Traverse, Northern Michigan March 2023

NORTHERN

03.2023

families.

The North Stars

7 Inspiring Women Guiding the Region

Bea Moreno: mom, folklórico dancer and bilingual liaison for the North’s migrant

WESTERN AVENUE GRILL

6410 W WESTERN AVENUE | GLEN ARBOR

Here’s your opportunity to own your own business, earning an income of $300,000 + net income. This is a GREAT lifestyle where you commit to hard work in the summer months, then - if you like- enjoy a slower pace in the winter by keeping management in place while you rest and re-set. You can even just leave cold northern Michigan for warmer climates during the winter months. This job requires horse power, energy and enthusiasm during the busy season.

Listed at $1,499,000

SHAWN SCHMIDT SMITH ASSOCIATE BROKER

231.499.1990

shawn@shawnschmidtsmith.com

MAYFIELD STORAGE BARNS

Unfinished units offer - 100 amp electrical service; lights; overhead doors; 5’ concrete approach; shingled roofs; service entrances to each unit; 4” reinforced concrete floors

714 sq ft - $54,900

1000 sq ft - $69,900

1428 sq ft - $107,900

Finished units offer everything the unfinished units offer plus heat, insulation and steel interior walls

714 sq ft - $69,900

1000 sq ft - $90,000

1428 sq ft - $137,900

2000 sq ft - $174,900

SHAWN SCHMIDT SMITH ASSOCIATE BROKER

231.499.1990

shawn@shawnschmidtsmith.com

MIKE PETRUCCI REALTOR®

231.645.5922

Mike.Petrucci@cbgreatlakes.com

We’re on Lake Michigan inside Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. Crystal clear water, sandy beaches, pools, tennis, inviting restaurant and fun bar on the shore. Family fun and lively entertainment at Mountain Village. With choices...a resort hotel, Inn, lodge, or privately-owned vacation home. All with membership privileges at our waterfront club. Discover delightful, delightfully free of crowds. For reservations, 231-334-5100.

36 THE STUFF OF DREAMS

There are few things you need inside Flora Bae Home, but—for anyone with a yearning heart—just about everything you could ever want.

BY LYNDA WHEATLEY PHOTOS BY COURTNEY KENT

20

THE NORTH STARS

These seven women are the heartbeat of the North—guiding and shaping our region for the better.

BY ALLISON JARRELL,

30 STEEPED IN GOODNESS

Two decades into cultivating a dream at Light of Day Organics, Angela Macke spills the tea on what’s next.

BY ROSS BOISSONEAU

PHOTOS BY ALLISON JARRELL

CARLY SIMPSON, EMILY TYRA AND LYNDA WHEATLEY PHOTOS BY COURTNEY KENT photo by Courtney Kent

7 | EDITOR'S NOTE

9 | UP NORTH

A U.P. pianist composes an homage to the Northwoods; Wolf Wellness helps women establish healthy habits, offering child care while they work out; March is reading month, and Charlevoix students have a new book vending machine.

15 | TRAVEL

Plan a trip to Marquette next month for a distinctly Yooper festival welcoming spring’s arrival.

18 | OUTDOORS

Andrea Denham, the Upper Peninsula’s steadfast environmental advocate, shares her favorite outdoor adventures.

45 | CULINARY NORTH

Whimsy meets comfort at Rough Pony, a vibrant new coffee shop and eatery in Traverse City; plus, don’t sleep on Harwood Gold’s Farm-Style Sriracha.

Follow

facebook.com/mynorthmedia instagram.com/mynorthmedia pinterest.com/mynorthmedia

48 | ON THE TABLE

A recipe for Michigan-raised lamb chops makes for a delicious weeknight treat.

50 | LAST CALL

The Honorable, Marquette’s first distillery, shares its take on a classic Italian aperitivo, the Garibaldi.

52 | LOVE OF THE LAND

Sand Lakes Quiet Area offers restorative recreation in any season.

My son kieran and i were waiting for the Interlochen Arts Academy high school production of “Jesus Christ Superstar” to begin. Sitting in the theater just before the curtain may be one of my favorite feelings in the world. I know, as the lights dim and the orchestra shifts from plinking and page turning into silence, that I’m about to be transported.

The curtain lifted and the funky, ominous guitar riff of “Heaven on Their Minds” took hold. Striding out into the spotlight came the show’s narrator, Judas: a fiery teenage

A MOMENT OF BRILLIANCE

by CARA MCDONALD

girl with a voice the size of the moon.

It was just one of several casting and staging decisions that challenged the audience to reimagine things (Jesus may or may not have ascended into heaven in a space ship). After a moment to adjust, it was amazing how quickly that decision settled in over the audience, and I allowed myself to feel my perspective shift.

Traditionally, March has been a month for us to pivot and transition, and the March issue has had different themes over the years. This year, we’ve chosen to highlight the women in our communities in honor of Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day.

It might raise the question: Why just amazing women? Why not amazing people?

Amazing people are our stock-in-trade. We’ve never hesitated to round up and call out winemakers and entrepreneurs and distillers and anglers and artists and pioneers. We’ve dedicated whole issues to things like food or stuff made in Northern Michigan or even pets without asking ourselves, “What if it’s too much? What if nobody gets it?”

Lifting up inspiring women from across our region allows us to honor how far women have come in the struggle for equality while also creating important discussions around how far we still have to go in this journey.

Women in rural communities like ours continue to face barriers for access to opportunity and to leadership positions, and still strive for equitable pay, safety in their relationships and homes, and comprehensive health care. Women also feel the sting of a desperate lack of quality childcare and affordable housing in ways that alter their ability to work, grow, learn, provide and thrive.

We need women of all kinds equitably represented at every table, able to share their ideas, experiences,

entrepreneurial spirits, their different ways of solving problems and connecting and protecting what they hold dear. We need their light.

Five of us editors, women whose ages span three generations, sat down to plan this issue by championing the stories of women who delight and inspire: An Indigenous artisan and environmental advocate. An indefatigable angler. An angel to startup businesses. A cultural bridgebuilder. We talked nonstop, balancing our laptops on our knees, fingers flying as we drew up a list we dubbed “The North Stars”—guiding lights who are beacons of things good and true for the people they touch. We hope in their stories you can feel the inspiration and unfettered joy we felt when creating this issue.

As Kieran and I left Corson Auditorium, I felt so moved—by the beauty of the music, the passion of the storytelling and the exuberant young talent we experienced that night, which maybe we wouldn’t have experienced in quite that way if the director hadn’t placed his actors in roles where they could shine. Each had their moment in the spotlight to have their story unfold, and the show couldn’t have been complete without it.

Cara McDonald Executive Editor cara@mynorth.com

photo by Courtney Kent

North Star Kira Davis, an Odawa artisan and the Great Lakes senior program manager for the National Parks Conservation Association

YOU’RE INVITED

Named “Most Beautiful Place in America” by the viewers of Good Morning America, and sitting pretty on National Geographic’s list of “21 Best Beaches in the World.”

There are plenty of places to vacation, but nowhere comes close to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. You don’t have to take our word for it though.

Come experience the magic of Northern Michigan for yourself.

sleepingbeardunes.com

Up North.

BIRDSONG

by LYNDA WHEATLEY

A pair of neighbors at a pianist’s Upper Peninsula cottage reawakens the composer within.

Most people, when they look to buy a cottage Up North, have a few musthaves in mind: lake or river frontage, say, and enough bedrooms to accommodate their brood, maybe their brood’s brood, too. Perhaps acreage to hunt on, a stone fireplace and a four-season porch.

Julie Chapman had only one requirement: “I wanted to be on a lake that had a pair of nesting loons.”

Chapman is a classically trained pianist and composer. She’s also an avid nature-watcher and, more so, listener; she has entire catalogs of field recordings she’s made of wind, rain, wildlife.

But since her childhood camping trips Up North, she’s loved loons most of all—even before the 1981 film “On Golden Pond” taught her the name of that stunning red-eyed waterbird with the captivating call.

“My whole life, I’ve always had an affection for that sound—it’s just so … musical,” she says.

After four months spent cross-referencing real estate listings with maps and calls to the Michigan DNR, Chapman and her husband found, beside a small lake in Watersmeet that a pair of loons call home, a cottage where they could do the same.

PEOPLE | NATURE | ARTS | NOSTALGIA | BUZZ | WISDOM | CURIOSITIES

photo courtesy of Julie Chapman

The Chapmans got the keys in November 2016, while the lake’s resident loons wintered in Mexico. Chapman passed her time at the cottage walking the woods, listening and playing—on a battered but heavenly sounding upright Steinway grand piano, circa 1883, that a recording studio in Milwaukee had sold her for a proverbial song.

While Chapman doesn’t compose music every day—she put out her last album before motherhood—not a single day goes by that she doesn’t play.

But when spring arrived, it brought with it the wail she’d waited for all winter. And in that unmistakable melody, Chapman heard another familiar call: to sit down at her century-old piano and compose music again.

What began that day was Gavia Immer, the Latin name for the common loon and the first track on Chapman’s Homage to the Northwoods, an album of 11 original piano solos she composed entirely on her cottage Steinway.

“I didn’t expect it, but all these songs just started happening. It was crazy. I would compose a song almost every day,” she says.

Every single one was her response to the nature around her, moments set to music. For Gavia Immer, she chose the male loon’s yodel, one of four vocalizations, mostly used to stake a territorial claim. The middle section of the song represents the loons diving for fish; the ending, the pair happily paddling about, their babies safe on their backs.

Two Wolves is a musical transcription of a scene she imagined at the root of howls she heard (and, of course, recorded) one night across the lake: a plaintive duet of hungry wolf partners. Plenty of tracks evoke the human experience too. Among them: Dawn, Respite, Curt , and—with more than 14,000 Spotify plays in four months— the sublime twinkle of Quiessence.

Despite her growing fanbase, Chapman says she has no interest in touring; she’d prefer to return Up North with the regularity of her loon neighbors and keep on composing—for herself, for future albums and perhaps soundtracks to films or documentaries. About nature, likely. About loons, certainly. juliechapmanmusic.com

Up Nort h In the Community

SMART SNACKS

Until somebody can figure out how to keep a salmonstocked vending machine from stinking up the halls, Kiwanis Club of Charlevoix is filling the machine they gifted to Charlevoix Elementary with a less perishable kind of brain food: books. An outgrowth of the Club’s mission to support literacy, the vending machine holds 23 different titles aimed to appeal to kids at varying reading levels. No book can be bought, however; each must be earned. Kids receive golden tokens from staff throughout the school year—for doing a good deed, getting a good grade or achieving some other academic or behavioral win—and the vending machine dispenses a brand-new book of their choice per golden token. No other cash or coins are accepted, and each student is guaranteed to get three books this year. John Haan, Charlevoix Elementary principal, says the response of kids and teachers to the book vending machine has been “extremely enthusiastic”—so much so that the school is seeking to raise the goal of three books per student to five. We can’t guarantee you a golden token, but if you’d like to do a good deed by donating, Haan recommends reaching out to the Kiwanis Youth Foundation. charlevoixkiwanis.com

-Lynda Wheatley

NEW UP NORTH Cool finds, community updates and sweet new businesses.

BEGIN ADVENTURES

BARREL SAUNA RENTALS

TRAVERSE CITY & SURROUNDING AREAS

Rent a handcrafted wood-burning cedar sauna for two to seven days and have it delivered right to your home. Owners Danielle and Blake Begin have both a four-person and six-person sauna and will deliver within 50 miles of Traverse City. They’ll provide you with wood and operating instructions. beginadventures.com

BOHMEY BEAUTY

144 HALL ST., TRAVERSE CITY

An eco-conscious boutique with locations in Adrian and Ann Arbor, Bohmey Beauty carries clean makeup and skincare products, athleisure clothing, jewelry, candles and gifts from brands like ILIA, Indie Lee and Supergoop! The brand’s Warehouse MRKT shop opened in November. bohmeybeauty.com

Know of a business that just opened or have a fun community update? Let us know at

THE DOJO

7738 N. LONG LAKE RD., TRAVERSE CITY

A new sushi restaurant opened December 5 at the Long Lake Culinary Campus, a collaborative hub for growing food businesses at the vacant Long Lake Elementary School. The Dojo is owned by Sushi Chef Brent Shafer, who offers dine-in, takeout, catering services and private residential popups for birthday parties and other celebrations. chu-toro.net

editorial@traversemagazine.com.

photos by Dave Weidner

Up Nort h Biz News

What good is the eye of the tiger if Mama Bear’s got as few free minutes to get her fitness on as a kangaroo with a pocket full of joeys?

Enter Wolf Wellness, a female-focused gym in Traverse City that makes working out a wildly fast, fun and—perhaps most important—possible family affair.

The brainchild of owners Beth and John Bohrer, Wolf Wellness offers multiple small-group training sessions— aka camps—for wolf packs of all kinds: women only, kids 8 to 18 only, adults and teens together, and co-ed adults.

Best of all, whether you’re a member of the pack or just dropping in, you can enjoy free childcare while you work out (which, according to an unofficial survey of almost every parent who has ever lived, is much-appreciated). Wolf Wellness has an in-gym childcare specialist and a clean, colorful, spacious rec room at the ready for wolf pups (ages 6 weeks to 12 years old) during several camps a day, five days a week.

