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This photo of the Northern Lights over Fishtown was taken by Ken Scott in October of 2011. Today on Absolute Michigan we posted a feature about a solar flare that may bring northern lights to Leelanau's skies tonight (and potentially over the next few days):

NASA's Space Weather site is the place to go for Aurora Borealis forecasting as they help make sense of the data the space agency receives about solar flares and their impact on earth's atmosphere. Yesterday they gave Northern Lights watchers a lot of hope with this news:

This morning, Jan. 23rd around 0359 UT, big sunspot 1402 erupted, producing a long-duration M9-class solar flare. The explosion's M9-ranking puts it on the threshold of being an X-flare, the most powerful kind. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured the flare's extreme ultraviolet flash (shown right or in short movie right here)

The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) and NASA's STEREO-B spacecraft detected a CME rapidly emerging from the blast site: movie. Analysts at the Goddard Space Weather Lab say the leading edge of the CME will reach Earth on Jan. 24 at 14:18UT (+/- 7 hours).

That means it's hitting the Earth 11 AM - 6 PM EST, but this level of intensity makes the Northern Lights a real possibility for the next couple of days so definitely LOOK UP tonight and tomorrow if there's any break in the clouds! If the northern lights hit, our Northern Lights Log will light up with reports. You can also learn a lot more about the Northern Lights at Michigan in Pictures and also at aurora borealis on Leelanau.com!

The Leland Michigan Chamber of Commerce invites you to do some of your holiday shopping in the village of Leland the next two Thursdays, December 15 & 22. Many Leland shops & stores will be open until at least 8:00.

Refreshments will be available at some locations. Come join the Leland merchants, decorated for the season!

Also, if you're in town, the Bluebird starts their 2011-2012 Ethnic Night season this Wednesday & Thursday. This week it's French featuring Classic French Cuisine and incredible French wine. Next week (Dec. 21-22) is Santa Fe featuring their take on Southwestern Cooking and December 28-29 is New England with fresh Atlantic seafood and northwoods specialties!

Photo credit: KAScott_20090326_0646-56b by Ken Scott

The annual Christmas arts & crafts show will be held this Saturday, December 3 from 10 am to 4 pm at the Old Art Building in Leland. This year’s show features 21 local artisans with holiday gifts, fresh greens, dried wreaths, herbal soaps and lotions, jewelry, specialty foods, ceramics, woven wheat, cards, home accessories, children’s clothing, and hand knit items. There's also complimentary cookies and coffee!

Local artisans include Victoria Gallup, Dee Glass, Mike Hulbert, Kit Knowles, Joy Lang, Roxane Langner, Sara Maleski, Annie McFarlane, Pat McKean, Bill Perkins, Kathy Powell, Shari Prevost, Lisa Psenka, Julie Sanco, Sharecare, Leif Sporck, Greta Stimson, Cookie Thatcher, Cheryl VanZee, Paula Wisniewski and the Wednesday Knitters.

For more information please call 256-2131.

Voters around Leelanau County went to the polls yesterday. There's weren't many momentous decisions on the ballot, but it's always nice to have a chance to practice your democracy skills. Some highlights from the Traverse City Record-Eagle Leelanau Election Results:

Bay Area Transportation Authority Millage renewal passed 2541-865.

Leland Public Schools operating millage renewal passed (467-149) as did the Leland Township operating millage renewal (361-119), EMS and fire millages.

In Suttons Bay Township, the park system millage was defeated 440-252.

Photo credit: Fog Bank ... over 'the narrows' by Ken Scott

The Leelanau Enterprise reports that this week the 90' champion cottonwood near the corner of River and Lake streets will be taken down. The tree is estimated to be 109 years old, and clones of the tree have already been planted on north Lake Leelanau at the John Suelzer Memorial East Leland Park in East Leland.

According to the Leland Report, the operation starts today and Annie at Aurora Borealis Designs shared the photo to the right.

Trish P has a great memorial. She writes:

Yes. We are tree-huggers. People stare and point but we don't care. For years we have hugged our favorite tree in all of Michigan. A Champion in Leland, well over 100 years old. Think about it. This tree was likely here during WWI! It has stood the test of time against savage Lake Michigan weather, pavement and a boardwalk over its water-gathering roots, and droves of people walking by without even noticing it!

There was talk a few years back of taking it down. A foundation was formed, an arborist hired and it was given a little more time. Lately though, it's been losing more and more branches and struggling to leaf out. It's really at the end of its life and sadly, next month it will be taken down. Downtown Leland will not look the same.

It's really something to see in person. Hope you had a chance!

Someday there may be another Champion due to science!

Group Prepares Champion Tree Clones.

Again I am reminded that we are not just taking photos. We are recording history. Perhaps not earth shattering events, but history nonetheless.

Ken shot this last night in Fishtown - see it bigger along with a couple more in his slideshow.

The display of the aurora borealis was one of the finest in a decade and was part of an EXPLOSION of Northern Lights that was seen all over Michigan!

This photo shows Bill Carlson tending the smoker in Fishtown, sometime in the 1970s. It was taken by Paul Serratoni, and the funny thing is that it's not all that different today.

One of the reasons for that is the work of the Fishtown Preservation Society. You can help support their work through the Benefit Brunch at the Bluebird next Sunday (October 23) from 10 AM - 2 PM.

For $30/person, you can enjoy a buffet brunch with your choice of mimosa / bloody mary / wine, plus door prizes, music and fun – and all while supporting Fishtown preservation efforts! Click the link above for more information and ticket locations or to purchase your tickets online.

Here's something that I stumbled upon on my way to find something else. This fascinating video produced for the Fishtown Preservation Society takes you on a 3D through, around and uder the shanties in Fishtown and is pretty darned cool! It was produced by Midwestern Consulting using a high-definition laser scanner and you can read all about the process in Scanning a Fishy Business.

The Leelanau Historical Museum, Leland Chamber of Commerce, and Old Art Building hold their annual celebration of Leland's history next Saturday (Sep 17). Via the Leland Michigan website:

The annual Leland Heritage Celebration takes place September 17. 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 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!"

Also check out the Leland Heritage Celebration photo gallery for photos from past celebrations.

Google has a neat feature in their news search - headlines from the past. One that's there today from the Aug 15, 1908 Easton Free Press recounts the explosion and sinking on the steamer Leelanau as she was bound from Leeland to Fouch.

Check the news archive out at the bottom of their Leelanau news search page!