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Looking to spruce up your garden or your yard? Two area communities have plant sales this weekend!

Cedar's Perennial Plant Sale is Saturday, May 25 from 9 AM - 3 PM. Hundreds of perennial and wildflower plants are ready for planting in your garden. Beautify your home with plants that attract butterflies and birds. Prices start at $2.00 with over 500 plants and 50 varieties. This is their major fundraiser of the year to support 265 days per year of free, educational, healthy and intergenerational fun.

The Annual Plant Sale on the Village Green in Leland is on tap for Memorial Day Weekend as well! Now is your chance to purchase native ferns, trillium, and more along with a selection of native trees and shrubs provided by locally owned Four Season Nursery, who will be on hand to answer questions about going native.

Sale runs Friday, May 24th and Saturday May 25th; hours 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day. All proceeds help maintain the Village Green and assist with other Conservancy projects. The Wildflower Rescue Committee continually seeks new sites on which to dig. If you are building a home, driveway, addition, or know of someone who is, please contact the WRC so they may have a chance to remove these precious wildflowers before the excavators arrive! Contact Patty Shea: 256-9249 or Joanie Woods: 256-7154.

Photo credit: 20090429_0107_copy(Blood Root) by jsorbieus

The 10th Annual Empire Asparagus Festival will be held May 17-18, 2013 and features a slew of asparagus-themed events including a Street Dance & Pig Roast from 7-10 PM Friday, a fun run (or walk), Asparagus Eats/Wine and Beer Tasting,  Asparagus recipe contest, the Asparagus Parade, chalk art, music & dance and kids games and a 7 PM Finale Fun Food with Live Music on Saturday night. You can get all the details on the tasty eats and drinks below!

A feature by Susan Bayer Ward titled The Empire Strikes Back... With Asparagus explains:

There's a reason Empire touts itself as the apex of asparagus-a vegetable whose short growing season begins in early May and flows into June. The area's sandy soil, plentitude of water and temperate microclimate-fostered by Lake Michigan, make this the perfect place to nurture wild and farmed asparagus. In fact, Michigan ranks third behind California and Washington as a producer of this commercial crop which garners the state a surprising $29 million annually.

Truth be told, only one local farmer, Harry Norconk, runs a 240-acre asparagus-growing business south of town. But what the heck, this slender green harbinger of spring grows wild all over the place. And while surrounding towns, for years, positioned themselves as prime purveyors of cherries, morel mushrooms and wines, Empire decided to become the Valhalla of that savory veggie-the asparagus.

Also see Stalking Local Asparagus in Empire from MyNorth.com.

(more...)

The annual Leland Heritage Celebration takes place September 15th, 2012. This annual event is free and open to the public. Highlights include the Leelanau Historical Museum's "Wooden Boats on the Wall", Van's Garage antique car show, and the Fishtown Preservation Society offering music and festivities in Fishtown.

There will also be an exhibit titled "Windows on Leelanau; Past, Present, and Future" will be the featured for the Leelanau Community Cultural Center at the Old Art Building. Exhibit hours are 10 am to 5 pm on Saturday and 12 to 4 pm on Sunday. The exhibit will feature original works of art using the window as a view on Leelanau. Artists will use the window as a metaphor beyond its mere architectural aspect. This will be a fun and creative exhibit by Leelanau artists.

The Leland Township Library gets into the act as well with their annual Fall Used Book Sale on the lawn at the Library. They will be featuring a display of the books of Leelanau County authors and books about Leelanau County. Library Director

Library Director Sylvia Merz says, "We are always amazed at the number of authors who either currently or once upon a time called Leelanau County home. We’ve pulled as many volumes as we have and they will be featured on Saturday for visitors to browse and check out as they enjoy the events!" (more...)

Leelanau County offers some of the best cycling in the country. A great way to enjoy it is coming next Sunday, September 16th on the 2012 Leelanau Harvest Tour featuring rides of 20, 40, 65 and 100 miles. The tour is a benefit for TART Trails and all 4 routes feature great food, with an optional post-race lunch. It starts and finishes at Suttons Bay High School, and all routes follow a paved portion of the Leelanau Trail before heading out to some of the most scenic roads on the Leelanau Peninsula. Register and get more information from the Cherry Capital Cycling Club or TART Trails websites.

