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Sometimes you just want to fly high above what March calls "weather" ... here's another video from Michael Drinian of a quick flight over Leland from Sugar Loaf.

Another Winter Wine & Vine Experience featuring a unique flight of Leelanau wines paired with local specialty food appetizers will be held at the Old Art Building in Leland on Saturday, February 12 from 5 to 7 pm. Sommelier Becky Hemmingsen of Hansen Foods will speak to the unique characteristics of each wine along with a fun and informative game. John Scott will give a brief talk on growing grapes in Leelanau County.

Tables will be artfully decorated by community members and a fine art exhibit will compliment the event. Gourmet appetizers will be paired with each wine prepared by Martha’s Leelanau Table, Epicure Catering, Ethnic Garden Catering and the Bluebird.

The evening will begin with a new sparkling wine from Good Harbor Vineyards followed by wines from Boathouse Vineyards, Circa Estate Winery, Ciccone Vineyard and Winery and Chateau de Leelanau.

New this year is a Sneak Preview of the table landscapes and fine art from 10 am to 2 pm on Saturday, February 12. Donations will be accepted for this viewing.

Tickets are $35 each and can be purchased by calling 231-256-2131 or online at www.oldartbuilding.com The Sneak Preview is included with ticket purchase. All proceeds benefit the Leelanau Community Cultural Center programs.

From the Leelanau Peninsula Vintners Association...

Celebrate wine, chocolate and love at the upcoming Valentine's Day at the Taste the Passion weekend February 5 & 6, 2011. The combination of winter's beauty in Leelanau with the special pleasures of life always makes for wonderful weekend. You can enjoy special pours and tasty chocolate treats or savory pairings at Leelanau wine trail wineries between the hours of 11am and 5pm on Saturday, and Noon and 5pm on Sunday.

Tickets for "Taste the Passion" are just $30 each and available online. As with all LPVA events, attendance is limited to give participants an opportunity to become better acquainted with our wine and wineries. In addition to regular ticket sales, participating lodging partners offered a limited number of special accommodation packages that included a ticket to the trail event.

To add to the weekend's festivities, several of the wineries will hold special events and activities exclusively for "Taste the Passion" ticket holders to celebrate the beauty and fun to be had in this winter wonderland.

There is also a special Glen Arbor Art Association "Art from Wine Country" event at the Homestead Resort on Friday night (February 4th). This event is open to anyone! For a third year, this event features wine from Leelanau wineries, coffee from Leelanau Coffee Roasing, original art by local artists and a fabulous small plates menu designed by The Homestead’s Chef Piombo. Tickets are $20 and we'll have more details soon!

The Inland Seas Education Association will present a seminar that focuses on the Great Lakes fishery at 7 PM next Tuesday, January 11th at the Inland Seas Education Center in Suttons Bay. The seminar is free and open to the public and will be presented by Amanda Holmes, Executive Director of the Fishtown Preservation Society.

The shores of the Great Lakes and their islands were once fringed with commercial fisheries like Leland's Fishtown, where fish were processed for the burgeoning Midwest. As it has been for over a century, Fishtown is still a commercial fishery, although on a smaller scale. Holmes will share her explorations of some of the few remaining fishing operations throughout the Great Lakes, why they have survived, and what they have taught her about the rarity of Fishtown.

Amandais the Executive Director of the Fishtown Preservation Society and holds a Ph.D. in Folklore and Folklife and a Certificate in Historic Preservation. She has written numerous architectural, landscape, and engineering studies for the National Park Service, as well as published an award-winning history of Omena, Michigan. Her background in Folklore has led her to gather as many stories as possible about Fishtown, and to broaden her scope to capturing the stories of commercial fishing and fishermen from all over the Great Lakes.

The photo is Leland early Fishing Fleet in old Channel by UpNorth Memories - Donald (Don) Harrison and you can see more in his Fishtown slideshow!

The popular Ethnic Nights are back at the Bluebird in Leland this winter. Every Wednesday and Thursday night through the winter and early spring, the Bluebird takes you on a culinary journey with custom menus feature the foods of the great culinary regions across the country and world.

Here's what they have on tap for January - click above to see the winter's schedule!

• Jan. 5-6 Italian – Southern Italian cooking, the land of olive oil, pasta, red sauces…
• Jan. 12-13 Spanish Tapas – Small plates, big flavors, great wines.
• Jan. 19-20 Greek – The quintessential Mediterranean cuisine, and surprising wines.
• Jan. 26-27 New Orleans – One of our specialties, and an eclectic array of wines.

Pathfinder Holiday Arts and Crafts Fair on Saturday December 11 ~ Join the students and staff of Pathfinder school Saturday from 9-4 at the Pathfinder School Gymnasium for a day of fun! Refreshments provided at this Arts and Crafts Fair. The students have created a wonderful array of holiday items!

Holiday Hootenanny at Higher Grounds on Saturday, December 11 ~ The day runs from 10 AM - 11 PM. It is a benefit for the Run Across Ethiopia and features a Trunk Show, Silent Auction capped by a concert by Seth Bernard and May Erlewine. Get the details on Facebook.

