Leelanau.com Blog
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KAScott_20081011_8056_trailsb, photo by Ken Scott Photography

This Saturday (May 30) the National Park Service invites you to officially celebrate the relighting of the South Manitou Island Lighthouse. Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore installed a replica third-order Fresnel lens in the completely refurbished lantern room of the lighthouse last fall, a historic event was made possible by a partnership between the park service, Manitou Islands Memorial Society, Manitou Island Transit, and Electro-Optics Technology, Inc. The light was tested then, but it was too late in the season for the a formal ceremony.

Starting at 9:00 PM at the Maritime Museum in Glen Haven, a National Park Service ranger will present a half-hour interpretive program about the history of the Manitou Passage and the shipwrecks that made it necessary to install a lighthouse to guide mariners through its hazardous waters. Following the program, Superintendent Dusty Shultz and representatives from the partner groups will provide brief remarks and recognize the numerous donors who made this project a reality. Light refreshments will be served and when it's dark enough, the light will be illuminated.

Ken's photo of the South Manitou Island Light features a collection of 350, 30 second still images stacked to create startrails. Check it out bigger in Ken's sky stuff slideshow.

This image is available for purchase as a fundraiser to help pay off the relighting renovation bills. Contact Ken at Ken Scott Photography for more information.

More about the relighting of the South Manitou Light...

• Light from the South Manitou Lighthouse (includes a cool slideshow)
• A Time-lapse of the relighting by Ken Scott
• South Manitou Light Shines Again (with photos of installation)
  
• A new light for the South Manitou Lighthouse (photos of the lens)
• South Manitou Island Lighthouse Project (details and donations!)

kuku4manitou (Joe Burda)

Be sure to check this photo out bigger so that you can see the Grand Traverse Lighthouse complex.

This is one of over 200 aerial photos of Leelanau that Joe took on August 3, 2008.

Grand Traverse Light in Winter by Pentax K1000 Gal

News from the Week

The top story for the week was definitely Eric Carlson's article updating us on what's going on with Sugar Loaf. While there have been no major developments with a sale, it seems as if there is a new will to see something happen from county and local government. Stay tuned! It seems we had a focus on photos as well with the 2009 Leland Report Calendar, a cool stone building by smartee_martee and some photos and a short video from a winter walk on the Lake Michigan shore.

The Week's Weather

The weather for the first week of 2009 was definitely wintry but had more sun than any week I can remember since October.

January 1, 2009: Light snow and 20s (27/15)
January 2, 2009: Snow and upper 20s (29/18)
January 3, 2009: Flurries and 20s (28/17)
January 4, 2009: Light snow mixed with freezing rain and 30s (33/21)
January 5, 2009: Light snow, teens with late afternoon sun (24/12)
January 6, 2009: Sunny, light snow and teens (30/6)
January 7, 2009: Snow and upper 20s (29/24)

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

Leelanau Almanac for the Week of December 25-31, 2008>

Click for the Leelanau News Archive from January 2008.

There's a lot of holiday happenings coming up - here's a list of some of them and check the Leelanau Calendar for more!

Cedar offers you a chance to Make It, Take it on Friday (Nov 28). Handmade gift kits will be available to purchase at any shop in Cedar, then you may attend a class to learn how to put the gift together! There's also the Cedar Christmas Party on Sunday, December 7, 1-3 pm at the Solon Twp Hall - call 228-3426  for details!

Empire will hold the 1st Annual Empire Artisan Marketplace at the Empire Town Hall on November 29, 2008 from 12noon to 5pm with local artisans selling crafts such as jewelry, pottery, fiber arts, clothing, handcrafted brooms, tin ware, wreaths and much more. There's also the tree lighting Friday evening. Visit the Empire Chamber for more.

Glen Arbor invites you to shop in your PJs on Friday (Nov 28) and come back for tree lighting, carols and the holiday marketplace preview. The marketplace continues on Saturday at the Glen Arbor Town Hall. More from the Glen Lake Chamber. There's also a free concert by the Leelanau Community Choir "Singing the Tidings of Christmas" at the Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Glen Arbor.

