Saturdays at the Lakeshore in May
Every Saturday in May the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore will hold a ranger-led, educational walk in the Lakeshore with topics including frogs, beaver lodges, wild flowers and migratory birds!
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On Saturday in Grand Rapids two teams from Leland took the gold medal in their respective divisions in the Michigan Odyssey of the Mind State meet.
Both teams competed in the Tee Structure competition which required them to design and build a structure using only balsa wood and glue (maximum weight of 18 grams!) and also present a play while adding weight to the structure. Leland's teams held the first and second highest weight totals with 328 in Division II and a whopping 443 in Division I! (results)
The teams now prepare for the World Finals May 31 - June 3 in Maryland.
The Exposures Open House will be held Friday (Apr 25) at the Old Art Building. The event features an exhibition of work from this year's Exposures magazine along with refreshments and music. The opening reception is on Friday, April 25 from 5 to 8 pm featuring original artwork, essay and poetry readings, hors d'oeuvres and live music by the "I Am Art" student band. The exhibit continues on Saturday, April 26 from 10 am to 4 pm and this is a great chance to support some wonderful student artists and writers from all of Leelanau County's schools.
The Leelanau MSU Extension will host an organic vegetable farming and gardening event on Friday, April 18 at the NW Michigan Horticultural Research Station.
This session will be of use to organic producers, backyard vegetable growers, those considering organic certification, and anyone else interested in growing vegetables. The program will cover soil management, how organic soils work, cover crops for vegetable production, composting, organic pest management, emerging crops for organic production, the pros and cons of organic certification, the use of hoophouses for season extension. There will also be an experienced farmer panel representing four farms across Michigan to explain their operations and answer first-hand any questions participants may have. A catered lunch will be provided. The cost to attend is $25 per person.
If you're interested, you meed to RSVP to the Leelanau MSU Extension office by Monday, April 10th! Call 231-256-9888.
The Traverse City Record-Eagle reports that the Michigan Senate has approved a school aid funding plan that would allow some of the lowest-funded school districts to gain additional equity payments and also increase all districts' per-student allowance by $71 next year. Traverse City Schools (whuch are among the lowest funded in the state) would receive payments and some Leelanau districts would receive payments as well.
This is hardly a new issue. Not long after voters approved Proposal A in 1994, the Legislature passed enabling legislation that gave more per-pupil state aid to a handful of districts, most of them the wealthiest in the state. The reasoning was that these districts had taxed themselves more than most and shouldn't be punished for doing so.
The legislation also called for the per-pupil gap to be narrowed until virtually all districts got the same amount of aid, but that hasn't really happened. The so-called 20(J) districts -- those getting higher stipends -- have continued to reap much more than districts like Traverse City.
Today, most districts get $7,204 per pupil, while some 20(J) districts still get more than $12,000. If Traverse City was funded at the level Birmingham schools are -- $12,303 per student -- its state contribution would soar by more than $51 million per year.
School equity is something that everyone in Northern Michigan should be talking with their elected officials about. Learn more about the issue at Citizens for Equity.
The Leelanau Enterprise has a feature on the recent Michigan Odyssey of the Mind Regional Competition and how Leelanau teams fared. Competing were teams from Glen Lake, Leland, Pathfinder and St. Mary schools. The Glen Lake Division II team solving a problem titled took third place in "The Wonderful Muses" and both of Leland's "Tee Structure" teams will travel to East Kentwood High School near Grand Rapids for the state competition on April 19.
The Leelanau Enterprise has a pair of articles about theater productions at Leelanau schools this weekend.
Suttons Bay students will stage the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The King and I on Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m., and Sunday at 2 p.m. They say "The King and I is set in the 1860s around the king’s palace in Bangkok, Siam. Anna is a teacher hired by the king to educate the royal prince and princesses in the palace. "(read more and see a photo)
Meanwhile Glen Lake elementary and middle school students will put on Seussical Jr. – the musical based on Dr. Seuss' beloved stories, Horton Hears a Who and Horton Hatches an Egg at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday (more from the Enterprise article).
Sorry about the late notice. I have to point out to the schools that in the future they can add these, for free to our Leelanau Calendar! I'd also like to add that I had no idea the picture for this would end up as dueling pachyderms.
The annual Winter Carnival for the Leelanau Children's Center will be held this Saturday (Mar 1) from Noon - 3 pm in the big gym at Leland Public School. There will be lots of fun games for kids, prizes, raffle and a tasty lunch! All are welcome!
On Valentine's Day (Feb 14), Peter Ostroushko will return to the area with his fiddle and mandolin accompanied by guitarist Danny Gotham. Mr. Ostroushko has been a regular on the radio show, "Prairie Home Companion" for over 25 years. This concert is at the Old Art Building in Leland and will will feature desserts from Adelades, Higher Grounds coffee and chocolates!
The doors open 6:30 PM and tickets are $12 adults/$5 students and available at the door. For more information please call Donna Popke at 271-6950.
The concert benefits Friends of Fine Arts, a group of teachers, staff and parents dedicated to maintaining a quality fine arts program for Suttons Bay students.
The Leelanau Enterprise has a comprehensive feature titled 'A sense of giving back'on the wide range of mentoring programs on the Leelanau peninsula. According to the article, benefits of mentoring include a decreased incidence of drug and alcohol use and violence, improved grades and more positive relationships with friends and parents.
Programs in the area include Voices & Choices, Kids Hope USA, Big Brother/Big Sisters of Northwest Michigan, Leelanau Christian Neighbors, Project HERO, Leelanau Mentoring and you can find out more about mentoring in Leelanau County (including how to volunteer) through Leelanau County's mentoring page.
In Bluegrass band kicks off FOFA concert series, the Leelanau Enterprise takes a look at the 2008 Friends of the Fine Arts (FOFA) concert series. FOFA provides support for arts activities at Suttons Bay Public Schools, and their 2008 lineup looks spectacular! The series opens this Saturday (Jan 11) with 2006 Telluride Bluegrass Festival band winner Greensky Bluegrass at the Suttons Bay auditorium and continues with:
Peter Ostroushko will bring his fiddle and mandolin for a Feb. 14 performance, accompanied by Danny Gothman. Ostroushko has been a regular on the radio show Prairie Home Companion for more than 25 years. This concert is at the Old Art Building in Leland. In celebration of Valentine's Day, desserts from Adelaides will be served along with Higher Grounds coffee and chocolate.
To finish the series, Patchouli, an acoustic duo from Wisconsin featuring Julie Patchouli and Bruce Hecksel, will take the stage Feb. 29. Patchouli has released seven critically acclaimed compact discs, played more than 1,000 shows and been on radio around the world.
Both teams competed in the Tee Structure competition which required them to design and build a structure using only balsa wood and glue (maximum weight of 18 grams!) and also present a play while adding weight to the structure. Leland's teams held the first and second highest weight totals with 328 in Division II and a whopping 443 in Division I! (results)
The Traverse City Record-Eagle reports that the 
The Leelanau Enterprise has a pair of articles about theater productions at Leelanau schools this weekend.
On Valentine's Day (Feb 14), 
