We at Leelanau.com: Jeremy, Fred, Steve, Jen, Andy and our families would like to wish all of you the happiest of holiday seasons and the very best for the year to come.
We very much appreciate the business we have received and also everyone who visits our site and shares our love for this beautiful part of the earth.
If you have a holiday message to share with everyone that you please post it in the comments below!
The photo is Christmas at Tamarack Gallery by tamarackgallery, and you can see more photos from the gallery right here and also visit the web site for Tamarack Gallery in Omena.
Yesterday's Traverse City Record-Eagle reported that Leelanau Wine Cellars of Omena was the Michigan winery #1 for in-state sales in 2006, selling almost 686,000 liters (up 45% from 2005). The previous #1, St. Julian of Paw Paw is likely still the top producer in Michigan due to extensive out-of-state sales.
"We've really been going through a lot of dramatic growth over the past five years," said Bob Jacobsen, owner of Leelanau Wine Cellars, where officials are getting ready to open a new processing facility in an old cherry plant north of Omena. "We're really at the volume we're at much faster than I anticipated."
Other Leelanau wineries in the top 10 of Michigan sales were Black Star Farms, Good Harbor Vineyards and L. Mawby Vineyards. Chateau Grand Traverse and Chateau Chantal on Old Mission also made the top 10.
Read Region boasts six of state's top 10 wineries in the Record-Eagle.
Photo: Wine Harvest II by Andy McFarlane.
The 2007 Leelanau County CROP Walk will be held this Sunday (Sep 23) at 2 PM at the Omena Presbyterian Church.
The CROP Walk (CROP: Communities Responding to Overcome Poverty) supports many causes around the world. 25% of all the proceeds raised at the walk come back to help procure food for the Leelanau Christian Neighbors Food Pantry, with the rest supporting both domestic and international poverty-reducing efforts.
"It still surprises some Americans that there are people here in the richest nation in the world who go to bed hungry because they cannot afford to buy food," says Rev. John L. McCullough, executive director and CEO of Church World Service. "These local CROP Hunger Walks, organized by individuals and faith communities in cities and towns all across the U.S., raise awareness about hunger and give people a way to help both in their own communities and around the world."
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture report "Household Food Security in the United States, 2005," 11 percent of U.S. homes did not have access "to enough food for an active, healthy life for all household members" at least some time during the year.
In what has become an annual tradition in the thousands of communities that participate, an interfaith, multi-cultural collection of CROP walkers encourage friends, neighbors, colleagues, merchants and places of worship to donate dollars to support their participation in walks of up to 10 km. Participants, many with readily identifiable red and white signs, range in age from babies in strollers to seniors--and even the occasional jogger.
Omena is a small community in Leelanau County located between Suttons Bay and Northport.
Omena began in 1852 when Reverend Peter Daugherty brought a band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians from Old Mission and settled in what is now Omena. In 1858 the Protestant Church was dedicated, and today is the oldest in Leelanau County. As legend has it, services have been held every Sunday since the church was dedicated. The same year the Church was dedicated, a post office was established in the village.
In 1868 Valentine Miller built a dock which was used to fuel passing steamers, and allowed passengers to disembark. By 1884 so many summer tourists came to the area that a group of Cincinnati businessmen purchased what was the mission school and remodeled it. The mission school soon became the Leelanau Hotel, attracting visitors from all over Lake Michigan. In 1903 the Manistee and Northeastern Railroad reached Northport, stopping in Omena which allowed more summer tourists access to the area.
It is said that the name "omena" was an Ojibwe expression that meant "is that so?" or "is that really true." Local tradition says that Rev. Daugherty responded to most statements made by his flock of Native Americans with the expression "omena." Another meaning of Omena is "apple" from the Finnish word, although it is not known if many Finns arrived in the area.
Today Omena is perfectly situated on beautiful Grand Traverse Bay and backed by stunning rolling hills filled with orchards, vineyards, farms, and forests. Many of Leelanau Counties orchards are found near Omena, as are many vineyards. One of The Leelanau Peninsula Vintners Association wineries is located in Omena, and many others are just minutes away near Suttons Bay. The Tamarack Gallery is a gallery that must be visited. According to Traverse Magazine, it "has one of the best collections of sculpture to be found anywhere in Northern Michigan."
