Locals know a secret about Leelanau County winters. The season lends reprieve from chaos, re-rooting and grounding us after the busy, crowded summer season. Having this sacred place to ourselves for a fleeting moment allows for deeper camaraderie and connection to place. Tandem Ciders co-owners Dan Young and Nikki Rothwell have hosted a wassail celebration at their tasting room on Setterbo Road north of Suttons Bay since 2009, offering an opportunity for locals to connect with each other under the constellations in the depths of Leelanau’s winter. At Tandem Cider’s 16th annual wassail celebration, buoyant echoes of raucous partiers standing around a bonfire are somehow harmonious with the silence that vibrates from the black, night sky of deep winter. A collection of familiar faces represents a community slow to change, slow to grow, until the Covid migration occurred. These are faces that connect our past to this place we call home.
