Kerry Kelly, chairman of Friends of Sleeping Bear Dunes, reports on Sunday, March 16, that grooming on the Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail is probably over for the year. It was a great year for skiing, but the warm weather and rain followed by freezing left us with an ice rink.
Singer-songwriter Blake Elliott makes some of her signature music at the Glen Arbor Art Association’s next “Talk About Art” interview. This versatile musician writes the music — a rich fusion of funk/blues/indie folk — and the lyrics she sings. Elliott, a Traverse City resident, creates music inspired by the natural beauty of her home and “this big adventure called ‘Life.’” Her instrument of choice is the guitar, and she and Talk About Art host Sarah Bearup-Neal will talk about how it’s helping her make her way through a maze of concert dates and the brave new world of recorded music.
A new National Park Service report shows that 1,531,560 visitors to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in 2012 spent nearly $152 million in communities near the Park. That spending supported 2,818 jobs in the local area.
In the Talk About Art series Sarah Bearup-Neal conducts live interviews with local and regional artists about their art making and thinking. These insightful interviews take place monthly at 7:30 p.m., at the Glen Arbor Art Association (GAAA) at no charge.
Check out this video, provided by Friends of Sleeping Bear’s Kerry Kelly, of the Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail’s grooming machine at work. The conditions are great, so get out there and cross-country ski!
Escape from the winter blues at the 14th annual Glen Arbor Winterfest on Saturday, Feb. 15. Festivities start at 7 a.m. with the beginning of the Perch Fishing Contest, with prizes for forest through fourth place catches. All participants will bring their biggest catches from Big and Little Glen to the Sportsman Shop at 1 p.m., and winners will be crowned. Entry fee for this event is $20, and all ages are welcome to participate.
Mark Evans is nothing if not determined. The eco-tourism guide and explorer has led expeditions deep into the wild to view grizzly bears in British Columbia and whales in Antarctica, and has developed canopy walks in the Australian outback. Evans, who was raised in South Africa and lives in Canada, now has his eyes set on Leelanau County’s forests and the arboreal view of the Glen Lakes.
The Pathways to Sleeping Bear campaign reached the $2 million milestone in private fundraising. Campaign Co-Chair Carol Quarderer and her husband George shared, “We are thrilled and grateful to hit the $2 million mark in fundraising for the Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail. We deeply appreciate the support and generosity of our donors. This beautiful trail will continue to bring many benefits to both our local community and visitors.”
Trail enthusiasts are invited to a Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail Open House on Saturday, Feb. 15, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the historic log cabin in D.H. Day Campground. Please stop by while you are out skiing or snowshoeing to enjoy complimentary cookies and coffee from Cherry Republic as well as hot chocolate from Grocer’s Daughter Chocolate.
In a rare and extensive interview with the Glen Arbor Sun today, Remo Polselli admitted that he is the owner of Sugar Loaf resort, through his share in Rok Investments LLC. Polselli did not specify the extent of his ownership, or who else is involved in the corporation, but added that Liko Smith has no — nor has had any — part of Rok Investments.