Four All New Routes (click the link above for maps with elevation profiles)

• After nine miles on the Leelanau Trail, the 20 mile route follows the east side of South Lake Leelanau then returns to the Trail to finish in Suttons Bay. Being mostly flat this is an ideal route for younger riders.
• The 40 mile route begins the same as the short route then continues north along the east side of both North and South Lake Leelanau and passes though the village of Lake Leelanau before returning to Suttons Bay via Herman Hill.
• After leaving the Leelanau Trail 10.5 miles south of Suttons Bay, the 65 mile route heads west through Maple City, north around Little Traverse Lake, through Lake Leelanau, up the east side of North Lake Leelanau and then over Herman Hill to the finish.
• The 100 mile route extends the 65 mile route north to the Grand Traverse Lighthouse at the tip of the Leelanau Peninsula and the village of Northport with more hills and scenic views.

Photo credit: aDSC_9796.jpg by cyoas55

This weekend and next you can check out and original play about Northport, Michigan presented by the Northport Area Heritage Association. "Sugar's Folly" takes place this Saturday & Sunday and nexy (September 1 & 2 and 8 & 9) with shows at 3 PM and 8 PM on Saturday and a 3 PM matinee on Sunday at the Northport Community Arts Center (at Northport School).

Sugar's Folly was written in 1996 by local writer Sue Hansen. It tells the story of a young woman who moves to Northport, purchases an old house and proceeds to turn it into a Bed and Breakfast with the help of local handyman Gomer. While Gomer is working on the B&B - where Sugar plans to make her fortune - she takes a job at Barb's Bakery and most of the play's action takes place there. Excitement builds when Gomer finds a box of old letters and a treasure map. Sugar is convinced there's treasure in those old walls.

In this article in the GT Insider, Hanson explains:

“I was a writer, and had written several novels, but I’d never written a play before,” she said of that early effort. Since then, she has written several successful plays, and the version of “Sugar’s Folly” that audiences will see in September is an updated and revised version of her original work, with character changes.

“The original play had lots of kids in it,” said Hanson, “because, with my work for the Chamber of Commerce I had to include the whole community. Since then, I’ve tightened it up a lot, and it’s now a much better play.”

Hanson, a singer with Northport’s popular Village Voices, also wrote the songs for the play.

“The story still has lots of local references, and while it’s made up all the way, there’s no reason it couldn’t be true,” she said. “It’s set in the present day, but talks about an event that happened a hundred years ago.”

Admission is $15 per person. Children 12 and under are $5 each. Play proceeds go to the Northport Area Heritage Association to help fund museum operations

Photo credit: Barb's Bakery ~ Northport, MI by Trish P. - K1000 Gal

via lpwines.com...

The Grand Traverse Insider reports that the Leelanau Peninsula Wine, Food and Music Festival in Suttons Bay begins at 1 PM this Saturday (July 21) and runs until 7 PM. The entrance fee is $15 per person, which includes a complimentary wine glass and two tasting tickets; additional tasting tickets will be available for $2 each. This year's entertainment showcases the blues duo, Hipps n Ricco. A nice play area is available on the beach for children to enjoy while parents take turns at the festival.

17 Leelanau wineries will be on hand: Bel Lago Vineyard and Winery, Black Star Farms, Blustone Vineyards, Brengman Brothers at Crain Hill, Chateau de Leelanau, Chateau Fontaine, Ciccone Vineyard, Forty-Five North Vineyard and Winery, French Valley Vineyard, Good Harbor Vineyards, Good Neighbor Organic Vineyard, L. Mawby Winery, Leelanau Cellars, Shady Lane Cellars, Silver Leaf Vineyard, Verterra Winery and Willow Vineyard.

They add that the Inland Seas Education Association’s Classic Boat Show returns as part of their ISEA Summer Festival on Saturday as well:

The event will take place from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. behind the ISEA building, in conjunction with the Leelanau Peninsula Wine, Food and Music Festival, also in Suttons Bay at the Marina Park.

“We’re pleased to bring the Classic Boat Show back to Suttons Bay,” said ISEA Executive Director Tom Kelly. “This event will bring together a diverse group of sailboats, motorboats, canoes, kayaks, rowboats and prams, and will give the public a chance to meet the owners and see the boats up close.”

...The family-friendly event is free and includes sailing trips aboard the Friendship Sloop Liberty, harbor tours aboard the classic M/Y Liberty, dockside tours aboard the schooner Inland Seas, wooden canoe and pram building demonstrations, an all-day Nautical Flea Market, and a raffle featuring a 16-foot Abenaki canoe.

Raffle tickets are $10 each, and the drawing will take place at 5 p.m. on July 21. For more information, call the ISEA at 231-271-3077.

Read on for more!

Enjoy a beautiful summer’s evening at the foot of the Dune Climb in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore this Sunday (July 15) at 7 PM.

The setting is magnificent and the music is even better. The Dune Climb Concert is an annual presentation by the Glen Arbor Art Association and free to the public.

