Great Indoor Folk Festival ~ Feb 12, 2012
The 4th Annual Great Indoor Folk Festival takes place this Sunday, February 12 in Building 50 at the Grand Traverse Commons. The festival runs from noon to 5:30, and it is family-friendly and free, though you're encouraged to donate through "busker buckets."
There will be 6 different stages with over 50 musicians on seven different stages.
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Glen Arbor’s  annual ode to winter will take place again this year with the Glen Arbor Winterfest, on Saturday, February 18th!
The Glen Arbor Winterfest is sponsored by the Glen Lake/Sleeping Bear Chamberand takes place Saturday February 18. Highlights include a perch fishing contest, a chance to "fish" for deals at Glen Arbor stores and the Chili Cookoff at Boonedocks along with live music and plenty of warmth from the cozy wood-burning fire pits on the deck. Don't miss the video of the Cookoff courtesy Michael Buhler and the Glen Arbor Sun below!
This Saturday, September 18, 2010, The Glen Lake Chamber of Commerce will host the 3rd Annual BBQ & Brew Festival in downtown Glen Arbor from 12 - 6pm. The festival will take place on State St. by the tennis courts under tents and feature more brews, more BBQ, more entertainment and more fun! Admission is $15 for adults, $10 for nonalcoholic, and children under 12 Free. The Glen Arbor Sun says:
A few new features for 2010 include: a new location, a larger amount of Michigan microbrews, a new food format, and also live music by members of the Fabulous Horndogs.
Michigan microbreweries featured this year comprise of: Right Brain Brewery (Traverse City), Bell’s Brewery (Kalamazoo), Short’s Brewing Company (Bellaire), New Holland Brewing Company (Holland), Mt. Pleasant Brewing Company (Mt. Pleasant) and The Livery (Benton Harbor). Additionally, non-alcoholic options, including Cherry Republic (Glen Arbor) Cherry Ginger Ale & Root Beer, plus teas from Great Lakes Tea and Spice (Glen Arbor), will be available for sampling.
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For more information, please call the Glen Lake Chamber of Commerce at (231) 334-3238.
Tom Van Zoeren has published a new booklet about the Port Oneida Rural Historic District in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore north of Glen Arbor, titled The Thoreson Farm and Its Neighbors, which, Tom says “is based mainly on oral history recordings with Leonard Thoreson, and on his photo collection.”
The book starts with Leonard’s ancestors and the beginnings of the farm, continues through his boyhood there, the eventual sale of the farm, and its inclusion in the National Lakeshore (which is part of the National Park Service).
Thoreson Farm includes a few pages about the neighboring Fred & Ellen Miller Farm, the Watkins Cottage, and the Brunson Farm, and includes maps of all farmsteads based on aerial photos. The book also includes an audio CD with excerpts from Leonard’s interviews, so you can hear him tell stories with your own ears.
The Thoreson Farm and Its Neighbors costs $18 and is available at the Glen Lake and Traverse City Libraries, Laker Shakes, The Cottage Bookshop, Horizon Books in Traverse City or online at VZOralHistory.com. For more information, call Tom Van Zoeren at (231) 334-4608.
"Showcase Leelanau" will be presented at 6:30 PM on Saturday, February 20 at the Old Art Building Leland. Admission is free.
The event is designed to highlight the fine arts programs in the county schools, and will feature musical performances and student art work from students at Glen Lake, Leland, Northport, St. Mary's and Suttons Bay. The “unveiling” of the collaborative piece of art, which was done for the new Governmental Center will also take place. Check out how talented our county students are!
Recently Senator Carl Levin and Representative Pete Hoekstra simultaneously introduced bills to preserve 32,557 acres within the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore as wilderness. This is almost half of the 72,000 acres of sand dunes, shoreline, and forests.
Up North Live reports that Deputy Superintendent Tom Ulrich says,
"This bill will continue the management we're doing now preserving the hunting and fishing opportunities the boating and hiking all of the things people come here for that will go on into the future indefinitely and a future manager can't change it and say "oh I'm going to build a new visitor center in someone's favorite mushroom spot."