Of course, working out is required. But we swear by our aging canine teeth, it’s fun. Each camp, a 45-minute cardio

and strength workout guided by a personal trainer, changes daily; Wolf Wellness posts a preview of each day’s workout plan on its Facebook and Instagram pages at the start of each week to help with planning, or … avoiding. But fear not, coaches are on hand at every sesh to amend the workout to each participant’s needs and comfort level, says Beth, a certified personal trainer who leads many of the classes.

You can find Wolf Wellness at the back of a low-slung brown warehouse whose exterior doesn’t do the gym’s light, bright and sparkling-fresh interior justice. But if you ask us, that rugged exterior not only keeps the membership rates more reasonable than most any gym in town, but also makes even the softest Mama Bear feel a little bit more like Rocky Balboa each time she enters. Just remember to yell for Beth; not Adriaaaaan. tcwolfwellness.com

Lynda Wheatley

WAKE U.P., IT’S SPRING

by KIM SCHNEIDER

Plan a trip to Marquette next month for a distinctly U.P. festival welcoming spring’s arrival.

Each april, approxi mately 4,000 people— many dressed as woodland critters— take over Spring Street in downtown Marquette for the Festival of the Angry Bear. The event, hosted by Ore Dock Brewing Company, is a rip-roaring celebration of hibernation’s end, with newly released sour beers, multiple music stages and food trucks (this year’s party is April 15).

It was brewery staffer Adam Robarge who, eight years ago, decided humans also needed a little help coming out of hibernation each spring. And how better to do that than with the help of sour beers aged to perfection, live music, good eats and maybe some crazy costumes thrown in?

“It’s been a nice pairing to do something for people when the beers are coming out of hibernation, out of barrels,” says Andi Pernsteiner, Ore Dock’s co-founder and president. “The event has taken on a life of its own since. It’s been quite the ride.”

Band headliners have yet to be announced as of press time, but past years have featured a surfer rock band, funk and traditional country with a slide guitar. The food-truck

includes festival regulars Smelted Wood Fired Pizza, Burger Bus and Dia de los Tacos. But the stars, of course, are the beers.

Some signature brews have been aging in barrels for two years awaiting their debut at this year’s festival, Pernsteiner notes. Festivalgoers can look forward to both barrel- and kettle-aged sours as well as a draft lineup of IPAs, wheats and more.

photos courtesy of Ore Dock Brewing Company

They can also count on a vibe reminiscent of great European beer festivals—but with an Upper Peninsula twist. The annual costume contest theme “woodland critters” is both fun and practical, as dressing like a bear or beaver adds another layer of warmth amid April’s unpredictable temps.

MAKE IT A WEEKEND

Thursday: Catch the “Baby Bear” family-friendly festival offering face painting, flights of house-brewed sodas and more fun for kids.

Friday: Pernsteiner recommends hiking to area waterfalls; there are nearly a dozen in Marquette, and spring’s thaw is the best time to visit.

Saturday: Run or watch the Angry Bear 5K, wander shops and order fresh whitefish at The Vierling (the openface whitefish sandwich is a fave) before the festival starts at 3 p.m.

Sunday: Keep up the “out of hibernation” theme with a morning coffee at a local roaster. Pernsteiner recommends Dead River Coffee and pastries from 231 West Patisserie

Kim Schneider is a long-time travel writer specializing in Michigan adventures, food and wine. She’s the author of “100 Things to Do in Traverse City Before You Die.”

Lodging Tip: Watch Ore Dock’s website (oredockbrewing.com) and Facebook page for information on package deals with local hotels.

STEWARDING NATURAL WONDERS

by ALLISON JARRELL

Andrea Denham, the U.P.’s steadfast environmental advocate, shares her favorite outdoor adventures and goals for the coming year.

Andrea denham has always been an adventurer. Growing up in Saint Paul, Minnesota, she found she felt “better” outside, preferring to read next to park trees over other cityscapes. Her father taught her how to backpack in junior high, and her aunties took her on all sorts of adventures—from camping in national forests to sliding down waterfalls. She recalls one night in a northern Wisconsin cabin when they woke her up at 3 a.m. to listen to the ice boom of the frozen lake while an aurora danced overhead.

photos courtesy of UPLC

“We call ourselves the ‘ Wilderness Women Victorious,’ and we celebrate one another’s achievements, independence and fortitude as women in the outdoors,” Denham says.

She continued to cultivate that independence and resilience, wandering in awe-inspiring places like Minnesota, Yosemite National Park and Alaska before finally landing along Lake Superior and the wilderness of the U.P. In 2015, Denham made the commitment to protect those wild places forever, joining the Upper Peninsula Land Conservancy staff.

The U.P. called to her for many reasons—she longed to breathe clean, tree-scented, smoke-free air. She wanted to use her skills to work on large-scale land preservation and mitigating the effects of climate change on communities. But more than anything, she’s drawn to the people who inhabit its cities and forests.

“No matter who you talk to, or what their background or political beliefs are, just about all of us are drawn together by our shared love for the Upper Peninsula—the land and water and forests and soil that surround and sustain us in so many ways. An entire population connected by a love of the land—that ’s special.”

When Denham first joined UPLC, she recalls just two people working part-time in “what may be best described as a utility closet,” with annual donations of under $20,000. Since then, the conservancy has tripled their protected land (to more than 7,000 acres) and increased annual donations by more than 1,400 percent. In 2019, Denham became the conservancy’s executive director, leading the only U.Pbased, U.P.-wide land trust, now nationally accredited through the Land Trust Alliance.

Denham says when she isn’t working on preserving the great outdoors, she’s out playing in them. We recently caught up with her to hear about her favorite spots to explore and how she plans to preserve their wild wonder.

Allison Jarrell: Come March, the U.P. is still a winter wonderland. What are some of your favorite areas for snowy adventures?

Andrea Denham: I love snowshoeing and backcountry skiing at the McCormick Wilderness in Michigamme, or heading out to Powell Township’s trail system off CR-510 toward Big Bay. Winter is my favorite time of year. I can’t get enough of it. For shorter, close-to-home or melty days, the UPLC’s Chocolay Bayou Nature Preserve in Harvey is a good place to spend a couple hours listening to birds and waiting for otters.

AJ: Looking ahead to spring, where should folks plan to visit if they’re seeking out idyllic wildflowers and waterfalls?

AD: UPLC’s Vielmetti-Peters Reserve in Marquette/ Negaunee Township has a great trail system that includes two streams and a small waterfall. Wildflowers will start showing up sooner closer to the Big Lake as opposed to deep in the woods. I love to walk or bike the Iron Ore Heritage Trail from Marquette to Harvey in the spring—the snow melts along the bike path earlier, and you can stop at Chocolay Bayou for a quick hike before dropping by the neighboring Lake Superior Smokehouse Brewpub.

AJ: What are your favorite pre- or postadventure pit stops?

AD: Oh man … that’s a hard one! I love a pre-adventure oat-milk latte from either Dead River Coffee Roasters or The Crib, and a post-adventure burger from The Burger Bus—especially if it’s outside Blackrocks Brewery or Drifa Brewing Company. Before the food trucks come back out of hibernation, I’ll usually stop at whatever local bar or restaurant is closest to where I’m adventuring; Mount Shasta [log cabin restaurant] in Michigamme is great if you’re visiting Craig Lake or the McCormick.

AJ: What’s on the horizon for the conservancy in 2023?

AD: No matter which new projects we land on this year, UPLC will be focusing on “community conservation”—asking not just, “What critical conservation action needs to happen here to preserve the ecological benefits?” but additionally, “ Whose voice is missing? Is this action supported by the local community?” For example, our Dead River Community Forest protects 161 acres and nearly three miles of riverfront in the Dead-Reany Watershed. (We purchased the property last fall, and our goal is to finish the management plan this year.) The forest is ranked in the 90th percentile of importance for groundwater filtration in that watershed, and the City of Marquette’s drinking water intake is where the Dead-Reany empties into Lake Superior. So, no healthy forest there, no clean drinking water in Marquette. Unhealthy forest means less-healthy Lake Superior, lesshea lthy fisheries, increased mechanical and chemical filtration and increased municipal water costs. Not only are we permanently protecting forest ecology, but we’re also protecting our health and economy. That’s the tone that we’re looking to strike with our upcoming projects and it’s very exciting.

For more info on UPLC, visit uplandconservancy.org or follow @uplandconservancy on Facebook and Instagram.

THE NORTH STARS

Meet seven Northern Michigan women who are connecting dots, bending norms and lighting the road ahead.

by Allison Jarrell, Carly Simpson, Emily Tyra & Lynda Wheatley

KIRA DAVIS

GREAT LAKES SENIOR PROGRAM MANAGER, NATIONAL PARKS CONSERVATION ASSOCIATION

the Protector

Kira Davis went wild rice harvesting last summer—taking a quiet afternoon in a canoe to gather grains from aquatic plants in the lake shallows as her elders did.

Davis, an Odawa woman who grew up in Petoskey and now lives in Suttons Bay with her family, shares that wild rice—or manoomin in Anishinaabemowin—is sacred in her culture. “It is a connection to who we are, it’s part of our creation stor y.”

Days immersed in Mother Earth’s wild beauty are “a given” for Davis who holds a national post with The National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA). She works as an advocate for proper management of national parks throughout the Great Lakes region. And it’s a breathtaking roster of land and shorelines she helps protect: The Apostle Islands. Pictured Rocks. Isle Royale. Sleeping Bear Dunes.

As an Odawa woman, she views her role in life as a protector of water and has dedicated herself personally and professionally to taking care of the Great Lakes. She was hired by the NPCA for her expertise of wildlife and water quality—career highlights before this include establishing a Tribally approved Clean Water Act for Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians and restoring the natural flow of rivers and streams to relink wildlife corridors with the Conservation Resource Alliance—but she brought along an entire world of traditional ecological knowledge, too.

Though she’s never taken a role because of prestige, she says. “It’s more of my journey. It’s my responsibility in a way.”

She learned early on about women’s role in taking care of the water. The moment she “felt it” was while j oining J osephine Mandamin, then in her 60s and one of the original Anishi -

naabe grandmother walkers.

“She was walking around every Great Lake—and many inland lakes—at the time for advocacy of water.” The Little Traverse Bay Bands hosted her and her entourage, and Mandamin shared with them a ceremony that moved Davis, reaffirming her path.

“I think water is going to unite us. Water is alive and it’s strong and it’s a spirit.” Others may have different philosophies, behaviors, cultures, she notes, “But we know that all living things need water. There’s no other way. We can rally around that.”

She is also led by another principal: thinking seven generations ahead. “Yes, it really changes the decisions when it comes to the issues we have within the science realm, and with funding. If we’re only thinking a few years ahead, we’re just putting band-aids on the problem.”

She says her cohorts at NPCA support her balance of western science and traditional ecological knowledge. “There is a feeling that I can be myself, and am respected for who I am, even though maybe I have a little different ideology. For instance, [the notion that] we’re all equal with every other living thing. We’re not the smartest or the dominant species in our creation story. We weren’t first. It was the plants and animals. They taught humans and shared that incredible balance among all living things.”

So, when grappling with and solving issues facing our natural resources, “We don’t always need to be the dominant creature,” Davis says. “It’s really about the love and respect of that thing. When I harvested wild rice, I spent the whole day. I listen to the rice. When harvesters spend that much time with a living thing— going out there every season for 20 years—you’re gonna start to learn from it.

“This knowledge was always inside of me. It makes my job easier for me to walk where I need to walk.” –E.T.

photos by Courtney Kent

the Liaison

BEATRIZ MORENO

BILINGUAL MIGRANT SPECIALIST

Those close to Beatriz Moreno call her Bea, or Mother Bea, a nickname she’s had since she was a young girl attending Leland Public School in Leelanau County. Though shy, she was always the one intuitively scanning for those who needed a smile or someone to sit beside them. “I want everybody to feel included,” says Moreno.

Today Moreno is Mother Bea to many: her three boys most of all, but also countless Spanish-speaking kids and their parents whom she’s wrapped her arms around in service.

Moreno is the bilingual migrant specialist with Suttons Bay Public Schools and a liaison with Northwest Education Services, serving migrant families coming to work in Manistee, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim and Grand Traverse counties. She connects “the Latino community, our English learners and the school, helping them get settled in and enrolled,” she explains. “I am holding families, holding the school and making sure that we are fitting the pieces together.”

Moreno was born in Mexico, moved to Texas as a baby, and first came to Leelanau County with her family at age 8. “I am a former migrant child. I know when you arrive here to work, that you come in your vehicle and you can only bring a certain number of things. You may not have enough bedding, warm clothing or shoes. You don’t want to use the same things you’re using for work to go to school or to go out,” she says. “We are so good at networking, and finding what people need most.”

The whole Moreno family—mom Juana, dad Tomas and the kids—worked seasonally on Leelanau’s strawberry farms, including plenty of wet mornings and hot afternoons. But Moreno’s biggest takeaway was the closeness that remains with her siblings to this day.

“It was always seen as, ‘We’re gonna be together.’ They used to give us little tickets for every bucket of berries … and we’d ask each other, ‘How many tickets do you think we have?’ We’d take a lunch break to have our sandwiches or some tacos my mom prepared. It was beautiful to be with my family. We were always talking and sharing and laughing.”

