What makes Empire unique?

By Helen Westie
Sun contributor
What makes Empire a unique and interesting community? When confronted with this question, the town’s residents have always been vociferous in expressing their ideas. The two unique summer celebrations come to mind immediately: the Asparagus Festival the weekend before Memorial Day in May and the Anchor Day the third weekend in July.
Earlier this spring the townspeople also joined hands in a unanimous display of civic activism when they overwhelmingly shot down a push by a developer from Grand Rapids to rezone a cherished agricultural/residential area of land accessible from both M-72 and M-22 known as Leelanau Orchards. Rezoning the 338 acres would have allowed up to 980 homes to be built on land where current zoning allows for only 170 and all but double the village itself.

The move requested by developer Joseph Moch would have radically altered Empire’s zoning standards, and more importantly, changed the town’s character forever — before the ink even dried on Empire’s new Master Plan, one local farmer pointed out. According to Julie Hay of the Michigan Land Use Institute, which sponsored one of two public meetings earlier this spring for locals to voice their concerns, Moch’s development would have included a private equestrian farm, which would have been inaccessible to the local public.
“People spoke so passionately,” Hay recalls. “Empire residents want to keep their town open and promote agriculture and smart growth within the village.” Those who commented at the public meetings were united in their opposition to the plan. One woman asked why she had to drive all the way to Cedar for her CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) Farm when there is fertile agricultural land right here, and potentially on the land in question. Ashlea Walter, who runs the Pinkie Finger Press and is the heart and soul behind the Empire Asparagus Festival spoke of the need for inclusionary zoning so that people can afford to live here. And others asked if the village and its infrastructure could even support development of this scale.
The residents of Empire love and protect their town with a passion. They fairly rhapsodize about the beauties of it. Epithets often used are: “In God’s pocket” or “Our jewel of the North.”
Dave Taghon summed it up when he said, “I often wonder if our forefathers who worked in the Empire Lumber Company mill along Lake Michigan ever took the time to pause, look about, and realize what a beautiful spot it was here in Empire.”
Ditto S. Kay Rose. “Living in Empire is almost like living in a time-warp from a generation past. It’s a place where neighbors still know each other. It is also one of the most beautiful spots on earth. My husband Tom and I like to travel in the United States and we’ve seen the Northwest, the Northeast, the Southwest and the Southeast but the first thing we do when we get home is drive to Empire Beach to gaze at Lake Michigan. There is nothing better than an Empire sunset. Next, I take a trip up the Empire Bluffs for the view. As I look out and see South Manitou Island, South Bar Lake, the Sleeping Bear Dunes, I always have the same thoughts. This peaceful, serene beauty is as good as anything I have ever seen, and I realize how lucky we are to live here.”
Jeanette Lackey: “Empire is a welcoming, quaint little village nestled in the hills. The beach is a real treasure with its awesome, sandy shores and gorgeous sunsets. We are thankful that Lake Michigan Beach and South Bar Beach are for public use. We enjoy the closeness to nature. One spring a fox tiptoed through our snowy backyard sporting a big, white snowflake on his black nose. What a memorable moment.”
“We always take care of our own,” was a common opinion. There are fundraisers and collections when people are down on their luck or if they are confronted with unexpected medical bills. When a problem arises someone jumps in to solve it. One such problem was the preponderance of cats last winter because so many unwanted cats were dumped at Steve Miller’s house knowing he was an ailurophile (one devoted to cats). And then, because they were not sprayed or neutered Empire was in danger of being over-run with a cat population. But through the efforts of Jo Lynn Davis and Steve, collections were taken to have the cats neutered and sprayed and the babies put up for adoption. The businesses of Empire made generous contributions so that all cats could be sprayed or neutered.
People remember a man some years ago who was 98 years old but could still live in his house because friends and the Commission on Aging cleaned his house and brought food for him. In his senility, however, he became light-fingered and would take items from store shelves. He used store aisles for a bathroom need. This kind of behavior would prompt some communities to have him “put away.” But not in Empire. Clerks were told to “follow him” and he was reminded that he must pay for the items and was directed to a bathroom. On his death many pilfered items were returned. For example, a metal outdoor chandelier was returned to the town hall.
Empire has had its share of eccentric characters. People fondly remember “The Professor” who knew everyone in town and many are the stories about him. In a deep, thunderous voice he would yell down from his balcony to children playing below. “This God is talking! Pick up those toys” or there would be other directions from God. Children would go home and tell their parents that God talked to them. The professor taught at Central Michigan University and spent his summers in Empire. He really loved Empire and after his retirement he spent more time here. One summer because of a hospital stay he arrived later and said, “I do not ever in my lifetime want to be away from Empire in May again.” He missed the trilliums and the “Cherry white with snow.”
Will the professor’s moth-eaten, infamous pelican make it to one more Anchor Day parade? Stay tuned for July …
His vocabulary could be poetic but sometimes it could be quite raucous. When his garage was being built some man (it could have been a zoning officer) came by and told him that the garage had to be aligned with the house and not on a diagonal as he was doing it. The professor told him, emphatically using the vernacular of his college students, where he could go. Well, the garage is on a diagonal as planned to this day.
In 1994 when he was interred in Maple Grove Cemetery most of the Empire population attended. There were tears and laughter as Professor stories were told.
To this day Empire remains a community in the truest sense. This kind of town holds a unique annual party to celebrate its proudest spring crop; these kinds of citizens rally to stop development that would be bad for the community; and most important of all, these kind of people care for their own.
Sun editor Jacob Wheeler contributed to this article.