The Glen Lake Turkey Trot 5K Run/Walk is this Saturday, November 14. Run/Walk Registration and packet pick-up begins at 8 a.m. – race time/start time 10 a.m. for both events. And NEW for 2009 is the 1 Mile Fun Run/Walk. The Turkey Trot is all about celebrating health and fitness out on Glen Lake School’s beautiful cross country trails. Over a dozen turkeys and other prizes will be awarded (randomly from list of participants).
The beautiful 5K (3.1 Miles) course includes spectacular wooded trail sections. The 1 Mile course includes some beautiful trail sections too.
The Turkey Trot is a fundraiser for the Glen Lake Men’s and Women’s Varsity Cross-Country Running Teams.
The Glen Lake Turkey Turkey Trot has been Nordic Walking Pole friendly for years.
Applications can be picked up at the Glen Lake Athletic Office or either of the Traverse City Running Fit Locations – Downtown on Front Street or South Airport across from the Mall. For more information please contact Running Fit – phone: 231-932-5401 or Coach Edwards – phone: 231-334-3080/email: getfit@skiwalking.com
The Carl Oleson Jr Bridge, commonly known at the Narrows Bridge finally re-opened for car Traffic on Saturday, October 24. News spread quickly via phone calls, emails, and even facebook posts.
On Monday, an email from Bob Felt from the Michigan Department of Transportation’s Office of Communications reported that the new M-22 bridge was open for business: “While crews have not completely finished the project, vehicular traffic can now cross the new $3.4 million bridge. … Restoration and railing work have yet to be completed. The pedestrian walkway is closed until further notice.”
The Michigan Wildlife Conservancy has released results of an investigation that appears to validate a cougar presence in Michigan. The apparent cougar was photographed near the south shore of Glen Lake in Leelanau County:
On Labor Day, September 7, 2009 Dr. Jerome Wiater and his adult son, Christian, observed what they believed to be a cougar (mountain lion) at about 3:30 p.m. on a clear, sunny day. The sighting was along County Road 675 near its intersection with County Road 616. Dr. Wiater, an orthopedic surgeon (MD) residing in Bingham Farms, Michigan, was walking to Glen Lake with a camera in hand, planning to water ski. He and Christian (who was nearby) were startled to see a large, long-tailed cat they believed was about the size of a big dog. Dr. Wiater snapped two photos of the animal—one when it was in shade and the other when the animal was walking in a shallow roadside depression through a more sunny spot approximately 209 feet away.
The site is adjacent to the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore where the National Park Service has had “cougar warning” signs at its trailheads since fall of 2003. Dr. Patrick Rusz, director of wildlife programs for the Wildlife Conservancy, took measurements and photos of objects of known size at the site and analyzed the photos in consultation with forensic photography experts. His conclusion is that the animal had the profile (llikely more than 30 inches long) and coloration of a cougar and was too large to be a house cat.
"Both Jerome and Christian Wiater stated that the animal they observed was about the same size as their pet hound," noted Dr. Rusz. "Based on my analysis, it may have been slightly smaller than the dog, but was definitely the size of a small cougar. The Wiater photos, along with decades of sighting reports and tracks found in the same general area during the past 9 years, provide compelling evidence of the presence of cougars in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore area."
This summer Leelanau.com has had a special focus on the Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore. The lakeshore, dunes, and scenic lake views are a favorite with photographers. This beautiufl photo of Glen Lake is by yodraws. Be sure to check out her other pictures from the area in her slidehow.
When you are done looking at yodraws' photos, head over to Leelanau.com to read some of our special features on the Sleeping Bear Dunes and National Lakeshore. Or better yet, get out and explore the Sleeping Bear Dunes for yourself! If you get any great photos, be sure to submit them to the Leelanau.com flickr group. Your photo might be the next Photo Friday feature!
Great Indoor Folk Festival ~ Feb 12, 2012
February is the time to celebrate winter in Northern Michigan and Leelanau County has three great festivals that do exactly that!
This Saturday, September 18, 2010, The 
