Old Man Winter arrived early this year, and Ullr is pleased. Mark Lentini, the new mountain manager at The Homestead, says the snow and cold temperatures have helped make the conditions better than ever at this point of the year. The resort is also offering special pricing to kick off the season. The popular four-season resort is opening for ski season the day after Christmas, as long as Mother Nature continues to cooperate.
Longtime seasonal residents at The Homestead John and Belynda Hudspeth have started a fundraiser to provide support for the seasonal Jamaican workers at the resort impacted by the devastation caused by Hurricane Melissa. They have reached out to their friends, family and fellow residents and guests at The Homestead to support the effort by making a donation at this link. “I thought someone’s got to step up,” John says. They had come to know many of the Jamaican workers at The Homestead as friends and even extended family members. As one example, he points to one longtime worker he and Belynda have come to know. “Marsha has three-year-old twins. I think this is her 19th year. In addition to the GoFundMe effort, The Homestead and the Kuras family are donating $10,000 to Food For The Poor, directed specifically at assisting the Jamaicans.
Patricia Brown hasn’t heard from her 4-year-old daughter who lives with her grandmother on the southern coast of Jamaica, which Hurricane Melissa pummeled on Tuesday, Oct. 28, as a Category 5 hurricane. Telecommunications are spotty around the country in the aftermath of the storm—the strongest to strike the island in modern history. Brown has worked as a seasonal employee at The Homestead resort in Glen Arbor for the past 14 years. The Homestead employs 35 Jamaicans as housekeepers on a seasonal basis. Some have returned to the job in Glen Arbor for 20 years. They work hard, and play an indispensable role in Leelanau County’s tourism-based economy. We’ll update this story as we learn how the families are doing—and how the Leelanau County community can support them as Jamaica recovers from Hurricane Melissa.
Chef Greg Miesch knew he had a lot to learn. Despite decades in the hospitality industry, taking the reins of the culinary department as senior manager of Food & Beverage at The Homestead was different than anything he’d done before. It was a challenge he was eager to take on, but he wanted to make sure he understood what worked and what didn’t before he made any big changes. “I didn’t know how a resort of this size truly functioned,” he says. “I didn’t think it was good to go in (and make changes) when I didn’t know what worked.” Now, after a summer spent studying the ins and outs of the resort, he’s looking ahead. That look ahead actually started last month, when he was able to open Nonna’s Ristorante, which features classically-inspired contemporary Italian cuisine.
The last of the season’s outdoor music shows are upon us. Music on the Mountain at The Homestead concludes its season with East Bay Drive and special guest Miriam Pico on Sept. 18, while Leelanau Uncaged in Northport takes place Sept. 27. East Bay Drive is a quintet of music veterans from the Traverse City area who bring together varying interests in soul, jazz and funk. Think the Rippingtons, the Crusaders, Fourplay and others of that ilk. The core quartet of David Chown (keyboards), Rick Kiehle (guitar), John Paul (bass) and Alex Wyant (drums) has been joined by new official member Ryan Critchfield (saxophone), formerly a regular guest.
Guitarist Joe Taylor has received many accolades over the course of his career, from praise by his peers to consideration for a Grammy award. Perhaps none mean more to him than being called “a funky mix of Jeff Beck and Chet Atkins” by The Mississippi Press. “That’s very flattering,” says Taylor from his South Carolina home. “Both Chet Atkins and Jeff Beck, not being singers, played guitar as a vocalist. Like me, it became a way to express (music) in a vocal fashion.” Taylor will perform Aug. 21 at The Homestead as part of its Music on the Mountain Series. He will be bringing the core players from the new album with him: pianist Jeff Franzel, drummer Ray Marchica and bassist Paul Adamy. They came to the recording session with specific instructions from Taylor: they could bring riffs and ideas, but the songs would be written in the studio by the quartet.
Three diverse musical acts are among those on the horizon across the county in the coming weeks: upbeat reggae and country from the Sun Dogs, Cajun and zydeco from K Jones and the Benzie Playboys, and bracing brass traversing the musical spectrum, courtesy Bourbon & Brass Company.
As principal cellist of the Traverse City Philharmonic, Crispin Campbell plays to audiences ready for music by Brahms, Bach and Beethoven. That’s not what the audience will hear at the July 24 concert at The Homestead. Campbell and his cohorts, pianist Steve Stargardt and dobro player Joe Wilson, will be playing music familiar to fans of BB King, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Keith Jarrett, or down-home country music. Most of all with the improvisational flair and approach of jazz. Campbell says he started exploring improvisation around the year 2000. “I began creating my own music and teaching improvisation for string players,” he explains. “I’m really driven to not play the same way twice. That’s intriguing.”
This summer, the sounds of blues, bluegrass, pop, reggae, rock and jazz will once again fill the air at The Homestead. The popular Music on the Mountain series is returning for the first time since before the pandemic. The shows will take place at 7 p.m. on alternate Thursdays, beginning July 10 with the Luke Winslow-King duo. They will take place at the top of Bay Mountain, the resort’s ski hill. Patrons can ride the ski lift to the top. The backdrop, with the sun setting behind the sparkling waters of Sleeping Bear Bay, is like no other in the area.
The Homestead in Glen Arbor is excited to welcome Greg Miesch as its new executive chef. Miesch will oversee the food and beverage programs for the resort’s five restaurants, weddings and receptions, meetings and other special events.