Leland gets in on the PJ shopping fun Friday from 8-10 am and there's also a book signing and breakfast buffet at the Library. The Old Art Building holds the annual Merry Marketplace next Saturday (Dec 6). Leland's holiday calendar also offers tree lighting and Santa's arrival (Dec 7), Ladies Shopping Night (Dec 11) and for all you Last Second Larrys, Men's Shopping Night on December 23.

Northport has their Merchant's Open House this Saturday (Nov 28) and there's a Holiday Open House at the Grand Traverse Lighthouse on Sunday, December 7 from noon - 4 PM. The annual Christmas Concert takes place on December 13th & 14th as well!

Suttons Bay welcomes Santa to town on Sunday, December 7. Also taking place on Sunday will be Antlers & Elves (with real live reindeer!) at Enerdyne and the Leelanau Community Choir makes another stop on their tour in Suttons Bay at 3 PM at the Suttons Bay Congregational Church.

Traverse City(ish) is the location of Pathfinder School's Holiday Art & Craft Show on December 13th and the first annual Traverse City Downtown Turkey Trot 5K Run/Walk takes place on Thanksgiving - get the info here.

Did we miss something? Post it below!

The photo is Brilliant (blue) Books by Pentax K1000 Gal

The Bufka Farm by John Levanen

News from the Week

In addition to some Thanksgiving weekend events, we had Ken Scott's cool time lapse of the South Manitou Island Lighthouse and looked at the 150th anniversary of the Traverse City Record-Eagle.

The Week's Weather

Cold. Snow. Wind. These may not be a few of our favorite things, but they were basically all we had last week. Looking ahead, we see a troubling pattern.

November 13, 2008: Light rain & 40s (50/44)
November 14, 2008: Heavy rain & 40s (50/40)
November 15, 2008: Rain/snow mix and 30s (42/32)
November 16, 2008: Flurries & low 30s (34/30)
November 17, 2008: Snow (2"), wind & 20s (31/25)
November 18, 2008: Light snow & 20s (30/21)
November 19, 2008: Light snow & 30s (36/25)

Click for the Leelanau News Archive from November 2007.

Ken Scott has produced this cool time-lapse video of the re-lighting of the South Manitou Island Lighthouse (complete with a soundtrack from mobygratis). Read more about this from the Re-Light the Lighthouse page and from Leelanau.com and thanks to Jim Stamm for pointing it out to me!

Ghost at the Light from MyNorth.com tells the tale of Captain Peter Nelson, Danish sailor and keeper of the Grand Traverse Lighthouse, who some believe roams the light 113 years after his death. It's written by Nelson's great-great-great-granddaughter Emily Betz Tyra and begins:

Stef Staley, the no-nonsense executive director of the lighthouse museum, is waiting inside. In the fall when it’s quiet Staley hears the most from the ghost that haunts the light. When she’s here alone and everything is all buttoned up she hears someone with hard-soled shoes crossing the hardwood floors. “In the bathroom, I hear voices, in the hall going toward the tower. Then someone walking up the tower. I hear it, I walk out, and there’s not a soul anywhere,” she says. She stares into my eyes.

She’s not the only one who senses the ghost. She tells of a docent volunteer here in April who, anxious and almost embarrassed, reported to her that the night before he felt someone brush past him and then felt a warm flow of air three times in a row. Another volunteer at the admissions desk for the museum sensed a presence, then glanced over to the threshold of the original exterior door and saw a man with his face down, kicking off his boots.

Click through to read the rest!

Photo credit: Grand Traverse Lighthouse courtesy Archives of Michigan.

