After what I think we can all agree was "entirely too long" designer Fred DeMarco and the staff of Leelanau.com has unveiled a new design for the Leelanau.com home page.
If you want to look back through the years to see where we've been and what we've done, check out the Internet Archive's Leelanau.com section. They have most of our 12 year career, from "The Black Period" of '96, through a brief flirtation with red and the "Putting Stuff in Cut-out Boxes" fad, to the dawn of the Blue Age (also known as "Remember when Sugar Loaf was a ski hill and not a county embarassment?") right on past the Days when Things Looked the Same but there were Less of Them to What Could Have Been Yesterday - it's all there.
If you want to look forward, stay tuned because we've got a whole bunch more that we will be rolling out before the summer is over!
Sweet Pea by Andy McFarlane
News from the Week
Stories from the week included a strawberry feature from Taste the Local Difference and look at the Leelanau Enterprise's new site, the announcement of the homes for the Northport Home Tour and a story about net radio and the wider internet.
The Week's Weather
If you like sun and hate rain, this was the week for you. So far this month, we have only 1.5" of rain, about half of the average. It's not critical yet, but it would be nice to see a bit of rain.
June 21, 2007: Sunny & 70 (71Ëš/51Ëš)
June 22, 2007: Mostly sunny & 70 (71Ëš/46Ëš)
June 23, 2007: Sunny & upper 70s - gorgeous day!! (81Ëš/48Ëš)
June 24, 2007: Sunny & low 80s (see above) (82Ëš/54Ëš)
June 25, 2007: Sunny, humid & upper 80s (88Ëš/57Ëš)
June 26, 2007: Sunny, still humid & 90 (91Ëš/66Ëš)
June 27, 2007: Mostly cloudy (some sun too) and upper 70s (80Ëš/61Ëš)
Click for the Leelanau news archive from June 2006!
The Leelanau Enterprise reports that the homes for the annual Northport Womens Club Home Tour (Wed, July 18 from 9:30 - 4:30) have been set. The five homes include Dan and Sue Brondyk’s chameleon home on M-22 between Leland & Northport (pictured right) and the Putnam Cloud Tower House in Omena, home of the Omena Historical Society & Museum.
Tickets are available at locations around Northport & Omena - click over to the Enterprise for additional contacts!
Photo credit: ? by jonwilli.
We interrupt this blog to let you know that we stand with the many internet radio stations that will observe a national Day of Silence today. Royalty rates for webcasters have been drastically increased by a recent ruling and are due to go into effect on July 15, 2007 (retroactive to Jan 1, 2006 - what the heck is up with THAT??). If the increased rates remain unchanged, the majority of webcasters will go bankrupt and silent on this date. Internet radio stations currently pay a fee based on revenues, something that works very well for an industry that is just getting started.
You may wonder "How does this relate to Leelanau ... or even Leelanau.com?" Aside from the fact that we often listen to internet radio for music that just isn't played on radio stations in the area, there's also a degree of solidarity and self interest at work. The internet has been built upon the philosophy of free exchange of information. While actions like this, current suits against YouTube and attacks on net neutrality are predicated on protection of copyright holders, they also have the effect of making it fantastically more difficult to share creative commons content by attacking the networks over which it is shared. When you see that major media outlets are behind most of these laws and legal actions well ... you kind of wonder.
Anyway, please take a moment to contact your representatives and tell them that you support the Internet Radio Equality Act has recently been introduced in both the House and Senate to save the Internet radio industry.
Much more information at the SaveNetRadio Coalition web site.
The latest issue of the Leelanau Enterprise has interesting and in-depth profiles eleven Leelanau residents: Ed Love, Steve Baker, Jim Wetherbee, Bob Ooley, Tim Lewis, Peter Miller, Richard Miller, Jenny Evans, Jackie Freeman. They also profiled two iconic Leelanau residents, "Editor" Nelson of the Leelanau Enterprise and Michigan legal pioneer Emilia Schaub (a member of the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame)
It's probably a good opportunity to point out their still relatively new web site which we helped to build. Leelanau news & features are all organized so that you can check in on recent photos, the sports page or stories from Glen Arbor township with just a click.