Later the Morenos stayed for apple season and enrolled in public school. “There were certain people who really mentored us. And I still carry that because my parents didn’t speak English. My dad didn’t know how to read or write in Spanish either. We were very cared for and loved, so I was taking that in, even as a child.” Paying that forward goes way deeper than a job title: “I truly stand by ‘love thy neighbor.’ I can be a little bit of that light and walk along with them, and build them up to say, ‘You can do this.’”

There’s been a shift in perspective since Moreno was that shy 8 year old. “Before, we were very under the radar; we’re here to work and that’s all we’re doing. Now it’s more: We are here and here’s what we could contribute to the community,” she says, adding, “My parents always told me, don’t be ashamed to tell people your story.” The story of her father, the late Tomas Moreno Sr., lives on in the Moreno Reserve wines named after vines at Bel Lago Vineyard lovingly cared for by the Moreno family since they were planted. Moreno’s youngest brother, Tomas Jr., continues to lead a devoted crew in vineyard management. “I’m seeing that they are truly, truly appreciated and respected for the work. It’s a skill not everybody can do.”

All the while, she loves sharing her culture with her home county. “We don’t want our kids to forget that they’re Latinos; to know that it’s okay to embrace it and love it.” Celebrating their traditions is as simple as making the distinct tamales recipes from their grandmothers. “When we have big parties, I say let’s invite some of these friends so they can come and see how we celebrate.” Moreno also recently revived a folklórico dance troupe—15 members strong, ages 5 to 62 years old—which performs in parades, political events and the county’s fall street party, Leelanau Uncaged.

And the cultural bridge goes both ways. “We are never going to be a healthy community if we don’t really get to know who is in our community. I always tell people, ‘Don’t expect someone to think that they’re welcome.’ Even if they speak the language they might be thinking, ‘It’s probably not for me.’ Start inviting people, really making it intentional. Say, ‘Hey, I want you to come. I’ll meet you there.’” –E.T.

Heather Spooner bristles at labels. Like, for instance, her former career teaching social studies and language arts to fifth graders. Her work painting murals and hand-lettered everything: giant wings and words of affirmation on a now Instagram-famous Front Street locale in Traverse City, a map of Leelanau Peninsula on the walls of Good Harbor Winery, a wish for a newborn on a nursery wall.

the Joy Creator

But try to label her a teacher… ? A muralist? An artist?

Meh.

“I probably would never define myself by what I do. I’d probably share what I’m passionate about, and I would ask somebody else what they’re passionate about,” she says “… So if I had to distill that down to one point, it would be that I create things to connect people.”

Which is why, hot on the heels of the makers movement, after building a bevy of virtual connections through a thriving Etsy shop and Instagram following, then growing an in-person audience through art markets around Michigan and how-to workshops across the North, Spooner, in late March 2020, became very, very scared.

Michigan’s shutdown orders were on; in-person anything was off. Her young business, Ampersand Lettering Lab, the connective tissue she’d so tenderly nurtured, stitching herself to her community, her people, seemed hopelessly severed. Her murals, the markets, her workshops and

HEATHER SPOONER

FOUNDER OF &LL LETTER LEAGUE

downtown Traverse City studio—even the birthday party she’d been planning for her wife: “I thought it was the end of everything,” she says. “And I spent a lot of days feeling really sad.”

And then one icy April afternoon, peering into her mailbox for the daily hodgepodge collection of colorful, homemade-with-anything birthday cards she’d asked friends to send in lieu of themselves, a thought struck her: “This is the feeling that brings me the most joy of any moment in my day.”

She wondered if she could bring that feeling to other people who felt scared, sad and disconnected, too. So she marched back into the house, sat down, and pulled out her notebook.

“I wrote two pages of what it would look like if I reimagined a pen pal program through the U. S. Postal service—but for adults.”

Within two weeks, she had created the &ll Letter League, making and ordering every single supply a home-bound human would need: cards, stamps, pens, writing prompts and a questionnaire to pair people, not by gender, age or any other limiting label but by a method Spooner keeps secret, some alchemy between her gut instinct and their heartfelt answers.

Less than one hour after launching &ll Letter League, all 50 spots sold out. She’s launched 10 rounds since, connecting more than 500 pen pals around the world. (She’s since followed up with the Little Letter League, a pen pal program for kids ages 7 to 13.)

Last spring, a filmmaker in Los Angeles, Michelle Boyaner of Greenie Films, called. She’d been following Spooner’s work and wanted to make a documentary about the Letter League.

“Like any logical person does, I spent the next three days deciding if it was a scam,” says Spooner.

It wasn’t. The documentary is slated to hit film festivals this spring. –L.T.W.

It’s 2017 and Geri Lefebre and her husband, Nick, are opening Elk Rapid’s first distillery—Ethanology. Lefebre, a native Yooper and a nurse at the time, says the business checked a lot of boxes: they could stay close to home, make a living creating something they’re proud of and support their community. Their business plan was meant to be, essentially, a retirement project.

Becoming the head distiller of their operation—not to mention the first female head distiller in the state—was not on Lefebre’s to-do list. But that’s exactly what she did.

“I came to distilling more or less by necessity; it’s not even a super romantic notion,” Lefebre reveals. “Now that I’m there, I can’t imagine doing anything else.”

Necessity, it turns out, was the mother of reinvention.

The couple wanted their distiller to take stock in environmental issues and agricultural sustainability, and simply put, to be passionate. But Lefebre didn’t see that trailblazing vision in the one-recipe, one-grain mindset some interviewees were bringing to the table.

their own proprietary creation, Mel—distilled honey from Cherry Ke Farms in Kewadin.

“Our goal has never really been to be the biggest or to be available on every shelf,” Lefebre says. “It’s to take the local harvest and turn it into something beautiful and share that with as many people as we feasibly can.”

Despite the obstacles their business model presents, they’ve been able to keep their commerce

the Alchemist

So, she called off the search. She threw herself into studying distillation, clocking 12,000 hours of study even while continuing to work as a nurse and h elping transform the Ames Street space that would become their production facility and tasting room. It was a slow learning process—she pieced together documents from the early 1900s, poring through pages of textbooks on molecular biology, chemistry and mechanical and electrical safety, and over time found mentors in the industry.

“I’m the type of personality that once I commit to something, I don’t back down until I’m successful in that commitment,” she says.

Today, the 35-year-old alchemist champions Northern Michigan’s farmers and foragers through her craft, utilizing only hyperlocal ingredients sourced from within a 33-mile radius of the distillery to create all of their spirits, and the colorful cocktails imbued with them. You’ll find their producers listed on each bottle: vodka made from red winter wheat from Valley View Farm in East Jordan, gin using the same wheat (but with foraged botanicals from Bear Earth Herbals in Kingsley), whiskey made from Frumentum blue corn from Vermeersch Farms in Central Lake, and

GERI LEFEBRE HEAD DISTILLER AT ETHANOLOGY

within their own community.

“I want to see small farms survive and thrive in Michigan. I know things are tough. Competition is deep, [not to mention] the effects that are being felt from climate change,” Lefebre says. “We can grow wonderful fruit and grain on the 45th parallel, and it just makes sense to support the infrastructure for farming that already exists here. We have this really extraordinary opportunity to create our own selfsustaining industry, right in our backyard.” –A.J.

the Conservationist

LIZ PETRELLA MCKELLAR

PRESIDENT OF ADAMS CHAPTER TROUT UNLIMITED

The first time Liz Petrella McKellar attended a meeting of her local chapter of Trout Unlimited—a national conservation group founded in 1959 on the banks of the Au Sable River near Grayling—she was the only woman in the room. In 2017.

During member comment, McKellar suggested adding a clause to protect funds the board was considering granting. Their response? “It was kind of just, ‘Thank you, sit down,’” she says.

A few minutes later, another member, a man, stood up and made the exact same suggestion.

“My God, there was such conversation! And the motion was made—and passed!” she says. “I literally got up and walked out of the room.”

Some might never have returned. Not McKeller. She knew she’d made a smart suggestion, and she didn’t much mind the guy who’d gotten credit for it, her son, Marc.

But McKellar, a lifelong conservationist, new Boardman River resident and fly-fishing fanatic, felt her local chapter had devolved from Trout Unlimited’s original purpose—conservation of cold-water fisheries—and become an elite club more interested in fly-fishing than protection.

So she watched, she waited and when the chapter was awarded a much-coveted weekend at Wa Wa Sum, a historic lodge and century-old fish camp on the Holy Waters section of the Au Sable River, she made her move. She booked a bed.

In response, several of whom McKellar calls “less than welcoming” members canceled theirs.

McKellar saw their absence as an opportunity. Upon arrival, she strode directly to the screened-in porch where the other attendees were gathered watching the river riff below.

“I pull out my crystal glass; a lovely, probably $80 bottle of Scotch; my crystal cigar ashtray; my leather cigar case … and kick my feet up. I cut my cigar,

light it and they were like, ‘Oh my God, we love her. She’s in,’” she recalls with a triumphant laugh.

That Saturday night at the formal membership meeting, after a day of fly-fishing and skeet-shooting, McKellar went from winning hearts to changing minds. All attendees who had caught a fish that weekend—a notoriously difficult feat on those overfished waters—were to gather by the fireplace for a celebratory photo.

McKellar stood alone. No other member had landed a fish.

Not long after, the Adams Chapter named McKellar one of its directors. In 2022, its members elected her president, the first female in its history. In 2023, they did it again.

McKellar credits the overall change in attitude to the changing demographics of the group—more new guard, fewer old guard—and a renewed awareness that fly-fishing is the benefit of Trout Unlimited’s work—not its mission.

“We need to be about conservation first, because if we don’t have healthy rivers, what fish are gonna be here anyhow?”

Under McKellar’s leadership in 2022, chapter membership grew to 360-some people—with 16 new women added. Membership funding outfitted three young anglers with new waders and fly/rod sets and sent them to a weeklong conservation camp. It made possible projects like Trout in the Classroom and a new river monitoring station.

The chapter also partnered with Project Healing Waters, an organization dedicated to the rehabilitation of disabled active military service personnel, and welcomed two vets to its Wa Wa Sum weekend.

“Everyone should be included and encouraged to do this,” McKellar says. “We need that accessibility. We need this river to be clean and healthy, and it needs to be taken care of with really good stewardship. We have a high calling to do that.” –L.T.W.

LAURA GALBRAITH PRESIDENT OF VENTURE NORTH

the Dream Believer

Ten years ago, Laura Galbraith got a call from Dakota and Garret Porter. The then 16- and 13-year-old Traverse City brothers had a big idea: LED lighting systems for sporting equipment like skis, bikes, stand-up paddleboards and kayaks. Galbraith, president of Venture North, a community development financial institution (CDFI), saw potential in their dream at a time when “banks wouldn’t even look at us,” Garret says. With the help of affordable loan capital from Venture North, the Porters founded ActionGlow, and have since worked with major brands like Jeep and Red Bull and even appeared on ABC’s reality television series “Shark Tank” in November 2022. (Spoiler alert: Shark Robert Herjavec invests $200,000.)

“What has meant the most to Dakota and me is the belief Laura had in us from day one,” Garret says. “Not only has she supported us, but she was also one of our very first customers.”

ActionGlow is just one of more than 1,500 local businesses in Northern Michigan that Galbraith and her team of eight have championed since Venture North’s inception in 2008. Grocer’s Daughter Chocolate in Empire, Frankfort’s Coastline Cycles, J.bird Provisions in Charlevoix, Blue Fish Early Learning Center in Kalkaska—from daycare and high-speed broadband to restaurants, inns and boutiques, these businesses are the heartbeat of our small towns.

Fittingly, it was a longing for sense of place that brought Galbraith, a business major, back home to Michigan in her

20s, taking a job with the Traverse City Area Chamber of Commerce in 2003 after living in Chicago with her husband. And it’s a love for service that continues to drive Galbraith two decades later. She also serves on the Leelanau Peninsula Economic Foundation Board of Directors, TART Finance Committee, Traverse Tourism Board of Directors and is an advisory member of a statewide CDFI coalition.

“The behind-the-scenes work is what’s rewarding,” she says. “Feeling like you’re giving back, feeling like you’re helping somebody solve a problem or connecting them with a resource that really does make a difference. I myself am not taking the risk of owning a business, and I give so much credit to the people I work with.”

While Galbraith may not be an entrepreneur, she is a dreamer—and a doer. The mom of three went back to school to get her master’s degree in business administration when her twins were then 2 years old and her son was 4, and she continued to work full time. “My own mom was such a huge influence. When I was 13 my dad passed away and she was a single mom for four years raising teenage kids. She worked full time as a nurse; got her master’s degree; joined a national infection control organization during the AIDS epidemic. I saw her really rise to the challenge and continue to educate herself and pursue her dreams and aspirations …”

Galbraith believes in taking charge of your destiny; in not giving up. As a funding angel, she’ll also be right by your side for the entire ride.

“If you have a dream,” she says, “let’s do it.” –C.S.

As sole owner of three distinct retail stores—Grandpa Shorter’s Gifts, J.W. Shorter & Son Mercantile and The Katydid—Jennifer Shorter is often considered the heart of downtown Petoskey’s retail scene.

S he’s also a machine.

None of her shops carry the same inventory, every one remains open year-round, and she usually works 70, sometimes 80, hours each week.

And when she’s not working? “I’m constantly thinking about my business—my employees, my customers, my vendors,” she says. “I’m hands-on. It’s a lifestyle. You gotta be in it, or out.”

