Leelanau.com Blog
leelanau county news • traverse city news • michigan news

Hey everyone, we're super sorry that we've been away so much. To try and make it up to you, we're going to give someone on our email list* a pair of tickets to the Traverse City Winter Microbrew and Music Festival tomorrow morning!! This year is the 3rd annual, and it takes place this Saturday February 11th at The Village at Grand Traverse Commons.

The annual festival is produced by Porterhouse Productions and features over 40 breweries, wineries, cideries, and meaderies - most from Michigan - along with local food vendors and beer & food pairings. A highlight of the festival is a wide range of entertainment featuring Funktion, Heatbox, The Crane Wives, Whitney Morgan and the 78s, Dragon Wagon and Rootstand. There's also fire dancers, live polka music and a silent disco. Click the poster to the right for all the details, and as it's an outdoor festival (with tents) you know that fashion = warm! (ie: Carhart over Calvin Klein!)

*If you're not on our list sign up at the top right. If you don't want to get our weekly email, just post a comment on the Leelanau.com Facebook or send an email to andy@leelanau.com saying you want to win and we'll add you to the list we draw from!

Speaking of polka, here's one of the polka bands that will be at the Microbrew festival, Squeezebox. There's a little dancing, but nothing like what you'll probably see closer to the polka capital of the USA, Cedar Michigan.

Ken caught the sunrise - click to see it bigger and check out Ken's snow slideshow!

You're invited to share the love of Leelanau and Leelanau wine at the Taste the Passion wine tour, held February 4 & 5, 2012. This special weekend celebrates wine, chocolate and love at the wineries of the Leelanau Peninsula Wine Trail.

Your ticket allows you to chart your own course, enjoying food and wine pairings at 17 wineries along with a optional winter and Valentine-themed activities at many of the wineries.

"Taste the Passion is definitely our most intimate event," says winemaker Larry Mawby. "Our tasting rooms are cozy places in wintertime, and with less people on the trail, it's a great opportunity to talk directly with winemakers and vineyard owners. To top it all off, Leelanau County is a winter paradise, offering everything from cross-country skiing and snowshoeing, to enjoying great meals at our restaurants, and evenings by the fireplace. This is a perfect chance to score a Valentine's Day touchdown!"

Tickets are just $30, and quantities are limited. Secure yours as soon as possible, as most of LPVA trail events do sell out. There are also lodging packages that include tickets! Get all the details right here.

If you want to add a little more fun to your weekend, on Friday night (Feb 3) at Mountain Flowers Lodge from 6-8pm, the The Homestead and Glen Arbor Artists will be hosting “Art from Michigan’s Wine Country.” Art will be on display and for sale from local artists. To purchase tickets in advance call The Homestead 231-334-5100.

Photo credit: 2010 Taste the Passion by KatSwinehart

This week's photo was taken by Mark Miller at Empire Beach. Last week we featured another of his photos from this spot - what a difference a few days and a Lake Effect storm can make!

Check it out big as the beach and compare it with last week's photo in Mark's slideshow.

A pair of fun winter events are on tap for next Sunday...

The annual Cedar Winterfest happens from 1-3 PM at the Snowmobile Club 2 miles north of Cedar on Schomberg Rd.

You're invited to bring your winter sleds, tobaggans, saucers, cross country skis and snowshoes for a Sunday afternoon of fun. They'll have a bonfire to warm you on the outside and hot chocolate and snacks to warm your tummy. Free and open to the public!

The fifth annual Roy Taghon Memorial Snowmobile Ride begins at 1 p.m., Sun., Jan. 22, at the Empire Airport and continues to the Maple City Fitness Center, behind Kerby’s Bar and Grill, 172 W. Burdickville Road, Maple City. Whether riding on a sled or driving, all are welcome to participate in the fun-filled afternoon. Hot dogs and chili will be served at 2:30. Suggested donation is $7 per adult, $4 per child.

All proceeds benefit the Roy Taghon Music Scholarship Fund which provides an annual music scholarship for Glen Lake High School students. Roy lived in Empire and was an avid snowmobiler and church organist for more than 30 years. For information, call (231) 326-5519.