The site also added a really cool real estate section with hundreds of Leelanau County real estate listings.
The annual Northport Harbor Days begins on Friday night (Jun 29) with "Shaboom" playing for the Music In The Park Concert from 7-9 PM.
Saturday features the "Run (and Walk) for Funds" American Cancer Society Race, Northport Bay Yacht Club Boat Race Boat Race, plenty of kids games, a rubber ducky race and horseshoe tourney. At 4 PM, the Beer, Wine & BBQ opens with music that includes "Betsy Baye & The Groove Engine" at the Pavillion.
Sunday features the "Anything Goes Boat Race", a dinghy poker run, more food, more music and a tug of war.
For further info and full schedule of events please visit the Leelanau Township Chamber of Commerce web site.
Artwork courtesy Northport artist Jim Heiser.
(reprinted from Absolute Michigan)
Last night I came across this photo of a wild strawberry shortly after coming across some of its domesticated brethren in my strawberry shortcake. That reminded me to check in with Taste the Local Difference and sure enough, they say that Michigan strawberries are ready to pick. Their in-depth article features recipes including one for chocolate dipped strawberries (the photo, oh my) from Empire's own Grocer's Daughter Chocolate and says that strawberries...
... are indigenous to both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. They grow by the seaside, in the woods, and on mountain tops.
... got their name in London, where children used to collect the berries, string them onto pieces of straw, then sell them at the markets as "Straws of Berries."
... are naturally high in fiber, vitamin C, folate, potassium, and antioxidants.
"Wildman" Steve Brill (who I think is heir to the mantle of Euell Gibbons) has some cool information about wild strawberries. He says: Superstitious Michigan farmers never ate the first strawberry to ripen, because it would show the plant that making lots of fruit was no use. So they’d throw the first strawberry to the birds.
He's also dead-on right that they take a long time to collect but are about 12 million times better than commercial strawberries.
Photo credit: strawberry by juliacortez
Day Farm II by Andy McFarlane
News from the Week
This week's features included an article on the Lake Leelanau St. Mary baseball team's great playoff run and on Leelanau Community Supported Agriculture farms, There was also a great black & white photo from Jeff Lamb of a cherry orchard in the morning mist that's not to be missed! Speaking of not to be missed, recent Glen Arbor Art Association artist in residence Matt Callow has a great photo of a ghost forest on Sleeping Bear Point on Michigan in Pictures.
The Week's Weather
We had a lot of sun and 80s this week and even got some much-needed rain (though I suspect if you happened to be caught out in last night's torrential downpour, you didn't feel it was much-needed).
June 14, 2007: Sunny & upper 80s (86Ëš/55Ëš)
June 15, 2007: Sunny & upper 80s (87Ëš/52Ëš)
June 16, 2007: Sunny & upper 80s (90Ëš/64Ëš)
June 17, 2007: Partly sunny & 80 (82Ëš/57Ëš)
June 18, 2007: Sunny & 90 w/ heavy overnight rain (91Ëš/66Ëš)
June 19, 2007: Partly cloudy, light rain & 70 (73Ëš/60Ëš)
June 20, 2007: Early sun & upper 70s w/ evening thunderstorm & heavy rain (80Ëš/46Ëš)
I had the pleasure of meeting Jeff last week when he was up here. He has more photos of Leelanau and also has done some beautiful work documenting New Orleans.
The Heartwood Furniture & Fine Art Show, an annual showcase of handmade furniture and art by Northern Michigan's finest artisans benefiting the Leelanau Community Cultural Center, will be held this weekend (June 22-24, 2007) at the Old Art Building in Leland. The show features furniture by Joe Buteyn, Chip Gadek, Matt Joppich, Bill Perkins, Bob Purvis and Joe Stearns, fine art by Mary Fuscaldo, Kaye Kraypohl, Delbert Michel and Carol Spaulding and woodturning and sculpture by Lyle Jamieson.
The Opening Reception takes place on Friday from 6-8 PM and the show continues on Saturday from 10 AM - 6 PM and Sunday from 10 AM - 4 PM.
Update! This week's Leelanau Enterprise has a story on the Furniture Show.
