Leelanau.com Blog
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Jenny reminds you that penguins are notoriously bad drivers.

Though she doesn't live in Leelanau, she has some cool photos from Leland and other places in the area. Unfortunately, Flickr is failing to recognize that so you'll just have to trust me on that one.

The Old Art Building in Leland will host a special concert (with chocolates!) at 8 PM on Valentine’s Day (Feb 14) with Breathe Owl Breathe. The trio of Micah Middaugh, Andréa Moreno-Beals, and Trevor Hobbs weave songs that are simultaneously playful and thoughtful, simple and intricate. Their layering of guitar, cello, banjo, drum set and harmonizing vocals, as well as some unusual musical uses of instruments and other found objects, results in a very creative and original sound.

Tickets $12 Adults/ $5 Students available at Leelanau Books in Leland and Brilliant Books in Suttons Bay.

You can check out Breathe Owl Breathe at their website, including a nice film from a show right here. You can also listen to their songs on their MySpace.

North Beach 1/5/09 by Halley

News from the Week

This week we had a feature from the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore about their Saturday snowshoeing in the park. There was also a nice Points North interview with 3 Sutherland brothers from IPR, a look at this weekend's Winter Wine & Vine Experience at the Old Art Building in Leland and the upcoming  Glen Arbor Winterfest, and a photo of a winding road in the lakeshore in autumn.

The Week's Weather

The weather was cold. No, that's not fair. The weather was FREEZING.

January 22, 2009: Partly sunny, flurries & low 20s (26/23)
January 23, 2009: Cloudy, freezing drizzle early w/ diving temps late (30/14)
January 24, 2009: Partly sunny, flurries and low teens (15/9)
January 25, 2009: Partly sunny w/ wind and light snow (13/6)
January 26, 2009: Mostly sunny & teens (16/-8)
January 27, 2009: Partly sunny & teens (20/-9) Record low!
January 28, 2009: Mostly sunny & mid teens (20/7)

<Leelanau Almanac for the Week of January 29 – February 4, 2009

Leelanau Almanac for the Week of January 15-21, 2009>

Click for the Leelanau News Archive from January 2008.

The annual Glen Arbor Winterfest takes place on Saturday, February 14, 2009. It features a Chili Cookoff at Boone Docks Deck in Glen Arbor (from 12 Noon until the chili is gone) and a perch fishing contest on Glen Lake sponsored by The Sportsman Shop (starting at 7 AM).

The event is sponsored by the Glen Lake Chamber of Commerce and all net proceeds benefited the scholarship fund at the Glen Lake School. Here's some photos from last year. Jeremy Plamondon took the fishing honors in 2008 with 13.25", 1 pound perch. Nearly 400 chili tasters selected Chili Cook-Off Winners:

Traditional Chili
1st place-Peace Pole Makers
2nd place-Glen Lake Schools
Non-Traditional Chili
1st place-Bear Paw
2nd place-LaBecasse

The photo is Chili cook off Glen Arbor Days 08 by 1Cher.

The Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore offers snowshoe walks every Saturday through the end of February or later if conditions permit.  Each hike will start by meeting at the Philip Hart Visitor Center in Empire at 1 PM.  If you don't have your own snowshoes, you may use a pair free of charge by calling 326-5134.  Please note these popular walks have been using up all their 35 pairs of loaner snowshoes, so get your reservation in early!

At the Visitor Center, a Park Ranger will distribute snowshoes and provide basic snowshoeing instructions for those who need them.  Then the ranger will lead everyone in their own cars to the trailhead of the day.  On the trail, the Ranger will help participants identify flora and fauna, learn more about the Lakeshore's unique features, and witness the effects winter has on both.  Visitors should arrive prepared to be outside for about an hour and a half.  To be most comfortable and warm, dress in layers and wear waterproof boots.  The program will conclude by 3:00 p.m. at the trailhead.  Note that the VC closes at 4:00 p.m., should you want or need to go back after the walk.

Snowshoeing is easy, fun, and good exercise!  If you can walk, then you can snowshoe, so it is also an activity that can be enjoyed by all ages.  The ranger-led hikes are mildly strenuous, yet they proceed at a leisurely pace for only 0.5 – 1.5 miles.  This allows visitors an opportunity for discovery, adventure, and to look for signs of wildlife or evidence of ancient glaciers.  Some snowshoers simply want to experience and enjoy a winter wonderland, and that is what you will find at the National Lakeshore.

