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Celebrating songs of Leelanau: Hazel Oberhelman’s Leelanau Theme Song

Our story series celebrating songs inspired by Leelanau County and the Sleeping Bear Dunes continues with “The Leelanau Theme Song,” which Leland resorter Hazel Oberhelman wrote during the 1940s. The Leelanau Enterprise first printed the song on September 21,1950. The lyrics, which capture the beauty and natural wonders of the peninsula, have been sung at weekly community sing-alongs at the Leland Country Club and the Leland Yacht Club for decades. The theme has also been sung by marchers in Traverse City’s National Cherry Festival. In 2017, the Oberhelman/Hickenlooper families donated the printing blocks and a copy of the sheet music bearing Hazel’s signature to the Leelanau Historical Society.

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Celebrating songs of Leelanau: Les Dalgliesh’s “The Ways of Leelanau”

Our story series celebrating songs inspired by Leelanau County and the Sleeping Bear Dunes continues with Les Dalgliesh’s “The Ways of Leelanau,” which the singer-songwriter occasionally performed at the Leelanau School’s graduation ceremony held in early June at the private boarding school next to The Homestead resort. “My time at Leelanau was a time of learning and growth for the students—and for me. ‘The Ways of Leelanau’ became a kind of context that fostered learning, growth, and connection for all of us.”

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