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Sugar Moon’s Maple Syrup

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It’s that time of year again as many in northern Michigan, including here in Leelanau County, begin tapping the maple trees to reap their golden harvest. As Old Man Winter fades, maple trees offer us the first gift of the season—a pure, golden sap which through lots of hard work is transformed into the rich, sweet syrup beloved by many. The 2025, U.S. maple syrup industry produced 5.7 million gallons according to the USDA statistics service. Tapping Maple trees for their sap began long before Europeans settled in America. Early origins of maple sugaring are preserved in oral traditions of Anishinaabeg and other tribes of northern Michigan and northeastern North America. The Anishinaabe people began the deep connection to the tradition and referred to the season as Ziinzibaakwadoke Giizis (Sugar Moon). “We are celebrating a tradition that started with indigenous groups in the American Northeast and Great Lakes that included the Anishinaabe,” said William Derouin, Agricultural Manager at the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians. This program has grown to include the GTB Sugarbush camp, which will be held in Peshawbestown on March 13-14 and March 20-21.

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Meet Me at the Loaf: Leelanau Historical Society celebrates Sugar Loaf stories

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The Leelanau Historical Society, in partnership with Here:Say Storytelling, will present Meet Me at the Loaf: A Celebration of Sugar Loaf in Stories. The Jan. 29 event at Solon Township Hall near Cedar will feature memories and voices connected to one of Leelanau County’s most beloved landmarks: Sugar Loaf Mountain. Doors open at 5:30 pm, offering guests the chance to reconnect with old friends, neighbors, and fellow “Sugar Loafers.” The storytelling program begins at 6:30.

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Historic Preservationists use concerts to raise awareness around barn

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Remembering and preserving the past can mean many things. In the case of the Leelanau County Poor Farm Barn, it means… listening to music? That’s right. A series of three summer concerts will take place at the historic site across from Myles Kimmerly Park outside Maple City, beginning July 30 with Rita Hosking and Sean Feder with Andre Villoch. The shows are part of an effort by the Leelanau County Historic Preservation Society, the Leelanau Historical Society and the gardening non-profit Row-by-Row (formerly Buckets of Rain) to generate interest, and eventually funds, for restoring and revitalizing the barn.

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Descendents of Black pioneers return to Leelanau for film screening

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“The Search for Anna and Levi: A Lost History of Black Homesteaders in Leelanau County” will show at Leland School on May 31—not at the hamstrung Sleeping Bear Dunes headquarters, as originally scheduled. The Bay Theatre in Suttons Bay initially screened the film in February. Northern Michigan has begun to feel like a second home for Philadelphia resident Carmen Hopson. Ever since she received a life-changing Facebook message in September 2022 from Kevin Brooks, an amateur genealogist based in Grand Rapids, who shared photos to show that their ancestors—hers Black, his White—were neighboring farm owners and pioneering homesteaders more than 100 years ago along Little Glen Lake. “It feels like we’re coming home. This is a place where we will be welcomed home,” said Hopson. The National Lakeshore decided that it could no longer host the screening following the Trump administration’s March 27 executive order, titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,” that cast this nation’s collective reexamination of historical racism as a “distorted narrative driven by ideology rather than truth.”

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“Saving the Barn—The Leelanau County Poor Farm” screens at Old Art Building

Celebrate National Preservation Month with a special screening of Saving the Barn—The Leelanau County Poor Farm, a documentary that brings to life a little-known but important chapter of local history. The program at the Old Art Building in Leland on Wednesday, May 14, at 4 pm begin with remarks from Steve Stier, president of the Leelanau County Historic Preservation Society, who will share insights on the ongoing efforts to preserve the Poor Farm barn and the broader importance of saving historic places.

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Reclaiming the remarkable stories of Black pioneers on Little Glen

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In September 2022, two Black women from Philadelphia opened a life-changing Facebook message from a White man in Grand Rapids. Kevin Brooks reached out to cousins Carmen Hopson and Coleen Burton with his discovery that their families were inextricably linked more than 100 years ago in Empire Township. The relationship was not born of freed slaves still economically dependent on their former owners, nor were they hired live-in employees. Rather, the respective families of Joseph Payment and Anna and Levi Johnson were neighboring farm owners and pioneering homesteaders along Little Glen Lake who forged a friendship born of necessity and steeped in mutual respect. What transpired from that visit and a subsequent one evolved into the documentary The Search for Anna and Levi. Subtitled “A Lost History of Black Homesteaders in Leelanau County” it was written and directed by Joe VanderMeulen, a local science journalist and documentary filmmaker. In honor of Black History Month, a special preview screening of the film The Search for Anna and Levi will take place on Sunday, Feb. 23, at 2 pm at The Bay Theatre in Suttons Bay. 

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“Lake Leelanau Spirit of the Lake” screens in Traverse City

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The Leelanau Historical Society proudly presents “Lake Leelanau, Spirit of the Lake,” a captivating documentary that dives into the history and nostalgia of Lake Leelanau—a cherished body of water in Leelanau County. The film will screen on Jan. 28 at 7 pm at The Alluvion, located on the second floor of the Commongrounds Building in Traverse City. Pre-sale tickets cost $12, or $15 at the door. Produced by the Leelanau Historical Society and directed by Keith Patterson of Manitou Films, this film is a heartfelt tribute to the lake’s enduring legacy. The film is a recipient of a 2024 State History Award from the Historical Society of Michigan.

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TART Trails unveils new art installation at Fouch Trailhead on Leelanau Trail

TART Trails has unveiled a new art installation at the Fouch Trailhead on the Leelanau Trail called “Wiigwaasi-jiimaan: A Mural for the Fouch Trailhead” by local artist Nik Burkhart. “Wiigwaasi-jiimaan,” the Anishinaabemowin word for birchbark canoe, honors the relationship between water and land, likening it to an embrace that connects communities through nature and history. Burkhart’s mural draws on Anishinaabe canoe craftsmanship, illustrating the remarkable birch, cedar, spruce roots, and pine pitch that historically fashioned these boats and enabled the Anishinaabe people to navigate Northern Michigan’s waterways.

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Historical Society hosts third annual Leelanau Maritime History Festival

The Leelanau Historical Society hosts the third annual Leelanau Maritime History Festival on Saturday, Sept. 21, from 10 am-3 pm at the Leelanau Historical Society, located at 203 E. Cedar St. in Leland.

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Leelanau Historical Society hosts Suttons Bay cemeteries, gravestone cleaning bee

The Leelanau Historical Society recognizes that these two cemeteries in Suttons Bay contain numerous early settlers of Leelanau County and their families, representing a historical record and an integral part of the local heritage that must be preserved. This workshop on Tuesday, Aug. 27, from 3-7 pm is being held to rehabilitate and preserve the gravestones at the Suttons Bay Township Cemetery  and adjacent St. Michael Catholic Cemetery, which are located at the end of W. First St. Leelanau Historical Society staff will teach gentle gravestone cleaning methods recommended by the Department of the Interior. Bring gloves, kneeling pad, and pruning shears. All other supplies will be provided.

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