This year’s concert features Detour, a Michigan-based bluegrass band that combines original contemporary bluegrass sounds with great traditional favorite. Detour’s tight focused harmonies, precision instrumentals, and creative melodies will take the audience down a unique bluegrass road have landed the band at #1 on the national bluegrass charts! (scroll down for a video)

The band’s talented line-up features the soaring lead vocals of Missy Armstrong, the championship fiddling of Peter Knupfer, the inventive rhythm lines of Jack Grant on bass, the soulful guitar of Scott Zylstra, the hard driving mandolin and superb song writing of Jeff Rose, and the stellar banjo playing of Kevin Gaugier. Detour has quickly become a standout — “a bluegrass joyride” that the Lansing State Journal acclaims as “perhaps the best bluegrass band Michigan has yet produced.”

There is no charge for the 7:00 p.m. concert; however, a National Park pass is required for parking. Free shuttle busses will provide transportation to overflow parking lots. Bring chairs or blankets to sit on. Some folding chairs are also provided in front of the stage. In the event of rain, the show will go on at the Glen Arbor Town Hall.

The Dune Climb concert is part of the Glen Arbor Art Association’s Manitou Music Festival which is underwritten in part by grants from the Michigan Council for the Arts and Cultural Affairs and Oleson Foundation, as well as corporate sponsorships from Art’s Tavern, Cherry Republic, Glen Lake Chamber of Commerce, The Homestead Resort, Huntington Bank, McCahill’s Crossing Dairy Bar and Motel, On the Narrows Marina and individual contributions? To see the full schedule of concerts visitglenarborart.org or call the Glen Arbor Art Association 231-334-6112.

Manitou Music Festival poster design winner David Westerfield, will be Artist-in-Residence at the Glen Arbor Art Association for two weeks.

Westerfield's presentation to the public will be on Thursday, June 28 at 7:30pm. Westerfield lives in Glenview, IL and is a frequent visitor to Leelanau who is captivated by the “visual beauty of the shore, dunes, and the many historic locations.”

He regularly paints at favorite locations in Michigan, California and Hawaii producing finished Plein Air paintings as well as studies later developed into larger pieces in the studio. His presentation is free and open to the public at the Glen Arbor Art Association at 6031 S. Lake Street across from the Cherry Republic. Refreshments will be served.

Westerfield’s poster titled “Rising Moon” depicting the cannery at Glen Haven is for sale at the  Glen Arbor Art Association and several shops in Glen Arbor. (click for link)

U.S. Senator Carl Levin and National Lakeshore Superintendent Dusty Shultz break ground on the trail last summer.

The Glen Arbor Sun reports that a Glen Arbor couple has offered a challenge match for Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail:

Glen Arbor residents Bill and Vicki Anderson, who were among the first supporters of the Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail (SBHT), have issued a challenge pledge with a 2:1 match for all donations to the new trail through the end of March. The campaign still needs to raise $30,000 in order to secure the full Anderson Challenge match of $50,000. Bill Anderson shared with Traverse Area Recreation and Transportation (TART) Trails his family’s motivation for posing the challenge match.

“This summer, 10 years of planning and effort will become a reality for the first five-mile link of the Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail,” he said. “To help sustain the momentum and encourage additional financial support we are offering a match of $50,000 if the $100,000 goal is reached by March 31st.”

The first section of trail connecting Glen Arbor to the Dune Climb will be completed this July. The trail will provide easy, car-free access to amenities and attractions including the DH Day Campground, Glen Haven, Glen Arbor and the Dune Climb.

Read on at the Sun and learn more about the trail and make donations at sleepingbeartrail.org or by calling Pam Darling (231) 941-4300.

The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) has awarded a nearly $500,000 federal Transportation Enhancement (TE) grant to the Leelanau County Road Commission. The money will be used to pave 6.5 miles of the Leelanau Trail from Lakeview Hills Road to Revold Road, and TART Trails will provide a $200,000 match.

"This federal funding helps pay for improvements that make a real difference in economic development and quality of life," said State Transportation Director Kirk T. Steudle. "Transportation enhancements like these make Michigan communities even more attractive to residents, visitors and business investors."

Under federal law, 10 percent of federal surface transportation funds are set aside for TE projects. Administered by MDOT, the grants enable communities to invest in projects such as streetscapes and non-motorized trails. TE funds provide a maximum of 80 percent of the money required for each project, with the remainder coming from state and local government and the private sector.

Thanks IPR News Radio for the tip and please consider donating to the Leelanau Trail Capital Campaign.

Photo credit: Leelanau Trail by mollypitcher