Shorter, in fact, has been in since birth. Her grandparents, Carl and Ruth Shorter, opened the first Shorter’s store, carrying original Minnetonka Moccasins, Petoskey stones and Native American art. After her grandfather passed away in 1983, Shorter’s parents, William and Marietta Shorter, helped Ruth run the store.

Like her parents did for her grandparents, Shorter pitched in at the shop from an early age, but she never intended to take over. She was going off to business school, she informed Mom and Dad, then on to New York City, to climb the corporate ladder in bright red high heels.

True to her word, Shorter graduated in ’96, got her heels and immediately hopped on the first rung of an international furniture design and manufacturing corporation.

One year in, her dad called. “He said, ‘Hey, uh, you didn’t come home after graduation. And that was fine. But we’re going to put the business up for sale because your mom and I don’t wanna keep doing this if you’re not coming home.’”

She pauses as she retells the story. “You know that commercial where they say, ‘Hold my beer’? I was home in two weeks.”

Entrepreneurship, she supposes, is in her DNA. A dogged work ethic certainly is: For years, her grandpa ran the shop while working as an accountant for the local gas company. Her grandma owned a yarn store at the same time she helped run Shorter’s. Her father was an airline pilot during most of his tenure, too.

Jennifer Shorter’s work ethic and adherence to her grandpa’s retail philosophy—always have something for every kind of buyer—are a large part of the reason she grew one store to three. Her conviction that retailers in small towns are silly to fight for a bigger piece of the pie—“Let’s just make a bigger pie!”—is her own savvy entrepreneurial spirit: “We’re business owners,” she says. “We figure shit out.”

But her refusal to close even one of her stores for more than a few days, let alone an entire season, during the slow, low-traffic slog that is late winter and spring— that’s strictly for her people.

“Here’s the thing: I want to be here for my employees. I want to be here for my customers,” she says. “It is hard. It is a commitment. But I believe in supporting our community. And I’m forever an optimist.” –L.T.W.

JENNIFER SHORTER

PROPRIETOR OF GRANDPA SHORTER’S GIFTS

the

Anchor

Editors Allison Jarrell, Carly Simpson and Emily Tyra are grateful for what they’ve learned from these guiding lights. Lynda Twardowski Wheatley is an award-winning writer specializing in travel, history and the passionate folks who make this place so extraordinary. ltwriter.com

Courtney Kent is a photographer based in Traverse City. She loves exploring Northern Michigan with her husband and young son. Courtney specializes in wedding, family and lifestyle photography. courtneykentphotography.com

by Ross Boissoneau

steeped in good ness

Two decades into cultivating a dream, angela Macke spills the tea on what’s next.

photos by Allison Jarrell

nIt’s a blustery day at Angela Macke’s organic farm as she carefully makes her way up a ladder. Biting winds swirl around her as she tries to fix a vent that’s stuck open atop one of her hoop houses. After several minutes of wrestling with it while trying to resist the bitter cold, she finally loosens it and gets the vent closed. Hopping off the ladder, she makes her way inside to warm up with a reviving cup of hot tea. Because what else would she do?

It’s life as usual for the owner of Light of Day Organics, a mostly one-woman operation west of Traverse City on M-72. Macke’s sprawling 50-acre farmstead is the only tea farm in the state, and one of just a handful of biodynamic operations in Michigan.

Macke believes Light of Day was a calling, a way to combine her passion and reverence for all life in a way she hadn’t before. She was working as a nurse and saw growing and providing tea as a means of restoration for people apart from visits to a hospital or doctor’s office. “I wanted to create a healing space where people would leave feeling better than they did before they arrived,” she says.

The farm’s name comes from the poem and song “Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee” by Henry Van Dyke, written in 1907 and set to

Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy.” It comes from the last line of the opening verse: “Joyful, joyful we adore thee, God of Glory, Lord of Love. Hearts unfold like flowers before thee, opening to the sun above. Melt the clouds of sin and sadness, drive the dark of doubt away. Giver of immortal gladness, fill us with the light of day.”

Macke has embraced that spirit since the farm’s opening in 2003. “For me, it’s the [history of] ceremony around it that sucked me in,” she says. “Beginning with a ritual of

and sustainable farming with the rhythms of nature. Think macro, not micro: The biodynamic philosophy views the entire farm as a single organism a closed-loop system that avoids the use of chemical fertilizers, collects seeds from the crops raised there and utilizes crop diversification. In Macke’s case, she rotates crops among her land and hoop houses, growing everything from tomatoes to berries to herbs alongside the tea.

While honing her own tea-making style, Macke realized

removing your shoes, entering into a sacred space in silence while ducking down through a low doorway, then kneeling down as a gesture of humility. Then proceeding to forgive yourself, everyone else, and celebrate the divinity within.”

She sees tea as a way to encourage people to realize their full potential and believes the tea farm is a way to uplift herself, her customers and her community. “Tea was a nondenominational, non-political, Switzerland-like medium in which to approach this message,” Macke explains.

Today it’s not just a tea farm, but a biodynamic operation. Biodynamic farming combines principles of organic

that for her, “the best” tea is tea produced without contaminants. “I kept reading articles about the heavy metals in China,” she says. “That’s why I was so hellbent on this being the best tea ever.”

Today, Macke grows and sells green teas, white teas, black teas, herbal teas—more properly called tisanes—all in different fragrant and sumptuous combinations. She infuses them with ingredients from plants also grown on the property: cinnamon, lemongrass, mint, lavender, aronia berries, lemon verbena and more.

So yes, it’s tea, but it’s more. It’s food, it’s medicine and it’s ritual. It’s a way of life for Macke, and subsequently for many

of her customers as well. Macke is a true believer, and she’s eager to share the benefits of tea with others. Her own teatime ritual for wellness: “Every day I take two matcha capsules, then drink a cup of Golden Tip Tea. Every night I have Leelanau Licorice.”

As an RN, she appreciates and extolls tea’s antiinflammatory benefits, and especially that of matcha, the finely ground powder of specially grown and processed green tea leaves. Macke touts the properties of matcha that help the body heal various gastrointestinal issues. While matcha is higher in caffeine than black tea due to its concentrated form (though still lower than coffee), typical green tea is low in caffeine, high in antioxidants, and rich in vitamins B and C. Macke says that rooibos, often called red tea, helps relax the central nervous system. The other ingredients in her various teas—berries, cinnamon, peppermint, c acao—offer their own benefits as well as flavor.

As with many other businesses, the pandemic dealt a huge blow to Light of Day. Plans for a retail site in Traverse City evaporated, and Macke closed down the store on the farm as well in March of 2020. “Everyone wants to put their noses in the tins to smell, to decide what tea to purchase,” says Macke. “To my nursing brain, masks off to sniff and to taste, plus hands touching everything, seemed like a very bad idea.”

So, she turned to the web, embracing online sales to a degree she hadn’t previously, plus working with wholesale accounts throughout the region. Light of Day tea is available at a host of local restaurants, such as Oryana Cafe and the Omelette Shoppe, and it’s also a star ingredient in Bailey’s Farms kombucha, Grocer’s Daughter chocolates in Empire and Patricia’s Chocolates of Grand Haven.

So far, Macke hasn’t embraced a return to her full-on retail model. Not that people aren’t welcome at the farm. “We will have a 20th year anniversary open house celebration in 2023, and we are open for hosting private events, weddings, holding yurt tea wellness classes and tea farm tours by reservation,” she says.

But the biggest fork in the road for this tea maven is

Every day I take two matcha capsules, then drink a cup of Golden Tip Tea. Every night I have Leelanau Licorice.”

At Light of Day, Macke manages the entire tea-making process herself—from planting seeds and nurturing them in her hoop houses, to harvesting leaves by hand, drying them and packaging.

n

One of Macke’s favorite ways to enjoy matcha (and share it with others) is in a matcha shot: blend a half teaspoon of matcha powder with 1 oz. of pineapple juice and 1 oz. of vanilla coconut milk for a quick, antioxidant-rich treat.

just ahead: She recently completed work on a building at the farm, adding another commercial kitchen. That will allow her to begin a new endeavor, one she’s resisted for years: Entering the tea bag market.

Though it’s much more cost-effective for customers to buy in bulk, the cost of a tin— typically $30 and up—can be off-putting. And selling boxes of tea in bags provides an opportunity to get into grocery stores like Meijer. Macke says she’ll start slow, but it heralds promise for future growth.

That’s important as she looks forward to Light of Day becoming a true family business. “I’ve been the sole owner since the beginning,” she says, though there was always some family involvement. “I’ve had nieces and nephews pick and plant. Kids always thought it was cool.”

Five years ago, when her then-husband was nearing retirement, she looked into getting the business appraised so she could sell it and retire as well, only to learn her sons had other ideas. “The kids said, ‘No! That’s our future.’ I’ll keep going until they’re ready to take the baton.”

Her sons’ commitment means that this blessed and beautiful lifestyle will grow on. “My dream is to have grandkids pick blueberries I’ve planted.”

Ross Boissoneau is based in Empire and writes about culture and business for a number of print and online publications. rossboissoneau@gmail.com

Allison Jarrell is associate editor and an avid outdoor photographer. Follow her adventures on Instagram @allisonjarrellphotography, or email her your favorite spots: allison@mynorth.com.

Getting into Tea

THERE ARE SO MANY WAYS TO EMBRACE TEA BEYOND THE TRADITIONAL CUP, MACKE SAYS. HERE ARE JUST A FEW:

I add it to stews, quick breads, in my oatmeal; mill it up in the coffee grinder and sprinkle it on eggs or other proteins; and infuse it in ganache in chocolates. I add floral teas to brown rice, or use brewed tea instead of water in recipes, like in cake.

I like to run it through my hair—it makes it really shiny.

Tea is great for your skin—white or green teas have natural SPF 15. Use it instead of rose water on your face. It’s antifungal, antiviral and antibacterial

The Stuff of Dreams

There are few things you need inside Flora Bae Home, but— for anyone with a yearning heart— just about everything you could ever want.

whiff from the front door.

Along the walls—on a rustic aluminum shelf here, an oak dresser-top there—are countless opportunities for long, lingering, eyes-closed sniffs: bayberry taper candles, citronella and sea salt incense, a bergamot room spray. Opposite a wall of handmade soaps and CBD bath bombs, there’s a dainty army of parfum bottles. They’re led by several open samples, light but lush with alternating notes of white tea and peonies, saffron blossoms and suede, amber and Osmanthus-Absolute, an otherworldly sounding and scented Asian flower that’s juicy with essences of peach and pepper.

tepping into 209 Howard St. in Petoskey is like finding yourself in what is part chef’s secret cupboard, part Sherlock Holmes-style study: a ready-for-inspection array of exotic culinary and cocktail accoutrements alongside oodles of art, books and as-yet-unsolved curios of mysterious purpose.

Flora Bae Home—its middle moniker an acronym for the shop’s botanical, apothecary and entertaining wares—doesn’t seem so much a shop as it does a small-scale arboretum, library and to-die-for living room.

Greeting you upon entry is a hello from behind the register, the lazy twang of a Chris Stapleton song overhead and a subtle olfactory shift in the atmosphere—the shop’s signature pheromone, Vancouver Candle Co.’s Muskoka, a blend of pine, cedarwood and eucalyptus, wafting from a reed diffuser one short

SAnd everywhere you look—walls, floor, tabletops—there are live plants: pots of English ivy dangling from the top of an armoire’s open screen door. An amaryllis bulb lying in wait, sleeping and soil-less, behind glass. A single spotted leaf of mother-in-law’s tongue, sticking straight out of its pot on the floor, beside a basket of Turkish towels. There are air plants tucked among books, Spanish moss lounging on tables and many a ginseng ficus, their roots like fat, wizened fingers clutching beds of moss and pebbles.

By Lynda Wheatley

For the discriminating denizens of home-, garden- and self-care, Flora Bae is a place of infinite intrigue and possibilities.

For owner Natalie Bae Lauzon and the multitude of women artists, makers and entrepreneurs whose work she showcases, the Petoskey boutique is the nowobvious realization of a two-decades-long dream, one that started with a quarter-life

Photos by Courtney Kent

crisis in Chicago and peaked (or plummeted, depending on your perspective) three years ago on a couch in Colorado.

To see Lauzon today, greeting incoming customers with a broad smile as her right hand folds a just-purchased scarf into black tissue paper while the left seals the lot with a cheeky “You’ve got great taste” sticker, it’s hard to imagine her as anything but the queen of her own well-appointed boutique.

She’s dressed sharp, chic and sensibly: cropped black jacket, black blouse and black pants, the hem of the latter falling discreetly over black running shoes.

She’d held a workshop in the store the night before, would host an after-hours ladies night—with food, drinks and DJ— that evening, another workshop after close on Sunday, and though she hadn’t taken a day off in weeks, she had somehow

Previous spread: Each item that Natalie Lauzon curates for the shop is a mini work of art. She loves the whimsical design of glass cloches: “They make for a wonderful conversation piece.”

T his page: Flora Bae Home is a cabin-fever oasis in downtown Petoskey—filled with plants, botanical goods and green thumb inspiration.

are quickly approaching—ostensibly, her busiest season. “But,” she says, grinning proudly as several small groups of customers amble, oooh and ahhh their way around her store, “I’ve been busy since June. It’s ridiculous.”

The exultant scene is a far cry from the night, three years prior, in Lakewood, Colorado, when her paramedic boyfriend walked into their living room and found her balled up on the sofa, sobbing uncontrollably.

