Traverse NORTHERN MICHIGAN, May 2023

05.2023

GREAT 8 ADVENTURE WHERE TO LIVE NOW

TOWNS Realtors dish on under-the-radar hot spots

MAY 2O23

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SUMMER ADVENTURE STARTS HERE.

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DISCOVER MORE ABOUT UP NORTH, PEOPLE, PLACES, FOOD AND EVENTS.

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AS LONG AS I KNOW YOU With her mother losing her memory, a daughter navigates the currents of time for them both.

BY ANNE-MARIE OOMEN

34

photo courtesy of Anne-Marie Oomen

BIKES, BLOSSOMS & BONDING

Come May, there’s only one reasonable thing for a women’s bike club to do—take to the trails through the cherry orchards of Leelanau County. Come along for the ride.

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BY KANDACE CHAPPLE PHOTOS BY BETH PRICE

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8 GREAT UNDER-THE-RADAR ADVENTURE TOWNS

It’s one of the wildest housing markets in recent memory, but Northern Michigan still has a few oases out there. Here’s where to explore next.

BY KANDACE CHAPPLE

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DEPART M E N TS 521 Randolph Street, Traverse City, MI 49684

11 | EDITOR'S NOTE

Ann Porter

15 | UP NORTH

ASSOCIATE BROKER

231.944.4959

Take a spring road trip to Applecore General Store, where you’ll find an array of Michiganmade goods in the most charming setting; pedal through Port Oneida’s past; and sip a sunset cocktail on Mackinac Island’s hottest dock.

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Elizabeth Blair

FinePearls

62 | ON THE TABLE

Shortbread squares made with rhubarb curd are a fresh-coast take on a coastal grandmother classic.

64 | LOVE OF THE LAND

A marshy preserve along the Chain of Lakes is perfect for a shoreline paddle or a wild wetlands hike.

25 | TRAVEL

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photos by Paula Liimatta / 2021 State of Michigan (top) and Sarah Peschel (bottom)

Calling all nostalgia-seekers: tap into the romance of a bygone era at three retro lodgings up north.

29 | OUTDOORS

A new course at Michigan Tech is teaching students—and Keweenaw residents—that a walk in the woods can be the ultimate health hack.

57 | CULINARY NORTH

Grab a seat at Elk Rapids’ newest hangout, The Foundry; the sandwiches at Empire’s Shipwreck Café are worth the hype. Trust.

Follow Us On Social Media facebook.com/mynorthmedia instagram.com/mynorthmedia pinterest.com/mynorthmedia

62 ON THE COVER Take a scenic bike ride from adventure town Manistee to coastal Ludington State Park.

PHOTO BY GRANT PIERING

4 T R AV E R S E N O R T H E R N M I C H I G A N

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6 T R AV E R S E N O R T H E R N M I C H I G A N

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Traverse

NORTHERN

MICHIGAN A MyNorth Media Publication

Vol. 42 | No. 12

PRESIDENT

Michael Wnek Cara McDonald

EXECUTIVE EDITOR

SENIOR EDITOR FEATURES EDITOR MANAGING EDITOR ASSOCIATE EDITOR DIGITAL CONTENT & SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGIST CULINARY COLUMNIST

Elizabeth Edwards Emily Tyra Carly Simpson Allison Jarrell Rachel Soulliere Stacey Brugeman

WHEN OUR CLIENTS SPEAK, WE LISTEN. It’s a simple but effective way of helping people reach their financial goals - and it’s a way of doing business that Raymond James has pioneered for more than 50 years. Make your voice count. Partner with one of our financial advisors and get guidance that’s in tune with your life. LIFE WELL PLANNED. Jeff K. Pasche, CFA® Senior Vice President, Investments Traverse City Complex Manager

PROOFREADERS

Elizabeth Aseritis Caroline Dahlquist

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REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS

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Stoops, AWMA Jeff K.JimPasche, CFA®, CRPC® First Vice President, Investments Senior Vice President, Investments ® Jennifer Youker, CFP , CRPC® Rachel WatsonTraverse City Complex Manager Financial Advisor Dennis J. Brodeur Julie Parker Erin VanFossen Vice President, Investments Mike Alfaro Ann Gatrell Wealth Management Specialist Julie James Meg Lau Trevis E. Gillow Kirk Small Erin Lutke Vice President, Investments Ashlyn Korienek Wealth Management Specialist Nichole Earle Susan Carlyon Beth Putz First Vice President, Investments Wealth Management Specialist Keith Carlyon Senior Vice President, Investments

Tim Hussey Theresa Burau-Baehr

Maggie Beeler, AAMS®, CRPC® Investment Portfolio Associate Shelley A. Stefanits Complex Administrator Manager West Michigan Complex Courtney C. Jackson Complex Business Coordinator Barbara S. Shellman, MBA, APMA™ Accredited Portfolio Advisor™ PaulManagement M. Bonaccini Financial Advisor

Vice President, Investments Susan Stepka Accredited Asset Management Specialist Client Service Associate Tyne Hyslop Financial Advisor Jennifer Youker, CFP®, CRPC® Financial Advisor Eric H. Palo Financial Advisor James Spencer, ChFC, AAMS Associate Vice President, Investments Robert Fenton Financial Advisor

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PA I D C O N T E N T

SWEET SUMMERTIME IN

SAULT STE. MARIE, ONTARIO When summer crowds arrive, escape to Up North’s Up North.

BY LYNDA WHEATLEY

A

fter one idyllic Northern Michigan vacation or a childhood full of them, nearly all of us who’ve made this place our permanent home eventually face the same predicament: Now that we live and work where we once only leisured, where the heck do we go to get away?

Easy. Heed the call of your younger heart and head farther north, to Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.

Known for warm breezes, minimal humidity and a decidedly relaxed vibe, the Canadian side of “The Soo,” as locals call it, is a dream summer escape for Michiganders—one peppered with diverse restaurants (many with outdoor decks and patios), stellar breweries, dozens of unique shops and boutiques and historical and cultural sites aplenty.

Where to start? With the ultimate in land, Locks and water views—all three best seen on a leisurely two-hour boat

tour aboard the new Miss Marie. The narrated pleasure cruise, which launches each afternoon from the Waterfront Boardwalk, ferries up to 100 passengers along the St. Marys River and into Lake Superior. It offers a full bar, two decks with covered and open-air viewing areas, and, by arrangement, private evening charters.

If gasp-while-you-relax tours are your thing, add the Agawa Canyon Tour Train to your list. In a single day, the train rolls past sparkling lakes, sky-high granite formations and forests so dense with leafy trees, shrubs and conifer spires, the very air seems to glow green.

You don’t have to have an artist’s eye to appreciate the vast and pristine wilderness surrounding these rails—or Canada’s famed Group of Seven, the 1920s-era painters who so distinctly captured Agawa and other Canadian landscapes that their work is considered an arts movement. The train compartments include flatscreen monitors and GPS-triggered narration that tells you what you’re seeing as you see it.

Travelers who prefer to explore under their own power are hardly overlooked in—or around—The Soo. Case in point: The popular and paved

88TTRRAAVVEERRSSEE NNOORRTTHHEERRNN MMI ICCHHI IGGAANN

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15-mile John Rowswell Hub Trail, which encircles the entire city and routes walkers and cyclists through multiple natural areas, neighborhoods, commercial districts and more.

What to brake for? In the Heritage Square, a trifecta of only-in-Soo-Ontario stops: the fun-for-all-ages (but especially propeller heads) Canadian Bushplane Heritage Discovery Centre; three floors of heritage-rich exhibits inside Sault Ste. Marie Museum; and the Ermatinger Clergue National Historic Site, where gorgeous gardens, the interactive Heritage Discovery Centre and two of the oldest stone houses north of Toronto vividly showcase the lives and lifestyles of the big shots who occupied the latter buildings between 1808 and 1908.

Seeking hot-summer-in-the-city action? The Hub Trail can get you there, too. Head to beautiful Bellevue Park for a playground and splash pad; the Waterfront Adventure Center for canoe, kayak and stand-up paddleboard rentals; the Canal District with its bustling train station, restaurants and outfitters in a beautifully restored sandstone building; or Esposito Park, where a new asphalt pump track packed with twists, turns, rollers and berms lets kids and adults build their biking skills while they entertain onlookers.

