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It is apple season and Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore will host an Antique Apples Special Program on October 18 from noon to 3 p.m. in the Port Oneida Rural Historic District. Park Rangers and volunteer experts will be on hand for this apple bonanza. Apples played a big role in Port Oneida during its peak and the apple pickers of today still realize their value. Some of the topics that will be presented at this program include: 1) identifying varieties of apples in the park, 2) understanding why early Port Oneida settlers planted them and how they were used, and 3) discussing and demonstrating grafting techniques being used in the park to ensure rare and antique apple varieties remain in the park for years to come.

Fifteen-year-olds Annabel Skrocki and Annie Lively, both sophomores at Glen Lake School, stood in complete silence with more than 400,000 other climate activists at the People’s Climate march on Sept. 21—mourning, for the melting glaciers, the rising oceans, the dryer mid-continents, the stronger storms, the disappearing islands and the paralyzed politicians.

Immigration reform would be a job creator for Northern Michigan, says Congressman Dan Benishek. But the Republican-controlled House of Representatives won’t move on immigration reform, following the Tea Party defeat of Majority Leader Eric Cantor in June.

Action. The brain really likes action. In fact, the brain loves action, even when we are veging out on the beach, action runs in the drift of our minds. After all, we are part animal, and we still have that watchful animal awareness that what moves might be predator or prey, so it gets and keeps our attention. But how does this translate into that more sophisticated thinking we do when we write, even just one paragraph.

Who: The Thatcher sisters, Becky and Cookie. What: Rescue a lost girl. Where: Alligator Hill in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, a.k.a. the Park. When: Summer 2013. Why: It was their job. For now, though, suffice it to say there are a million stories in The Park. This is just one of them.

Taking a stroll down Western Avenue in the village of Glen Arbor, you’ll come to a lawn that is beautifully landscaped in Michigan native plants. This is 6391 Western Avenue, the headquarters of Sleeping Bear Birding Trail (SBBT). What, you wonder, is a birding trail? That’s the most frequently asked question by both tourists and locals coming through the door, said operations director Mick Seymour. “What the heck is a birding trail?”

Do you want to learn how your favorite beach may respond to predicted climate change? Then join researcher, Lukas Bell-Dereske for a special public program entitled “Climate Change in the Great Lakes Dunes: Responses of the Plant Community at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore” on Thursday, August 21 at 9 a.m. at the Philip A. Hart Visitor Center auditorium in Empire.

Traverse Area Recreation and Transportation Trails (TART), Inc. announces the third annual Dune Dash, a four-mile run/walk along the Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail, to be held at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 16. The course showcases the trail, which opened during summer of 2012 within the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.

History comes alive at six historic sites during the annual Port Oneida Fair at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Friday and Saturday, August 8-9, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. In addition to the many popular demonstrations, animals and exhibits, the fair will feature a chicken dinner on Friday, and end with solar viewing and an astronomy party on Saturday night. This two-day special event is free. Participants need only purchase the Park Entrance Pass or have an Annual Pass displayed in their vehicle to join in the fun.

Run for the farms and for historic preservation at Preserve Historic Sleeping Bear’s 5K run/walk in Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. The fifth annual event supports preservation and interpretation of the Park’s historic resources—farmsteads, log cabins, inns and maritime buildings from the late 1800s and early 1900s on the mainland and Manitou Islands.