He was understandably perplexed. Lauzon wasn’t hurt. Hadn’t broken anything. No sign of blood or a contusion. She had simply done what she’d been doing most every night since the pandemic started: watched an episode of “Schitt’s Creek,” an irreverent comedy series that had been keeping her laughing since the real world around her had shut down. The episode she’d watched—in which a certain beloved character opens his own apothecary shop in the small town of Schitt’s Creek— was a particularly joyful one.

So why the crying?

“Because,” Lauzon wailed, tears flowing hard, “that’s what I should be doing. That’s my dream.”

Worth noting: At the time of her on-couch crisis, Lauzon, then age 43, was working the first job she thought she could make a career of—as the on-campus events coordinator for Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design.

By all indications, she was at the top of her game. She’d wowed the school’s administration and wildly creative faculty, facing off against the pandemic and turning every in-person event she’d already planned into miraculously well-attended, fun and engaging virtual ones. She didn’t know it then, but she was about to win an award for her work.

There on that couch, however, Lauzon felt like a failure. She had a marketing degree from Columbia College in Chicago. She’d lived in five different cities and had worked well more than a dozen interesting jobs. But for the last 20 years she’d dreamt of only one thing: opening her own boutique.

And she hadn’t done it.

managed to plan, arrange and post a dozen forthcoming 2023 workshops on her website a few days prior.

She’s tired but happy.

“I’m kind of a perfectionist,” she says, then rolls her eyes. “For some reason, I just can’t be normal. I have to do everything. It’s all or nothing.”

Right now seems to be a lot of everything. The holidays

Maybe her boyfriend had tired of Lauzon’s obsessive home tweaking. Her wine-, food-, musicand atmosphere-directing whenever they entertained (which was often). Her habit of turning bedrooms into dens into dining rooms. The perpetual “remerchandising” of items on their bedroom walls, living room shelves, fireplace mantel and any other horizontal or vertical plane that caught her fancy.

More likely, it was because he’s a paramedic—a guy with an unflinching eye on the limited time humans have and a firm grasp on the life-or-death necessity of logic in

navigating crises—that he recognized something Luzon couldn’t: When you see somebody choking, you don’t delve into how hungry they were, what they ate or why they hadn’t cut it into smaller pieces. You simply remove the obstruction, so they can breathe.

“Well, let’s do it then,” he told her. And so they did.

Perspective is a funny thing. Lauzon left home in Michigan at age 18 to attend art school in Chicago because, she says, “I knew I was destined for bigger things.”

But by age 25, still in Chicago and working as a bartender, Lauzon’s view of her future seemed less clear. She had great friends and a fantastic (cozy, character-rich and well-decorated) apartment, but she felt no closer to achieving those “bigger things,” or even knowing what they were.

“I was like, ‘Okay, I’ve got to figure out my life.’” She decided she needed to throw herself into a completely new world. Without a job, apartment or any connections lined up, she got rid of everything she owned except what she could stuff into her metallic blue Honda Civic, and she moved

alone to Los Angeles. “I felt like that was the push I needed to figure out where my life was going,” she says.

Lauzon would go on, as she says, to “dabble in a million things.” She worked for a startup company, in restaurants and boutiques, at an Italian wine import company. For a while she worked in film—visual effects and after-effects—as a production coordinator, and for many, many years, as a floral designer and events coordinator.

“And when I look back, actually, now that you ask me, I think that’s where [the idea of running my own business] started for me, in California, when I started working for women on their small businesses.”

Hindsight being what it is, Lauzon couldn’t see—neither in California in the early aughts nor on that couch in Colorado in 2020—that her seemingly disparate dabbles were, in fact, rigorous, comprehensive training for Flora Bae Home. She saw only failure.

“I was constantly beating myself up. And, well, I’m a twin, so first of all, I have someone in my life who works so

“I’m kind of a perfectionist,” she says, then rolls her eyes. “For some reason, I just can’t be normal. I have to do everything. It’s all or nothing.”

The Merchant’s Makers

FROM FLORA BAE HOME’S earliest beginnings, Natalie Lauzon knew part of her mission would be to collaborate with other women. “To me, competition has a negative connotation,” she says. “It is very ego-centric. It is about winning; not growing. I b elieve that lifting other women up, supporting other women artists and collaborating are more worthwhile and make a much larger impact on our community—and on my personal life and business.”

She often reminds herself of this quote by Amanda Rubin of She & Me Collective: “The best kind of women-owned business is one that uses her fire to light another woman’s match.” S ome favorite items from Lauzon, as keeper of the flame:

1. Taper Holders in Smoke, The Floral Society, $38 each; 18” Smoke Taper Candles, $19 set/2

2. Muskoka Diffuser, Vancouver Candle Co., $55

3. One-of-a-Kind Loom Block, Twenty Two West, $99

4. Air Plant, Xerographica, $24

5. “Design by Nature: Creating Layered, Lived-in Spaces Inspired by the Natural World,” by Erica Tanov, $35

6. Palm Sculptural Candle, Candle Copenhagen, $32 + On the Rocks Geode Resin Coaster, $11

7. B elenois Small Butterfly Bell in Glass Cloche, Belen Collection, $75

8. Square Ceramic Strawberry + Pistachio Vase, Alejandra Design, $84

9. Speckled Sand Dish with Mini Tectorum Air Plant, Eliana Bernhard, $52

10. Original Miniature Mixed Media Art, Kaleidoscope Collection by Lindsey Claire Newman, displayed on The Pen + Piper Wood Art Block, $67

11. Flora + Fern Loofah Bar Soap, Cleanse Gourmet, $16

12. Wick Rechargeable Table Lantern, Graypants, $149

13. Artist Choice Little Sippers, Gravesco, $16

14. Mango Wood Cheese + Charcuterie Board, Nikita Fine Art, $80

15. Pressed Botanical Porcelain Wall Hangings, RESEED, $28-$42

differently. She’s been a teacher since the day she graduated from college. And she was the one who got married, has kids, and I’m like, the crazy one, the wild sister who moves every five years and has had a million jobs and isn’t married and doesn’t have kids—even though that was what I thought my life was gonna be, and I really thought that’s what I wanted.”

But marriage and kids weren’t what Lauzon wanted. What she wanted, what kept her mind clicking and her heart humming and her path ping-ponging all those years, was owning her own … something: “I just wanted something that I could put my hands in and say this is mine, where I was creating an atmosphere that people would walk into and be like, ‘Wow,’” she says. “To be wowed and feel comfortable and invited in and warm. That was all I knew.”

That’s a lie.

She knew a lot more. She just didn’t know that she did. Until she started doing it.

But back to the pandemic. At the height of global panic and economic free fall, Lauzon stopped feeling afraid.

“The only thing that held me back from [opening my own business] for 20 years—I mean, I dreamed about this for 20 years—was the fear,” she says. “The fear of not succeeding, of choosing the wrong location, the wrong time, just so many different fears. I just kept feeling like, ‘No, I’m not ready,’ or ‘No, it’s not the right time.’”

Her first realization: “It’s never going to be the right time.”

Her second: “I always thought [my business] was going to be in a big city.”

Following “Schitt’s Creek” episode No. 33 (re: beloved character, small shop, small town), however, she reconsidered.

A few months later, while playing detective online around 2 a.m., a listing for a historic general store for sale in Walloon Lake, Michigan, popped up on Lauzon’s screen. Not long after airlines resumed flights, she flew out to see it. Charming, rich with character and history, outfitted with an apartment up top and a gorgeous setting around, the building was everything she had ever dreamed of. But maybe too much.

She balked. “I wasn’t ready for that big an undertaking.” No matter. The trip to Walloon had confirmed Lauzon’s conviction that her dream would bloom if planted in a small town. The idea of a shop Up North, in her home state, took on a new urgency. She rewrote her business plan and refocused her sights. Traverse City? The rents, too high. She looked at Harbor Springs. Beautiful, somewhat more affordable, but it was already too late, she says: “I fell in love with Petoskey.”

People her age, families, natural beauty, thriving tourism, a gorgeous downtown already full of great shops, and not a one in the style she envisioned hers. “I felt like it was an open lane for me,” she says. Then, another triumph: She found the perfect space, ecstatically signed the lease, and began envisioning how she’d shape every inch of the store’s interior in her mind.

And then she learned, for much of the first year of her shop’s upcoming occupancy, a massive construction project would be underway on the floor above it.

Deal canceled, dream dashed yet again, Lauzon sank back into her couch in Colorado, and many more hopeless nights ensued. Self-doubt crept in. Maybe the time wasn’t right. What was she thinking, trying to buy buildings or lease spaces in small towns 2,000 miles away? The universe kept trying to tell her no: Stay on that tear-drenched couch. Keep that steady job. Stability IS success.

The universe seemed to power down her dream entirely the day a property manager in Petoskey took Lauzon, still in Colorado, on a remote video tour of a narrow, shotgun-style space wedged next to an even narrower alley on Howard Street.

Lauzon saw that the space had a cash register and ceiling fans and a big front window but admits she struggled to focus on any of those pluses. Because, one, “I was bawling my eyes out the entire time.” And because, two: “My heart had already fallen in love with the other space.”

Besides, who in their right mind would sign a lease for a shop in a century-old building 2,000 miles away? One that was clearly not what she wanted, envisioned or loved. One that she hadn’t even stepped inside.

Remember that thing about perspective? It can be extra funny sometimes.

Two years ago this month, while working remotely for her job in Colorado, Lauzon began scraping, painting, ripping up carpet, hanging wallpaper and bringing her longheld dream to life inside the exact space on Howard Street she had been so certain was wrong.

Not long after, on a dreary, bitterly cold spring day, the Petoskey Chamber held a ribbon cutting for Flora Bae Home. A small handful of people, bundled in winter parkas and pandemic masks, braved the temperature to celebrate— very proud twin sisters among them.

On the day Flora Bae Home opened to the public, in May of 2021, the owner of Mettler’s across the street, sent flowers to Lauzon’s store.

“I don’t think if I opened anywhere else in the world, it would be like this,” Lauzon says.

Every month since, Flora Bae’s fanbase has grown significantly. Women artists, makers and fellow business owners may be at the top of the list. Lauzon estimates that 99

percent of everything sold in her shop comes from a woman’s hands or a woman-owned business.

To be fair, most shoppers probably aren’t flocking to Flora Bae because it specializes in women-made wares. (Although there are many fervent followers, like the woman who drives from Mackinaw City to shop Flora Bae every Thursday, or the lady from Milford, Michigan, who asked Lauzon to walk her around the store by live video feed when a storm prevented her from shopping in person.)

Quite frankly, to the average shopper, man or woman,

Flora Bae seems to specialize in one ageless, genderless, priceless thing: cool stuff.

And Lauzon isn’t much concerned whether that stuff is sold in her shop—or in a store around the corner. If it’s something she loves that another business has for sale, like a bottle of whiskey and a cigar from Ernesto’s Cigar Lounge up the block, or olive oil from Fustini’s across the street, she will (and has) used Flora Bae to promote it.

“This idea about collaboration over competition isn’t new—it’s been talked about a lot over the past five years,” she says. “The impact from one person will always be less than the impact that two people or more can have … and no one wants to go shopping in a town where every store has the same thing. I think it’s important to pay attention to what other boutiques in your area are doing and set yourself apart—but collaborate in a way that is beneficial to all parties.”

Of course, not everyone sees it that way. Retail, art, entrepreneurship, big business or small—none is a quick or easy road to success. But Lauzon, a girl who once knew she was destined for bigger things, then spent the next 20 years zig-zagging across the nation, wondering if she’d been wrong, understands.

Sometimes comedies can make you cry. Crises can be launchpads. A worldwide panic can make you fearless. And what looks like ping-ponging and job-hopping and never settling down might just be not settling

It’s all a matter of perspective.

And given enough time—or maybe some frank advice from a level-headed guy who simply wants to find his bed in the same room he left it—we’ll all find our way eventually.

Lynda Wheatley is an award-winning writer specializing in stories that showcase Michigan travel and recreation, history, and the passionate folks who make this place so extraordinary. ltwriter.com

Courtney Kent is a photographer based in Traverse City. She loves exploring Northern Michigan with her husband and young son. Courtney specializes in wedding, family and lifestyle photography. courtneykentphotography.com

This spread: Natalie Lauzon is a master at creating a moody room, mixing textures, colors and aromas. “I personally love functional design—maybe it’s the Virgo in me?”

“I believe that lifting other women up, supporting other women artists and collaborating are more worthwhile and make a much larger impact on our community—and on my personal life and business.”

LIVING BETTER AFTER 55 IN NORTHERN MICHIGAN

GRANDPARENT ADVENTURES UP NORTH

More Joy, More Fitness, More Power! WHY YOU NEED AN E-BIKE NOW

THE BEST Side Hustles That Save Our Small Towns

CONTENTS

4 BIKING WITH E-ASE

How a little power assist can help you expand and level up your biking game.

7 MEDICARE AHEAD

We ask an insurance specialist how to navigate the Medicare maze. Turns out, there’s a lot to know.

10

NEVER TOO OLD FOR TRX

For seniors, heading into a fitness center for the first time in years— or the first time ever—can be intimidating. But as Carol Hilton found out, working through your fears pays off in muscle.

16

GOLD-STANDARD GRANDPARENTING

Searching for all-ages fun for hangtime with your grand-littles? We rounded up favorite outings that’ll prove one undeniable truth: Nana and Papa know what’s good.