(Hey, hardcore bikers—heftier hills can be found just 10 minutes from downtown at nearby Hiawatha Highlands, the forest home to nearly 25 miles of world-class mountain biking trails for all levels of bikers, and the black diamondworthy Bellevue Valley Trail, only three heart-racing miles long but with a 750-foot elevation drop.)

Sure, the city has a multitude of fun things to do, but it’s worth your limited while to remember it’s also a gateway to other getaways, a few favorites best experienced by doing nothing much at all.

An effortless one-hour drive from the city, for instance, brings you to the sandy beach and stunning woods of Lake Superior’s Pancake Bay, a place the voyageurs once paddled past, now a Provincial Park where you can sprawl out in the sun, swim ’til the sun goes down and camp overnight if you like.

Hug the coastline another hour up Highway 17, and you’ll arrive at Lake Superior Provincial Park, a sublime and seemingly infinite waterside wilderness no outdoors-loving Michigander should miss.

Finding both places is easy. Just like you did to get to Northern Michigan, and then to The Soo, Ontario—simply get in your car and head north.

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editor's note I think it’s a question we have all been forced to grapple with since Covid-19 came to stay. The fabrics of our daily lives were stretched, worn and torn to the point of fraying, fibers unraveled, holes impossible to ignore. We lost so much and yet found it, too—in singing from balconies, adopting homeless dogs, rereading old books, reckoning with our children’s daily education (or not), savoring connections through windows or across outdoor patios. We were forced to regroup and honor the lost interactions at the lunch counter, in the church pew, at the holiday table.

I think about what makes my daily life worth living a lot these days. If you’re like me, the words “gratitude practice” and “journaling” invoke a self-conscious shudder; I hate performative self-improvement and scripted making-things-okay. But the non-bloodless truth is when you are navigating loss or reeling from change and begging the universe for more rope to hang onto, sometimes all you get is the strength to tie a knot so you don’t slip farther.

Those knots are the want-to-stay-alive dailylife things.

For me, coming out of that dark chapter included working up the courage to leave what I had built to return somewhere I’d ghost-walked in my heart for years.

The first thing I did when I got the keys to my new (old) house was drag a turquoise plastic lawn chair around to the front porch and sit to take it all in. I reveled in the sound of seagulls squabbling overhead, the distant pock pock of a basketball. Dogs paused to wag and touch noses on the sidewalk. As the wind gusted to show the silver underside of the maple leaves, warning of coming rain, the honey-vanilla smell of hydrangea rose in the air. I suddenly felt both the electricity of novelty and a joyous recognition.

What makes her want to stay alive?

My boys high-stepping into the waves. The muffled quiet of early-morning snow. Black coffee in a thrift-store mug. Stillwarm peanut butter cookies. A dinner-plate dahlia in a mason jar. Cheeks red from the wind. My heart beating out of my chest on an uphill climb. The sound of hoofbeats on a gravel path.

Forsythia against a gray sky. Linking fingers with someone for the first time. Falling asleep with a book. Helpless laughter and inside jokes. Dancing close to the band. A coffee shop bulletin board. Standing ovations. An olive branch buried in a onesentence text.

Spring erupts with wild swings of possibility and promises alongside the fading reminders of winter, and we bloom where we are planted. This place is what knots my rope. I hope it does for you, too.

THE DIVINE IN THE DETAILS

by CARA MCDONALD

W

henever i’m tempted to be amusing, superficially profound, clever or glib, I think of the mantra a longtime writer friend of mine lives by when she creates: “No bloodless art.”

That means not leaving out the embarrassment, the gritty parts, not skimming over the shameful, not dancing around the tough stuff—grief, resentment, envy, sex, longing.

A great writer is a trusted guide and their work is a confessional, where we can meet in private and admit that we’ve struggled the same way, seen the same dark corners.

Anne-Marie Oomen’s “As Long As I Know You” is one of those confessionals. We’re lucky to be sharing an excerpt from her beautiful new book in this issue, and let me tell you that more than one editor working on this month’s feature admitted to being sideswiped by emotion to the point of tears. It’s that good.

In it, the beloved Northern Michigan author chronicles her complex relationship with her mother, who is succumbing slowly to dementia and brought to live in a full-scale care facility. Oomen asks, “What makes her daily life worth living?... We made her safe, so she could stay alive, but what makes her want to stay alive?”

What a breathtaking question. Not just for old age, but for any of us. Oomen is careful, here: not life worth living, but daily life. To me, this weeds out the large-scale declarations: Family. Friends. Work. Faith.

Instead, she reflects on the moments that make up a day, these overlooked puzzle pieces that together add up to a much more meaningful picture.

Cara McDonald Executive Editor cara@mynorth.com M AY 2 0 2 3

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

HOW YA LIKE THEM APPLE …

CORES?

by LYNDA WHEATLEY

photos by Allison Jarrell

E

asiest way to win “Mom’s Favorite Child” status this Mother’s Day: Whisk her away on a road trip to Les Cheneaux that includes a spring shopping spree at Applecore General Store on M-134.

Exactly as cute as its name and location suggest, Amy Polk’s gift shop is stocked with all the Michigan-made and state-celebrating goodies—art, jewelry, clothing, housewares, garden gear, specialty foods and much, much more—that a Yooper or Mitten momma could want.

Sweeter still, all those goodies are lodged inside an equally gasp-worthy 120-year-old Craftsman-style farmhouse trimmed with green shutters, grand pillars and a wide porch.

So, if you time your road trip right, you and Mom can enjoy a leisurely post-spree sitting spell on that porch, under the blooming boughs of an enormous old apple tree.

Polk, a former news reporter who long wanted to be an entrepreneur, is living her dream through Applecore General Store—minus one thing: “I’m an English major, and I purposely misspell the store’s name, which really bugs me,” she laughs.

“But that’s how Donald Applecore is spelled, all one word.”

If you (like we, and even Polk, initially) don’t get the reference to Donald Applecore, that’s because it’s the name of an animated Walt Disney short from 1952. In it, Donald Duck stars as an apple farmer who goes to increasingly whacky lengths to keep rascal chipmunks, Chip and Dale, from devouring his orchard. While chowing down, the

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chipmunks add insult to injury with a call-and-response taunt they punctuate by hurling apple cores at Donald.

Before Polk and her husband were married, he’d tease her with the rhyme—and toss the core at her—any time he ate an apple. The minute she learned the source, she joyfully fired her cores right back.

These days, the couple has plenty of

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apple ammo. Besides the gigantic ol’ gal hugging the porch, the store’s property boasts eight other apple trees. Polk picks their bounty for primarily peaceful means each fall: to make and freeze the loads of applesauce she uses throughout the year in her wheat-free Apple Snaps, one of four kinds of allnatural, homemade dog treats in her Sea Dog Biscuit Co. line.

Local and all-natural ingredients, like Les Cheneaux Distillers’ beer, coffee grounds from Les Cheneaux Coffee Roasters, herbs from Polk’s garden and clay from area soil, find their way into her homemade Cedar Shore Soaps line, too.

You can easily go to Applecore’s website to order Mom some of Polk’s dog biscuits or soaps, one of her clever curated gift boxes or any number of the hundreds—literally, hundreds—of Michigan gifts she carries.

But before you click and ship, maybe muse a minute on those nine months your mom carried you. And the 18+ years after that. Maybe treating Mom to a road trip, shopping spree and porch sit is worth it whether Applecore’s trees are blooming or not.

Go ahead and ask her. We’ll wait. applecoregeneralstore.com

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Up North Kids & Family O PIONEERS!

Y

our biker gang might be tough, but can they handle a two-hour ride through an entire ghost district—one with cemeteries, spirit holes, spooky tales and sneak peeks inside deserted farmhouses and buildings?

If they can pedal 4.5 miles of level terrain (or you can pull your little ones in a bike trailer), you bet.

Pedaling Port Oneida’s Past, a leisurely, guided bike tour through the largest agricultural historic district in the nation, opens this month and is (almost) allages exceptional.

