Heritage Trail grows; Kettles, Bay-to-Bay, mountain biking trails on tap? By Jacob Wheeler Sun editor Over the next couple years, the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore could vastly expand its network, and range, of trails. By July, the Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail will expand south, from the Dune Climb to Empire, allowing bicyclists, rollerbladers, wheelchair-bound […]
It’s cold and dark in the north country, and the cheery onslaught of tourists is many months away. But those of us who stick around through the winter still deserve to eat, and eat well. Thanks to a bevy of deals and discounts offered at local restaurants, we shall not starve.
Friends of Sleeping Bear Dunes board chairman Kerry Kelly reports that a phantom snow plower is plowing 100 yards of a seasonal road that forms the section of the Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail between M-109 and DH Day Campground. That inhibits the ability of cross-country skiers to glide, uninterrupted, between Glen Arbor and the Dune Climb.
Park Rangers say “Let it snow!” so you can explore Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore on snowshoes this winter. Join the rangers for a guided snowshoe hike this holiday season and every Saturday throughout the winter. The first hike of the season will be on Saturday, Dec. 28 at 1 p.m. Then, snowshoe hikes will be offered every Saturday at 1 p.m. through the end of February. Meet at the National Lakeshore Visitor Center in Empire. If you don’t have your own, snowshoes will be loaned at no charge. Participants need only purchase the park entrance pass or have an annual pass to join in the fun. Reservations are required whether you need to borrow snowshoes or have your own. Ranger-led snowshoe hikes are limited to 30 participants. Please call (231) 326-5134, extension 328, for details and to make reservations.
The League of Women Voters Leelanau County (LWVLC) will host the six Leelanau County high school students who participated this summer in the “2013 Freedom Tour” on Wednesday, Nov. 13 at 7 p.m. at the Leelanau Government Center. The students will be there at 6:30 to meet the audience. Refreshments will be provided.
The Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore has announced that Veterans Day weekend, Nov. 9-11, will be celebrated as a fee-free weekend for all Park visitors in honor of U.S. veterans and current members of the U.S. Armed Forces.
The 2013 Fall for Art in Leelanau Gallery Tour will be Oct. 11-13. As part of that county-wide event the Glen Arbor Art Association will have an exhibition of GAAA members’ artwork. On display will be the paintings of over twenty GAAA members, including Hank Feeley, David Westerfield, Bonnie Gonzales, Chris Nettleton, James Bovard, Dennis Steele, Judith Shepelak, Wendy McWhorter, Cindy Graves, Lily LaFollette, Carolyn Hudson, and many others. Most of the pieces will be for sale.
Oscar Peters — the British-born billionaire international banker who was helping Eneliko “Liko” Smith launch Las Vegas Airways (LV Air) before Smith turned his attention toward Sugar Loaf — has dropped out of the game. Peters’ exit might leave the West Coast hotelier with no viable way to acquire the long-shuttered Leelanau County ski resort.
Over the last three years, the Leelanau Conservancy has partnered with nine farm families to access available funding to conserve their farms. This year, four additional farm families will be working with the Leelanau Conservancy to conserve their farms, with the help of $1.8 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm and Ranchland Protection Program (FRPP). Once completed, these four farms, which total 688 acres, will be permanently conserved for agricultural use.
Eneliko Sean “Liko” Smith, the enigmatic West Coast hotelier and self proclaimed “extreme sport entrepreneur” who has left a trail of dubious business transactions in his wake, is once again bidding for Sugar Loaf, the long shuttered ski resort in Leelanau County.