22

SECOND SHIFT

What if retirees in the region took supporting small businesses to another level?

WELCOME TO INSPIRED LIFE.

At the heart of this magazine is the idea that at every age, we share a common love of this place we call home. Meet new neighbors embracing adventures—both big and small. Discover ways to give back to the people, land and water of this region. Find real advice for taking good care of family, friends and loved ones. Tap into a true joy for the outdoors that keeps our inner lives vibrant and our bodies well. Connect. Join in. Find smart and new ways to inspire your life Up North.—the Editors

BIKING WITH E-ASE

How a little power assist can help you expand and level up your biking game.

by CINDY ROSS

There’s an image of a tiny cyclist on top of a straight line in the computer window on my ebike’s handlebar. When I spin the twist shifter, the line pops up like a hill, growing steeper the farther I turn it. I coordinate the actual steep hill that I’m cycling up with the little dude’s hill in the optical display. After my trail levels out, I crank my guy back to a flat line and we both roll effortlessly along.

I thought I should wait to ride an e-bike until I was too old for my traditional, pedal-driven bicycle, but my friend, Tim Brick, who founded Brick Wheels in Traverse City, told me otherwise. He’s out riding with me showing me the e-bike’s many shiny benefits; I already like my buddy in the computer screen.

An electric bike’s built-in motor with a rechargeable battery expands your possibilities no matter your age or fitness level. Surveys have found that the majority of e-bike riders are 50 to 70 years old, wanting to reinvigorate their interest in bikes. Maybe you have a health ailment, or bad knees or hips that prevent you from hopping on a traditional bicycle. Many e-bikes have “low step frames” enabling you to mount or dismount safely.

But e-bikes aren’t exclusive to those 50-plus. All types of cyclists are choosing them. Some are parents or grandparents who want to tow kids (or a canine companion) in a bike trailer. Others may live up a steep hill or want to ride more difficult routes. Still others want to supplement their transportation with a bike—riding to work and arriving at the same time as those who are sitting in traffic.

can have sophisticated displays that allow you to gauge calorie burn and cadence (pedal speed). They can remember previous routes and give you turn-by-turn directions. And they can even interface with a smartphone and give you elevation gain and GPS coordinates. “An e-bike is not magical,” Brick says, although it sure sounds like it to me.

WHERE TO RENT E-BIKES

Brick now takes me to the 4-mile Boardman Lake Loop Trail, where we ride alongside the lakeshore with blooming lily pads, across wooden bridges, over boardwalks, through cool pine forests and even some fun dirt singletrack. When I have to pull a hill, I dial my tiny bike friend up on the computer screen to show him ascending a hill, and together we destroy the climb.

Brick Wheels

736 E. Eighth St., Traverse City

Pedego Electric Bikes

823 S. Garfield Ave., Traverse City

Bayfront Beach and Bike

130 River St., Elk Rapids

Inn at Bay Harbor

3600 Village Harbor Dr., Bay Harbor

Latitude 45 Bicycles and Fitness

476 W. Mitchell St., Petoskey

Ride Leelanau

204 N. St. Joseph St., Suttons Bay

Suttons Bay Bikes

318 N. St. Joseph St. A, Suttons Bay

There are three kinds of electronic bikes on the market, Brick explains. Class I is pedal assist and will propel you to 20 mph, but only assisting when it feels pressure on the pedals. The computer senses the torque of your pedal—when you push harder and exert more pressure, the bike can register your effort and jump in to help.

Coastline Cycles

1100 Main St., Frankfort

Class II e-bikes have a throttle and are a bit more like a moped. You don’t need to pedal at all in order to be propelled forward. Bummer factor: These models are not allowed on bike trails.

Class III is similar to Class l, but its motor has a higher output with a zippy top speed of 28 mph. Both Class I and III

I keep my bike in the lowest of the four settings, ECO, but there is also touring, sport and turbo. (I can also shift gears, as with a traditional bike.) Each higher setting uses more battery and cuts back on your cycling time before needing a recharge. Both Class I and III get you 80 miles down the trail, but that will vary with the battery and motor type.

When we get to the end of the trail, Tim has me try the Class I e-bike. He says I will only notice a difference in the bike’s performance if I try to open it up at high speeds. Without my computer buddy, I make my own decisions on when to shift.

I initially thought riding an e-bike was not a workout, but it is actually an excellent one. By constantly pedaling, kicking along at 10 to 12 mph (a standard pace), you are getting a steady aerobic workout. The aim is to pedal at 80 revolutions per minute and your ebike’s gears will assist you in making that happen. Most of the time you can ride in ECO and have a ton of fun. This setting gives you the longest battery range—just drop it into turbo to get up a steep hill.

“I hear guys say, ‘I’m not that old yet,’ but what are they going to do, sit in the house until then?” Brick says. “I used to ride 50 to 70 miles every Sunday on my manual bike, but after a bunch of surgeries and arthritis challenges, I find myself grabbing my e-bike more and more often. How many times do you want to ride but you’re tired from work? With your e-bike it doesn’t matter.”

MEDICARE

AHEAD

Longtime Northern Michigan

local Elizabeth Edwards wears multiple hats: editor by day, wine bar owner by night. Life is way too much fun to hang up either and stop working, but as she nears 65 she wants to better understand her Medicare options. So, she turned to Andi Dolan, independent insurance specialist and founder of Traverse Benefits to help her navigate the Medicare maze.

by ELIZABETH EDWARDS AND ANDI DOLAN

ELIZABETH EDWARDS: Can you outline the parts and pieces in play?

ANDI DOLAN: The main terms you’ll hear are Parts A, B and D.

Part A: Hospital and hospice insurance you have been pre-paying via payroll taxes your entire working career.

Part B: Medical insurance (medically necessary and preventive care) you will be required to purchase if you do not have employer-based coverage. You’ll have higher premiums if you had elevated income two years prior to enrollment.

Part D: Drug coverage you are required to purchase in order to avoid penalty.

photo by Dave Weidner

MODERN DESIGN. MADE FOR THE WAY YOU LIVE.

Let Thomas & Milliken Millwork help you see Modern design differently.

MODERN DESIGN. MADE FOR THE WAY YOU LIVE.

Let Thomas & Milliken Millwork help you see Modern design differently.

MODERN DESIGN. MADE FOR THE WAY YOU LIVE.

MODERN DESIGN. MADE FOR THE WAY YOU LIVE.

MODERN DESIGN. MADE FOR THE WAY YOU LIVE.

MODERN DESIGN. MADE FOR THE WAY YOU LIVE.

Let Thomas & Milliken Millwork help you see Modern design differently.

Let Thomas & Milliken Millwork help you see Modern design differently.

Let Thomas & Milliken Millwork help you see Modern design differently.

Let Thomas & Milliken Millwork help you see Modern design differently.

Petoskey and Traverse City MI www.tmmill.com

Petoskey and Traverse City MI www.tmmill.com

©2021 Marvin Lumber and Cedar Co., LLC.

EE: I’ve been getting all kinds of information…

AD: You’ve been targeted. Six months before turning 65, your demographic data might be attached to a report known as T65. This allows insurance companies of various sizes to seek and find prospects so they may “sell” you Advantage or Supplemental Plans to augment original Medicare (Parts A, B, D).

Seek guidance early from your trusted professional circle. There are many moving parts and pieces to your personal Medicare equation. Talking often with knowledgeable local experts may optimize your planning (and comfort).

20 W-2 employees, your group policy pays first and Medicare becomes secondary.

Most (but not all) active employees who remain attached to group offerings enroll in only Part A, which could lower your group deductible exposures should hospitalization claims occur (yet primacy matters). Working beyond 65 years of age is a common occurrence. Get educated so you may understand how each of these parts fits your unique situation and the decisions that come with it.

2. You can delay your Part B and D enrollment if your medically necessary services and creditable prescription coverages are currently provided through your employer-based program. While enrolled in an employer-sponsored health care plan, you are in a protected class (which means late Medicare enrollment penalties will not occur). When you do decide to leave your group policy, you will need to align your Part B and D enrollment and decide which “strategy” will augment original Medicare.

3. The type of plan you are offered through your employer matters. Health Savings Accounts and Medicare do collide. If you are enrolled in a Health Savings plan and enrolled in original Medicare Parts A, B, D (one or a combo of any) your tax favored contributions are no longer valid. Your tax professional should be your first call for advice and guidance.

EE: I love my job and plan to work beyond age 65, like a lot of my friends. What do I need to consider?

AD: You should know there is interplay between employer-based coverage and original Medicare (Parts A, B, D).  A few other things to know:

1. The size of your employer matters. For smaller organizations with fewer than 20 W-2 employees, Medicare can become the primary payer when coordinating your care with employer-based coverage. Larger employers with more than

EE: Where do I go to enroll in Medicare?  AD: Oddly enough, beginning your initial enrollment into original Medicare (Parts A, B) starts at the Social Security Administration. Website access, SSA.gov, has just gotten easier, with a redesigned website for 2023. You can start this process as early as three months before your 65th birthday.

Andi Dolan is owner of Traverse Benefits, a local independent insurance agency advocating and providing health, life and disability solutions for employers, individuals and Medicare beneficiaries across Northern Michigan. traversebenefits.com

“Seek guidance early from your trusted professional circle. There are many moving parts and pieces to your personal Medicare equation.”

Andi Dolan

photo courtesy of Andi Dolan

FUNCTIONAL

GETTING STRONG WITH TRX

FITNESS

For seniors, heading into a fitness center for the first time in years—or the first time ever—can be intimidating. But as Carol Hilton found out, working through your fears pays off in muscle.

by ELIZABETH EDWARDS

photos by DAVE WEIDNER

Four years ago, Carol Hilton, now 65, decided to start working out at the local fitness center, Sleeping Bear Bay Club. Her motivation? Watching her mother, aunts and uncles getting weaker and weaker as they aged. While Hilton was determined to fight to keep herself strong and fit, she was so intimidated by the idea of a fitness class that she went with her daughter for the first time.

Hilton soon found a high-intensity class with trainer Stacy Jago that motivated her enough to make the 10-plus-mile drive to the gym from her house three times a week, sometimes as early as 6 a.m. Comfortable as she was at Sleeping Bear Bay Club, Hilton was hesitant to try the contraption of straps and handles/foot cradles known as the TRX machine. “I felt like I wasn’t coordinated enough to work it all,” she says.

TRX, also known as Total Body Resistance Exercise, was created by a Navy Seal to give Seals, quartered in tight, far-flung places where there is no access to weights, a way to use their body as resistance weight. Beyond developing strength, TRX is a great way to foster mobility because it allows the user to work threedimensionally, as opposed to working out on a weight bench or other type of stationary machines. That feature is important to Jago, whose training philosophy is based on movement. “The

more you move, the more you can move,” says Jago, a black level (similar to a black belt in martial arts) TRX trainer. “TRX forces you to stabilize your body and your joints and core and you get more range of motion,” she says. All of which is particularly important as people age. “We still have to carry ourselves around. Sit down, stand up, climb stairs … TRX really helps with that,” Jago says.

While TRX is most often associated with young athletes (and Navy Seal types) working against their full body weight to gain strength, users are also able to control how much body weight they resist through foot position and stance—positioning known as unloading weight. That aspect allows Jago to work with people with specific injuries, such as to knees and hips, and seniors who can’t handle resisting all of their own weight but still need exercise in the three basic planes of motion—front to back, side to side and rotationally. Such was the case with the 70-something woman Jago worked with this summer who walked into the gym with the assistance of two canes because she recently had a rod put into her back. “Once I learned what her body could do, I just needed to modify the exercises for her,” Jago says.

To make TRX more appealing to students, Jago incorporates it into a class officially called Functional Fitness but which Jago refers to as “TRX and toys.” “We do some TRX exercises and then I bring other things like weights, bands and balls,” she says.

All the work, says Hilton, has eliminated her back pain and other aches and pains she’d begun to feel as she aged. With the comfort has come more mobility and strength—Hilton has been known to wow fellow students half her age with the length of time she can hold a plank. All of which is enough motivation to keep her heading to the gym, TRX and all, for “the rest of my life,” she says.

“THE MORE YOU MOVE, THE MORE YOU CAN MOVE.”

Carol Hilton and Trainer Stacy Jago

ALL THE RIGHT MOVES

Carol Hilton demonstrates gamechanging TRX moves recommended by trainer Stacy Jago.

1) TRX Chest Press

Works your core, chest, triceps, shoulders and legs.

Why it matters: These muscles help us negotiate ourselves out of chairs, push shopping carts and carry groceries and grandchildren.

2) TRX Balance Lunge

Works your legs and enhances mobility and stability of the ankle, knee and hip.

Why it matters: This exercise helps with getting up and down stairs, in and out of chairs and maintaining balance during daily activities—abilities that we star t to lose as we age.

3) TRX Suspended Crunch

Works your core, shoulders, triceps and legs.

Why it matters: This move strengthens and stabilizes all the muscles of your core and helps with ever y aspect of daily life.

4) TRX Back Row

Works your core, back, biceps, shoulders and legs.

Why it matters: This is helpful with shoveling, gardening, lifting and carrying objects.

NEVER GET SO BUSY MAKING A LIVING, THAT YOU FORGET TO MAKE A LIFE.

GOLD-STANDARD GRANDPARENTING

Searching for all-ages fun for hangtime with your grand-littles?

