What the spring brought, and what happened while you were away

By Jacob Wheeler
Sun editor
Jack DeGroot of Grand Rapids didn’t catch any scale-breaking fish in Little Glen Lake the weekend before Memorial Day, but he also didn’t have to leave Glen Arbor to fill up his gas tank for the drive home — and that bit of news was enough to put a smile on the outdoorsman’s scruffy face. For the first time in two summers the Glen Arbor Quick Stop just north of town is up and running — or more accurately put, up and dispensing petroleum.
Downstater Jack DeGroot feeds his hungry tank

Sure, at over $3 a gallon, the only people jumping for joy are the Saudi royal family and Hugo Chavez, but the fact that Glen Arbor residents and tourists no longer have to drive to Empire or Maple City for a fill-up is good news for our seasonal economy. Thus, Debbie Smith and Homecare Management’s acquisition and opening of the old Shell Station on M-22 is the most important news around town.
Smell the flowers
Jeanne Stevens filled another gaping need in Glen Arbor when she opened the doors to Freshwater Floral and Gifts in late April, painting the town pretty with colorful plumage. Her store is located next to Glen Arbor Realty across M-22 from the Town Hall. Now the local young bucks can pick up a sensual bouquet on the way to meet their honeys at The Homestead (and fill up the BMW on the way out of town).
Jeanne uses only top-notch, fresh flowers that she gets directly from growers, avoiding the middlemen who would leave them to dry out in trucks and warehouses and have to give the flowers the equivalent of an IV injection before you buy them. Jeanne is originally from Burdickville and graduated from Pathfinder School in Traverse City before she lived in Florida for three years and learned the art of flowers from a native-Long Islander who ran a flower shop in Fort Myers. She quickly discovered she had a knack for florals and took classes with FTD (Florists’ Telegraph Delivery). “I’d been thinking about opening a flower shop for six or seven years,” says Jeanne. “I was able to open the store in Glen Arbor because the space became available and everything came together. It was just the right space at the right time.”
The enthusiastic florist was more than happy to tell me about the science of her trade. “Some think you just cut the stems off the flowers and stick them in a vase, and that’s it. But there’s actually a lot of care involved with fresh flowers before you get them. All flowers are different (and require different ways of staying hydrated). For instance, you should take all the leaves off the stem of a carnation because as they turn bad and fall into water they’ll foul it through the gasses they emit, which will hurt the flower because other flowers aren’t drinking the freshest water.”
Jeanne also sells a variety of unique indoor plants to go with gourmet gift baskets and foods, not to mention her mother’s handcrafted jewelry. She delivered a tropical bouquet with ginger and roses to Le Bear for its opening weekend. And she’s heard numerous passersby say the words, “It’s about time we’ve had a flower shop here.” We agree.
Same Totem, new owners
The Totem pole and benches will remain out front at the nearly 70-year-old Totem Shop, an integral part of the Glen Arbor tourism experience. In fact, not too much will change in the store that Diana and Marc Oberschulte ran from 1989 until they sold it in April to a new company called Leelanau Gear, owned by Richard Roberts and Doug Thomas, who also own acquired the Harbor House in Leland.
“We’re bringing in some new lines. That’s the only difference,” says Doug. “We’ll still keep the souvenirs and toys and gifts that have always been here. We’ll add to the sweatshirts and t-shirts and also some new apparel, like The North Face and Merrell shoes, which will become mainstays. We want to keep the same feel of a resort store where the tourists can find the things they’re looking for, but with products that also appeal to the local residents. They can come in and find a jacket or a fleece without having to drive all the way into Traverse City.
“One of things that appealed to me is that, having grown up in this area, I remember coming to visit the Totem Shop and going through the toy room to find something I wanted,” Doug remembers. “There’s some nostalgia there. It’s just a good store with a good name that has always been successful. The Oberschultes always said that the Totem Shop was a fun store. Lots of kids come in, and almost everyone who comes in is on vacation.”
Doug laughs when he remembers April 17, the day that Leelanau Gear and Diana and Marc closed the deal. “We met at the Traverse City State Bank to do the closing there. The fire alarm kept going off and we kept evacuating building. We joked, ‘Is this some kind of sign?’ So finally we moved down to the Oberschulte’s attorney’s office on Front Street to sign the papers.”
Add a cherry on top
Now there’s one more cherry outlet in Glen Arbor, though it’s not another colony in the Cherry Republic empire. While Bob Sutherland has opened a Cherry Republic store on Front Street in Traverse City, what’s new to our town this spring is Brownwood Farms, which is moving into the Art’s Annex next to the tavern. Brownwood Farms, which opened in 1945 with a line of cherry butter and kream mustard, has expanded to cherry salsa and cherry barbecue sauce. The Williamsburg-based company, which does 90 percent of its business wholesale, has distributed to nearby stores in Suttons Bay and Leland in the past. It will rent about half of the annex from Tim Bar and Bonnie Nescott, but not all the products inside will be under the Brownwood label. “Our goal is to have lots of local products,” confirms Brownwood Farms’ Jeff Hughes.
Garden grows out of old laundry
Phil and Sue Deering keep taking on more responsibilities around Empire. The owners of Deering’s Market have now launched a Garden Center in the old laundromat on M-22 just south of the blinking light, which sat vacant for three years prior. Sue ran the garden center in the alley next to Deering’s for the last three years, but as demand increased, the space grew more and more crowded.
In its new, spacious location, the Garden Center offers a full line of perennials, annuals, shrubs and potted plants. Sue also boasts four rooms of garden art, decorations, birdbaths, feeders, birdseeds, hummingbird feeders and oriole feeders. “It’s a fun, relaxing experience running into everyone around town in here,” says Sue. “It looks nice, a little oasis on the highway. And it smells like spring and summer.”
Insuring the Rembrandt Building
After 21 years at Devette & Ford Insurance in Glen Arbor, Traci Apsey is fulfilling her dream of owning a business. Traci ran into Jan Keuning, who runs the Lighthouse Insurance chain out of Holland, and his son Ken, while eating a burger at the Empire Village Inn following a snowmobile trip last winter. The conversation that unfolded over the burger prompted her to open a local Lighthouse branch across the street in the old Rembrandt Building, which had been vacant for three years. Lighthouse thrives on the small-town appeal and runs several profitable agencies in villages throughout northern Michigan.