an impossible dream?

Ever wonder why so few young families live year-round near Glen Arbor? Here’s the story of one couple who tried to live here just last year and couldn’t.

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Top stories of 2014: canopy air walk; Doc Houghton, Sugar Loaf

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The most popular Glen Arbor Sun story of 2014 was an investigative article in February that featured a proposed canopy air walk in Kasson Township, near Burdickville, that never materialized. Local opposition to Mark Evan’s “air walk” was nearly unanimous, and passionate. Our story attracted thousands of views, and 55 comments.

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Pre-Columbian Native American pottery re-discovered in Dunes

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Cherry Republic employee Andrew Moore found more than radiant fall colors and beachgrass on a walk in the Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes earlier this fall. He came across shards of clay that appear to be specimens of Native American pottery from long before the white man landed in the Americas.

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Proposed Sleeping Bear Bay to Bay Trail meanders through support and opposition

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A “Bay to Bay” hiking, paddling and camping trail proposed for the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore has generated excitement among local business owners and recreation enthusiasts but also attracted significant opposition from private property landowners who live near the trail’s potential route. Staff at the National Lakeshore have subsequently slowed planning for the Bay to Bay Trail initiative. They extended the public comment period by an extra month this fall, and have drawn out the project’s scoping phase until next summer.

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Paddling Across Lake Michigan

By the time you read this, Andrew Pritchard, Kwin Morris, Jeff Guy, Joe Lorenz and J Mueller may be sitting at Frankfort’s Stormcloud Brewery, tipping back a round of well-deserved pints. Or they may be still en route, traversing 60 miles across Lake Michigan, from Wisconsin to Frankfort beach on standup paddleboards. The goal of the journey is to raise $10,000 for the Alliance for the Great Lakes, which has preserved and protected the “freshwater seas” since 1970.

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Talented Mr. and Mrs. Ripley win Running Bear Run again

The best overall male and female runners at Glen Arbor’s eighth annual Running Bear Run on July 22 was a married couple. Zach Ripley established a new course record, breaking his previous record, with a time of 15:31. His wife, Andi, won the overall women’s category with a time of 18:47. The Grand Rapids couple celebrates their fifth anniversary by camping in the area. “This is the second time we’re run in this race, and we love it,” said Andi. “This area is a little gem in Michigan, and Cherry Republic is one of our favorite places.” This is the second race where the Ripleys won the overall male/female categories.

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A Glen Arbor staple, Cherry Republic celebrates 25 years

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Bob Sutherland has had quite the year. On March 6, the Cherry Republic CEO hiked from Pyramid Point across frozen Lake Michigan to North Manitou Island (16 miles round trip). This month, Sutherland’s company Cherry Republic—Glen Arbor’s largest employer and a poster child of the Northern Michigan tourism industry—celebrates its 25th anniversary with a party in Glen Arbor on July 25-26.

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Glen Arbor celebrates grand re-openings and anniversaries

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Glen Arbor and the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore area enjoyed an economic and tourism boom in the mid-1990s, and now the businesses borne of that boom are coming of age. Brad Anderson was a youthful 27 years old when he bought Steffens IGA in 1994 from Bill and Jan Heston and renamed it Anderson’s Market. Bit by bit he updated the interior and modernized the inventory, but not until this year did the grocery store in the heart of Glen Arbor get a complete facelift.

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Talented Mr. Ripley smashes Running Bear Run course record

Zack Ripley took first place at the Running Bear Run in Glen Arbor on July 23 with a 5K time of 15:37. The previous course record was 16:06. The Grand Rapids native ran with his wife Andi, who placed first in her age category. Ripley is a high school English and Social Studies teacher. “I usually run 10K races but we thought this would be a fun race to celebrate our fourth wedding anniversary”, he said.

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