This Week in Leelanau: August 27, 2010

1. Liko Smith withdraws bid, what now for Sugar Loaf?

The Record-Eagle headline read Smith pulls Sugar Loaf bid: Sugar Loaf owner calls would-be developer ‘a joke’:

“I wanted to believe this was going to happen,” (Sugar Loaf owner Kate) Wickstrom said. “But he’s obviously without the means to do anything.”

Smith’s website stated, “Unfortunately, at some point it is not healthy to (pursue) a deal,” and he was pulling out of the project “I’m like the sixth buyer here, and I’ve got the farthest,” he said.

Which was “not very far.” Now we’re left at the point where we were when Liko crashed the scene this spring with one very important difference: a bunch of people are paying attention to Sugar Loaf. We’ve decided to close our massive Sugar Loaf thread to new posts, add a link to the Friends of Sugar Loaf group on Facebook and start anew here with the simple question, What now for Sugar Loaf?

2. Help the Leelanau Farmers Markets celebrate 10 years!

The Leelanau Farmers Markets are celebrating 10 years with an anniversary celebration at the Suttons Bay Farmers Market on Saturday, August 28 beginning at 10:30 AM. The celebration includes music, children’s activities, prizes and refreshments. There are now 6 markets in beautiful Leelanau County. The markets are an important part of local agriculture and bringing business to the towns in which they reside.

Visit the Leelanau Farmers Markets on Facebook!

3. Third Coast Bicycle Festival – all weekend!

The 1st annual Third Coast Bicycle Festival is a weeklong celebration of 2 wheel fun in Traverse City that features something for every bicycle enthusiast. Today there’s tons of fun including a hill climb, Kids Bike Rodeo and downtown sprints at 6:30 PM and the Twin Bay Cyclocross Race at 5:30 and the Two Wheel Technique trials at 6:3.

Saturday afternoon features the Cherry Roubaix Criterium Road Races downtown. As someone who’s checked this the last two years, I have to say that this is about the most entertaining racing event I’ve seen as cyclists tear around a loop at high speed. There’s also Roller Sprints and a Cyclocross Race at the TC Microbrew and Music Festival at The Grand Traverse Commons.

4. Lake Leelanau Barbeque & Blues Festival

The Lake Leelanau Community Association will host a Blues Festival on Sunday September 5th 2010 (Labor Day weekend, 1 PM till 9 pm) It takes place in Front of LeNaro’s Pub in Downtown Lake Leelanau and will be the finals of the Mid North Michigan Blues Societies Blues Challenge, featuring artists Pete “bigdog” Fetters, James Glass, Big Daddy Fox, Doc Woodward and others.

Visit lakeleelanaumi.com for all the details!

5. Visit Leelanau!

There’s few better times of year than the end of August and early September to visit the Leelanau Peninsula. Check out the wide range of vacation rental options on our Leelanau Lodging Page for the perfect vacation getaway for any group or budget!

The Weather

It’s 77 degrees under mostly sunny skies at 12 noon at Leelanau Coffee Roasting in Glen Arbor.  The record high for an August 27th was 96 degrees in 1973 with the record low of 37 in 1915. We’ll be closer to the top end with partly to mostly sunny skies and highs around 80. Saturday and Sunday will be warm and windy with highs in the upper 80s and southwest winds at 20+ MPH.

Click for the news & weather from last year!