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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.

The federal government shutdown early this morning — forced by the Republican-led House of Representatives who oppose the Affordable Care Act — prompted the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, and National Parks across the nation, to lock their gates. The timing here in Glen Arbor is highly unfortunate, as it threatens to stunt our growing shoulder tourism season.

A press release posted various places on the Internet yesterday suggests that Eneliko Sean “Liko” Smith is about to acquire Sugar Loaf Resort, the long shuttered ski resort in Leelanau County, Michigan. Smith is an enigmatic former Samoan boxer from Las Vegas whose failed business deals, relationship troubles and run-ins with the law have made quite a splash in the media. He admits that he doesn’t “Google well”.

Fall For Art, the annual Leelanau County gallery tour, is Oct. 11-13. This self-guided tour, now in its eighth year, offers participants a chance to sample the arts for which Leelanau County is known.

The Leelanau Conservancy is hosting a free Speaker Series and Kids Harvest Party event at the Suttons Bay High School on Saturday, Oct. 19 from 3 to 5 p.m. The event, “Farming and Food: Past, Present, and Future” is Part Two of the Conservancy’s Leelanau: Looking Ahead Speaker Series.

Kathleen Stocking will give a 30-minute lecture about African-American pioneers on Glen Lake at the Empire Museum at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 2. Please spread the word among friends, neighbors, and while waiting in the grocery line.