The Leelanau School in Glen Arbor is hosting a Mother's Day Brunch this Sunday (May 11) from 10 AM to 2 PM to benefit Leelanau County Habitat for Humanity. This is a terrific brunch for the whole family and funds raised will help pay for a habitat house that is currently under construction in Maple City.
Grand Traverse Habitat for Humanity says:
Habitat for Humanity works in partnership with people in need to build and renovate decent, affordable housing. The houses then are sold to those in need at no profit and with no interest charged. Volunteers provide most of the labor, and individual and corporate donors provide money and materials to build Habitat houses.
Partner families themselves invest hundreds of hours of labor—sweat equity—into building their homes and the homes of others. Their mortgage payments go into a revolving Fund for Humanity that is used to build more houses.
Photo credit: Habitat for Humanity - 6 by tukanuk
April is a month that folks seem to think about more wisely using resources. This week's Enterprise has a nice feature on community power consultant and Leelanau resident Steve Smiley.
Smiley’s home serves as a case study for the Michigan Energy Office, Department of Labor & Economic Growth and is an example of energy (and fuel) savings.
...Smiley said he hopes his home’s carbon-neutral energy consumption will become more the rule than the exception. His vision for Leelanau County includes the creation of shared utilities (heat, water, electricity) which are powered by natural fuel from the sun and wind and renewable sources such as trees, which absorb carbon.
You can see a case study on Smiley's home at the Energy Office case studies page and read Renewable energy powers home of county couple in the Leelanau Enterprise.
The photo is Windmill by j lakechick and seeing it made me think about how once necessity forced folks to take advantage of the energies inherent in nature as a matter of course. Funny how we appear to be returning to that point.
The Leelanau Enterprise has a feature on an interesting project by the shop class at Glen Lake High School.
To reinforce the knowledge they are imparting to their students, teachers Judy Willey and Jeff Barrett came up with an idea: form a company and have the students apply for jobs within the company. But rather than make it a "paper" entity, they decided to make it a real company.
"We came up with the Laker Chair Company. Jeff and I are the CEOs, the kids like to joke about that," said Willey. The students are building Adirondack chairs made of cedar wood, and then market and sell the chairs. The class has produced four chairs, which they donated to the Glen Lake Gala.
Read The Laker Chair Company: Glen Lake 'Transition' program becomes a real business in the Enterprise...
The photo of the barn above (located north of Northport) was taken by Michael Hicks this summer I believe. 
The photo to the right was taken maybe 10 years ago - it's amazing how fast these old barns can crumble into ruin.
It doesn't have to go like this. Check out this article from Lake Magazine titled From Hayloft to Home about Leelanau resident and historical preservation expert Nancy Kotting and the process of turning a barn into a house. Nancy explains the feeling of living in a barn that's been converted:
It's been a joy for me - the loft, the feeling of virgin timber, the sense of strength and permanency that you walk into. I feel like I'm walking into a European cathedral. It's got a verticality that gives you a sense of walking into a sacred space. And a sense of security: This is a building that was here long before I arrived and a building that will be here long after I leave. I never had that feeling in a home.
Leelanau.com built their web site - check it out at nlkotting.com!