One of the annual Halloween highlights (my kids are already getting excited for it)  is the Empire Eagles' Field of Screams Haunted Hayride held Friday & Saturday the two weekends before Halloween (Oct 17 & 18 and 24 & 25) on M-72 just east of Gilbert Road. (more info)

Other Halloween events include:

• Haunted Lighthouse at the Grand Traverse Lighthouse Museum on October 18 from noon - 4 PM. Visit grandtraverselighthouse.com for details!
• The AP Art Class of Suttons Bay High School is sponsoring a Haunted House at the Friendship Center in Suttons Bay on October 23-24 from 6-8PM and October 25 from 4-8PM. The cost for this event is $5 and it benefits the AP Art Class!
• Cedar's Halloween Haunted House on October 24,25,26 and Halloween night from 7-9 pm (at the south end of Nelson St - call 228-3426 for details). On Halloween, treats will be given out as well!
• Glen Arbor Trick or Treating for Children on Sunday (Oct 26) - Glen Lake Chamber
• There's a Children's Halloween Party at the Empire Town Hall on Halloween from 6-8 PM. If anyone's interested in volunteering the night of event or or to decorate the night before, please call Jan at 326-5439 with any questions.

If you know of any more, please post a comment below!

The South Manitou Island Lighthouse was officially re-lit October 4, 2008 at 8 PM.

We will be linking to more photos and such as they are posted. You can click the photo to the right for a slideshow of the new lamp in action from Geoff Niessink!

Details about this historic event.

The photo above is Relight by Andy McFarlane

Special from the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore (with photo "Installing the Fesnel Lens" by Dave Hooper - slideshow):

This weekend, the South Manitou Island Lighthouse will shine for the first time in 50 years. Thanks to a partnership with Manitou Islands Memorial Society, Manitou Island Transit, and Electro-Optics Technology, Incorporated, the National Park Service at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore was able to install a replica third-order Fresnel lens in the completely refurbished lantern room of the lighthouse. Everyone is invited to go to their favorite South Manitou Island vantage point along the mainland of the Lakeshore at 8:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 4 to see the light illuminated for the first time in 50 years. A formal dedication ceremony is planned for next spring.

Lighting the South Manitou Island Lighthouse is a National Park Service Centennial Initiative project. The Centennial Initiative is a 10-year program to reinvigorate America's national parks and prepare them for a second century. The initiative includes up to $100 million a year in federal funds for these projects, but requires matching funds from philanthropic donations to the National Park Service.

Superintendent Dusty Shultz lauded the efforts of project partners, saying "The South Manitou Island Light project was made possible through a partnership with Manitou Islands Memorial Society, Manitou Island Transit, and Electro-Optics Technology, Incorporated. Thanks to our partners, people will be able to once again see the distant light on the horizon, and visitors to the lighthouse will be able to view the replica lens and lantern room the way it once looked."

The replica third-order Fresnel lens was fabricated by Artworks Florida, and the lens is illuminated by a lighting source with a low-wattage bulb designed by Electro-Optics Technology of Traverse City. A crew of National Park Service maintenance personnel restored the lantern room and spiral stairway of the tower earlier this year, and only recently installed the lens and light. The total dollar cost is $93,000 split equally between the National Park Service and private donations from the partners along with donated time and materials furnished by Electro-Optics Technology.

Manitou Island Memorial Society president Rhonda Kruch is pleased by the progress, but notes "The Manitou Island Memorial Society is still seeking $13,000 in donations to fulfill their obligations under the agreement. Anyone who appreciates the new light should look us up at http://www.leelanau.com/lighthouse, and help us make history with this and other projects." The mailing address for the society is: Manitou Islands Memorial Society, PO Box 177, Empire, MI 49630-0177.

The iconic 104 foot South Manitou Island Lighthouse is strategically located on the heavily trafficked Manitou Passage on the 300 mile eastern route from Chicago to Mackinaw. It identified both the passage and the most frequently used refuge on the Great Lakes. This year marks the 150th anniversary of the 1858 Keepers Quarters and the 50th anniversary of the year the light was extinguished. "The anniversary dates make the completion of this project especially meaningful," said Shultz.