The Manitou Music Festival is celebrating its 22nd season of diverse concerts featuring jazz, classical, blues, folk, country, celtic, bluegrass and world music in some of Michigan’s most idyllic settings. The festival showcases regionally and nationally known artists performing in beautiful Glen Arbor.
This year’s Cottage Antique Market is certain to be as fabulous as last year’s event. It will be held at the Cottage Book Shop, at 5989 Lake Street in Glen Arbor on Wednesday, July 18, the same day as the Glen Arbor Art Fair. Midwest dealers from Michigan, Wisconsin and Iowa will sell their antique and vintage goods including antique, vintage, rustic, hand painted and shabby chic furniture; vintage jewelry and jewelry fashioned from old pieces; fishing and hunting decoys and collectibles; home and garden pieces; pottery and china; and unique items for cottage and home décor.
Two-year-old Billy Caraher rides the rig during the Glen Lake Fire Department’s annual Pancake Breakfast on July 1. His grandparents, Milwaukee natives Ron & Peggy Creten, have vacationed on Little Glen Lake for over 30 years.
Glen Arbor jeweler Becky Thatcher’s Tuesday Tea & Talk series — now in its 17th or 18th year (even Thatcher herself is no longer sure how long it has run) — is a creative enough idea, but its origin is a story all of its own.
Glen Arbor artist Beth Bricker’s home turf is small by design. Her selective focus on two areas of Leelanau County is the subject of an exhibition of new paintings that opens July 13 at the Center Gallery in Glen Arbor.
Among the many Fourth of July celebrations in Leelanau County, one of the longest running may be the Flag Raising Ceremony held at the century-plus Old Settlers Picnic Grounds in Burdickville. Sponsored by the Glen Lake Women’s Club, chairwoman Josephine Zara promises “an old-fashioned, country flag-raising,” beginning at 10 o’clock with services by local Cub Scout Pack #111. Retired United States Navy officer Peter Van Nort of Glen Arbor, who served with Admiral Hyman G. Rickover, will give the address, “We Are the People.” Soprano Susan Pocklington of Empire will perform “The Star-Spangled Banner,” accompanied by Maple City’s Patrick Niemisto on keyboard, Amy Peterson on flute, and David Watt on drum, both of Glen Arbor. A community sing-along, free flags for the children, cookies and lemonade will conclude the event.
Glen Arbor and Empire farmers’ markets offer much more than you might imagine. For starters, each sells the best berry ever to top a shortcake. And that’s just on opening day. Glowing beneath market canopies during my visit in mid-June are plump, sweet strawberries. Quarts and quarts of them in their cute, cardboard suits.
Glen Arbor is a small world with serendipitous encounters happening all the time. Last summer yielded one such instance, and the result is that the only known 1948 Ford from the Dunesmobile fleet will lead this year’s Fourth of July Parade.
The Manitou Music Festival concert series kicks off Tuesday, July 3 at7 p.m. with everyone’s perennial favorite patriotic tunes to be performed by the Northport Concert Band, the pride of Leelanau County. This free concert takes place on the lawn of the Glen Arbor Athletic Club at 6363 Western Avenue. Bring your friends and family, lawn chairs and blankets … and patriotic spirit. In the event of rain, the band will perform at the Glen Arbor Town Hall. The Manitou Music Festival is presented by the Glen Arbor Art Association and the entire schedule can be found at glenarborart.org.
The lunch counter/ice cream shop south of the Glen Lake Narrows has a new owner once again. But this summer her caretakers may have the mojo, and the business strategy, to make the business succeed.