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

INDULGE ELK RAPIDS DAY SPA 404 BRIDGE ST., ELK RAPIDS

A beauty salon offering hair, nail and spa services, including massages, brow tinting and more. indulge-elkrapids.com LAKEVIEW HILL FARM & MARKETS CR-641 & LAKEVIEW HILLS ROAD, TRAVERSE CITY

The Traverse City farm is opening a new store in the historic 1890-era Pleasant Valley Schoolhouse, offering their own products (including cut flowers this year!) as well as items from other area businesses. lakeviewhillfarm.com MORE COTTAGE WORKS 225 W. LUDINGTON AVE., LUDINGTON

Scenic, story-rich and juuust spooky enough to keep kiddos captivated— never scared—the ride begins and ends at the Port Oneida Farms Heritage Center. The 1918 farmstead is where Charles and Hattie Olsen raised nine kids, countless dairy cows, pigs, fruits, veggies, daffodils and poppies (their ancestors are still popping up in 2023!) and later sold gasoline to passersby from a single pump in the yard.

Home and history buffs will have plenty of time to explore the refurbished bungalow, barn and exhibits to learn about the Native Americans and 1800s-era pioneers who settled in Port Oneida and the Manitou Islands. Park partner Preserve Historic Sleeping Bear has a history treasure hunt to keep kids busy while parents meander.

But first, the bike ride: Led by one of PHSB’s super storytellers, the ride routes you past sublime pastures and architectural gems, with up-close stops at seven spots, all accompanied by engrossing tales of tragedy, triumph, family and old-fashioned farm life.

The two-wheel steed you bring to ride (or rent through The Cyclery in Glen Arbor) is up to you. The route is partly paved, partly crushed stone, so skinny tires are never recommended. Helmets, however, are required. Cost is $25 per adult, $15 per child ages 8–17. Kids in bike trailers are free. Check out all of the walk/pedal/horse-drawn wagon options under the “experience” tab at phsb.org. -L.T.W.

This lakefront living home décor shop is opening a new year-round location, selling custom rugs, outdoor furniture, kitchen finds and more. The 1,500-square-foot retail space is also home to Gourmade Market and Blue Wave Nutrition.

Future plans include adding a clothing boutique and local beer and wine so you can sip and shop. yourcottageworks.com SWEETWATER FLORAL WALLOON LAKE

Petoskey florist Kalin Sheick is opening a flagship shop in Walloon Lake this spring. The shop will host creative workshop series, be the hub of Sheick’s soughtafter wedding floral operation and carry curated botanical gifts. sweetwaterfloral.com

Know of a business that just opened or have a fun community update?

Let us know at: editorial@traversemagazine.com.

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Call or visit any of our financial advisors in the area.

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photo by Jessie Daniella

Up North Events

IN BLOOM

by ALLISON JARRELL

May events popping up across the North.

SAT 5/6 Guided wildflower hikes with Sleeping Bear Dunes Tours let you explore different floral habitats and learn about early bloomers, woods and wildlife. Wear sturdy shoes and bring walking poles, a camera, binoculars and water. Tickets are $15, and tours take place every Saturday and Sunday throughout May. MyNorthTickets.com SAT 5/6 Gopherwood Concerts welcomes Michigan singer/songwriter Ben Traverse for a house show in Cadillac. Traverse is a passionate traditional folk artist, using his music as a vehicle for community, education and activism. MyNorthTickets.com

THIS SUMMER,

SAT 5/13 Join Wildscape Floral Co. at Traverse City’s Farm Club for a Mother’s Day bouquet-making class. You’ll arrange beautiful spring blossoms of all shapes and sizes, and go home with a wrapped bouquet (for yourself or Mom!). Tickets are $65. MyNorthTickets.com SAT 5/13 The Mackinac Island Fort2Fort 5 Mile Challenge starts with a blast of rifles at Fort Mackinac, then takes a winding route up to Fort Holmes (the highest point on the island). All proceeds help support Mackinac State Historic Parks. mackinacisland.org THUR 5/18 Boyne City’s National Morel Mushroom Festival returns this year with morel-inspired recipes, live entertainment, a carnival, craft show and more. May 18–21. bcmorelfestival.com THUR 5/27 The 16th annual Michigan Beer & Brat Festival at Crystal Mountain pairs live music with an array of Michigan microbrews, meads, hard ciders, wine, liquor and gourmet brats. crystalmountain.com THUR 5/27 The Bayshore Marathon, Half Marathon and 10K has become a Memorial Day Weekend tradition for running enthusiasts who want to experience the beauty of the Grand Traverse region and Old Mission Peninsula. bayshoremarathon.org

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Up North Wish You Were Here

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THE DOCK, HOTEL IROQUOIS

photo by Sara Wright

Don deck shoes or a cocktail dress—either suits the sublime (and literal) on-the-water setting of The Dock, Hotel Iroquois’s latest destination for small plates, big sunsets and utterly divine drinks.

One short, chic promenade from the hotel’s Carriage House restaurant and gardens, accessing The Dock is as easy as the spot is breezy; it’s open to all during restaurant hours, whether guests are overnighting at the Iroquois or elsewhere on Mackinac Island.

Tip: If you score a seat this summer, raise a glass to Margaret McIntire, radiant namesake of the Mrs. Mac Cosmo and icon of the Iroquois from the day she and her husband, Sam, purchased it in 1958 until her passing last year at age 95. -L.T.W.

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travel

RETRO ESCAPES

by LUCINDA HAHN

These hotels are rocking vintage vacation vibes.

top photo courtesy of Birch Lodge // inset photo courtesy of Harbor Springs Area Historical Society

E

ver since the glaciers checked out, leaving behind our glorious lakes, travelers have been checking in Up Motel at Birch Lodge North—beckoned first by early rustic camps, then seasonal shoreside resorts and turn-of-the-20th-century glam hotels. Today, than one flick of the light switch might be required to start nostalgia-seekers can tap into the romance of bygone eras the flame, “That’s still a lot easier,” management points out, at these three retro lodgings, which whisk guests back in “than it was to gather firewood in 1894.” (We’ll say!) Owned time while maintaining modern touches we love. by the Brown family for three generations, the hotel’s rooms feature whimsical Northern Michigan beach-scapes painted ANCHOR INN, TRAVERSE CITY by the owner’s mother.

Design-minded Alyssa Brittain envisioned a “Nordic Cottage” style for the interiors of this 1940s getaway, BIRCH LODGE, TROUT LAKE which she and her husband purchased in 2021. Out went Nestled amid a copse of hardwoods, this three-story inn the dated quilts and bedskirts, in came a painstaking renhas evolved from a 1912 sanitarium—its original raison ovation that transformed the eight cottages and six motel d’être—into the most gracious of lodgings, a place to rooms into a celebration of minimalist chic. Sunlight breathe in the beauty of the Upper Peninsula. Eight bedstreams onto crisp-white walls, while the original dark rooms embody the pared-back beauty of simpler times wood trim and hardwood with period-inspired classics floors synch with salvaged such as iron beds and hisfinds—think nautical sconces torical black-and-white and antique dressers—to fishing photos. Downstairs, provide the lake-cottage vibe the iconic Birch Bar is a of our dreams. This spring master class in Northwoods saw the addition of a threekitsch, featuring bar stools bedroom Lakeside House cut from tree trunks and a with its bead-boarded birch-log back bar complete kitchen, vintage light fixtures with a vintage Busch beer and cozy breakfast nook sign and a stein-full of promising to give you all the pheasant tailfeathers. Fancy nostalgic feels. a different era? Try the Colonial Inn property ’s eight-room COLONIAL INN, Motel at Birch Lodge, a HARBOR SPRINGS portal to the 1950s with its mid-century modern furniBuilt back when captains of industry brokered deals on ture, wall-to-wall carpeting and wood paneling that the verandas of the three-story Harbor Springs summer transport visitors back to childhood road trips of decades “cottages,” this 129-year-old hotel epitomizes old-millenpast. With each room featuring a picture window looking nium elegance, starting with its expansive porch, perfect out onto Trout Lake—plus high-speed WiFi—you could for sipping a gimlet in the Lake Michigan breeze. The be forgiven for choosing to ditch tomorrow’s itinerary high-ceilinged lobby décor is reminiscent of Mackinac and stay awhile.

Island’s Grand Hotel, and amid the manicured grounds, the kidney-shaped swimming pool is a throwback to glamLucinda Hahn traveled the globe as an award-winning our circa 1955. Each room’s gas fireplace helps ignite that journalist, living in four countries before settling in her lakeside ambience, and while the building’s age means more favorite place, the Leelanau Peninsula, in 2020.

