Sharon McMachen Kalchik will speak about the barns of Leelanau Township at 7 PM next Thursday (Sep 25) at the Trinity Church of The United Church of Christ in Northport (103 N Warren Street).
Her talk is sponsored by the Northport Area Heritage Association and based on the photos she took in 2005 when she set out to photograph Leelanau Township's remaining barns. She'll have two large albums of barn photos to browse through as well as some matted barn photos on display. She's also planning to show a DVD she made with Northport resident Kelli Charter featuring lots of color photos of the area.=.
In just over a month, residents of Leelanau County (also also Antrim, Benzie, Grand Traverse, Kalkaska, and Wexford counties) will be asked to help decide the next 50+ years of transportation and land use development in our region through a project involving community, government, business and citizens known as The Grand Vision.
Leelanau.com has been working on videos that explore what people across the region feel about issues surrounding the growth of the area. Here's the latest (click to YouTube to watch in high-quality) - please share this important effort with your friends & family and click over to thegrandvision.org to see more videos, learn more about the project and how you can get involved!
The Enterprise reports that a Munson Medical Center and Michigan State University have announced the establishment of a new medical education campus in northern Michigan.
Marty Hogan (aka smartee_martee) takes special care to document Michigan's vanishing farms, homes and other structures. I've long been a fan of his work and I was excited to see that he visited Leelanau a few weeks ago! Here are his Leelanau photos. He uploads all his pictures big and they make great computer backgrounds!
The Grand Vision is a citizen-led land use and transportation study that will help to guide future growth in our region for the next 50+ years. Next Tuesday (Aug 26) from 6-7:30 PM at the county Government Center between Lake Leelanau & Suttons Bay there will be a meeting to update folks on the progress to date and on The Grand Vision Decision, October 7-28, 2008. Read this Enterprise article for details and also check out thegrandvision.org for a whole lot more information, articles, photos, video and reports including citizen generated maps of what Leelanau could look like.
MSU Extension will be offering free well water testing on Monday, July 14, 2008. Here's how it works:
The screening will test for nitrates, nitrites and triazine pesticides in drinking water. (Testing your water for other things can be done through the Health Dept.)
Stop in at the MSU Extension office (suite #107 at the Leelanau County Government Center) to get your testing bottle and instruction form. Or you may use a clean baby food jar, jelly jar or other small clean jar for your water sample and download a form from the web. (link)
Bring your fresh sample and information sheet back to the MSU-E office on Monday, JULY 14 ONLY before 2pm to get it tested for free! Test results are mailed to residents in approx 6-8 weeks.
JELD-WEN Windows & Doors is holding the JELD-WEN Lighthouse Restoration Initiative. People from all over can vote for their favorite lighthouse and the winning lighthouse will receive all-new windows and doors. The only Michigan lighthouse is located right here in Leelanau County - the Grand Traverse Lighthouse!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
The Leelanau Enterprise has a feature on an interesting project by the shop class at Glen Lake High School.