Great art, wine and food are the main events of a special evening, Art from Michigan’s Wine Country which kicks off the Leelanau Peninsula Vintners Association’s Taste the Passion weekend (Feb 4 & 5, 2012). For a fourth year, this fun winter event will be held on Friday, February 3rd at the Homestead's Mountain Flowers Lodge and features wine from Leelanau wineries, original art by local artists and a fabulous small plates menu designed by The Homestead’s Chef Piombo.

The price is $20 per person advance reservation by February 2 and includes one glass of wine and food stations with delectable small plates and coffee. Additional wine available for $4/glass or three glasses for $10. Call The Homestead at 334-5100, to make a reservation with will call ticket at the door for pre-paid reservations. $25 per person admission at the door.

The invitational art exhibit and sale offers recent original works by nine Leelanau artists. The artists will be on hand to discuss their work. This is a great opportunity to meet local artists and celebrate a perfect pairing of wine and art. A portion of the art sales will benefit Glen Arbor Art Association's summer programs.

Five dollars of each ticket goes to support the Glen Arbor Art Association class scholarships and a free after-school art program for Glen Lake students. Scholarship assistance and the after-school art program provide arts opportunities for those who could not otherwise afford art classes.

For more information go to www.glenarborart.org or call the GAAA office at 334-6112.

Photo credit: Victoria Creek Winter-Looking West by Mary Fuscaldo

Amid the cold and deep snows of midwinter, the wolf packs howled hungrily outside Indian villages. Thus, the name for January’s full Moon. Sometimes it was also referred to as the Old Moon, or the Moon After Yule. Some called it the Full Snow Moon, but most tribes applied that name to the next Moon.
~Old Farmer’s Almanac

Speaking of wolves and January, last month the US Fish & Wildlife Service removed wolves in the western Great Lakes region from the federal endangered species list. Wolves are now managed by states in the region and the ruling takes effect on Friday, January, 2012. Read the release from the Michigan DNR about wolf de-listing.

Photo credit: Moon over Lake Leelanau by Missy Luick (a February full moon...)

Michigan author Jerry Dennis shared this except from his new book The Windward Shore from University of Michigan Press with us on Absolute Michigan. It features Leelanau's Lake Michigan shore, so in case you missed it, here is is!

The Lake in Winter
by Jerry Dennis

(January, Cathead Point, near the tip of Michigan’s Leelanau Peninsula)

It changes every day, every hour. It is a thousand lakes, changing faces with every shift in wind and light - flurried by offshore wind, whitecapped in squalls, colored flannel gray or pearl-white or stormy black beneath the winter clouds, a dozen blues when the sky is blue. (more...)

This week's photo is Lake Michigan ... from Empire Bluff with a Christmas Eve sunset, from and featuring photographer Ken Scott. See this photo and nearly 300 more in Ken's snow slideshow!

You can check out all kinds park & trail information on our Sleeping Bear Dunes Homepage and get snow & trail condition updates at Ski Leelanau!

There is no better way to get outside and burn off some of those extra holiday calories than by joining a Park Ranger at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore on a guided snowshoe hike every Saturday. Meet at 1 p.m. at the Visitor Center in Empire for these popular weekend afternoon adventures. They take place every Saturday, starting on January 7, 2012 and going through the month of February. Dress in layers, wear waterproof boots, and don’t forget to take your camera along to capture the wonders of winter.

Park Rangers meet interested snowshoers inside the Visitor Center to first provide basic snowshoeing instructions, and then directions to a trailhead or off-trail area pre-selected by the Park Ranger. If you do not have your own snowshoes, the National Park Service will loan you a pair free of charge (they are limited to 30 participants so email or call them to pre-register). While exploring outside, the Park Ranger will encourage participants to inquire and learn about winter’s effect on the park’s unique features. Be prepared to be outside until about 3 p.m.

Not only is snowshoeing easy, fun and good exercise, it is also an activity that can be enjoyed by all ages. The Park Ranger-led hikes are mildly strenuous, yet they proceed at a leisurely pace for no more than one and a half miles. This allows visitors an opportunity for discovery, adventure, and to look for signs of wildlife or evidence of ancient glaciers. Some snowshoers simply want to experience and enjoy a winter wonderland, which is what you will find at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.

There is no charge for the programs, however, participants need to display the park entrance pass or have an annual pass to join in the fun. Reservations are not required, but are suggested, especially if you wish to borrow snowshoes or are with a group. Please call (231) 326-5134, ext. 328, for details and to make reservations. For more in-depth information about Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, visit www.nps.gov/slbe.