“I didn’t grow up farming. Farming wasn’t even on my radar, though we always had a garden where we lived in the suburbs,” begins Michelle Ferrarese, owner, farmer and prime motivator of Birch Point Farm, located between Lake Leelanau and Bugai Road, northwest of Traverse City.
With a face as weathered as one of the boulders from his fields, and a blunt demeanor to match, Glen Noonan presents a formidable figure in the complex social and geographical landscapes of Leelanau County. This farmer, businessman, political fixture and quiet benefactor to many has plowed his fields, herded cattle, shaken cherries and picked apples, mined gravel, raised seven children with his late wife Ella, been the backbone of some key local government boards, and helped shape virtually every realm of life for the region’s residents for over six decades.