The government shutdown, about to enter its third week, has closed all National Parks, including the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. That is hurting several Empire businesses near the National Lakeshore’s visitor center, and it’s doing so at the slow time of year when they need business the most.
The Empire Area Community Center (EACC) will hold its annual silent auction to benefit the Empire Emergency Fund on Sunday, Dec. 16, from 4-4:45 p.m. The live auction will follow at 5 p.m. in the Empire Township Hall.
Don’t miss Empire’s Artisan Marketplace on Saturday, Nov. 24, from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. at the Empire Township Hall. The annual event is organized by the Empire Area Community Center.
The first weekend of October marks the fifth annual Hops and Harvest Festival in Empire. The village is surrounded by a number of hops farms, many of whom source their hops to breweries throughout the state. Each fall the Empire Chamber of Commerce hosts the festival to celebrate the harvest season with local food, beer and music on Front Street in the village.
A big drawback for business in Empire is the village’s lack of adequate wastewater treatment. Amidst the specter of a shuttered grocery swirls an impassioned, at times contentious, debate over whether the village should invest in a municipal sewer system—either to benefit the core business district or to cover the wastewater needs of most residents.
The Empire Hill Climb returns on Saturday, Sept. 15, and will include all sorts of race cars from homebuilt monsters, to vintage racers, rally cars and drift cars. Autoweek is this year’s event sponsor. Entries are full but a waiting list is available at EmpireHillClimb.com. The event is free to attend.
The Glen Lake Library in Empire has begun another season of Stories and More—the weekly program for preschool kids and their caregivers—on Thursdays at 11 a.m. Joanne “Yogi” Beare shares stories, music, rhymes, and hands-on crafts, creating a fun & engaging environment for young learners.
Come celebrate the anniversary of the raising of Empire’s now-famous anchor from the depths of Lake Michigan in July 1977. The celebration on Saturday, July 21, begins with an Anchor Day Fun Run at 9 a.m. (registration 8:45) at the Empire Beach Park Pavilion.
One day last year, before Grocer’s Daughter Chocolate owners Jody and DC Hayden purchased the retail space next to Margaret Hodge’s Anchor Hardware—across M-22 from the Empire Village Inn—DC counted the number of cars that drove by and determined that Empire gets twice as much traffic north of the M-22 and M-72 intersection than south, where M-22 heads toward Benzie County. That sealed the deal.
The Glen Lake Community Library kicks off building expansion fundraising on Memorial Day weekend at Northwoods Hardware, according to capital campaign chairperson Linda Young. The construction project will transform the present library and will nearly double the space while accommodating the needs of both children and the elderly.