The Record-Eagle (and today's Enterprise) report that Brad Lutz, who signed a purchase agreement for the resort in February, announced Tuesday he won't close because he hasn't finished his review of the deal.
"We're still very interested in Sugar Loaf. We've done a lot of work out there and we still have a good plan for the property," Lutz said. "But we couldn't accomplish in 90 days what others haven't been able to accomplish in eight years."
...Lutz declined to discuss his plans in detail, but said he wanted to make the resort more of a four-season attraction in Leelanau County. He said he also needed more time to work on details like county and township approvals for renovating the property, tying down building demolition costs and reaching and resolving sewer issues as the resort's sewer system is not part of Wickstrom's holdings.
Read Purchaser pulls back on Sugar Loaf deal in the Traverse City Record-Eagle and also see Offers for Sugar Loaf shot down from the Leelanau Enterprise.
The photo is (still) waiting for Sugar Loaf by Andy McFarlane (who is still (still) waiting for Sugar Loaf).
Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore by anttler
News from the Week
The top story of the week was obviously the startling sale of Sugar Loaf ... to aliens, which of course took place on April 1st. Sources close to the deal were heard to remark "somebody take that guy's copy of Photoshop away". We had a more standard article about how the proposed 2008 state budget deals with school equity. We have also begun to roll out our new Google-powered map of Leelanau County with entries posted so far for Empire, Glen Haven, Glen Arbor, Leland and Northport with more coming before the end of the day! In the weeks and months to come, we'll be adding things like trails, parks, beaches and businesses - stay tuned!
The Week's Weather
Sometimes when everyone takes off for warmer climes for a spring break, those of us who stick around are rewarded with gorgeous weather. Last week was not like that.
March 27, 2008: Flurries & 30 (34/28)
March 28, 2008: Mostly sunny, breezy & low 30s (35/23)
March 29, 2008: Sunny & 30s (37/17)
March 30, 2008: Mostly sunny & 40s (46/30)
March 31, 2008: Rain & 30s (39/35)
April 1, 2008: Mostly cloudy, morning snow & 30s (37/25)
April 2, 2008: Sunny & 40s (46/19)
The photo above was taken from a sailplane over Crystal Lake - be sure to look at it bigger!
Click for the Leelanau news archive from March 2007 and April 2007.
I've been thinking that it would be nice to have a place where people can post a little note about a cool event, mention something interesting in the news or natural world or just say something about the weather. Here's our first for March of 2008 and we'll post a new one each month!
The photo is Yellow Plane by Andy McFarlane. It was taken on March 17, 2006 on North Lake Leelanau just outside Leland and I have it on good authority that it's pretty much his favorite photo ever.
Here's the April 2008 page.
In Sugar Loaf deal reached in the Leelanau Enterprise, Eric Carlson reports that Omena resident Brad Lutz has signed an option to purchase Sugar Loaf Resort from Kate Wickstrom.
The resort has been closed for skiing since March 2000. Lutz offered no timetable for reopening the resort, but made it clear that he expects the return of skiing at Sugar Loaf to be "a central focus" of his efforts. The condition of ski lifts and other facilities at Sugar Loaf Resort is such that no skiing will be possible there this ski season.
"Of course, we want skiing to return," Lutz said. "Sugar Loaf has some of the best runs anywhere in the Midwest."
But, Lutz added, he is "going into this deal with some fear and trepidation" and is well aware that he may be facing many obstacles.
"I've heard people in Leelanau County say they'll believe it when they see it when it comes to Sugar Loaf," Lutz said. "Actually, that's just about the right attitude to have in this case. I'm enthusiastic, I'm local, and I believe in Leelanau County – but I have no illusions. This will not be simple or easy."
I have no illusions either, but I am excited to see some new life in a place that was once the winter heartbeat of Leelanau - here's hoping that we'll all be Sugar Loafers once again!
A Lot Like Christmas by Andy McFarlane
News from the Week
With the holiday event season winding down, we were actually able to spend some time building out our Ski Leelanau section, taking a look at the good and bad for northern Michigan ski resorts, exploring Lake Manitou on North Manitou Island and Florence Lake on South Manitou with help from the Enterprise and the National Park and checking out the long-vanished Northport Beach Hotel. Expect us to focus more on things like this over the winter!
The Week's Weather
The weather was once again wintry and snow on the slopes and trails is better than we've seen for many Decembers.
December 6, 2008: Flurries, breezy & low 20s (24/18)
December 7, 2008: Light snow and upper 20s (30/23)
December 8, 2008: Light snow, a bit of sun and low 20s (25/17)
December 9, 2008: Light snow & 20s (27/19)
December 10, 2008: Partly sunny & low 30s (32/14)
December 11, 2008: Snow, light freezing drizzle and low 30s (34/28)
December 12, 2008: Partly sunny & upper 20s (30/16)
Click for the Leelanau news archive from December 2006!
Photo credit: dune grass by latitude 4
News from the Week
News from the week included 4 Leelanau wineries making the list of Michigan's top wine producers and a super-cool Fishtown photo that makes a great background for your computer!
The Week's Weather
The week's weather wasn't much to talk about, so we won't.
November 15, 2007: Cloudy, flurries & 30s (39?/33?)
November 16, 2007: Cloudy, light evening snow & 30s (39?/33?)
