Who would have thought that Istanbul would remind me so much of where I grew up above Sleeping Bear Bay? Everywhere you turn there’s a vista of turquoise water; and a pinkish tinge to the light, that I’ve never seen anywhere except on the Leelanau. If I don’t stop and think for a minute, the Bosporus and the Golden Horn, could almost be the Manitou Passage and Pyramid Point.
The 11th annual Harvest Stompede Vineyard Run & Walk and Wine Tour is a great way to experience the beauty of the Leelanau Wine Trail at harvest time, with local food pairings and wine from the exceptional 2011 vintage. The event takes place the weekend of Sept. 8-9 and is considered one of the most scenic running & wine touring events in the Midwest.
The Leelanau Press is searching for artists who painted the Sleeping Bear Dunes and surrounding landscapes before 1970 for possible inclusion in the historical preface for its 2013 publication, The Art of the Sleeping Bear Dunes. Several artists known to have painted in the area include Frank Dillon, Fred Dickinson, Mathias Alten, Charles Vickery, Charles Hetherington, Mary Moore, Kit Miller Knowles, Harry Weese, Sue Frank, Clarence Brower and Kay Smith.
“What’s the most amazing thing you’ve ever seen with this telescope?” asks a visitor to the Leelanau School’s Lanphier Observatory. My stock answer is another question: “You mean in the sky, or on the beach?”
What do a horsehide sleigh blanket, Liz Shimek’s basketball jersey, a Civil War sword and scabbard, and an entire one-room schoolhouse all have in common? All have a story to tell of their time and place in southern Leelanau’s collective past, and all form just a fraction of the collection of the Empire Area Heritage Group, now celebrating its 40th year.
The Leelanau Peninsula BirdFest is in its second year. It is a ‘standard’ birdwatching festival in that it is a combination of scheduled, guided field trips and evening keynote addresses. Field trips go to various habitat locations to observe as great a variety of birds possible. Field trips are led by top flight birders who in most cases are capable of identifying birds by sight and sound. Birdwatching festivals generally feature a specific bird or birds, or field trips offering a special experience.
Miranda Monroe, a Registered Dietitian and principal of Grand Traverse Nutrition, will share tips for easy and healthy meal preparation using local foods available to everyone in Leelanau County. A series of four, hour-long classes, will be held at the Glen Arbor Athletic Club every other Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.
Glen Arbor’s Cottage Book Shop will host author Jerry Dennis and illustrator Glenn Wolff (who will have engraving prints on hand) who will sign their book The Windward Shore: Great Lakes in the Winter from 11-2 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 19 at the Vintage Cottage Holiday Market at Black Star Farms in Suttons Bay.
A breath of fresh air may have descended on Sugar Loaf. Just weeks before snow is likely to fall on the downtrodden Leelanau County ski hill whose chairlifts have sat idle for nearly 12 years, a local resort owner is developing a plan that would open the mountain to cross-country skiing and ice climbing — perhaps this winter.
The Glen Arbor Art Association’s Manitou Music Festival Committee sent out the following letter to solicit feedback for future festivals. Each year the Manitou Music Festival Committee strives to present some of the best Michigan talent at our annual Dune Climb Concert. This year we decided to ask Dune Climb fans to add to our list of contenders.