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“Disagreeing without being disagreeable.” Leelanau citizens find Common Ground across political divides

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The comedian and clown Patch Adams was onto something when he said, “Humor is an antidote to all ills.” Leelanau County residents Skip Pruss and Jim White may disagree on politics, but Pruss drew a chuckle from White when he joked, “I’m known as the shit man in Lansing,” during their conversation about septic policy earlier this month. They shared a table and bantered during a Common Ground meeting on May 13 at the Friendship Center in Suttons Bay. The monthly gatherings, which were held from January until May and will resume this fall—prior to November’s national midterm elections—are an attempt to break through the caustic national political divide and give citizens of different backgrounds an opportunity to break bread together, discuss local political issues, and find common ground.

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Grand Traverse Band hosts Company K Memorial Highway dedication

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The Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians will host a Company K Memorial Highway Dedication on Wednesday, May 27, at 1 pm at the Leelanau Sands Casino Showroom in Peshawbestown. The event will bring together community members, Tribal leaders, veterans, elected officials, and regional partners to honor the Anishinaabe soldiers of Company K of the 1st Michigan Sharpshooters for their service and sacrifice during the Civil War.

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Migrant farm work booms in Michigan despite feds pay cut

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Every year for the past decade, Jose Abel has traveled more than 2,000 miles from the region of Durango in Mexico to tend to the grapes of Northern Michigan’s famed vineyards. The money the 30-year old earns during the nine months that he spends in Michigan allows him—and thousands of other Mexican workers in our state—to have dreams back home. Now, however, the U.S. federal government has lowered the minimum wage—by as much as $4.50 an hour, or 25 percent, in Michigan—for the exploding number of workers who are here on H-2A visas, like Abel. The decision comes after a couple of years of outcry from some farmers that the cost of labor, transportation, and housing for H-2A workers had become untenable, and that, without locals willing to do the job, small farms would not be able to afford the cost of the harvest season. 

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Burdickville Studio Tour returns Memorial Day weekend

Join local artists in beautiful Burdickville, east of the Glen Lakes, for an open studio art tour on Memorial Day Weekend, Saturday and Sunday, May 23-24, from 10 am until 4 pm. Multiple artists at six locations will welcome you into their studios. Talk with the artists, see wonderful art and crafts, hear music and enjoy the neighborhood. Pick up a map at any of the studios and follow the signs around the neighborhood.

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Afternoon-long fundraiser concert returns to Lively Acres

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It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood. The Lively neighborhood, that is, as the compound on M-72 readies to host Lively NeighborFest 2026 on May 24. Jim Lively says the event is an opportunity for neighbors to gather together around local food and music, while supporting two local non-profits, the Empire Area Community Center (EACC) and LIFT (Leelanau Investing For Teens). “The beautiful thing is it’s the second annual NeighborFest. It’s just like last year, except better,” he says with a laugh. Part campground, part farm market and camp store, part restaurant and part concert venue, the site also is home to the Lively Farm. Add it all up, and you’ve got the perfect site for a day-long party.

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Glen Arbor Players open 2026 season

The Glen Arbor Players open their 2026 season on Friday, May 22, at 7 pm at The Leelanau School auditorium with the play “Love Letters” by A.R. Gurney. This Pulitzer Prize-nominated play tracks, through letters, the lifelong friendship between characters Andy Makepeace Ladd III and Melissa Gardner. The play, directed by GAP veteran Teddy House, celebrates the joys, trials, triumphs and heartbreaks of their lives.

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Stephanie Schlatter: Finding the Extraordinary in the Everyday

For centuries, the arts have recognized and illuminated the profundity of everyday life. The practice of depicting ordinary, shared social spaces as enduring images is what art historians refer to as genre painting: works that transform the familiar into the extraordinary, revealing the poetry, light, and rhythm embedded in lived experience. It is within this tradition that Stephanie Schlatter’s painting, “Gathered Together,” finds its place. Renowned for her luminous landscapes—renderings of water, sky, and the shifting light of northern Michigan—Schlatter departs from that familiar creative practice in “Gathered Together.” She instead turns to a more intimate, human-centered scene: the vibrant summer atmosphere at Art’s Tavern in Glen Arbor. This emphasis on a buoyant, communal vision led to Gathered Together’s selection for the 2026 Manitou Music Poster.

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Crystal River high water: an omen and a lesson in resilience

The good news is that the Crystal River is healthy. She winds like a lazy snake through wetlands protected by the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, so when excessive rain or snowmelt inundate her environment—as happened during record flooding in early April—the extra water has a place to go. The other good news is that the removal of culverts in three locations under County Road 675 during the past five years has helped the river flow more freely and relieves pressure during high water events. The bad news is that two more culverts remain downstream of The Mill. Those culverts restrict water flow beneath Overbrook Drive. The other bad news is that scientists who study climate change in the Great Lakes region predict more frequent and more intense extreme weather events, including rainstorms.

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Glen Arbor to celebrate Tree City USA designation, May 9

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It’s practically in the town’s name. So celebrating trees seemed like a no-brainer to Chris Sack of Glen Arbor. Sack, the co-owner of Great Lakes Tea and Spice with his wife Heather, will be on hand at the the town’s May 9 Arbor Day Celebration, the inaugural celebration of Glen Arbor being named a Tree City USA. “We want to get this off the ground on the right foot,” says Sack. The day will start at 10 a.m. with a tree planting ceremony at the corner of Lake Street and State Street, marking Glen Arbor’s first Arbor Day as a recognized Tree City USA community. It will be followed at 10:30 with a community “tree talk” at the Cherry Public House.

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Leelanau Wellness Collective hosts well-being summit

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What does a summit look like? Well, two things: One, a gathering of like-minded individuals to learn about and discuss a topic. The other is the top of a mountain. The two come together May 3 in Glen Arbor. The Leelanau Well-Being Summit will take place at and around The Homestead. Organizer Kat Palms says the event will include a vendor marketplace featuring local wellness brands, creatives, and makers, optional ticketed wellness classes led by regional practitioners, and a guided Bayview Trail Ruck with the Leelanau Ruck Club. Oh, and that second definition of summit? That works too, as the event will include a champagne toast at the top of Bay Mountain, the resort’s ski hill, followed by an optional dinner at Nonna’s.

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