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outdoors

NATURE 101

by KIM SCHNEIDER

The ultimate health hack: A walk in the woods. This new course in nature psychology shows students how to connect with the outdoors to improve their brains, focus, health and well-being.

photo by Paula Liimatta / 2021 State of Michigan

Lake of the Clouds, Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park

P

rofessor samantha smith has long taught environmental psychology—how environments such as our workplaces, hospital rooms or a classroom affect the human psyche, and how they could better be designed to fulfill their intended purposes.

But what always resonated most with her students was a small section of the class on what one might call the ultimate design: nature. That’s perhaps not surprising, given her students at Michigan Technological University study at the base of the Keweenaw Peninsula, with its 150 miles of Lake Superior shoreline and seemingly endless forests.

So, in a new Nature Psychology class created last spring, Smith and colleagues from departments like sociology, forestry and biology set out to answer: “Why do we feel so good when we’re in nature? And how can we get the maximum benefit from time outdoors?”

MTU students so believed in what they learned that first semester that they wrote up the benefits of nature on the human psyche and shared them on flyers distributed by the Keweenaw Land Trust. Smith led local hikes. And students developed a rock-hunting activity for families and others, hoping to share the impact of time spent in nature and inspire conservation efforts that ensure those benefits can continue.

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top photo by Gresham Halstead Photography / 2021 State of Michigan // bottom photo courtesy of Michigan DNR

outdoors

“On a very broad level, nature can lower cortisol levels, reduce stress and have positive effects on immune function,” Smith says. “There have been studies showing cancer recovery and reduced hypertension, also on longevity. There are compounding benefits to physical activity, more bang for your buck in exercising in nature versus a gym—and the mental health benefits are just as broad, helping with depression and anxiety. Nature time and gardening in prisons can lead to better long-term outcomes, reducing recidivism and adding all sorts of mental health benefits.”

Water, she says, offers a particularly strong boost to mood and health, thanks to the patterns on water, the movement we experience on it, and the associated vistas.

But Smith’s specific area of research is on attention, and the way nature gives a rest to brains that too often today are over-taxed by the speed and quantity of information, and the way electronic devices keep them ever on alert.

“What nature is good at is capturing our involuntary attention in a gentle, passive way, allowing those resources to recover,” she says. “When we’re done with time outdoors, we’re mentally rejuvenated and we’re going to perform better on all sorts of tasks. We’re operating at a more complete cognitive capacity again.”

The literal sounds (and benefits) of silence are taught by Robert James Laverne, an MTU forestry instructor with specialties in urban planning. His sound recordings in Seney National Wildlife Refuge revealed that area to be virtually free of noise pollution; immersion in such a place

is one key to giving our directed attention, which maintains focus while handling incoming distractions, a muchneeded rest, he explains.

“Your mind is allowed to wander from birds calling in trees to the warmth of the sun on your skin to the sound of water trickling through a stream,” he says. “Your mind is allowed to wander, and your mind is allowed to wonder.”

Kim Schneider is a long-time travel writer and author of “100 Things to Do in Traverse City Before You Die.”

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I

t’s the pinnacle of springtime in the cherry capital of the world: cherry trees in bloom. Some years are dampened by frost or windstorms or drought conditions. But some years, like this one, it’s an absolute explosion of delicate white blooms. Driving backroads takes priority to hustling the fastest route, the air fills with their sweet scent and the buzz of bees isn’t a cause for concern, but rather a pleasant reminder of nature at work.

What is cause for concern? Some 28 women heading out on their bikes for a ride—with two goals in mind: blossoms and beverages. Welcome to the Michigan Girl Bike (and Hike!) Club, a group I started. Something I don’t always own up to.

Our group meets every other week, year-round, for hikes, bikes or snowshoes.

Everyone is welcome, which means it’s sometimes a wildcard who shows up.

This Thursday night in mid-May, it’s a bunch of familiar faces plus several

By Kandace Chapple

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BIKES

Come May, there’s only one reasonable thing for this women’s bike club to do— take to the trails through the cherry orchards of Leelanau County.

Come along for the ride...

BLOOSSO OMS

& BO

4/5/23 11:07 AM

ONDING

Photos by Beth Price

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newcomers hoping to seize the blossom days. We congregate at Shady Lane Cellars. The Leelanau Trail, a 17-mile paved pathway that connects Traverse City to Suttons Bay, runs right past the winery. A perfect place to start and end, with plenty of photo ops with friends in between.

We decide to ride toward Suttons Bay and back, going as far as we can, but also getting back before Shady Lane closes. As we set out, I have the fleeting thought that perhaps Luke, the tasting room manager, hopes we’ll mismanage our time and he’ll be tucked happily into bed by the time we’ve found our way back.

Sorry, Luke, I set a timer on my phone. No way we weren’t having a go at the riesling before night’s end.

We ride all types of bikes—cruisers, road bikes, mountain bikes and one e-bike. We’ll do about 12 miles, but not

Timing is everything, though. I keep my backpack zipped for the moment and lead us off through Leelanau’s farm country, admiring this and that, while everyone settles into their ride. We pass by cedar trees, maple trees, wideopen fields, thriving farms and broken-down barns— remnants of the past. The temp is a perfect 60-something and the sun offers that golden-hour glow.

A whopping four miles in, I decide we should stop for our toast. The group dynamic is still too formal, and I can’t stand it for another second. It’s time for a little shock value—a surprise drink (for the newcomers) and a little break off our bikes in the quiet evening. Those who don’t want a taste are put to work passing out the shots.

Within moments, bikes are on their side in the long grass, people are meeting each other, laughter is in the air and we’re commandeering a wooden bench as a temporary bar area.

That’s when it happens.

A sudden, loud, explosive hissssss slices through the revelry.

Everyone freezes … what in the world is it? In bike clubber Micki’s mind, an anaconda.

She screams and leaps into my arms, hoping to be saved from the “snake.” Instead of reassuring her, I reprimand, DO NOT SPILL THE VODKA. It’s no snake, it’s one of the tires on Chris’s bike—shriveling to dead flat before our very eyes. Now what to do? How could we fix it out here?

That is when Linnea, who hasn’t said a word about her backpack in the entire history of the club, whips a power tool Club leader Kandace Chapple gathers the motley crew of riders with a megaphone out of it. One that inflates tires. and a dose of good humor.

To say we all make Linnea queen on the spot is an understatement. Who is this woman attempting to set any land speed records on this ride. I’ve in our midst? Resourceful, smart and battery-operated. We made that clear. This ride is about stopping to smell blos- bow down to her in awe. soms (and the riesling). I tell anyone who wants an actual However, Chris’s tire has a hole the size of a small child cardio workout to start ahead of us. No one budges. in it. No power tool can fix this. But before we panic Off we go, heading left out of the winery’s driveway onto (again), Irma offers to race back by bike (probably have a its namesake, E. Shady Lane, before making a quick right glass of wine at the winery), then race back by car to pick up onto the Leelanau Trail. At the bike trail, there’s the scene Chris at the nearest road, not too far away. we’d hoped for: an orchard with a million white petals.

After that, the group has the bonded vibe of a college For now, there’s a palpable politeness shrouding the sorority—the snake scare, flat tire and vodka shot as our group. Rides always start like this—a careful rolling out, impromptu initiation. Everyone is suddenly instant BFFs everyone worried they’ll be too slow or too fast or flat on and glad to be alive. All with a gentle burn in our chests the ground. But I’m not worried, I have a backpack with from the alcohol—because, of course, we aren’t actually some friendship-maker in it: caramel-flavored vodka and college girls. shot glasses. Somehow the idea of a mid-ride toast We head back to the winery then, not even hitting had taken hold over the winter when the group was double digits for round-trip mileage. Because my alarm snowshoeing and now, well, it is a bad idea that has per- had gone off: We have exactly one hour to travel four sisted with joy. miles and consume exactly one glass of wine before 36 T R A V E R S E N O R T H E R N M I C H I G A N

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WE PASS BY CEDAR TREES, MAPLE TREES, WIDE-OPEN FIELDS, THRIVING FARMS AND BROKEN-DOWN BARNS—REMNANTS OF THE PAST.

EVERYONE IS SUDDENLY INSTANT BFFS AND GLAD TO BE ALIVE. closing time. We indulge in a final photo op with the blossoms on the way back—a better group photo now, everyone high on survival—with someone’s bony knees in someone else’s back, three of the women building a human pyramid.

Finally, we’re back at Shady Lane, rolling in with a roar, and Luke—with beverages chilled and ready—admits defeat. Between sips of wine, cider and water are exaggerated retellings of our adventure. We spread out on our gracious hosts’ back deck and toast the ride.