The walk and snowshoe loan are free.  However, participants need to purchase a park entrance pass or display an annual pass in their vehicle to join in the fun.  Park passes cost $10/vehicle and are good for seven days.  The annual pass costs $20 and is valid for a year from the month of purchase.  Teachers and other group leaders may also schedule a ranger to take their group snowshoeing this winter.  Please call 231-326-5134, extension 328, for details and to make reservations.  For more information about Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, call the park at 231-326-5134.

Photo and article courtesy Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore

Interlochen Public Radio's Peter Payette interviewed three of the most entrepreneurial citizens of the Grand Traverse Region last week on Points North.

They also happen to be brothers, and I think you'll enjoy with interview with Paul Sutherland (owner of the Financial & Investment Management Group), Bobby Sutherland (owner of Cherry Republic) and Matt Sutherland (co-founder of the Epicurean Classic).

Listen to Sutherland Brothers from Points North.

This photo is part of creed 400's excellent Sleeping Bear Dunes set (slideshow). You might also enjoy their M-22 set.

The Winter Wine & Vine Experience takes place next Friday (Jan 30) at the Old Art Building in Leland from 5-7 PM. With the aid of Sommelier Becky Hemmingsen of Hansen Foods, you will explore the unique characters of a selection of award-winning Leelanau wines and learn how to evaluate wines for personal taste and for serving at your table.

Wines from Mawby L. Vineyards, Shady Lane Cellars, Bel Lago Vineyards and Winery, Forty-Five North Vineyard and Winery, Black Star Farms and Chateau Fontaine will be featured, and the setting will include an art exhibit. With each of the local wines, a complementary appetizer suggested by the winemaker will be served. As an added feature, viticulture expert Lee Lutes of Black Star Farms will tell you about the special techniques and challenges in growing grapes in Northern Michigan to produce these desired characteristics.

Tickets for this event are $30 each or a table of eight may be reserved for $200. To reserve a table or purchase tickets call 231-256-2131 or visit their web site. All proceeds benefit the Leelanau Community Cultural Center programs.

20090101_Barns by ETCphoto

News from the Week

In addition to the upcoming Taste the Passion wine tour and the first of the Talks About Art with the Glen Arbor Artists, we had a feature on bears in Leelanau County (courtesy the Glen Arbor Sun) and a local book selected as a 2009 Michigan Notable Book, Historic Cottages of Glen Lake by Barbara Siepker, photography by Dietrich Floeter.

The Week's Weather

The weather was pretty chilly, but we did get some sun (probably more than we had in the whole month of December) and some nice snow.

January 15, 2009: Light snow, windy and single digits (10/-2)
January 16, 2009: Flurries and single digits (11/3)
January 17, 2009: Light snow, breezy & 10 (12/6)
January 18, 2009: Partly sunny & teens (20/2)
January 18, 2009: Partly sunny, flurries & teens (19/9)
January 20, 2009: Mostly sunny & teens (17/-1)
January 21, 2009: Cloudy & low 20s (25/14)

<Leelanau Almanac for the Week of January 22-28, 2009

Leelanau Almanac for the Week of January 1-7, 2009>

Click for the Leelanau News Archive from January 2008.

The Glen Arbor Sun's winter edition features some great reads including In search of the sleeping bear by Pat Stinson. Here's the start – be sure to click through to read the rest for information about the bear population in Leelanau County!

In January, as snowshoe hares bound across Thoreson Road and minks skirt a frozen wetland at the foot of Alligator Hill, northern Michigan black bears snooze in their dens, tucked into secret places throughout the Upper (U.P.) and northern Lower Peninsulas. During this month, one of nature’s most intriguing phenomena will occur. Pregnant black bears (females are called “sows”) will give birth to between two and four tiny cubs while curled asleep under logs, in dirt holes left by uprooted trees, or among branches and leaves the sows have gathered that resemble giant birds’ nests.

“It’s pretty amazing that this all happens in the wild, sometimes without protection in a nest-type den completely out in the snow,” said Dr. Larry Visser, NW Wildlife Management Unit Supervisor for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNR).

continued at the Glen Arbor Sun >

The article explains that the bear population in Leelanau County is considered medium density with eastern Benzie County and southern Grand Traverse County as high density, so you may also want to check out the Michigan DNR page on the Black Bear and Wikipedia's entry on the American Black Bear! You can click that photo (courtesy Wikimedia Commons) for a larger view too!