Local area links:
Wikipedia's Omena entry
Omena Historical Society
Leelanau Peninsula Chamber of Commerce's Omena page
The other day Cher Fettes drove from Empire to Northport for the Gallery Walk. Along the way, she stuck her camera out of the sunroof and clicked away. To view the results, click for her Off the top slideshow and then change the speed in the bottom left to fast. It's just like a summer drive ... only faster. Astute viewers may notice a little extra back-and-forth - we're guessing she'll remember the concert tickets next time!
Cher and her husband Tom own Cheyenne Glass in Empire.
The Leelanau Enterprise reports that the homes for the annual Northport Womens Club Home Tour (Wed, July 18 from 9:30 - 4:30) have been set. The five homes include Dan and Sue Brondyk’s chameleon home on M-22 between Leland & Northport (pictured right) and the Putnam Cloud Tower House in Omena, home of the Omena Historical Society & Museum.
Tickets are available at locations around Northport & Omena - click over to the Enterprise for additional contacts!
Photo credit: ? by jonwilli.
Here's a photo for you taken last week on Omena Bay - have a great weekend!
Photo credit: Omena Power I by Andy McFarlane.
News from the Week
Stories from the week included schedules for Leelanau District tournaments in volleball and basketball, the launching of a web site for the Northport Promise, and a feature about the play Almanac of the North featuring scenes selected from works by Ernest Hemingway, Bruce Catton, Jim Harrison, Lynne Rae Perkins, Kathleen Stocking and Anne-Marie Oomen (to be performed this weekend).
The Week's Weather
We took a Snow Day this week and thought a little about how cool is it that Michigan kids get these random holidays through the winter - probably not many of those in Arizona. We're also in the middle of another today! Last weekend will probably be legendary in the annals of Leelanau iceboating for the amazing conditions.
February 22, 2007: Rain, snow & 30s (39Ëš/18Ëš)
February 23, 2007: Light snow then some sun & 20s (21Ëš/10Ëš)
February 24, 2007: Sunny & upper 20s - gorgeous day! (30Ëš/12Ëš)
February 25, 2007: Heavy snowstorm, wind & 20s (30Ëš/23Ëš)
February 26, 2007: Snow, late freezing rain & low 30s (34Ëš/28Ëš)
February 27, 2007: Light snow/drizzle and low 30s (33Ëš/30Ëš)
February 28, 2007: Fog, light rain & 30s (35Ëš/27Ëš)
Click for the Leelanau news archive from February 23rd - March 1st, 2006!
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.
Omena Church by Nathaniel Susan
News from the Week
It's tough to say what the week's top story was, so let's say that it was a judge upholding the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality's permit for a new marina along the Lake Leelanau Narrows. The permit allows a 250+ foot dock on the east side of the Narrows and includes removal of an existing boathouse and pilings. The slips would be used by residents of Provemont Village, the residential project that is being developed by Wayne Tyge. Other stories included Suttons Bay selecting a new Superintendent, a slew of state Natural Resources Trust fund money for Leelanau, a County Road Commission decision to cut the Michigan champion cottonwood in Leland. In addition to the above picture, there was also a very cool photo of Omena Bay.
The Week's Weather
It's hard to believe that at this time last week we were shivering and shoveling and planning how to get time to cross-country ski and snowshoe and lamenting that Sugar Loaf wasn't open. 5 days of 40s and ran has pretty much erased all that. If you want snow, check out this photo from last year at the Leland Report.
December 7, 2006: Snow & teens (21Ëš/17Ëš)
December 8, 2006: Partly cloudy, early snow & 20s (28Ëš17/Ëš)
December 9, 2006: Sunny & upper 30s (39Ëš/27Ëš)
December 10, 2006: Early sun, afternoon clouds & 40s (45Ëš/35Ëš)
December 11, 2006: Early sun, afternoon clouds & mid 40s (46Ëš/27Ëš)
December 12, 2006: Fog, rain & mid 40s (46Ëš/39Ëš)
December 13, 2006: Cloudy, misty rain & low 40s (46Ëš/35Ëš)
Click for the Leelanau news archive from December 8th - December 14th, 2005!
