Empire Area Community Center

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Afternoon-long fundraiser concert returns to Lively Acres

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It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood. The Lively neighborhood, that is, as the compound on M-72 readies to host Lively NeighborFest 2026 on May 24. Jim Lively says the event is an opportunity for neighbors to gather together around local food and music, while supporting two local non-profits, the Empire Area Community Center (EACC) and LIFT (Leelanau Investing For Teens). “The beautiful thing is it’s the second annual NeighborFest. It’s just like last year, except better,” he says with a laugh. Part campground, part farm market and camp store, part restaurant and part concert venue, the site also is home to the Lively Farm. Add it all up, and you’ve got the perfect site for a day-long party.

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Empire holds Winterfest on Saturday, February 21

As northern Michigan continues to experience a very snowy and cold winter, the Empire Area Community Center (EACC) plans to embrace the elements with the annual Empire Winterfest. Events will be hosted throughout the village of Empire on Saturday, Feb. 21, including the long-standing tradition of a polar plunge in South Bar Lake.

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Harvest with Heart Deer Donation Program feeds Empire Food Pantry

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A collaboration between Buntings Cedar Market, local deer hunters, the Empire Area Community Center (EACC), and the Empire Area Community Food Pantry is supplying high-quality protein to families experiencing food insecurity during this hunting season, which runs the second half of November. A total of 14 deer (and counting) have been donated by local hunters to the Harvest with Heart Deer Donation Program, just a couple day into this year’s rifle hunting season. The initiative is financially supported locally by donations through EACC and its new Basic Needs Initiative Fund, which launched during the federal government shutdown and pause in SNAP benefits. Venison processed at Buntings will be donated to the Empire Food Pantry, which is run out of the Glen Lake Church in Burdickville.

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Government cuts SNAP benefits, local organizations step up to help

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County residents in need of food assistance flock each Monday afternoon to Leelanau Christian Neighbors, where the food pantry shelves are stocked with fresh vegetables, from onions to butternut squash, and canned goods that cover all the food groups. Some lined up early on Nov. 3, two days after the federal government froze funding for SNAP—more commonly known as food stamps—which approximately 42 million Americans rely on for food each month. The floodgates weren’t open yet. “Now this is the month they’ll get way behind,” LCN executive director Mary Stanton predicted. “I’m anticipating December and January will be tough—especially as utilities kick in. But we’ve had a great outpouring of the community anticipating that it will get bad.” At a perilous moment for working people, Leelanau Christian Neighbors are stepping up, along with other community organizations including Food Rescue and the Northwest Food Coalition, 5 Loaves 2 Fish, the Empire Area Food Pantry, Folded Leaf, Lively NeighborFood Market, Art’s Tavern and the Empire Area Community Center—all of which have pledged additional support.

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Winterfest, polar plunge, returns to Empire

As Leelanau County embraces a snowy winter, the Empire Area Community Center (EACC) plans to revive a favorite winter tradition — the Empire Winterfest. Events will be hosted throughout the village on Saturday, Feb. 22. Winterfest was last held in Empire in 2018, but had been celebrated for decades before. The most well-known event — a polar plunge in South Bar Lake — will return this year, along with a number of other activities including public saunas, a neighbor coffee hour, potluck, and live music. 

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Empire to honor Michigan Author Award winner Anne-Marie Oomen

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Empire writer Anne-Marie Oomen has received the 2024 Michigan Author Award, an award given by the State Library of Michigan to a Michigan author for lifetime achievement. In celebration of this honor, the Empire Area Community Center and Glen Lake Community Library Friends of the Library will hold a reception in honor of her award and to celebrate her books on Sunday, Sept. 8, from 4-7 pm at the Empire Town Hall. Oomen is author of eight nonfiction books, editor of two anthologies, and co-author of two tales of fiction for young people. She has won numerous awards over the years. The Michigan Author Award is given through a nomination process from librarians and others, and David Diller of the Glen Lake Community Library was one of the nominators this year. “I’m so grateful to the librarians I’ve worked with over the years, but our local library has become particularly special to me,” said Oomen.

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Empire benefit honors local artist Karen Jacob

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Empire resident and esteemed artist Karen Jacob will be honored at a special exhibit and celebration, “The Art of Karen Jacob,” on Friday and Saturday, August 23-24, at the Township Hall on Front Street in Empire. The exhibit is a charitable event, with all proceeds from art sales and donations contributed to the Michigan League of Conservation Voters Education Fund and the Empire Area Community Center. More than a hundred original works will be displayed. The exhibit will be open all day on August 23 and 24.

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Art’s hosts Beach Bards, Jim Crockett for Empire Area Community benefit concert

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.

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Captain Gerry Shiffman offers sailing excursions to at-risk youth

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The goal of Empire resident Gerry Shiffman’s Seaside Sailing Excursions & Charity Charters is to take at-risk and underprivileged youth out for sailing adventures at no cost. Anyone who pays to sail automatically supports that mission. Shiffman’s is a carpe diem story of seizing opportunities. He grew up in Toronto, left a dysfuctional home six weeks after turning 16, and immigrated to the United States in 1978. The following year he started Master Plaster Patcher in Grand Rapids, refurbishing many of the former furniture barons’ Victorian homes. Shiffman helped start the Empire Area Community Center as president in 2011. The organization holds concerts to raise money for locals who have fallen on hard times while also protecting their anonymity.

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Art’s Tavern hosts Jim Crockett and Beach Bards, April 30

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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.

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