Kandace Chapple is a freelance writer and avid Michigan outdoor adventurer. mi-girl.com Beth Price is an editorial and commercial photographer based in Northern Michigan. It’s here where she finds much inspiration in the color palette and light that falls throughout the changing seasons. bethpricephotography.com

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P E DA L T H RO U G H T H E P E TA L S A DIY TOUR

The Leelanau Trail is perfect for a cherry blossom tour on wheels. The flowers usually pop around May 15 and last 10 days, but Mother Nature makes the final call on that. The trail is 17 miles long, flat, paved and wide and runs from Traverse City to Suttons Bay. To see the most cherry blossoms, start in Suttons Bay and ride toward TC until you’re ready to head back, as there are more orchards on the northern end of the trail.

Popular stops along the way are: HOP LOT BREWING CO. Located right in Suttons Bay, it’s the perfect kick-off or post-ride stop. Try their sweet-tart “Cherry Cider” to keep with the theme and honor those gorgeous blossoms.

BLACK STAR FARMS. About 4 miles south of Suttons Bay, you’ll peel off the trail and take Revold Road to the left.

Their horse farm with its striking white fencing makes this winery a must-see.

Pair cherry wine with cherry bruschetta (cabernet franc–soaked cherries, heirloom tomatoes, chèvre and crostini with balsamic).

SHADY LANE CELLARS. Seven miles south of Suttons Bay, watch for the official trailhead parking lot where Shady Lane (the road) intersects the Leelanau Trail and hang a left to get to the winery. Here, the trail runs right next to a gorgeous orchard that’s the perfect photo opp.

Try Shady Lane’s Coop de Rosé, a bright, fun wine with notes of cherry, orange blossom and sweet citrus.

Another tour option: From mid-May to the end of the month, Grand Traverse Tours offers a self-guided Cherry Blossom Bike Tour that starts in Suttons Bay. Total cycling for the day is 12 to 16 miles, broken up into 4- to 5-mile chunks between stops. You can go as far as you’d like before heading back. Use your own wheels or rent an e-bike to try something new. This tour includes a catered box lunch. grandtraversebiketours.com

Michigan Girl Bike (and Hike!) Club regulars Lisa, Micki and Deanna head down the Leelanau Trail to the first pitstop.

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8 GREAT UNDER-THE-RADAR

BELLAIRE Charming and unassuming, Bellaire indeed is the North’s fresh prince.

This tiny town in the middle of nowhere (you’ll drive curving backroads for miles before it suddenly appears) holds countless jewels in its hand: access to some of the best waterways in Michigan, a mountain bike trail system that people build entire vacations around and a brewpub that’s famous statewide.

ADVENTURE

TOWNS

Out your door: Within a 10-minute drive from town, you can tackle the mountain bike trails at Glacial Hills Pathway and Natural Area, hike the Grass River Natural Area, ski at Schuss Mountain and boat the Chain of Lakes Water Trail. (Oh, and did we mention the seven golf courses?)

BY K A N D A C E C H A P P L E

The Chain of Lakes Water Trail is a 100+ mile inland waterway made up of 12 lakes and interconnected rivers.

photo by Grant Piering

Let’s be real: It’s one of the wildest housing markets in recent memory ... and more people are thinking hard about not just where, but how they want to live. Real estate experts share their short list of Northern towns where buyers can still find (relative) affordability, and a stellar home base for outdoor adventures. If you’re a curious local, ready to buy or deep in dream mode, look twice at these quietly cool gems in our own backyard.

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In the neighborhood: The Corner Bistro’s motto is, “If you’re here, you’re local.” Snag your usual spot on the charming porch. Mammoth Distilling welcomes with a convivial atmosphere and the famed “Cherry Bounce”—a whiskey made with tart cherries from Shooks Farm right up the road. And Short’s Brewing Co., has, in short, become THE destination for mountain bikers who want to ride Glacial, then lunch and hydrate.

It’s the perfect afternoon in spandex.

MEET YOUR DREAM HOUSE

In your garage: A boat and a bike. Paddles & Pedals in downtown Bellaire offers gear for kayaking, paddleboarding, hiking and biking (with brands like Jamis, Pivot and Niner).

6953 Northshore Drive, Bellaire, 1,398 sq. ft., $956,000 (SOLD) A quintessential lakefront log cottage with three bedrooms and two baths offers 115 feet of sandy frontage on Lake Bellaire, an acre of land and an inviting northern feel with exposed logs, a natural stone fireplace and a wall of windows that provides uninterrupted lake views.

The oversized garage adds a half bath and unfinished bunk room above.

7525 Tranquility Hill Rd., Bellaire, 3,732 sq. ft., $987,700 This custom four-bedroom, three-and-ahalf-bath, two-car garage family home offers acreage for privacy and recreation just minutes from town. A mix of open and wooded 20 acres surround the fulllength deck, hot tub and heated swimming pool all with stunning sunset views of Lake Bellaire.

R E A L TA L K Julia Pietrowicz Associate Broker, antrimshoresrealty.com M E D I A N H O M E PR I C E IN T OW N : $283,500 W H AT ’S N E X T F O R BE L L A IR E : “Bellaire is on the rise. The downtown has transformed in the last 15 years. We have always been a destination for the lakes and resort, but now people seem to come for the fun downtown area. Unlike some northern towns that focus on winter or summer, Bellaire is always open.”

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W H O’S BU Y IN G : “A lot of people who are now able to work from home. Also, younger buyers not ready to live here full-time, so they want a place they can rent out when they aren’t using it. We see some buyers who couldn’t find an affordable house in Traverse City, so they came out this way.”

W H Y L I V E H E R E : “When you live in Bellaire,

you have so many recreational opportunities available within a very short distance. Most

people have to drive four hours to enjoy what we have within minutes of home. We are in the center of everything Up North. You have access to crystal-clear inland lakes and rivers, as well as numerous beaches on Lake Michigan. Most everything you need on a daily basis is available in town—dining, hardware, pharmacies, dentists, grocery store, auto repair/parts—and the big box stores are less than an hour away.”

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ST. IGNACE

top: photo by Allison Jarrell; bottom: photo by Sam Brown

Plenty of smoked fish and pasties and not a stoplight to be found in St. Ignace, the Yooper town perched over Lake Huron and the stunning fivemile-long Mackinac Bridge. The Hallmark-worthy downtown is home port for the passenger ferries to Mackinac Island in the summer—and the snowmobilers who take the ice bridge to the island in the winter if the ice is thick enough.

MEET YOUR DREAM HOUSE

R E A L TA L K

1525 US-2 W. St. Ignace, 1750 sq. ft. $475,000 This fully furnished three-bed, threebath cottage sits on the Straits of Mackinac. Enjoy a private shallow sandy beach, nightly bonfires, freighter watching and Lake Michigan sunsets.

Cheryl Schlehuber Broker and Owner of Mackinac Properties and Northern Michigan Vacation Rentals in downtown St. Ignace mackinacproperties.com northernmichiganvr.com M E D I A N H O M E PR I C E IN T OW N :

$190,000 WHAT’S NE X T FOR ST. IGNACE:

farmer’s market and Saturday night fireworks all summer long. We are the home base to the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Federal Forest Service and State Police.

People from all over the world travel to Mackinac Island. We are always grateful for the diversity and ideas that come with that part of the community.”

W H O’S BU Y IN G : “Many families were born and raised in St. Ignace and as many go off to discover careers or other lifestyles; lots of those family members and their friends come back

“We are building a new Cultural Center downtown across from the city We have nightly music, a 42 marina.

T R AV E R S E N O R T H E R N M I C H I G A N

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Out your door: History galore. Shipwrecks to explore. Swim at the beautiful sand dunes on US-2, enjoy miles of hiking and biking trail systems and count on the white stuff come winter for the cross-country ski trails. Keep kiddos busy at Little Bear East Arena (indoor hockey, gym, ball fields, hiking trail) and the big kids happy at St. Ignace’s huge staging area for the ATV-snowmobile trail system. For the quiet ones, wander the North Huron Birding Trail and for the lucky ones, hit the Kewadin Casino just outside of town.

In your garage: Boats, snowmobiles, ATVs, kayaks, bikes, tents, fishing equipment, snowshoes, binoculars. You’ll need it all, but some items can be harder to come by up here. Go to St. Ignace True Value Hardware to keep your own goods in working order.

