This Week in Leelanau: June 25, 2010

After a dry May, we’ve had a wet June. Fortunately, it’s been warm and rainy, meaning that we’re getting great growth of crops and everything green!

Local Cherries for Cherry Festival?

The Enterprise and the Record-Eagle both are reporting that harvest of early sweet cherries could begin as soon as July 1 (almost two weeks ahead of schedule) according to the Northwest Michigan Horticultural Research Station. Traverse City’s average daily temperature of 42.7 from January through May was more than 5 degrees warmer than normal. It’s the warmest for that period since 1896 and has helped push the region’s cherry crop development .That means the usually poorly timed National Cherry Festival (July 3-10, 2010) will be giving people a taste of the fruit of the National Cherry Capital!

There’s more stories on the Leelanau Blog including a grant to document Fishtown’s history that the Fishtown Preservation Society recently received.

OUR FEATURED SPONSOR…

All in the Family Vacation Rentals offers properties in Leelanau County on Lake Michigan, Lake Leelanau, Little Traverse Lake, Bright Lake and Leland. You can experience living in a restored 100 year old barn north of Leland or choose to pamper yourself in luxury at Woods’ Haven on Lake Michigan. We can accommodate groups as large as 15 or 16 people in some of our properties. All properties are non-smoking and some are pet friendly.

On Absolute Michigan we launched our Celebrating Michigan’s Water Photo Contest. It runs through July 23 and the prize features 2 nights any season (subject to availability) from The Homestead Resort and a guided eco-tour on the Crystal River by the folks at The River in Glen Arbor (and now Traverse City!). All you need to enter is a photo of any Michigan lake, river, waterfall, pond or wetland – click above for details! There’s much more including the Great Michigan Earthquake of 2010.

On Michigan in Pictures, we have a DNR confirmed photo of a Michigan cougar that drew a lot of attention. There’s also a cool photo of one of the Quincy dredges and a gorgeous forest photo.

If you’d like to sponsor Leelanau.com and our weekly emails, please contact us at lci@leelanau.com or call 231-421-1172. Leelanau.com is a great way to connect with locals and travelers alike!

This week’s photo of a fallen white cedar on South Manitou Island is titled Dead Giant. It was taken by lomeranger (Jason Lome) – see it and more in his Manitou slideshow!

Want a chance to have YOUR photos featured here? Click the Flickr button above to join our photo group!

The Leelanau Calendar

If you’ve got a Leelanau event, you can add your information (for free) to the Leelanau Calendar. Not only will it be listed in this newsletter every week, but we may do a feature story on your event on Leelanau.com!

FEATURED EVENT
Leland School Reunion & Alumni Picnic Benefit – July 2

leland-school-benefit Leland Public School will hold an all-school reunion and benefit picnic on Friday, July 2, 2010 from 6:30 – 9 PM at Fountain Point Resort on Lake Leelanau.

Enjoy the summer sun with friends, family and alumni on the lawn of Fountain Point while listening to the music of Song of the Lakes. Alums of Leland Public School are invited to come on their own or to organize class reunion picnics, as are current students and their families and friends of Leland Public School.

Annual Cedar Polka Festival / Thursday – Sunday, July 1 – 4

The annual Cedar Polka Festival runs Thursday through Sunday (July 1-4). Highlights include a parade on Saturday at noon, softball tournament, a polka mass and (of course) polka under the big, big tent with the big names of polka.

2010 Leelanau Farmer’s Markets are underway in Glen Arbor, Lake Leelanau, Leland, Northport and Suttons Bay. They offer you a chance to get out and connect with farmers and other folks who produce food in Leelanau County. You can also connect with Leelanau Farmer’s Markets on Facebook!

Jun 25 – PHSB – Historic Field Clearing Volunteer Project
Jun 25 – The Stray Dogs at Northport’s Music in the Park
Jun 26 – 5th Annual Kids Free Fishing Day
Jun 26 – Wastin Away on Grand Traverse Bay -Beach Bash
Jun 27 – Free Polka Lessons
Jun 27 – Great Lakes Bioneers Benefit Show and Celebration
Jun 28 – FREE Summer Day Camp
Jun 30 – Children’s Summer 2010 Events: Make a Splash: READ!
Jul 1 – Matthew DiClemente:Printmaker
Jul 2 – Paint the Town in Cedar
Jul 2 – Northport Community Band/Manitou Music Festival
Jul 2 – Art Exhibition: “Views of the Village”
Jul 2 – Art Exhibition: “Views of the Village”
Jul 2 – SECOND GENERATION ART SHOW!
Jul 2 – Sister Wilene at Northport’s Music in the Park
Jul 3 – Cedar’s Polka Festival Parade
Jul 7 – Meet “Drew” a Live Australian Parrot!
Jul 8 – Boatloads of Great Lakes Fun!
Jul 9 – Jeff Tucker and On the Beach at Music in the Park
Jul 9 – Into the Woods: Oil Paintings, Assemblages by Lynn Ulhmann
Jul 11 – Dune Climb Concert/Jeremy Kittel Band/Manitou Music Festival

Advertise on Leelanau.com – call us at 421-1172!

Support these and other sponsors of Leelanau.com!

Did we mention you could add your events for free? Get busy folks!

Now Playing at the Bay Theater in Suttons Bay: ‘Toy Story 3’ (G). Coming soon: ‘Inception’ (PG-13), ‘Eat, Pray, Love (R), “Girl Who Played With Fire’ (NR) and information on the ‘The Bay Select Film Series 2010/2011’. Enjoy The Mid-Week Specials: Tuesday-FREE POPCORN (One medium popcorn free with ticket purchase. Not valid for Film Series or special engagements.), Wednesdays $5.50 admission (one price for all patrons). Bay Theatre Gift Certificates: ‘Say it with a Movie’ gift certificates provide a memorable and enjoyable experience all year ’round. Check the web site for details!

The Weather…
Ken Scott took this great shot of North Manitou Island from Pyramid Point. Summer is prime time to visit the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. Here’s Ken’s Sleeping Bear Dunes slideshow!

It’s 75 degrees under clear skies at 11:30 AM at Leelanau Coffee Roasting in Glen Arbor. The record high for a June 25th is 97 from 1966 – much better than the low of 33 from the brutal summer of 1979. The forecast for today calls for sunny skies with highs around 80. There’s a chance of rain overnight and early tomorrow, but expect skies to clear Saturday with highs in the 70s. Expect partly sunny skies Sunday with highs near 80 and a chance of showers.

Click for the news & weather from last year!