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
The Leelanau Enterprise reports that snowmobilers from all over the state are expected to participate Saturday (Feb 2) in the "Roy Taghon Memorial Ride" from the Empire Airport (meet at noon) and ride to Maple City for a 2 PM buffet at Benchwarmer’s Sports Bar and Grille and a dedication ceremony.
There will be a $10 charge per person for lunch that will go toward a music scholarship fund being established in his name. Roy passed on January 20, 2008 and you can read Roy's obituary in the Leelanau Enterprise and also read and share your memories in an online guestbook.
The Leelanau Enterprise reports that the snowmobile trail from Empire Airport to Maple City - Leelanau County's only official trail - is in good shape this year and drawing praise from riders. Florian Czerniak of the Cedar Hilltoppers Snowmobile Club (the group that established the trail in 2000) explained that the trail fits into Michigan's snowmobile trail network:
Czerniak said having the Maple City-Empire trail as part of a network of trails overseen by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources is a nice feature for snowmobilers. “If you want you can ride from Maple City all the way to Manistee. If you follow the right trails you can make it all the way to Kalkaska and Grayling, if you have a mind to,” he said.
Read A great day to be out in the Enterprise.
Photo: Winter in the Leelanau Peninsula by John Levanen
The Leelanau Enterprise has a cool article about the impact of the "Bohemian Exodus", a migration of pioneers escaping troubles in central Europe during the 19th century. The migration had a big impact on Leelanau County and Traverse City, even to the point of causing a Leelanau village to be renamed:
“Godfrey Greilick was the patriarch of the pioneer family that contributed so much to the development of the local area,†Robert Wilson wrote in Grand Traverse Legends. “The little town of Norrisville was renamed Greilickville in honor of Godrey Greilick. Each of the six Greilick children made significant contributions to the community helping to establish a legacy for the Greilick name.â€
Godfrey, according to Wilson, was “a well known architect and building contractor in Kratzau, Bohemia.†Godfrey, who was “born in about 1810,†and his wife Theresa, left Europe with the family in 1847, arriving in New York on the Fourth of July. Unfortunately, a son, Ferdinand, died during the voyage and was buried at sea.
Also see our Leelanau on Location article about Greilickville!
Maple City is nestled in the heart of Leelanau County in a grove of grand maples trees. The countryside around Maple City is hilly with many farms, orchards, and lakes. Many
Maple City settlers came to the area because of the Homestead Act of 1862 which "allowed anyone to file for a quarter-section of free land (160 acres)." If the homesteader had "built a house on it, dug a well, broken (plowed) 10 acres, fenced a specified amount, and actually lived there" the land was given to that homesteader. "Additionally, one could claim a quarter-section of land by "timber culture" (commonly called a "tree claim")." A timber culture required that the homesteader "plant and successfully cultivate 10 acres of timber."
Maple City was founded in 1866 and was originally called Peg Town. In 1866 William Parks and J. T. Sturtevent built a shoe peg factory. When the post office was established in March of 1875 the name Maple was chosen, but the name Maple City was the one actually given. In 1890 a Friends Meeting House was built east of Maple City, and in 1916 the meeting house became a Catholic Church.
Today Maple City is between Glen Arbor and Traverse City and just south of beautiful Lime Lake.
Local area links:
Wikipedia's Maple City entry
Leelanau Peninsula Chamber of Commerce's Maple City page
It's come to our attention that folks might not be following along with how we're doing the whole Leelanau backgrounds/wallpaper and photo thing these days. For 8 years we posted them every so often on our Leelanau Backgrounds Page. Now, with the ability to take photos at such high resolutions and with the photo hosting site Flickr allowing us to upload those big and beautiful pictures, doing the backgrounds and photos the old way would take a lot of time that could otherwise be spent taking pics or just walking around enjoying the area's beauty.
Plus, with so many other people taking great pictures of Leelanau County and the Traverse City area it seems kind of silly to deny you the chance to see their work. We feature photographs of the area in the daily updates to our Leelanau Blog in general and on our Leelanau Almanac pages.
You can click the links for wallpaper-sized photos or for the photo category. Many of those filed under "photos" are big enough to be used as wallpaper. To get them, all you have to do is click the photo to go over to Flickr. Once there, click the "
" button to get to the wallpaper-sized image. For some of them, you may have to be a Flickr member (it's free) and/or a contact of the photographer.
The feminine business spirit of Suttons Bay, has also made itself manifest in the personages of Mrs. F. F. Smith who conducts a grocery and dry goods store. Miss Emma Otto, has also demonstrated that the millinery business can be made most successful here and has a millinery parlor that looks very fascinating and enchanting to the fair sex.
Yes, it is a slow, slow, slow news day. Head back 100 years with the Grand Traverse Herald.
Check out more great old photos from the Suttons Bay Area Chamber of Commerce.
On Wednesday night I attended a very interesting event hosted by the Leelanau Peninsula Vintners Association <lpwines.com> (LPVA) regarding ways that businesses and organizations in tourism-related fields can work together for mutual benefit. A few of the ideas discussed by representatives from the wineries, chambers, arts organizations and galleries, lodging and agricultural businesses and others included:
- More "cross-marketing" efforts to copy the successes of states like Wisconsin, Western North Carolina (Handmade In America) and industries like the cruise industry and deliver a more complete visitor experience.
- More events for the January - June period.
- Input from geographic communities and also business sectors along with the creation of new initiatives like Project Authentic Leelanau, CraftWORKS Leelanau, a Leelanau Art Gallery Trail, a Leelanau Agricultural/Culinary Trail and the Leelanau Tourism Initiative.
- Joining together to tell more people what a wonderful experience the Leelanau Peninsula offers.
Working with the LPVA's Rick Coates, we at Leelanau.com have pledged to provide a space for discussion of these efforts and for periodic reports from ongoing meetings with all kinds of organizations & communities.
In early 2007 Rick will be coordinating community-brainstorming sessions in each of the villages. These will be open to all interested in coordinating a peninsula wide effort. Check back here for dates and locations of these sessions.
Have an idea or a question? Don't be shy - post a comment! Too shy for that? Call Andy at 231-256-2829!
Photo credit: Little Girl at Port Onieda Beach by Jim Sorbie
This Saturday (Nov 11) the Glen Lake Turkey Trot 5K Run/Walk will be held at Glen Lake Schools. The Turkey Trot is hosted by Running Fit and is a fundraiser for the Glen Lake Varsity Cross-Country and is a celebration of health and fitness. The beautiful 5K (3.1 Miles) course includes spectacular wooded trail sections. Registration and packet pick-up begins at 8 a.m. – race time/start time 9 a.m.
Walkers and runners of all ages and fitness levels are welcome. Applications can be picked up at the Glen Lake Athletic Office or either of the Traverse City Running Fit Locations. For more information please contact Running Fit – phone: 231-932-5401 or Coach Edwards – phone: 231-334-3080/email: getfit@skiwalking.com.
Josephine Arrowood continues her great introductions to Leelanau County's villages with a tour of Maple City that takes you to businesses including the the Maple City Health and Fitness Center (aka the Schoolhouse), the Maple Leaf & Pegtown Station restaurants, Gabe’s Market (who smoke their own meats), Westover Market plant nursery and Miles Kimmerly park, a county facility that boasts numerous ball fields, a driving range, disk golf course, and the one-mile long, wooded Pat Hobbins Hiking Trail.
Read Find Leelanau's Heart in Maple City in the Glen Arbor Sun
Also, click the photo below for some great postcards of Maple City (some are of Burdickville).
