Camile’s Body Shop Studio of Maple City has partnered with White Tiger Martial Arts of Traverse City to offer a free Woman’s Self-Defense class geared toward all women ages 12 and older. The class will be held on Saturday, May 5, from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. at Camille’s Body Shop Studio, 821 E Valley Rd in Maple City.
Kids enjoying the new Glen Arbor playground equipment but who also miss their past favorites will be able to ride that zip line, teeter totter, swing on those swings, and operate that excavator in Maple City next summer, thanks to the brainstorm of one Maple City resident with help from many others.
The “poor farm barn” is the last remnant of what was once a haven for Leelanau County’s indigent residents who worked there raising crops, chickens and cattle in return for a place to live.
Taylor Moore sits cheerfully under the shady trees outside the downtown Traverse City café Morsels on a brisk day. It’s not his shift at work, and he’s watching the construction vehicles at work across the street with a smile, not car envy. “I’ve always wanted to drive a truck, since I was a kid.” He has his own super-mobile of choice, the Food Rescue box truck, and driving it is one of the perks of his job. “There’s something really pleasant about it. People are really friendly on the road, and you’ve got to concentrate, and it’s a big, loud vehicle … it’s sweet.”
This is the 30th anniversary of the local Habitat for Humanity affiliate. Help revitalize Habitat in Leelanau County by coming to St. Rita’s Rectory in Maple City, 6:30 PM, Wednesday, April 27. Habitat is an ecumenical Christian Housing Ministry that works with all people of goodwill to build and repairs decent homes in a partnership between people in need and those with the time, treasure and talents to help. We will plan renovations for 2016 and home construction in 2017. Refreshments will be served. Contact John at 231-228-6603 or john.oneill31@yahoo.com for more info or if you’d like to volunteer but can’t attend.
For farmer Andria Metrakos, the more holistic, satisfying life she began to imagine while working in Detroit’s auto industry has come to fruition at her Red Gate Farm, which occupies a verdant swath of land on Burdickville Rd about a mile west of Myles Kimmerly Park.
Thousands of visitors flock to Leelanau County each year, many of them attracted by big draws such as the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. But while nothing compares to the delight of bounding down the Dune Climb after a sweaty trek uphill, or taking in the pristine view of the Manitou Islands from a sugar sand beach, there are plenty of lesser-known places in the county to have fun, too. Two of these places are sister communities Maple City and Cedar.
Leelanau County has long been known as “the land of delight,” but for many of its people, the terrain leading to a place called home appears more difficult. For at least the past 25 years, homes and land have been bought and sold dearly, but a confluence of circumstances has brought the issue of affordable housing to a crisis state today. These include the start of the Great Recession in 2008, a severe tightening of lending practices, a lack of permanent, full-time jobs in a growing tourism and service region, and the refusal of government and some community leaders to recognize and act on long-term solutions to the county’s housing challenges.
By Linda Beaty Sun contributor At least 15 minutes before Pegtown Station restaurant in Maple City opens for breakfast, cars are already pulling into the small parking lot in front. In large part, that’s because Pegtown, owned by Maple City residents Dave and Mary MacDonald for almost 10 years now, serves up some of the […]
Affordable housing in Leelanau County is in short supply. That isn’t actually burning news. It wasn’t even news in 1995, when I became an Americorps worker whose mission was to help start a five-county housing nonprofit organization called HomeStretch. What makes it relevant, even urgent, today is that housing in the county—for workers with college degrees, skills and good jobs, families, people with low incomes, seniors, young adults—is evaporating more quickly than the water levels on Lake Michigan. When the basic needs of a community aren’t met—whether through a confluence of circumstances, lack of initiative, an adverse business climate, or refusal by its members to take action—then the whole community suffers.