The Leelanau Peninsula Chamber of Commerce will hold its first annual Bird Fest, June 1-5. This event is billed as “a unique birding festival with a conservation theme.” The festival will offer a wide variety of unique field trips including Birding by Tallship, endangered Great Lakes Piping Plovers, a 300 acre prairie, and pontoon boat to the Leelanau Conservancy’s Cedar River Preserve.
The Glen Arbor Art Association (GAAA) will present the next event in its popular “Talk About Art” series at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 31 at the GAAA building, 6000 Pine St., in Glen Arbor. The talk is free and open to the public. The evening’s speaker will be Traverse City artist Flora Ricca Hoffman, whose wide-ranging practice includes printmaking and construction of found-object assemblages.
Life in Japan was turned upside down on March 11. A 9.0 earthquake struck in the north of Japan, followed by a massive tsunami. The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, damaged by the tsunami, stands at the brink of nuclear meltdown. Tens of thousands are dead or missing. Entire towns were wiped off the map. In a country that is ostensibly well developed and best prepared to deal with such natural disasters, the authorities and the people appear to be at a total loss.
Dan Gilmartin is the executive director of the Michigan Municipal League and is recognized as a leader in local government reform. He was one of the speakers at a Placemaking Summit in Traverse City. Watch the video to find out why Gilmartin thinks it’s important for Michigan to have competitive places.
Mlive.com published a wonderful story on Sunday by our friend Kim Schneider, titled “State, national parks offer programs for artists”, which highlights what the local branch of the National Park service has contributed to our thriving local art scene.
The National Park Service (NPS) is planning to prepare an Environmental Assessment (EA) for a Great Lakes Invasive Plant Management Plan (IPMP) for the following 10 parks located in the Great Lakes region: Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, Grand Portage National Monument, Ice Age National Scenic Trail, Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, Isle Royale National Park, Mississippi National River and Recreation Area, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, St. Croix National Scenic River, and Voyageurs National Park.
Northern Michigan legislator Ray Franz, who often talked about repealing a Michigan law requiring that 10 percent of the state’s energy come from renewable sources tells the Michigan Land Use Institute he will no longer pursue the matter.
The Sleeping Bear is a low budget indie movie being funded outside any major studios, by RCW Pictures, and by the generosity of contributors who believe in the script, the filmmakers, and the actors involved. Almost the entire cast and crew of The Sleeping Bear met in film school or shortly thereafter, as interns and assistants in Los Angeles, New York, or Michigan.
Filmmaker Jack Cronin filmed this black & white montage at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore over the course of three years. Cronin writes on his website, “the film, which loosely follows the cycle of seasons, is a study of the landscape and an attempt to represent the unique character of this region.” Since 2010, it has been screening all across the Midwest, and earlier this year won awards for the “Best Experimental,” Best Editing-Short,” and “Best Michigan Short Film” at the Detroit Independent Film Festival.
On Sunday, March 13, CBS featured this video of our Glen Arbor gem, Lou Batori, skiing at 100 years old. Journalist Bill Geist caught up with Lou on the slopes of the annual gathering of Midwest chapter of the 70+ ski club in Nubs Nob in northern Michigan and watched as he hit the racecourse.