In the neighborhood: Get fish fresh from the Great Lakes at your pick of downtown eateries and pubs. For an all-day breakfast choice—and some Oreo pancakes—visit Java Joe’s Café.

They have a different St. Ignace -inspired mural painted on the floor every year and the walls are lined with outrageous teapots for sale.

to find housing here. People who have been priced out of purchasing in surrounding areas have found our area to still be affordable for many— however, there is a demand for housing that we cannot meet, as in most resort towns today. Vacation homes that can serve several purposes are very sought after.”

W H Y L IV E HERE: “St. Ignace is a year-round community founded in 1671 and is the third oldest continuously inhabited city in the country. It is known

to many as the ‘Center of the Fresh Water World’ and sailors and boaters from all over find this community —which is also the gateway to the Upper Peninsula—a great home port.

We are within walking distance to restaurants, hardware, pharmacies, post office, library, shopping, museums and grocery. A historic town with two long-established museums and views of the Straits of Mackinac, Mackinac Island and many other islands close by.”

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CHEBOYGAN Cheboygan is a water-lover’s delight, perched along the Straits of Mackinac at the confluence of the Cheboygan River and Lake Huron. It marks the eastern gateway to the Inland Waterway, a water trail that stretches 40 miles, joining seven state parks, 20 nature preserves, three rivers, three lakes and countless tiny towns near the tip of the mitt.

top: photo courtesy of Michigan DNR; bottom: photo by Dave Weidner

Out your door: Cheboygan has 42 miles of Inland Waterway. You can boat from Cheboygan River into Mullett Lake, Indian River, Burt Lake, Crooked River and Crooked Lake going one way … then Cheboygan River and into Lake Huron and beyond in the other. Black Mountain Recreation Area offers 70plus miles of groomed trails for hiking, ATVing, cross-country skiing, snowmobiling and horseback riding. You can also snowmobile, hike and bike the North Eastern State Trail for about 70 miles from Cheboygan to Alpena.

In your garage: Fishing equipment from KatFisher Bait & Tackle on N. Straits Highway in Cheboygan. They’ll keep you in live bait all year and host a Mullett Lake Ice Fishing Tournament in February.

In the neighborhood: The Nauti Inn Barstro is accessible by road or river; the Hack-Ma-Tack Inn is an iconic landmark at the mouth of Mullett Lake; and the Pier M33 Restaurant and Marina on the Cheboygan River is the perfect place to tuck into a Dock Burger (Wagyu beef patty with Swiss, Castelvetrano olives and truffle aioli) after a day on the boat.

R E A L TA L K Missy Koszegi Associate Broker with Coldwell Banker Schmidt Realtors, Cheboygan missykoszegi.com M E D I A N H O M E PR I C E IN T OW N : $168,000 WHAT’S NE X T FOR CHEBOYG AN:

“People are just starting to discover Cheboygan. For several decades, Cheboygan had many challenges which caused general socio-economic decline and held property values in check. The last six years we have seen a remarkable turnaround! Our downtown is beginning to thrive with several new shopping and dining establishments. Places like Libby’s Downtown Restaurant, Step Inn Mexican Restaurant, Beau est Beau (handcrafted cocktails

and mocktails) and The Hive North (a mead and cider mill) all represent growth in our area.”

W H O’S BU Y IN G : “Young people with families who may have graduated from Cheboygan Area Schools, but left to find work, are coming back. Many can work remotely and they loved their hometown. It’s friendly and safe, and that’s the environment they want to raise their family in.”

W H Y L IV E HERE: “Cheboygan is a community on the rebound with energy, vision and momentum. An infusion of new investment from creative entrepreneurs, the Michigan Mainstreet program and infrastructure upgrades have teamed with long-time champions of the community to create a fresh future.”

MEET YOUR DREAM HOUSE

7134 Village Ln., Mullet Lake, 2,742 sq. ft. $399,000 This quiet little getaway retreat in the heart of the Mullett Lake Village has North Central State Trail just out the front door and Mullett Lake access just a short walk away. The home features an open-concept kitchen, an extralarge living room with a wood-burning fireplace and a heated pole barn for your RV, extra storage or workshop.

500 Needle Point Dr., Cheboygan, 2,934 sq. ft. $3,800,000 Nestled at the end of Needle Point on Mullett Lake, this home has vast waterfront footage, acreage all around and your very own island. Four bedrooms, three baths, plus a bonus 400-square-foot guest house for family and friends who inevitably will want to come and stay awhile.

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R E A L TA L K

Frida Waara Realtor, GRI ABR COR ACP SRES, with REMAX 1st Realty in Marquette callfrida.com M E D I A N H O M E PR I C E IN T OW N : $143,750 WHAT’S NE X T FOR MUNISING:

“It has woods and waters, but not many year-round residents. Out of Michigan’s eighty-three counties, Alger ranks third from the bottom with just 1.9 people per square mile. But it’s a town that is coming forward in a big way. Munising has been a tourist destination for over a century, but keeping up with the demand has been tough. They have quite the balancing act between the number of folks who are coming to visit and still maintaining a serene surrounding.”

WHO’S BU YING: “Many folks come here to be ‘out of

town’—but they may also be buying where there is no electricity or natural gas. They will likely have a well

and septic. I live half the week off-grid and it’s very doable with solar from May 1 to October 1. But be ready with a backup system when the ‘dark ages’ come. For us, it’s propane generators, but heat pumps are becoming popular, too. I also let buyers know that they may not need to buy eighty acres or more. Our ‘camp’ in the U.P. is only on eight acres, but it adjoins sixteen sections of the Hiawatha National Forest. That means I can ski, bike and hike for thirty-two miles and never cross a paved road. It’s glorious to have so much LAND that you don’t have to buy!”

W H Y L IV E HERE: “It’s back to the same reason people are coming here: water. As the planet and its people suffer more from fire and lack of water, places like Munising become more valuable. Just remember, snow is water at a different temperature.”

Munising Falls

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opposite: photo by Allison Jarrell

MUNISING Munising has been dubbed the “Moab of the Midwest,” and although it doesn’t have two National Parks like the famed outdoor lifestyle town of southern Utah, it does boast rocks and biking ops for days, including Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore plus Grand Island National Recreation Area. Hiawatha National Forest and Escanaba State Forest surround the town. Plus,

with an average of more than 200 inches of snow and 330 miles of groomed trails, Munising is the snowmobile capital of the Midwest.

Out your door: The reason people come is simple: water. Alger County has more than 100 miles of public Lake Superior shoreline—including Grand Island—plus, it’s home to 30 rivers, 51 lakes and 17 spectacular waterfalls. Whether you want to hike for an hour or a week, you can find trails at Pictured Rocks. Come summer, Alger County becomes a bikers’ paradise (you can take the ferry over to Grand Island and make a day of the 20-mile loop around the island). In winter, dog sledding abounds, as does Nordic skiing, snowshoeing and ice fishing. And Munising has been hosting the annual Michigan Ice Fest since 1990, making it the longest running ice-climbing festival in the country. The one thing you can enjoy any time of the year?

The night sky. With no light pollution, you just might see the Aurora Borealis while gazing north across Lake Superior.

On the water: Maybe the best gear here is another’s wisdom. To experience paddling on Lake Superior in a safe and guided environment, book a tour with one of the local kayak companies. They will give you a good introduction to what paddling the “Gitche Gumee” is all about. (The Chippewa people named Lake Superior “Gitche Gumee” or “Ojibwe Gichigami,” which translates to The Ojibwe’s Great Sea.)

In the neighborhood: Fun takes fuel, and you’ll find great places to eat in Munising. Try the “Yooper on a Hot Tin Roof ” skillet at Earl E. Byrds, or roam on over to Tracey’s restaurant at the Roam Inn for entrees like rice bowls, curry and noodles. To quench your thirst, try the frothy beers on tap at ByGeorge Brewing Co. with names like “Rusty Toboggan” and “Walking with Giants.”

MEET YOUR DREAM HOUSE E3220 and E3218 State Highway M-28, AuTrain, 10,462 sq. ft. $4,900,000 This showpiece is not your everyday listing, but it’s definitely a way to highlight the best of Alger County. This seven-bedroom, seven-bath home with a three-car garage is a “once in a lifetime” property with panoramas of Au Train and Grand islands, protected by the cove and serenity of Shelter Bay. This beauty sits 50 feet above the world’s largest body of freshwater by area on the planet—Lake Superior.