We rounded up favorite outings that’ll prove one undeniable truth: Nana and Papa know what’s good.

by CARLY SIMPSON

Cozy up with a Snow Days day pass.

Dip into the steamy, 94-degree outdoor pool, unwind in the sauna, roast s’mores, play board games by a roaring fire ... this all-access pass at Traverse City’s Delamar hotel is delightfully cozy. Daily passes available Sunday through Thursday until March 30.

Devour Tom’s Mom’s Cookies.

This pastel-painted cookie shop with gingerbread trim has been baking up delicious family memories in Harbor Springs since 1985. Work off that sugar buzz at nearby Thorne Swift Nature Preserve’s 1.5-mile trail system (typically open April 15 to November 15).

Go strawberry pickin’.

In mid-June, U-Picks and farmstands overflow with plump, juicy berries. Two favorites: Urka Farm in Brethren and Jacob’s Farm in Traverse City (get a pizza afterward from Jacob’s Kitchen).

Make furry friends at Hungry Ducks Farm. Cuddle goats, feed sheep, take a hay ride, spin on the carousel, fish in the trout pond and don’t miss the model trains. And that’s just the start of the fun at this Charlevoix attraction.

Sail Grand Traverse Bay.

Two Brothers Sailing offers a private Power Island Cruise that lets you play out your Swiss Family Robinson dreams. Spend five hours with up to six guests sailing crystal clear waters, swimming to shore and exploring the island, and then picnic and relax back on the boat (pack your own food and drinks).

Find hidden clues … and your way out.

At Know Way Out in Petoskey, your group has 60 minutes to escape a meticulously themed room (think medieval castle, spy academy, Bermuda Triangle) by solving puzzles, completing challenges and finding hidden clues. Recommended for ages 12 and up.

Yo ho, yo ho—a pirate’s life for me. Join a crew of swashbuckling buccaneers on the pirate ship Good Fortune. Operated by Star Line Mackinac Island Ferry Company, it offers passage to or from Mackinac Island along with evening cruises.

Be a pinball wizard.

Family-friendly Right Brain Brewery in Traverse City has an impressive lineup of arcade games, including pinball, Skee-Ball and Ms. Pac-Man. Order dill pickle popcorn and a soda from the bar, then play the silver ball. Bonus Points: Bike to the brewery along the Boardman Lake Loop Trail.

Walk an old-growth forest. Hartwick Pines State Park near Grayling is home to some of the state’s last old-growth pines. Hike the accessible, paved 1.25-mile Old Growth Forest Trail (stroller and ADA friendly) that’s adjacent to the visitor center. Watch for annual events like maple-syrup tapping and wood-shaving days in July.

photo by Carly Simpson

photo by Gail Snable

Power Island

Hungry Ducks Farms

Search for shipwrecks.

Glass Bottom Shipwreck Tours in Munising take you on a two-hour Lake Superior excursion past sandy beaches, colorful sandstone cliffs, a historic lighthouse, Grand Island and two shipwrecks. Daily from Memorial Weekend until the end of September.

Hop a ferry to Paradise. Board the Emerald Isle in Charlevoix and fill a weekend on Beaver Island with mountain biking, snorkeling, kayaking and simply sitting ’round a bonfire.

Meet real life lumberjacks.

At Mackinaw City’s Jack Pine Lumberjack Shows, audience members are divided into rival logging camps—the Mill Creek camp versus the Mackinaw City camp—and they cheer wildly as lumberjacks scale cedar poles, race across floating logs and send wood chips flying.

Wander in wonder.

A few area museum exhibits we love: Wonderground and its archaeological dig site at the Upper Peninsula Children’s Museum; the giant Lite-Brite board in the interactive Discovery Gallery at Traverse City’s Dennos; the theater stage (lots of costumes and instruments!) at Sandcastles in Ludington.

Kayak the Crystal River.

Pretty in every season, but especially fun during October’s salmon run when the river is teeming with large fish heading upstream to spawn. Rentals available at Crystal River Outfitters; the team will drop you off and a two- to three-hour paddle will land you right back at the shop in downtown Glen Arbor.

Believe in fairies.

Discover Alden’s delightfully mischievous “dinkies” and their eight doors scattered throughout town (more info online at aldenvolunteers.com). Or explore the homes of forest fairies at The Botanic Garden at Historic Barns Park in Traverse City.

photo by Dave Weidner

photo by Taylor Brown

Jack Pine Lumberjack Shows

Crystal River

SECOND SHIFT

Retirees are finding jobs— and a sense of belonging—while saving the day for small-town businesses.

by EMILY TYRA

photos by DAVE WEIDNER

You might notice a small posse of women of a certain age out and about in Cadillac. They meet to walk in the mornings, shop for cruise-wear together, watch each other’s cats, co-host a community book club in a nearby greenhouse. They even throw Cadillac’s biggest tea party every spring.

They live in town or the surrounding lake and farm country—one in the shadow of Caberfae Peaks, another in Boon, one out in Luther in the next county over. But, truly, these farflung neighbors may not have found this close-knit friendship if it weren’t for a singular thread: They all work at Horizon Books Cadillac.

The bookstore has been an anchor in town for 31 years. Manager Tereesa Arn says the Cadillac store’s steady success in recent years is due in part to a silver bullet: “I hire reliable retirees who are friendly, extraordinary, flexible and don’t require a living wage,” she shares. “All of my staff except myself and a soon-to-be retiring teacher fit these criteria—six retirees in total.”

It’s no secret Northern Michigan’s small towns and vacation communities are desperately seeking employees, a longstanding dilemma exacerbated by the pandemic and by the stark lack of workforce housing. Arn says that her cohorts at Horizon Books in Traverse City tell her that hiring locals 55 and up

as part-time staff is a model “they’d love to emulate, if people would come forward.”

The hope is with enough people stepping into these roles, even for a few days a week, the region’s robust retiree population could have the potential to help flip the script on the local labor narrative.

A multigenerational workforce may not be a total stretch in thinking. As Forbes reported last fall, while more than 2 million people retired nationally during the first 18 months of the pandemic than was otherwise expected, they now appear to be heading back to work. Forbes described this trend as “quiet returning”—a generational slant rhyme on the term “quiet quitting,” which Gen Z popularized via TikTok videos that shared the art of doing just enough at a job without letting it take over your life.

Forbes analysts note that retirees are quietly returning for more than money. While survey data from Joblist indicated a certain number of those quietly returning to work were doing so because they needed the money or feared inflation was eroding their retirement nest egg, the largest percent of retirees returning to work said they were simply in need of something fulfilling to do.

As Benzie Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Michelle Barefoot brings home, “most retirees who I know

Laura Henry, Vlasta Bovee, Linda Becktel

enjoy their ‘free time’ for a while before they get bored. There is only so much golf and gardening that one can do before they miss … the routine.”

Barefoot adds, “These folks are the cream of the crop, they have the experience and expertise, but may not want to necessarily engage fully back into the workforce.”

Instead, she notes, they typically look into volunteering at a nonprofit organization. “In Benzie’s case: Benzie Area Christian Neighbors, Oliver Art Center, Benzie Senior Resources and the Benzie Historical Museum are often flooded with senior volunteers; plus, all of the church quilt bees and other engagements at their houses of worship.”

But what can happen if some retirees consider—in addition to their volunteer roles—working at small local businesses, supporting their entrepreneurial neighbors within the quaint villages they love?

As Arn has discovered, to her delight, it’s the potential for a symbiotic relationship where everyone’s needs are being met.

“They are incredible employees,” she says of her senior dream team at Horizon Books Cadillac. “Resilient. It’s amazing the details they pick up and do without asking.”

Three have experience as librarians, one has experience in the restaurant business, still another is a retired police officer from the Chicago Police Department.

That’s Laura Henry, who moved to downtown Cadillac from downtown Chicago 12 years ago. After renovating her 120-year-old house, Henry started volunteering at the local elementary library, launching a “Reading Rivalry” competition for kids in Cadillac. Arn recognized Henry’s pluck and quickly hired her.

Having a seasoned cop sharing her knowledge is a boon: “We’re downtown and open late; there are real-world situations that crop up and they can handle those,” Arn notes, adding, “When you’re hired on, not only are you helping customers, you’re also doing the computer system, you’re a barista, you’re a janitor.”

She says her senior staff bring flexibility in scheduling, as none of them work full time.

“Everyone is really good at taking care of everyone else,” explains Carla Choponis, of their willingness to cover for

coworkers. Choponis previously worked in Pine River Schools in the computer lab and the library. “This was just a perfect place for a retirement job, two or three days a week.”

The benefits for Choponis are concrete. “I live way out in the country, so it’s nice to come in and see people. The more you keep busy, the better you’re going to be health-wise.”

What’s more, the bookstore gig still allows for a rich, full life says Vlasta Bovee, who lives near the ski hill Caberfae Peaks. The store’s only octogenarian employee moved from Colorado

THEY ARE INCREDIBLE EMPLOYEES. RESILIENT.

IT’S AMAZING THE DETAILS THEY PICK UP AND DO WITHOUT ASKING.

Judy Jenema

Whether you head North for vacation or a day trip. Start planning your next adventure on MyNorth.com

THIS WAS JUST A PERFECT PLACE FOR A RETIREMENT JOB,

A WEEK.

17 years ago and, because she adores downhill skiing, commits to just one day a week at the bookstore. “She’s my Saturday girl,” says Arn. “I never have to worry.”

Horizon ladies don’t hesitate to share their gifts with the community: They lead story hours. The walls are covered with loaner pieces from Henry’s quilting club. Choponis parlays her passion for collecting teapots and teacups into a ticketed tea party, held each spring. It’s an immense labor of love done by the entire staff who serve their guests from their own china.

Tea time is a beloved locals’ event, but Arn says the staff also shine as small-town ambassadors to the seasonal influx of visitors to Cadillac’s lakes and campgrounds. Bovee loves that people on vacation seek out the bookstore and is delighted to

help kids and young adults find their summer reads. Choponis considers it a badge of honor that the local bookstore is not a dying breed in Cadillac: “With big bookstores closing down, even ones in the big cities, we hear often, ‘It’s such a nice bookstore. There isn’t one close to me…’”

Arn has witnessed how a small cadre of retirees has meant stability and success for staffing. But even one senior community member deciding to roll up their sleeves can move the needle for a small business. In Leelanau County and other desirable vacation destinations, the shortage of affordable homes and long-term rental options adds to the struggle of finding and retaining employees.

Nevertheless, small business owners must make hay when the sun shines.

Case in point, Leelanau County’s Tom and Kathleen Koch who raise Mangalitsa pigs, poultry, eggs and vegetables at their 14-acre homestead and also operate the Polish Art Center boutique in the village of Cedar, the region’s unofficial Polka Capital, and home of the annual Polka Fest.

Last spring, after hearing countless customers ask where the Polish restaurant is in town, the Kochs planned to open their farm-to-table Polish food truck starting Memorial Day weekend. With one hitch. They needed a dependable person to take food orders while Kathleen ran the store and Tom helmed the stoves and grill.

Then, like kismet, Jane Sapardanis, a Maple City resident and retiree, popped into the Polish gift shop. “They were telling

TWO OR THREE DAYS

photo by John Konkal

Polish Countryside Kitchen

me about the food truck and getting all their ducks in a row. My son-in-law Eric was with me, and said, ‘You are looking at the right person to help you.’”

Indeed, Sapardanis ran a successful casual eatery in Grand Blanc, Shap’s Family Restaurant, for 15 years.

Kathleen Koch hired her on the spot, grateful to then focus on other aspects of launching the business. The buoying feeling was mutual, says Sapardanis, “I thought, wow, she’s hiring me and knows I am a certain age. I felt very relieved. I was in need of a job and an income boost.”

Sapardanis was with Polish Countryside Kitchen from opening day, through all the exciting growing pains. Soon folks were driving from miles away for the Kochs’ old-country recipes: pickle soup, cabbage rolls, garden cucumber salad with dill, sausages and pierogi sizzled on the grill. The alleyway was delightfully transformed with garden lights and garland, the picnic tables held fresh-cut flowers. Sapardanis’s smile was a constant welcome in the window.

“I was blown away by the bravery of Kathleen and Tom doing this,” she says. “Any restaurant business is a huge undertaking … I knew what was ahead. Luckily, they are people with open minds, so I could say, ‘Let’s try it this way.’ There were moments we were all overwhelmed, but they could quickly move on—a healthy attitude in that environment.”

Sapardanis adds, “I was glad to tap back into what was a very exciting part of my life. It was beautiful to watch the business bloom, and I was so happy to be a part of it.”

The Kochs saw firsthand the assets an older workforce brings to a burgeoning business. So, what would it take for Northern Michigan to be a trailblazer in this trend?

It could be as simple as stepping up to work for a neighbor you admire, or a retail or hospitality business you already frequent, says Sapardanis.

Sapardanis also encourages curious seniors who aren’t currently working but are seeking a job to check out AARP’s Senior Community Service Employment Program (see “Retirees at Work,” right).

The Polish Countryside Kitchen food truck will be back full throttle this spring, and Sapardanis hopes to reprise her gig.

“Every single person who came to the truck had a smile on their face. They’d say, ‘My grandmother made food just like this,’ and it would bring back all these sentimental feelings.” She adds, “I am 74 years old and a part of something brand new and exciting with people who are amazingly smart and talented. I’m so grateful they took a chance on me. I can’t wait to see what happens next.”

