Nearly 10 years ago, in August 2005, this community newspaper published a celebratory feature story titled “Old Cowboy, New Tricks”, about the late Bill Bricker. In 2011, online commenters using anonymous email addresses suddenly began to allege that Bricker had sexually molested them and other underage boys. The accusations of pedophilia became more and more serious, and seemed to coincide with the Jerry Sandusky child abuse scandal.
The Fine folks at Leelanau Coffee Roasters are “Giving Back” to the community this Friday, Dec. 19, from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m., with a Customer Appreciation Day combined with a fundraising effort for the Empire Area Community Emergency Fund and the Empire Food Bank.
The Glen Lake Library will host a presentation by Susanne Simpson, a senior series producer of PBS Masterpiece programs, on Tuesday, Dec. 23 at 4 p.m., at the Glen Arbor Township Hall. Susanne will provide behind-the-scenes insights about critically acclaimed programs such as Downton Abbey, Sherlock and Mr. Selfridge. A graduate of the University of Michigan, Susanne was a producer for NOVA for 20 years. She has twice been nominated for Academy Awards, and has received two Emmy Awards. Her presentation is made possible by the Friends of the Glen Lake Library.
Members of the Glen Lake Garden Club attached roping and bows onto the Carl Oleson, Jr. Memorial Bridge at the Glen Lake Narrows the weekend before Thanksgiving. The garden club has decorated the bridge at the Narrows each year, except during bridge construction, for over 15 years. The approximately 80 club members fund the project, make the bows, customize the roping, and hang the greens in time to welcome everyone to the Glen Lake area for Thanksgiving.
When Randy met Mari, it was loathe at first sight. “She’d just moved back (to Northern Michigan) from California,” said Randy Chamberlain, who is today the chef-owner of the Glen Arbor restaurant Blu. But when Randy met Mari Patton, he was sous chef, the deputy head chef at Windows, an Elmwood Township restaurant. This was the 1980s, and Mari Patton had brought back with her all sorts of West Coastisms, including “purple highlights” in her “wavvy” hair. “So before there was any interaction or conversation, (I) immediately had an impression of her,” Randy said of Windows’ newly hired server. “It was something you’d sneer at.”
I’ve fielded the “Whaddaya do up there all winter?” question. A lot. I’m a seasonal employee at a retail establishment in Glen Arbor. My place of employment is visited during the summer and fall months by out-of-towners, many of whom express a reasonable curiosity about life UpNorth after summer’s omnipresent sunny-ness fades. One such inquisitor was completely sold on Glen Arbor in the summer. But the winter? Not so much, she said.
It’s here again. A Glen Arbor original, “better than a bustling city’s Black Friday,” our version of the day-after-Thanksgiving shopping, is the annual PJ party, on Friday morning, Nov. 28, from 5-8 a.m.
On Thursday, October 16, Glen Arbor resident and business owner Chris Sack posted photos on his Facebook page that showed the basement of his home on M-109, west of Glen Arbor, flooding with water. But Sack’s frustration fell on deaf ears. Later that evening, at the Township Hall in Glen Arbor, State Representative Ray Franz (Republican) concluded a townhall forum by calling Climate Change “a hoax”.
Celebrated professional gardener, author, and historic landscape authority Peter J. Hatch will visit Leelanau County, Oct. 1-3, for a series of public lectures and programs. Hatch served as director of Gardens and Grounds at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello for 35 years and has published four books on Monticello’s botanic legacy including A Rich Spot of Earth: Thomas Jefferson’s Revolutionary Garden at Monticello. He lectures extensively on Jefferson and the history of garden plants, and currently consults on public garden projects and private estate landscapes.
Traverse City artist Lisa Perrine Brown will talk about her sewn and woven maps on Sunday, Sept. 21, 1 p.m. at Center Gallery, 6023 S. Lake St., Glen Arbor. Brown began interpreting maps of local waterways and landform in 2012. After enlarging the maps, Brown translates them into woven tapestries and sewn constructions that use both new and recycled fiber materials. These works are part of an exhibition of contemporary fiber at Center Gallery, also featuring Stephen Kostyshyn’s woven vessels and mixed media clay forms by Kathy Brady.