We’re home. We’re self-quarantining ourselves. We’re practicing social distancing. The restaurants and bars are closed. Crowds no longer gather. What better way to spend these pandemic days than to read books newly published by Leelanau authors? Here’s a roundup of local books, or books by local authors, in 2020:
The coronavirus pandemic and need for social distancing has prompted the cancelation of this year’s Glen Arbor Fourth of July parade, the Sleeping Bear Dune Climb concert, the Manitou Music concert series, and the Port Oneida Fair.
Those who are interested in the Port Oneida historic district of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore might be interested to know that a new book about the place is now available. Tom Van Zoeren’s A Port Oneida Collection: Images, Oral History, Maps presents the story of each of the farms of Port Oneida, based mainly, as the title suggests, on oral history interviews conducted with residents of the community, and on photographs collected from them. It is illustrated with a detailed map of each farm.
For visitors looking for something to do beyond the dunes in the National Lakeshore, they might consider having fun in the cultural areas of the park. Historic Sleeping Bear, an official partner of the National Lakeshore offers summer activities for the family at the Port Oneida Farms Heritage Center/Olsen Farm 4 miles north of Glen Arbor, located on the Heritage Trail.
Calling writers of all skill levels to workshops in Port Oneida’s historic district. Join agroecologist and science educator Elise DeBuysser, and national park artist, Nancy McKay, on a writing tour of Port Oneida farms, gardens, and landscapes, on Aug. 17.
Once again, the Port Oneida Rural Historic District awakens from its peaceful slumber and comes alive both Friday and Saturday, August 10-11. Beginning at 10 a.m. each day and running until 4 p.m., visitors are invited to step back in time to actively experience life as it was in this once active community of robust farms of the late 1800s and early 1900s. The fair promotes the preservation of rural traditional skills, crafts, landscapes, and communities of the Upper Great Lakes Region through education and artistic expression.
Historic Sleeping Bear (formerly named Preserve Historic Sleeping Bear) celebrates its 20th anniversary as a partner of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore working to preserve and interpret the historic structures, landscapes, and heritage of the National Lakeshore.
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore will host its popular annual pruning workshop on Friday, May 4, in the Port Oneida Rural Historic District.
At one time, it was lovely and serene. “We begin in a peaceful place in the woods among the tall timber and wildflowers of Leelanau County,” wrote author Leonard G. Overmyer in his 1999 book Forest Haven Soldiers: The Civil War Veterans of Glen Lake & Surrounding Leelanau. “A site, by Forest Haven Road and M-22, where lies the old Glen Arbor Township Cemetery. It was used primarily in the 1800s and beginning of the 1900s for the early pioneers of the area. This quiet location holds the final resting-place of several Civil War soldiers.”
Preserve Historic Sleeping Bear (PHSB) will host their member and volunteer appreciation potluck on Saturday, Sept. 9 at 5:30 p.m. at the Charles and Hattie Olsen Farm. PHSB members and volunteers are invited to gather for a meal and social time with others that support the nonprofit. The event will be held in the barn at the Olsen Farm (PHSB offices) in the Port Oneida Rural Historic District of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.