Merry Marketplace on Saturday December 4 ~ The annual Christmas arts & crafts show will be held at the Old Art Building in Leland from 10 AM - 4 PM. This year's Merry Marketplace features 20 local artisans with fresh and dried holiday wreaths, herbal soaps and lotions, jewelry, specialty foods, pottery, woven wheat, cards, pillows, kids' and American girl doll clothes, and many hand knit items. There's also complimentary cookies and coffee!

Holidays in the Village on Saturday December 4 ~ Downtown shopping with special sales and giveaway of a $150 shopping spree in Suttons Bay - all day! Highlights are the live Antlers & Elves at Enerdyne and the lighting of the Christmas Tree by Santa & carols around the tree accompanied by the Suttons Bay School choir. Follow Santa to Silvertree to share your wish list and enjoy hot cocoa and refreshments.

Holiday Bake Sale & Bazaar on Saturday December 4 ~ Join the Northport Chamber of Commerce for an event that is sure to please children of all ages!

Cedar's Make and Take Christmas Party on Sunday December 5 ~ All the free supplies to make your own wreaths and decorations, jewelry and crafts. Join your neighbors at the Solon Twp Hall in Cedar from 1-4 pm for crafts, cookies, and holiday fun.

Right Brain Holiday Art Sale on Sunday December 5 ~ Show your love for the holidays by coming on down and getting some of your holiday shopping done at Right Brain Brewery. They are featuring original artwork that is under $200 from several local artists on Sunday, Dec. 5th from 2 p.m. - 6 p.m. in the pub. Think about supporting our local artists and getting some of your holiday shopping done with a RBB brew in hand!

Also check out Leelanau Holiday Concerts!

Photo Credit: Laden by Trish P. - K1000 Gal

Here's what we know about Holiday concerts in Leelanau this weekend & next. If you know something we don't, please post it in the comments! Also check out Leelanau Holiday Shopping & Community Events.

Leelanau Community Choir concert, Saturday & Sunday, December 4/5 ~ The Leelanau Community Choir, accompanied by the Tri-County String Quartet and pianist Marion Glover, presents a concert of Christmas music featuring Antonio Vivaldi’s “Gloria". You can catch the show at Saturday at 7:30 PM at Leland’s Immanuel Lutheran Church or at two shows on Sunday: 3 PM at the Suttons Bay Congregational Church (218 Madison) or at 7 PM in Glen Arbor at the Bethlehem Lutheran Church (6012 Lake St).

Madrigal Christmas, Saturday December 4 ~ The Leelanau Children's Choir and Leelanau Youth Ensemble present their 18th annual Holiday Tradition, held at the Northport Community Arts Center. Tickets are $15 for adults, $5 for students, and free for those younger than five. Tickets are available at Dog Ears Books in Northport, Leelanau Books in Leland, The Painted Bird in Suttons Bay and available at the door.

Northport's Annual Christmas Concert, Saturday, December 11 at 8pm ~ This traditional family affair at the Northport Community Arts Center will feature the Village Voices and the Northport Community Band. Over 100 performers will fill the auditorium with the sounds of Christmas. You can also catch a show on Sunday the 5th at 3 PM. Tickets are $20 for adults, $5 for students and Northport students are free. Call 231-386-5001. Tickets will be available at the door.

Please extinguish all cigarettes and fasten your seat belts!

The Glen Arbor Sun has a great writeup on the strongest storm in Great Lakes history, the October Storm of 2010 with 60+ MPH winds, waves over 20' in Lake Michigan and countless people without power.

While the storm boasted intense winds and rock-bottom low pressure, it pales in comparison to the deadliest storm ever experienced in the Great Lakes happened nearly 100 years ago. Known as the "Freshwater Fury" or the "White Hurricane", it was a blizzard packing  hurricane-force winds that ravaged the Great Lakes November 7-10, 1913. With the sinking of 19 ships, the stranding of another 19 and a death toll of at least 250, it remains the deadliest and most destructive natural disaster in Great Lakes history.

This excellent article on the weather science behind the 1913 storm from NOAA Weather Historian William R. Deedler features a report from the Lake Carriers Association:

“No lake master can recall in all his experience a storm of such unprecedented violence with such rapid changes in the direction of the wind and its gusts of such fearful speed! Storms ordinarily of that velocity do not last over four or five hours, but this storm raged for sixteen hours continuously at an average velocity of sixty miles per hour, with frequent spurts of seventy and over.

Obviously, with a wind of such long duration, the seas that were made were such that the lakes are not ordinarily acquainted with. The testimony of masters is that the waves were at least 35 feet high and followed each other in quick succession, three waves ordinarily coming one right after the other.

Read more about this storm and see a slideshow of the damage and video of the ships that were lost in Freshwater Fury: The Great Storm of 1913 on Absolute Michigan.

Photo credit: lake michigan fury by farlane

We at Leelanau.com would like to encourage you to get out and VOTE today! Over at Absolute Michigan, we have a  2010 Michigan Election Resources page that gives some great information and links to help you make your decision on statewide issues.

For more local information, check out the Record-Eagle's Leelanau County election information and this Election 2010 article in the Leelanau Enterprise.

TV 7&4 has a nice feature on Leland High School's Mock Election, a bi-annual affair that drew over 1000 area students to learn about and meet candidates for office. A Leland student (who I'm pretty sure I know) produced this video from the 2008 Mock Election that gives you a taste of what this 20 year old program is all about.