303 W. Onota St., Munising, 1,050 sq. ft. $155,000 This snug three-bedroom, one-bath cottage packs a lot of cute for the buck, including hardwood floors and perennial flowerbeds. The location is the perfect mix of in-town bustle and peaceful U.P. vibes—it’s just a block from downtown, a four-block stroll to the marina, and backs up into the vast forested acreage that wraps around Munising.

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top: photo by Dave Karczynski; bottom: photo by Dave Weidner

GRAYLING More than 75 percent of Crawford County is state or federal land, so there’s plenty of playground to enjoy with snowmobile trails, ORV trails, hunting acreage and more. Anglers from all over the country fly fish the Manistee and AuSable rivers. But the busiest weekend of the year is the AuSable River Canoe Marathon, held the last full weekend of July. Starting in downtown Grayling, 100 two-person teams enter the water for a 120-mile canoe race through the night to Oscoda—in a carbon fiber racing canoe about as heavy and skinny as a toothpick and 18 feet long. It’s an all-town spectator sport!

Out your door: Hanson Hills Recreation Area prettttttty much has it all: a ski hill, sledding, fat-bike trails, hiking/running trails, groomed cross-country ski trails, a baseball diamond and two disc golf courses. Opened in 1929, it was the first downhill ski area in all of Michigan. Rent a canoe at Shel-Haven on the Manistee or Penrod’s on the AuSable River, or invest in equipment and make a trek that works for you.

(Try the section of the South Branch of the AuSable known as the Mason Tract. This stretch of water is about a 10-mile float, and the majority of it has no house on either side of the river— just you and nature.)

AuSable Artisan Village

In your garage: Northbound Outfitters and Skip’s Sport Shop are your go-to spots for gear.

Northbound focuses on outdoor recreation, including a huge selection of proper clothing, while Skip’s has all you need for hunting and fishing. Be sure to take time to get to know the owners of these stores—they’re local, work in the store every day and can offer tips to find local gems.

In the neighborhood: Grayling created a special social district where patrons can purchase drinks from one establishment and walk to another establishment to visit. Paddle Hard Brewing, Rolling Oak Brewing Co., Michigan Brew and Spike’s Keg O Nails each have their own personalities. Try Paddle Hard’s “River Water” cocktail or Rolling Oak’s “Call Your Mother” IPA.

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R E A L TA L K Chet Wheeler Realtor with RE/MAX of Grayling remax.com, 616.644.0246 M E D I A N H O M E PR I C E IN T OW N : $158,500 WHAT’S NE X T FOR GR AYLING: “Downtown Grayling has seen a drastic upgrade over the last few years. Grayling Main Street is a volunteer-run organization that has been putting together community events like car shows or live music where people are literally dancing in the street. I have always found that locals and tourists in Grayling are willing to help others, especially in a time of need. For many, that may just be when they get stuck on a trail in the middle of nowhere!”

W H O’S BU Y IN G : “Most buyers in this area remain secondary home purchasers looking for a cabin Up North, whether it’s on the river or in the middle of the woods sitting on acreage. However, we have also seen a surge of buyers purchasing their primary home to move out of the city and enjoy the relaxed lifestyle.”

MEET YOUR DREAM HOUSE

photo by Beth Price

W H Y L IV E HERE: “Grayling remains low-priced compared to other areas, so your money goes a lot further when it comes to buying a home or purchasing vacant land. With Grayling being in the center of the state, it’s a perfect spot to have a home base while also being close enough to other towns to go enjoy for the day or the weekend. It’s an hour and 15 minutes south of the Mackinac Bridge, an hour east of Traverse City and Lake Michigan, 10 minutes to Higgins Lake, an hour and a half to Lake Huron, 30 minutes to Treetops in Gaylord and an hour to Boyne Mountain. That being said, most people simply come to Grayling to stay here and relax on the river.”

6260 Fox Run Dr., Grayling, 3,461 sq. ft. $429,000 This five-bedroom, three-bath home with a three-car garage sits on the 9th hole of the Patriot Golf Course.

It features an updated kitchen, massive living room, large laundry room and a 20x20-foot main floor bedroom.

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sunset and river photos by Heather Higham; Jim’s Joint photo by Dave Weidner

HONOR

MEET YOUR DREAM HOUSE

R E A L TA L K

3008 Indian Hill Rd., Honor, 1,805 sq. ft. $269,000 (SOLD) This three-bedroom, one-bath home is only minutes from Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. It’s complete with creature comforts such as a solarium style entry/mudroom, gas fireplace and a hot tub on a large outdoor deck.

The temperature-controlled garage has its own bathroom and is equipped for an industrial-level air compressor, and includes an additional attached 18x19 area for toys.

Jamie Gray Realtor, Coldwell Banker Schmidt coldwellbanker.com M E D I A N H O M E PR I C E IN T OW N : $302,432 WHAT’S NE X T FOR HONOR: “Honor is

growing! In the past few years, new businesses have opened, some have relocated, old buildings have been removed, a new park with access to the Platte River is being created by the Honor Area Restoration Project (H.A.R.P.), the

National Coho Festival is being revived, new housing is in the works and more.”

W H O’S BU Y IN G : “We are seeing more and more early retirees or people who are looking to retire within the next five years and want to lock in their retirement location.”

WHY LIVE HERE: “Honor is close to everything

Tiny Honor is known not only as the “Coho Capital,” but also as a gateway town to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. August’s National Coho Salmon Festival celebrates the region’s history (in 1966, Coho salmon were first introduced into the Platte River in Honor, and each year they return to spawn at the hatchery). Weekend anglers grab a table at Platte River Inn for coffee and bacon to write home about.

Meanwhile, no joke, the “current temp” sign over Honor Bank along US-31 is everyone’s favorite to peek at on a hot summer day on their way to float the Platte River just minutes away.

Out your door: It’s a rare retro find these days, but here in Honor, there’s family fun under the night sky in the form of a 1950s-era drive-in movie theater, the Cherry Bowl. Enjoy canoeing, kayaking and tubing down the lazy lower Platte River. A short drive takes you to M-22 and the beaches, trails and overlooks in the Sleeping Bear Dunes.

Deck out your pad: Labadie’s Summer Place Casuals offers outdoor furniture and fire pits galore. Need the deck first? Honor & Onekama Building Supply has supplied lumber, paint and hardware to local DIYers since 1963.

In the neighborhood: Honor Family Market smokes its own meats and keeps one of the most impeccable meat cases in the North. Jim’s Joint slings phenomenal BBQ. And get in the locals’ summer habit of chasing the sunset: Grab a late-evening chocolate malt at JoMo’s Ice Cream Shop and zip over to nearby Beulah to see the sky turn pink over Crystal Lake.

in each direction. Honor is just on the outskirts of Traverse City (about twenty-five minutes away), so it is a mix of being close to the amenities of a larger city, but still at a slower pace. Smaller family-owned businesses provide this charming Northern Michigan town with an overall ‘family feel.’”

Northern Michigan has to offer. From the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore just minutes away to freshwater rivers and lakes

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R E A L TA L K Brandon Ball

MANISTEE

photos courtesy of Visit Manistee County

The deep-water channel running right through a Victorian-era downtown sets Manistee apart from other beach towns.

Quaint and charming, nestled on Lake Michigan, it’s a bite-sized version of Up North, with plenty of room for opportunity.

Out your door: Sand: First Street Beach at Douglas Park and Fifth Avenue Beach offer concessions and bathrooms. Water: Both the Big and Little Manistee rivers offer kayaking, fishing and canoeing. Trails: The Manistee River Trail, North Country Trail and Big M Recreation Area are just a few of the public trails in the area.

Nearby Ludington State Park provides a beautiful 15-mile coastal ride through forests and dunes. Inland, revel in the endless acres of the Manistee National Forest. Snow: Come winter, your new

hometown hosts the Victorian Sleighbell Parade and Old Christmas Weekend, complete with an adorned Christmas tree pulled by horses down main street.

In your beach bag: You will definitely need your swim suit and flip flops at the ready to get the most out of Manistee. Go downtown to visit Snyder’s Shoes (Teva sandals), The Outpost (Patagonia shorts and ball caps) and Glik’s (Huk outdoor shirts).

