glen arbor storm

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Celebrate family fun on the Fourth of July

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The joy commences when the parade lines up at 10:30 am in the historic maritime village of Glen Haven; it builds along M-109 as children shout and wave, and it crescendos when the force of floats, classic cars, boats on trailers, and fire trucks arrive shortly after noon to delight the throngs of thousands gathered along the roadside in downtown Glen Arbor. Following the vehicles on foot is a Leelanau County version of a New Orleans Second Line Parade: a trumpeter, a kazoo corps, kids tossing newspapers, Elvis impersonators, environmental nonprofit volunteers, and activists whose handmade signs and electioneering messages remind us that the Fourth of July most certainly is a political holiday—an anniversary of a subversive, dangerous, and revolutionary act that shook the world—and whose founding document boasts a core message that seems more relevant today than ever. This year’s honorary grand marshal is Carol Worsley, a celebrated chef and owner of the Thyme Inn bed and breakfast who has lived at least of part of the year in Glen Arbor for more than 60 years. As per tradition, Worsley will ride in a convertible at the front of the parade.

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Cross-country moonlight Sonata … at midnight

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This reflection on a nocturnal Alligator Hill ski was first published in our Winter 2000 edition. The alligator’s new look, following the Aug. 2, 2015, storm, prompted us to revisit these words.

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Ten years after Glen Arbor’s megastorm: Vicious winds birthed Patrick Niemisto’s song “Sand”

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Local musician Patrick Niemisto was just set to play at the Little Traverse Inn when the big storm of August 2, 2015, came howling through. He had set up inside as everyone knew big weather was coming. “Suddenly there was stuff flying in the air outside, and the power went out right away. M-22 was blocked just east of the Inn, and stranded folks came into the Inn and hung out,” he recalled. So Niemisto played acoustic music for “three or four” hours, then managed to pick his way home on back roads. The megastorm that pummeled Glen Arbor on that memorable Sunday afternoon 10 years ago packed straight-line wind speeds of more than 100 miles per hour—equivalent to a tornado or a type-2 hurricane. The winds toppled tens of thousands of trees, particularly on Alligator Hill and on the north side of Big Glen Lake, and knocked out power for a week during the height of the tourism season. No one died, desperate several near misses and dramatic stories. We devoted our entire Aug. 13, 2015, edition to coverage of the storm and Glen Arbor’s community resilience that followed, as neighbors helped neighbors. Much of the nation tuned into the coverage: “Glen Arbor” was briefly the top trending term on Facebook, and in the days after the Aug. 2 storm, our website, GlenArbor.com, attracted more than 100,000 views.

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Historic Glen Arbor Cemetery hosts fifth annual Memorial Ceremony

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See 67 newly placed headstones placed on formerly unknown and unmarked graves at the historic Glen Arbor Cemetery on Friday, May 24. Previously, 13 marked graves were the only ones known to be there. Then, one year ago, Glen Arbor Township employed ground-penetrating radar (GPR), revealing 75 unmarked graves and a “potter’s field” which holds additional remains. The 10 am ceremony will feature a eulogy of Civil War veteran Edmund Trumbull, poetry by Anne-Marie Oomen, taps by Norm Wheeler, and the Glen Lake eighth graders will claim the names of those buried at the cemetery whom they each have studied.

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Susan Yamasaki finds wonder in birch bark art

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Susan Yamasaki has been a Leelanau County resident for 18 years. Like many people here, she loves to walk in the woods. She lives on a hill up the road from Big Glen Lake and her home was in the line of devastation from straight line winds in the storm of 2015, when so many trees were downed. One of the trees was a very old birch tree. She began collecting bark from the fallen trees. Birch bark is naturally waterproof and does not rot easily. “They give and have given us so much in their lifetimes,” she says, “Their last stage is to decompose into the soil, providing nutrients and shelter for other living things. She decided she wanted to make something from that bark that honored the life of the tree. Come see Yamasaki’s birch bark assemblages at Lake Street Studios from Aug. 4-10. A reception for her will be held 6-8 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 4.

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Glen Arbor Arts Center features “Sign of the Times” and “Mapping Home”

An historic wind storm ripped through Leelanau County in early August 2015, leveling acres of woodland, forest, and residential structures.The broken remains of sheds, docks and other wood structures provided the raw materials for two young entrepreneurs to turn destruction into construction. Siblings Bella and Zack Pryor talk about the small business they created on July 21 at 2 pm at the Glen Arbor Arts Center, 6031 S. Lake St., Glen Arbor. This program is open to public at no charge.

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Glen Arbor Arts Center celebrates wood

Celebrate wood—the material, the place, the state of mind—at the opening reception for “Wood, Woods, Wooden,” the Glen Arbor Arts Center’s (GAAC) second exhibition of 2019, on Friday, March 8, from 6-8 p.m. in the GAAC gallery, located at 6031 S. Lake St. in Glen Arbor.

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Three years after the storm, a new landscape blooms

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Three years ago, on Aug. 2, 2015, a derecho storm with hurricane-force, straight-line winds pummeled Glen Arbor, destroying forests, knocking out power and changed the landscape for a generation. Then the cleanup, the rebuilding and the landscaping began. For her work on the “Bitter Sweet Lane” property on Glen Lake, local landscaper and gardener extraordinaire Cre Woodard recently won an award from the Michigan Nursery and Landscape Association (MNLA), which honors “those in the green industry that have demonstrated excellence, professionalism and responsible environmental standards.”

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Sleeping Bear Dunes offers severe weather training 101

Interested in being able to recognize approaching weather patterns and report your findings to the National Weather Service? If so, as a severe weather spotter, you can play a pivotal role in helping the National Weather Service identify and report dangerous storms that can ultimately tore through an area and cause major damage.

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Before and After the Storm (a photo essay)

This photo essay looks back at the devastation caused by the storm on Aug. 2, 2015, that ravaged Glen Arbor and the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, and where we are today.

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