“French toast.” That was the codename that Leelanau Conservancy executive director Tom Nelson created for the top-secret project, 3.5 years in the making, to acquire Sugar Loaf, and turn the County’s once popular ski resort into a community gathering place. The Conservancy publicly announced in an email on July 17 that it has the chance to permanently protect the hill and 285-acre property in the heart of Leelanau County and bring this cherished location back to life for the first time in a quarter century. The Conservancy has scheduled two community information sessions for the public: Wednesday, July 30, at 6 p.m. at Solon Township Hall, and Tuesday, Aug. 5, at 6 p.m. at Glen Arbor Township Hall. The Conservancy still needs to raise $1.5 million by the end of this year to complete the acquisition. Once a popular ski resort that brought families together for generations—and once the largest employer in the County—Sugar Loaf has remained closed since 2000, as a rotating door of colorful characters, criminals and real estate moguls promised northern Michiganders they would return the ski hill to its glory days.
