This week is Earth Week, with Earth Day honored on Tuesday, April 22. It’s also National Park Week. Events in Leelanau County include a rally on Tuesday at 3 pm in Empire to support Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore—which has faced deep spending cuts and a hiring freeze by the Trump administration. Meanwhile, the Leelanau Conservancy offers opportunities each day this week, starting tomorrow, to join hikes, volunteer, attend a trivia night, and learn about local efforts to preserve trees.
Last spring, a farmer in Centerville Township started applying a kind of fertilizer to his fields: Sewage pumped from septic tanks, often called “septage.” That kicked off a local fight about whether it’s legal to apply that septage waste and sparked concerns about contaminating the land and water. Neighbors and officials concerned about the use of septage to fertilize fields pointed to the township’s zoning ordinance which requires a special permit for septage application on land. But Centerville Township attorney Chris Bzdok said at a township board meeting in mid-March that their hands are tied when it comes to stopping the use of septic tank waste on a local farm. The site falls under the purview of the state Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy, which had granted a permit to use septage at that site. This story was originally reported by Interlochen Public Radio in mid-March.
Artists in northern Michigan are known for landscape paintings: Green hills plunging into blue water, sunsets over Lake Michigan. But Nik Burkhart’s landscapes are a little different than most. His black and white paintings depict ripped out, cut down cherry orchards and ask questions about the region’s changing landscape. This story was adapted from a radio piece last month by Interlochen Public Radio.
Lane Frame was 12 years old when he saw the Great Lakes for the first time. According to his aunt, Joy Frame, he was very excited. It was September 21, 2020. Lane was in Michigan on a family vacation. The family drove up from Tennessee, and stopped in Frankfort—a small, Lake Michigan beach community. Jewell Frame II—Lane’s uncle and Joy’s husband—thought the lake was the ocean. A vast difference between the smaller lakes they were used to. This story was adapted from Points North, a podcast by Interlochen Public Radio.
It’s early April, and Jim VerSnyder is sitting at a big stainless-steel table that’s covered in fish blood at Carlson’s Fishery in one of the historic Fishtown shanties in Leland. He’s got a long, sharp knife in one hand, and with the other, he reaches into a bin filled with ice, pulls out a fish, and plops it on a cutting board, reports Dan Wanschura in this story adapted from a podcast for Interlochen Public Radio. Right now, the value of an average Great Lakes whitefish is around $15. But there’s a project that’s trying to double—even triple that amount in the next several years. And it does that by finding ways to use parts of the fish that are often thrown away. This project is based on a success story in Iceland.
The Glen Arbor Arts Center and Interlochen Public Radio are once again bringing free community pop-up performances to businesses and public locations around the region. Between June 3-15 the Fivemind Reeds Quintet will play at spots including the Glen Lake Narrows (pictured here), the Arts Center front porch, the Leelanau School beach, and the Glen Lake Library in Empire. For more information, click here.
Do you know how Sex got its name? Did you know Mawby wine has been to the North Pole? Do you want to know what the Leelanau County winemaker has planned for the next 50 years? Join Mawby for a sparkling evening of stories, both old and new, at the Bay Theatre in Suttons Bay on Thursday, Nov. 16, at 6 pm. Interlochen Public Radio news director Peter Payette will sit down to talk with with founder Larry Mawby and current owners Mike and Peter Laing.
The Traverse City Dance Project returns as part of the Glen Arbor Arts Center’s (GAAC) 2023 Manitou Music lineup. The performance is July 29 at 7 pm at Nash Road Red Barn, located at 9805 Nash Road near Maple City. Sponsored by the GAAC and Interlochen Public Radio, and hosted by Pine Street Studios, the Traverse City Dance Project’s performance will feature original choreography, live music, and professional dancers from around the country.
To enhance its presence and augment its own legacy, the Glen Arbor Arts Center has developed a new program, Late Night Fridays (LNF). Designed to facilitate further creative engagement with the community, the GAAC Main Gallery will be open to the public every Friday from 5 to 8 p.m., June 9 through Aug. 25. Additionally, LNF includes four events this summer: two opening receptions for art exhibitions and two Front Porch Concerts. “We’re keeping the lights on a little longer on Friday nights this summer during Light Night Fridays,” shared Sarah Bearup-Neal, GAAC gallery manager.
A variety of sounds will fill the air during the Manitou Music series this year, from piano to saxophones to drums, drums and more drums. The series began in late April and concludes Aug. 24 with New Music Detroit’s take on chamber music, featuring works by 20th century composers. It’s all part of bringing the community together through and with music, according to Glen Arbor Art Center executive director Sarah Kime. She points to the PULSE Saxophone Quartet, which will perform at various locales around the area from June 12 to June 25.