November 17, 2007: Cloudy, flurries & 30s (37?/30?)
November 18, 2007: Partly sunny & 40 (41?/26?)
November 19, 2007: Rain & 40s (46?/30?)
November 20, 2007: Rain & 40s (46?/33?)
November 21, 2007: Light snow & upper 30s (41?/30?)
Click for the Leelanau news archive from November 2006!
Garrett Peltonen (Priority Health) won the men's race of the Tour de Leelanau with a time of 4:21:03. He finished just 18 seconds ahead of Ryan Roth (Kelly Benefit Strategies) and Scott Zwanski (Priority Health) finished third. In the women's race, Tina Pic (Priority Health) took the medal with a time of 3:17:58, defeating Laura van Gilder (UCI Cheerwine) in a photo finish with Julie Bellerose (Team Aberdeen) just 3 seconds behind.
They have posted complete results from the Tour de Leelanau web site, and we'll add links to other articles as they are published. Here's the Leelanau Enterprise story with some great photos. The article also says:
If things go as planned, the 2008 Tour de Leelanau will be held on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend. Brown said with the Tour de Missouri endurance race being held over an eight-day period in September 2008, most of the professional race teams would not be available to compete in the Tour de Leelanau if it continues to be held on the third Saturday in September.
The photo above is In the peleton by John Clement Howe and you can get some great photos of the Tour de Leelanau from Flickr (slideshow) and check out a video of the start of the men's 2007 Tour de Leelanau and also the Herman Rd King of the Mountain on YouTube.
Robert Dobbie from the Wolverine Sports Club Elite Road Team has an entertaining racer's account of the Tour de Leelanau that you should definitely read for passages like this:
Tower Rd (mile 60) seemed shorter but steeper than last year, but I had pretty good legs for it. I also got an extra boost from what seemed like a hundred fans gathered Tour de France style at the top. We passed through single file to the sound of ear-ringing cheers and clanging bells. That was fun.
North Bar Lake by daghlian
We at Leelanau.com would like to say thank you, Mike Vanderberg for all you did for Empire & Leelanau - you brought a lot more music into our lives and you will be sorely missed. There's a nice article in the Glen Arbor Sun about Mike.
News from the Week
The top story from the week was definitely that the Leelanau Cheese Company's aged raclette was named the best cheese in North America at the largest cheese competition in US history. As a person who eats their raclette almost every day, I found that especially gratifying ... except for the fact that it's sold out everywhere! As often happens in the summer, the other stories were all events: last weekend's Leelanau Wine & Food Fest (and Dog Parade) in Northport and the upcoming Woolsey Airport Fly-in & Breakfast and the Kelly Miller Circus in Empire.
The Week's Weather
The big weather news was that we finally got some rain. Maybe not enough, but more than a sprinkle!
August 9, 2007: Sunny & 80s (84Ëš/59Ëš)
August 10, 2007: Mostly cloudy & 80s (84Ëš/62Ëš)
August 11, 2007: Sunny & 90 (91Ëš/61Ëš)
August 12, 2007: Mostly cloudy, some heavy rain & thunderstorms (finally) and low 80s (82Ëš/66Ëš)
August 13, 2007: Sunny & 70s (77Ëš/54Ëš)
August 14, 2007: Mostly sunny & 80 (81Ëš/54Ëš)
August 15, 2007: Sunny & 80 (81Ëš/60Ëš)
Click for the Leelanau news archive from August 2006!
It's not often (OK, never) that one of my favorite foods gets an honor like the honor that the Aged Raclette from the Suttons Bay-based Leelanau Cheese Company received. In the largest cheese competition in U.S. history, their raclette beat bested over 1,200 entries to take the "Best of Show" award at the 24th annual American Cheese Society cheese competition. To add to the honor, they received a rare perfect score on the first round of judging.
You can visit the John & Anne Hoyt and purchase and sample their additive-free Swiss and French-style cheeses at The Leelanau Cheese Company at Black Star Farms.
Read more about the cheese competition at the Boston Globe.
Fishtown by detroitsky
News from the Week
In addition to some articles about the venerable Suttons Bay Art Festival, the super-cool Port Oneida Fair (every August celebration of rural heritage) and the brand-new Leland Summer Twilight Art Walk, we had a neat photo from Port Oneida and a whole slew of Leelanau on Location entries for all the towns in Leelanau County that Cody put together. We're hoping that you'll check them out and add your comments and links to your favorite village's page! (we'll have Ghost Towns of Leelanau coming soon)
The Week's Weather
Another week of great weather ... unless of course you happen to be a plant or a farmer. Here's an Enterprise article on the rainfall deficit. We're down over 10" since May.
August 2, 2007: Mostly sunny & upper 80s (90Ëš/73Ëš)
August 3, 2007: Sunny & 80s (84Ëš/59Ëš)
August 4, 2007: Sunny & 80 (81Ëš/52Ëš)
August 5, 2007: Mostly sunny & low 80s (91Ëš/62Ëš)
August 6, 2007: Partly sunny & low 80s (82Ëš/68Ëš)
August 7, 2007: Mostly cloud & low 90s (91Ëš/63Ëš)
August 8, 2007: Partly sunny & upper 70s (78Ëš/63Ëš)