RETIREES AT WORK

How one program trains jobseeking seniors to find their perfect part-time gigs.

Maple City’s Jane Sapardanis found seasonal employment in her golden years at a food truck in Cedar, but not everyone seeking a job postretirement is ready to dive into a part-time gig right off the bat. She encourages curious community members to check out AARP Foundation’s Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP), which helps low-income individuals aged 55-plus prepare themselves to seek and find unsubsidized employment in their local communities.

Alicia Rusch is Project Director of the SCSEP Workforce Programs for AARP Foundation’s Traverse City office. She explains that SCSEP first matches eligible older job seekers with local nonprofits and public agencies so they can increase skills and build self-confidence in these work settings. “We partner with 501c3 nonprofits, but this is not volunteer work—it is paid work training,” she shares. “Seniors who have been out of the workforce get their feet wet and acclimate to working again. They learn hard skills, soft skills and communication skills.”

SCSEP’s older job seekers work an average of 18 to 20 hours a week at the host agency and are compensated via a federal grant from the U.S. Department of Labor.

Par t two, Rusch explains, is to move out of this training experience to permanent unsubsidized employment. “We have some agency supervisors contact us to hire our program participants. Supervisors pleased with the participant’s performance will tell us this is the employee we have been waiting for,” she adds. “Seniors come from a different generation of work ethic and make up a large pool of untapped talent—more employers need to look at hiring seniors.”

AARP Foundation SCSEP of Traverse City operates one of 72 SCSEP programs across the county and is currently recruiting.

“Qualifying incomes could be due to a lifechanging event … for instance, a spouse became catastrophically ill, depleting savings. We work with the full spectrum—individuals with a master’s degree, or who have a high school education and no previous job skills. If people are on the fence, or just curious about whether they qualify, it is worth it to see as there are so many nuances with eligibility that changes that picture for them.”

“It’s a fabulous program for the 55-plus gang,” Sapardanis adds. “It changed my life.”

231.252.4544; aarpfoundation.org/scsep

Alicia Rusch

photo courtesy of Alicia Rusch

T he Cu l i Nortnary h

local restaurants . craft drinks . seasonal cuisine

Lamb doesn’t have to be reserved for the high holidays …

—

MUST-TRY MAPLE SRIRACHA P. 46

ROUGH PONY’S NOSTALGIC MENU P. 47

LAMB CHOPS WITH RED WINE GRAVY P. 48

THE HONORABLE GARIBALDI P. 50

photo by Dave Weidner

STACEY BRUGEMAN, CULINARY COLUMNIST

h

Bite

Harwood Gold Farm-Style Sriracha

The Parsons family is a sappy bunch. They’ve been making maple syrup since the late 1800s from the trees surrounding Harwood Lake in Charlevoix County. Today, sisters Amber and Katie—the fifth generation of syrup-makers—are at the helm and continue to develop the brand to include gourmet products like lavender-infused maple syrup, chardonnay maple mustard and—a staple for every northern pantry—farm-style sriracha. This Good Food Award–winner is made with five different peppers that are fermented with garlic, but all that spice is balanced by maple sweetness. Drizzle on an omelette, stir into mashed potatoes, baste over fish, splash on pizza— the possibilities are endless. Snag a bottle online or visit the store and café in downtown Charlevoix.

230 Bridge St., Charlevoix, harwoodgold.com – C.S.

photo courtesy of Harwood Gold

DINING OUT A TASTE OF NOSTALGIA

by CARLY SIMPSON

Whimsy meets comfort at Rough Pony, a vibrant new coffee shop and eatery in Traverse City’s Warehouse MRKT.

You can’t help but feel happy when you walk into Rough Pony. The counter is hot pink, the walls a dreamy purple. A gallery wall is filled with art from each team member’s home, plus original works they’ve cr eated, and kitschy delights abound—funky salt and pepper shakers (whales, kittens, lipstick tubes), a collection of mismatched mugs, trailing plants, two tiny trolls. In the background, Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance with Somebody” weaves between humming pockets of conversation.

“It’s like a little wave of nostalgia crashing over you,” says Maddie Harris, Rough Pony’s social media maven and barista.

The food, too, is comforting.

Cinnamon-sugar toast elevated just a touch by a dollop of orange yogurt and a drizzle of fruit compote. An egg-and-cheese sandwich with melty Havarti and

saucy sauce (aka a house-made Dijonnaise). A PB Jammin’ smoothie sweetened with a hint of maple syrup. “We’re aiming for a feeling, a warmth,” says Manager Heather L’Esperance. “A lot of our ideas come from childhood foods and flavors we loved.”

The beverage menu has a mix of staples—mochas made with Grocer’s Daughter Chocolate, chai lattes with cardamom syrup, fabulously foamy cappuccinos—and new-to-me goodies like the Metro. The combination of espresso, sparkling water and cream over ice “feels like a coffee cream soda,” L’Esperance says.

As part of a larger mission to foster camaraderie and community, the Rough Pony crew plans to host afterhours events such as craft and game nights and workshops with local businesses. Watch for announcements on Instagram @roughpony.

Rough Pony

144 Hall St., #100, Traverse City rough-pony.square.site

photos by Dave Weidner

The Bougie Toast with av ocado and a jammy egg

B arista Maddie Harris & Manager Heather L’Esperance

On the Table

SPRING SIZZLE

by STACEY BRUGEMAN

A recipe for Michigan-raised lamb chops imbued with far-flung memories makes for a delicious weeknight treat.

For many, lamb is specialoccasion fare. I’ll never forget the Easter Sunday I was lucky enough to spend wandering the steep, winding streets of Delphi, Greece. Every household had gathered on their little section of those narrow cobblestone passageways, and each family had speared a whole lamb onto a spit, watching as it rotated over the open fire. They were loud, laughing, sipping retsina. When one man learned it also happened to be my 15th birthday, he passed a glass of the pine resin wine to me.

Some 15 years later, it was a scene I tried to replicate in my parents’ Petoskey driveway. We ordered a whole lamb, rented a drum rotisserie and gathered the generations. We took turns painting that precious roast with olive oil, using a brush I’d made from foraged ramp leaves. But lamb doesn’t have to be reserved for the high holidays. “It’s not a fancy meat; it’s an everyday meat,” says Sharon Schierbeek of S & S Lamb, who raises sheep from the McBain farm she grew up on and sells lamb to restaurants such as Trattoria Stella.

I’ve taken Schierbeek’s advice, and when I cook lamb for weeknight occasions, I love grabbing either bone-in loin chops or lollipop chops. Both are available enough for everyday fare, but classy enough to feel like a treat. Look for

these cuts from Anavery Fine Foods—a regenerative farm in Traverse City—at Oryana or from the farm’s popular meat subscription. The gravy in this recipe calls for a local red wine, so don’t forget to save a splash for sipping. I promise it’s a massive improvement over retsina.

Stacey Brugeman is a 20-year food and beverage journalist. Her work has appeared in Food & Wine, Saveur, Travel + Leisure, Eater and on Instagram @staceybrugeman.

Dave Weidner is an editorial photographer and videographer based in Northern Michigan. Follow him on Instagram and Facebook @dzwphoto.

Sarah Peschel, @22speschel, is a stylist and photographer with an appreciation for all things related to local agriculture, food and drink.

Lamb Chops au Poivre with Red Wine Gravy

Serves 4

2 pounds loin or lollipop lamb chops

Salt to taste

4 Tablespoons butter

1 shallot, minced

3 Tablespoons flour

1 ½ cups beef broth

¾ cup Michigan red wine

2 Tablespoons whole rainbow

peppercorns

2 teaspoons whole mustard seeds

2 Tablespoons neutral cooking oil

1 bunch chives, thinly chopped

1. Salt both sides of the lamb chops to taste and set aside to bring to room temperature.

2. Melt the butter in a skillet set over medium heat. Add the shallot and cook until fragrant and beginning to soften. Whisk the flour into the

pan, moving it around until it is fully incorporated into the butter. Reduce heat to medium-low. Working slowly, begin adding the beef stock, whisking the mixture constantly so that each new splash of stock is incorporated. Once all the stock has been added, stir in the wine. Turn the heat down to low and allow the mixture to thicken, stirring from time to time.

3. Meanwhile, use a mortar and pestle to coarsely grind the peppercorns and mustard seeds. Pour the just-broken spices onto a plate and press both sides of each lamb chop into the spices to coat.

4. Place a large cast iron skillet over high heat and add the oil, heating it until it is blazing hot but not yet smoking. Add the lamb chops and cook 4 to 8 minutes per side, depending on the thickness of your cut, until a meat thermometer placed in the largest chop registers 140 degrees. Remove the lamb chops and place them on a serving platter to rest.

5. Whisk any juices from the lamb pan into the red wine sauce and season with salt to taste. Pour a generous spoonful of gravy onto each chop, top with chopped chives, and serve. – S.B.

photos by Dave Weidner // styling by Sarah Peschel

Last Call

Aformer movie theater in downtown Marquette has a fresh new start as the city’s first distillery, the marquee shining brightly again on Washington Street just like this citrus cocktail in the dregs of winter.

Founded by Marquette native Anne White and her partner Scott Anderson, The Honorable Distillery is housed in the 1936-era Nordic Theater, designed in a “Streamline Moderne” style by architect Michael Hare, who also helped plan New York City’s Rockefeller Center and Radio City Music Hall.

The distillery’s name was inspired by Anne’s time spent serving as assistant energy secretary in the U.S. Department of Energy. Both Anne and Scott have long careers in nuclear cleanup, and Anne earned “the honorable” title after being confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

After a thoughtful interior restoration and re-lighting of the marquee—a replica of the Nordic’s original—Anne and Scott now welcome guests to sip artisan vodka, gin, bourbon and rye whiskey in the lobby-turned-tasting room. The cinema’s streamlined auditorium was revived to house The Honorable’s production facility, helmed by spirit-crafters Rob Stoll and Abby Szukalski.

NEW NORDIC MEETS OLD ITALIAN

by CARLY SIMPSON

The Honorable, Marquette’s first

Bar Manager Lily Van Der Bosch is the creative force behind The Honorable’s irresistible cocktail menu. In March, with winter still firmly reigning in Marquette, Lily loves to pour a Garibaldi. The negroni’s less bitter cousin, the Garibaldi is traditionally made with just two ingredients, orange juice and Campari. Lily likes to add a splash of gin and uses blood oranges. “I love the balance of bitter citrus and sweetness,” she says. “The ingredients dance around each other.”

Carly Simpson is managing editor and produces MyNorth’s popular e-newsletter, The Daily Splash. Subscribe at MyNorth. com/newsletter, and follow Carly’s Up North travels on Instagram @carlyannesimpson.

Dave Weidner is an editorial photographer and videographer based in Northern Michigan. Follow him on Instagram and Facebook @dzwphoto.

Sarah Peschel, @22speschel, is a stylist and photographer with an appreciation for all things related to local agriculture, food and drink.

distillery, shares its take on a classic Italian aperitivo, the Garibaldi.

photos by Dave Weidner // styling by Sarah Peschel

love of the land

sweet serenity

SAND LAKES QUIET AREA

March can be a wild card in Northern Michigan—snow and ice one day, rain and mud the next. Thankfully, spots like Sand Lakes Quiet Area exist, where you can seamlessly transition your weekend plans from wintry cross-country skiing to hiking six miles of trail surrounded by oak and pine. Nestled in the sprawling Pere Marquette State Forest, and just a short drive from Traverse City, you’ll feel truly at peace watching wildlife along the area’s five marl lakes. - A.J.

photo by Dave Weidner

NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED CARE. CLOSE TO HOME.

NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED CARE. CLOSE TO HOME.

NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED CARE. CLOSE TO HOME.

McLaren Northern Michigan is part of the McLaren Health Network of hospitals and offers medical care across 22 counties in the northern Michigan area. Our local hospital campuses in Petoskey and Cheboygan offer nationally recognized care by caring staff and highly qualified medical physicians.

McLaren Northern Michigan is part of the McLaren Health Network of hospitals and offers medical care across 22 counties in the northern Michigan area. Our local hospital campuses in Petoskey and Cheboygan offer nationally recognized care by caring staff and highly qualified medical physicians.

McLaren Northern Michigan is part of the McLaren Health Network of hospitals and offers medical care across 22 counties in the northern Michigan area. Our local hospital campuses in Petoskey and Cheboygan offer nationally recognized care by caring staff and highly qualified medical physicians.

The Cheboygan campus has expanded to include 18 Behavioral Health beds, and we are proud the facility will fill the need of our communities. In addition, our hospitals have attained the highest ratings from CMS for quality and safety as well as national awards for our health care services.

The Cheboygan campus has expanded to include 18 Behavioral Health beds, and we are proud the facility will fill the need of our communities. In addition, our hospitals have attained the highest ratings from CMS for quality and safety as well as national awards for our health care services.

#1 Medium Community Hospital in the Country 2022

#1 Medium Community Hospital in the Country 2022

McLaren Northern Michigan

416 Connable Ave., Petoskey, MI

McLaren Northern Michigan

The Cheboygan campus has expanded to include 18 Behavioral Health beds, and we are proud the facility will fill the need of our communities. In addition, our hospitals have attained the highest ratings from CMS for quality and safety as well as national awards for our health care services.

mclaren.org/Northern

416 Connable Ave., Petoskey, MI

mclaren.org/Northern