Friends of Sleeping Bear Dunes and Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore will host a kickoff meeting for Adopt-A-Beach volunteers on Saturday, May 31, at 1 p.m. in the Philip A. Hart Visitor Center on M-72 in Empire.
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The Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore wilderness bill passed the House of Representatives yesterday on a voice vote and will head to President Obama’s desk, where he is expected to sign it into law. Congressman Dan Benishek (a Republican representing Northern Michigan) championed the legislation in the House and expects it to be signed within the next couple weeks. Democratic Senator Carl Levin co-sponsored companion legislation that passed the Senate last year.
Just a reminder to mark your calendar for Saturday, Feb. 15 for Winterfest in Empire. Word has it that the fine folks from Grocers Daughter Chocolate Shop will once again serve their fantastic hot chocolate to all who venture down to beach.
I always try to make a few good explorative surf trips when I’m home for the holidays. During the winter, you can usually rely on there being waves in Lake Michigan thanks to the water being (relatively) warm and there being larger gradients in temperature and pressure.
Tickets are now on sale for the North Manitou Island day trip sponsored by the Leelanau Historical Society. The trip is planned for Tuesday, Aug. 20. The Historical Society is planning an enjoyable experience visiting the island, exploring the natural beauty, learning about the history and viewing Preserve Historic Sleeping Bear’s restoration projects. Boat fare, park fee, a guided tour and a box lunch are included. The cost is $65 for members and $80 for non-members. Seating is limited. Pre-paid reservations only. For more information, call the Historical Society at (231) 256-7475 or Preserve Historic Sleeping Bear at (231) 334-6103.
Three years after the July 25, 2010 Kalamazoo River oil spill, this tragedy holds important warning signs for communities and municipal and state governments. Oil pipelines now crisscross the entire country, running through Midwestern states that are not oil producers but have become oil transit zones. Many of them already carry Canadian Tar Sands oil.
The Glen Arbor Art Association will exhibit wooded landscapes by Lynn Uhlmann of Shippensburg, Penn., and part-time resident of Leelanau County. The show is July 26-28 at the Art Association, 6031 S. Lake St., Glen Arbor, with an opening reception on Friday from 6-8 p.m.
Traverse City author Jerry Dennis will read “This Land, This Water: A Winter on the Great Lakes”, excerpted from his book “The Windward Shore” at the July 14 oil pipeline protest at the Mackinac Bridge.
On Sunday, July 14, a group of state and national environmental organizations intend to bring the two lines out of the depths at a noon rally in St. Ignace, Michigan. The goal of “The Oil & Water Don’t Mix Rally”, say organizers, is twofold. The first is to define the potential risks of a leak or rupture to the Great Lakes, the largest body of clean surface freshwater in North America. The second, more ambitious, is to clarify the role that Enbridge and its customers are playing in expanding the transport and processing of a gusher of oil and natural gas under development on the American and Canadian Great Plains, and from the tar sands of Alberta, Canada.
Three generations of descendants of four different Lighthouse Keepers will assemble at the South Manitou Island Lighthouse on July 10. The families of Keepers Aaron Sheridan, Julia Sheridan, James Putnam Burdick and Ron Rosie will be working to restore the historic Fog Whistle Building below the lighthouse in Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.