The Homestead is among a select group of resort properties nominated for the Best Of Hour Detroit awards. The Glen Arbor resort is nominated alongside the likes of the Grand Hotel, Inn at Bay Harbor, Hotel Walloon, Saint John’s Resort and others in the Michigan Resort category.
It’s been a soggy couple of years for skiers and snowboarders. So, what keeps us coming back? From crockpot warming stations to cutting-edge snow-making technology, Northern Michigan ski resorts pull out all the stops to keep winter lovers happy—and stay one step ahead of Mother Nature. Resorts need about 72 hours of temperatures that stay below 28 degrees to lay a base and open terrain for skiing. “The ski industry in Michigan happens because of snowmaking. There’s no other way to say it,” said Ben Doornbos, general manager at Nub’s Nob near Harbor Springs. “Our product is the snow.”
A controversial youth missionary group recruits inside Leland school and rattles the community; Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel orders a raid of the Twin Flames Universe cult’s home near Suttons Bay; Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore leadership and staff face cuts and uncertainty under Trump and DOGE’s wrecking ball; Barb and Paul Olson acquire Glen Arbor’s iconic Art’s Tavern, and tribal fisherwoman Cindi John survives a mass stabbing at Walmart in Traverse City. Those were the most-read online stories of 2025 in the Glen Arbor Sun. Here’s a list of our top 10, by online views.
Longtime seasonal residents at The Homestead, John and Belynda Hudspeth, offered this Dec. 26 update for their crowdsourcing fundraiser to support 35 seasonal Jamaican workers at the Glen Arbor resort whose communities were impacted by the devastation caused by Hurricane Melissa on Oct. 28. Their campaign has raised $48,000. However, the more than 80 people (including children and the elderly) directly impacted by this fund are only in the very early stages of a massive rebuilding process, write the Hudspeths. Click here to read more and for a link to donate. … In the closing days of 2025, we’re updating key stories that the Glen Arbor Sun published this year.
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.
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.