In the primary election on Tuesday, Aug. 4, the 46 percent of eligible Leelanau County voters who cast ballots sided with the winners of those races. Leelanau voters also approved all the township millages put before them. Leelanau voted for the following primary winners: Abdul El-Sayed for Senate, Jack Bergman and Callie Barr for the Congressional race, and Jocelyn Benson and John James for the governor’s race.
For Jabo Bihlman, music is a calling. The Traverse City guitarist, singer and songwriter performs at clubs, wineries, and on Aug. 5 at Music On The Mountain at The Homestead. But he also works with television networks and streaming services. He’s a producer and engineer at his home-based recording studio. And he tours nationally and internationally. Not bad for a kid who hated guitar. “I had a couple lessons when I was 10 or 12 and hated it. I was a jock—in high school I played football and pole vaulted.”
“It is easy to fly a flag over a house that sits empty half the year,” writes Cameron Krepps in this op-ed about the unaffordability for many to live, or remain, in Leelanau County, which the Sun published in our July 30 edition. “It is easy to talk about independence while depending on people who can no longer afford to live near the work they do. That is the part nobody wants to say out loud.”
Two forest stewards bring to life the world of Northern Michigan’s woodland 250 years before—at the time of the nation’s founding—and after. Woodland Home: A History Of A Place takes place at the Glen Arbor Arts Center on August 1 at 11 am, with Dave Fenlon, Interpretive Park Ranger with Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore; and Mae Wright, Tribal Historic Preservation Officers with the Little Traverse Bay Band of Odawa Indians. The program is free and is offered as part of the GAAC’s American Tree exhibit.
In 1944, the Smokey Bear public awareness campaign launched with the famous tagline, “Only YOU can prevent forest fires.” Poorly extinguished campfires, reckless use of fireworks, even smoldering cigarette butts carelessly discarded can ignite a woodland conflagration of immense and tragic proportions. And then there’s the CO2 emissions tinderbox we’ve created. According to the Canadian Climate Institute, “Accelerating climate change, largely from the burning of fossil fuels, makes wildfires bigger, hotter, and more destructive.” Now it’s all come home—to my home and yours.
Lace up your running shoes for one of Michigan’s most scenic race courses. The 16th Annual Port Oneida Run will take place on Saturday, August 1, a fundraising event hosted by the nonprofit park partner Sleeping Bear Forever (formerly Preserve Historic Sleeping Bear). Click here to register.
For more than two decades, the Port Oneida Fair during the first weekend in August has stood out as a memorable part of the Leelanau summer experience. However, the Sun reported in late June that this year’s event, Aug. 7-8, will be the final Port Oneida Fair. Public attendance at the Port Oneida Fair peaked at 4,392 visitors in 2012, according to the National Lakeshore’s count. Only once since then has the number topped 4,000 (4,140 showed in 2017). In fact, the tally dipped below 3,000 after 2019 and never rebounded. According to Park metrics, only 2,000 attended last year’s fair—less than half of the 2012 peak.
Many (many) moons ago, a close friend invited writer Tim Mulherin to visit the Grand Traverse region for the first time. While showing him some of the myriad fantastic scenic areas during his long-weekend trip, the friend made a cynical remark that stuck with Tim: “Welcome to the playground of the rich.” Fast-forward to the present day and an epiphany sparked by, of all things, a cheeseburger.
A rose by any other name would smell as sweet. So said Juliet in the Bard’s most famous work. But would Leelanau really be such a land of delight if that’s not what its name really meant? Spoiler alert: The name Leelanau doesn’t come from any Native American source. That’s despite the stories that have sprung up around it, some of which were spread by the person who came up with the name. Many of the county’s locations have stories surrounding their names. Start with Sleeping Bear Dunes, the story of which is well-known. Mama bear and her cubs swam across Lake Michigan to escape a forest fire. When Mama reached shore, she looked back, waiting for her cubs. She eventually became the sand dunes, while the cubs became the Manitou Islands.
Please join the Glen Arbor Women’s Club at the Running Bear 5K Run/Walk & ½ Mile Kids’ Run on Tuesday, July 28. Come out and take the challenge as the run takes off for its 19th 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. As a chip timed event, the Women’s Club has 16 categories from 10 & under to 80+ as well as an Overall Best Award for our top male and female runner. Winners will receive medals and prizes from Cherry Republic and Crystal River Outfitters and The Cyclery. Ninety percent of all proceeds go for college scholarships for Glen Lake students with the balance going for community projects.