Staff Reports

Essays , Issue 5 , Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore

Once More Unto the Beech

Staff Reports October 3, 2025October 3, 2025 0 comment

Beech trees, passenger pigeons, and the struggle to survive in Northern Michigan

2024 , Businesses , Featured Stories , Golfing , History , Horticulture , Iconic Person , Issue 11 , News , Print Editions , Sports

Crystal Downs Country Club

Staff Reports October 3, 2025October 3, 2025 0 comment

History, legacy, and community connections

2024 , Bakery , Businesses , Featured Stories , Hotels/Motels , Issue 12 , News , Print Editions , Restaurants

Their Luck Is Our Luck

Staff Reports October 3, 2025October 3, 2025 0 comment

ultural exchange workers help in Benzie and Leelanau counties

2024 , Featured Stories , Historical , History , Issue 14 , News , Non-Profit , Non-profits , Print Editions , Real Estate , Sports

Soaring High

Staff Reports October 3, 2025October 3, 2025 0 comment

Green Point Flyers sustain local tradition of motorless flight

2024 , Essays , Featured Stories , Issue 14 , Print Editions

Leaving The Lights On

Staff Reports October 2, 2025October 2, 2025 0 comment

An essay on neighbors and nostalgia

2024 , Businesses , History , Issue 5 , Non-Profit , Non-profits , Print Editions , Railroad History

From Crystal Beach Christian Assembly to the Crystal Conference Center

Staff Reports June 4, 2024June 4, 2024 0 comment

More than 100 years of history on Crystal Lake’s south shore

2024 , Essays , Featured Stories , Issue #4 , Nature , Print Editions

Animal Magnetism: The Birds and the Bees

Staff Reports May 20, 2024May 20, 2024 0 comment

But not the way you thought

2024 , Farmers , Farms , Featured Stories , Horticulture , Issue #4 , Print Editions

Spring Has Sprung

Staff Reports May 19, 2024 0 comment

A flower lover’s guide to bulbs, blooms, and bouquets

2024 , Art , Artists , Iconic Person , Issue 1 , Music , Print Editions

The Evolution of Passages

Staff Reports January 25, 2024January 25, 2024 0 comment

Local artist Ron Gianola’s work spans decades and genres

2024 , Essays , Issue 1 , Nature , Print Editions , Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore , Swimming

Winter Swimming in Lake Michigan

Staff Reports January 23, 2024January 23, 2024 5 comment

Multi-generational group finds community and resilience in cold water

2022 , Essays , Featured Stories , Issue 13 , Medical , Print Editions

Beneath The Surface

Staff Reports September 21, 2023September 21, 2023 2 comment

One woman’s struggle with ACEs and CPTSD

2023 , Businesses , Farmers , Farms , Featured Stories , Horticulture , Issue 8 , Landscaping , Nature , Print Editions

Biochar

Staff Reports July 18, 2023July 18, 2023 0 comment

Everything old is new again

2023 , Businesses , Coach , Featured Stories , Iconic Person , Issue 7 , Print Editions , Running , Sports

CrossFit Dunes

Staff Reports July 5, 2023 1 comment

24-hour fitness in Frankfort

2023 , Businesses , Featured Stories , Iconic Person , Issue 7 , Non-Profit , Non-profits , Print Editions

Love for Sail

Staff Reports July 5, 2023July 5, 2023 0 comment

Captain Gerry Shiffman offers sailing excursions to at-risk youth

2023 , Essays , Featured Stories , Issue 7 , Nature , Print Editions

Chattering and Mattering

Staff Reports July 2, 2023July 2, 2023 0 comment

When gossip is good

2023 , Basketball , Coach , Featured Stories , Historical , History , Iconic Person , Issue 7 , Print Editions , Sports

Using Basketball to Impart Vital Life Lessons

Staff Reports June 28, 2023July 12, 2023 3 comment

Octogenarian coach can’t stop giving

2023 , Featured Stories , History , Issue 6 , Music , Musician , Print Editions

No More Clarinet

Staff Reports June 27, 2023June 27, 2023 0 comment

African harp “kora” returns to Empire

2023 , Essays , Featured Stories , Fishing , Issue 6 , Print Editions

Big Fish Tale

Staff Reports June 26, 2023June 26, 2023 0 comment

When the one that got away isn’t a fish

2023 , Businesses , Essays , Featured Stories , History , Issue 6 , Print Editions

Summers in Beulah

Staff Reports June 22, 2023June 22, 2023 4 comment

A family history of Reedcraft Weavers (1940-2011)

2023 , Featured Stories , Issue 5 , Non-Profit , Non-profits , Print Editions , Real Estate

Zoning and You

Staff Reports June 2, 2023June 2, 2023 2 comment

The absolutely imperative and thoroughly unsexy world of zoning, and why you should care

2023 , Essays , Featured Stories , Issue 5 , Print Editions

Incipience in Thompsonville

Staff Reports May 27, 2023May 27, 2023 1 comment

Early spring comes to Northern Michigan

2023 , Essays , Featured Stories , Historical , History , Iconic Person , Issue 5 , Non-Profit , Non-profits , Print Editions

Memorial Morses

Staff Reports May 26, 2023May 26, 2023 1 comment

Local brothers take Honor Flight

2022 , Essays , Featured Stories , Iconic Person , Print Editions

The Future Will Not Wait

Staff Reports May 11, 2023May 11, 2023 0 comment

A message for the youth, from the youth

2023 , Essays , Featured Stories , Historical , History , Iconic Person , Issue 4 , Native American Culture & History , Noah Sorenson , Print Editions

What’s In A Name?

Staff Reports April 19, 2023April 19, 2023 1 comment

Stories behind the names of Benzie County

2023 , Featured Stories , Historical , History , Iconic Person , Issue 4 , Non-Profit , Non-profits , Print Editions

Then & Now

Staff Reports April 16, 2023April 16, 2023 1 comment

More than a century of the Mills Community House