In the neighborhood: Sip a local ale at Third Life Brewing or North Channel Brewing Co. Or head downstairs to your very own “Cheers”: the lower-level T.J.’s Pub inside the 1890’s Ramsdell Inn. Reserve Friday nights for the famous pizza at the eclectic-yetupscale Fricano’s Manistee River.

Broker/Realtor, Dwelling Realty-Keller Williams brandonball.kw.com MEDIAN HOME PRICE IN TOWN:

$240,000 WHAT’S NE X T FOR MANISTEE:

“Manistee is definitely on the rise. We have a brand-new Hampton Inn being built on the South beach. We are slated to have eight new restaurants opening within the next year. Commercial real estate sales in the area have increased substantially.

We also have a large development happening at the corner of US-31 and River Street labeled as the Gateway Project, which will be mixed-use.”

W H O’S BU Y IN G : “We have a lot of second-home buyers and vacation property buyers. The access to our beaches and downtown area provide plentiful parking and easier access than most small beach towns on Lake Michigan.”

W H Y L IV E HERE: “The commercial activity happening in Manistee shows that big businesses are confident enough to invest heavily in the area. It has been largely undiscovered in the past and now people are seeing all of the potential. There are excellent condo associations here that provide additional amenities like pools and boat slips.”

MEET YOUR DREAM HOUSE 375 Lighthouse Way S., Manistee, 2,240 sq. ft. $380,000 This duplex-style condo at Lighthouse Landings is just a short distance from First Street Beach on Lake Michigan yet in a private and secluded setting. The living room features a gas fireplace and a sunshine-filled, south-facing three-season room. Main floor has a primary suite and laundry, and the lower level features a third bedroom, full bath and patio walkout.

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CADILLAC Located in the Huron-Manistee National Forests, Cadillac seems to be Michigan at its finest: the snow comes by the buckets in the winter (even when towns farther north are still doing snow dances), and in the fall, the colors turn early (offering day-trippers both north and south a first autumn before their own hometown cooperates). This little Northern oasis offers big-box convenience but also small-town charm— with biking, hiking, skiing and boating literally a step from town in every direction.

this page, top, and opposite photos courtesy of Cadillac Area Visitors Bureau

Out your door: The shores of Lake Cadillac (a local fave for sunsets) and Lake Mitchell offer boating, fishing and swimming. Nearby Pine River—quick, tight and not for novice paddlers—is a destination river for kayaking and canoeing. (Adventure paddlers looking for a challenge? Behold the whitewater rapids on the lower stretches of the Pine after a significant rainfall.) The ever-improving Cadillac Pathway with a brandnew pavilion and outdoor fireplace offers miles of single-track mountain biking, hiking and winter fat biking. And let’s not forget Caberfae Peaks with downhill skiing and snowboarding one season and golfing the next.

In your pole barn: This is a yearround playground, so you’ll want it all: skis, snowshoes, kayaks, bikes and paddleboards. Hit up Sun ‘n’ Snow Ski Shop or newcomer bike shop Einstein Cycles on Mitchell Street.

In the neighborhood: Clam Lake Beer Company has 40 brews on tap, brick-fired pizza and a nod to Cadillac’s past—originally known as Clam Lake.

Willow Market is a gourmet coffee bar, BBQ spot and deli, with local brews and—surprise—The Greenhouse, a greenhouse-turned-event space with trivia nights on Wednesdays and live entertainment on Fridays.

Kandace Chapple is a freelance writer and avid Michigan outdoor adventurer. mi-girl.com

MEET YOUR DREAM HOUSE

8073 Quarter Rd., Cadillac, 2,170 sq. ft. $337,000 This three-bedroom home with a garage and pole barn sits on 10 wooded acres just 10 minutes from downtown and half that to the beaches of Lake Cadillac and Lake Mitchell. The home has had an entire makeover, including a new roof and siding.

R E A L TA L K Michelle Maidens Associate Broker/Manager RealEstate One-Cadillac michellecansell.com MEDIAN HOME PRICE IN TOWN:

$207,000 WHAT’S NE X T FOR CADILL AC:

“Cadillac is definitely on the rise. The downtown district has grown substantially in the last several years, offering many more places to shop, eat and enjoy entertainment. It’s not the Cadillac it was even a few years ago.”

W H O’S BU Y IN G : “Over the last couple of years, we have seen many buyers relocate here because it’s a central location to be closer to family and friends. Cadillac is also a great place for a first-time buyer because prices are not as expensive as in the surrounding counties, offering the chance to get a nicer home on a smaller budget in a gorgeous area.”

W H Y L IV E HERE: “Cadillac is a wise place to invest because its growth will continue, yet things are still very affordable. It’s a beautiful place to call home.”

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As Long as I Know You

With her mother losing her memory, a daughter navigates the currents of time for them both.

By Anne-Marie Oomen 52 T R A V E R S E N O R T H E R N M I C H I G A N

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T

he world shifts back.

We are half orphaned. Our family stands in a hospital room that is a field of silence all about her. She remains: mother, parent, elder, and now, widow.

She is drive, control, shame, power, mourning, distorted love, love, love, all of it. And also, suddenly—I know this more deeply than anything—she is alone. And now, an intuition springs from connection that has always been knife sharp between us. Her solitude will be specific, demanding. And mothers should have that, these women who gave us life, who raised us up, who wiped our butts. But hers, hers is beyond me. For one simple reason: I have not been a good daughter. And I don’t intend to start now. The pattern was set long ago and can’t be marred by breath or unbreath. Except I know nothing of the work of grief. Except I know nothing, really, of her. Or of myself.

C

.

hildhood, rivered with need, with talk that pools under the talk that talks. Childhood is about money; not enough, not enough.

Childhood is my dad wanting to plant some new field but there is no money for seed, the cows have been sick and the vet will not come, machinery is broken. Somewhere beyond us something called communism is spreading, and an atomic bomb might, right now, be in the air, falling. The Russians can do that. And there is no money. And now it seems we have a farmhouse of holes. My mother is worried about the holes, our shoes with holes, shirts with

holes, sweaters and coats with tears like mouths open and panting. Holes. The fronts of our coats flap like doors in wind. Winter is coming.

I am not yet ten, but I have already been taught the world is round. In science class, I have seen pieced together pictures of the world from those rockets that entered space for the first time and sent back the photos so if you strung them together, you could see the curve, supposedly proving at last that this place is not flat, but round. I don’t believe it—too scary. I know it is false, like the fake money in Monopoly—it just looks a little real. If you climb the hill behind the barn, you see all the way to the lake, the edge. Flat.

“But then why does the lake disappear?” My mother’s question is full of the holes where knowing lives.

Because you’ve come to the end of it, I think to myself.

Don’t say it. Because where the sky starts, that’s the end of the world. Don’t say it. She’ll be mad for my sassing.

As though she has read my mind, she says, “No. Something’s always past the edge.” And what happens there? My hands turn cold. The things I don’t know.

My heartbeat turns into the sound of rain. These are thoughts I get lost in when I am trying not to get lost in the worry about the holes. .

M

y mother is now in a place called The Manor. My sister and I are clearing my mother’s house. Sort. Clear. Stack. Mom’s dusty kitchen is full of boxes sitting like squat security guards. I’m breathing dust that should be sampled for an archeological dig and wrapping endless clutter when Marijo bursts in the front door. Marijo has been cleaning Dad’s storage shed behind the house while I pack this stuffy kitchen. Marijo says, “I think we have a problem.”

Marijo is a problem solver, and she’s good at it. So, if she thinks something

is a problem, it is a problem.

“Come look.”

She’s out the door, long striding through the unmowed grass and pines, past the storage shed, headed to Conner’s, the house right next door. Conner is our crazy, big-talking neighbor whom my dad adored, my mom put up with, who speaks with a gravelly voice and has a fierce interest in all things weed. He has a perfectly legal medical card and is growing a handful of gorgeous plants in the backyard. We don’t know if my father was ever aware of Conner’s lifestyle, but I suspect that if Dad did, he was advising Conner on fertilizer use. What we appreciate is that Conner looked out for Dad and Mom, made sure Dad didn’t have to

plow his driveway in the dead of winter, checked on them like a good friend.

Why has Marijo gone to get him?

Within minutes, both are back at the storage shed, where she has partially opened the old hinged doors, tilted as tents, gouging the grass. I join them, staring into the unlit cavern, just as I hear Marijo ask him, “Do you think that’s what it is?” They are not entering the shed.

Con says, “I never seen the real McCoy, but if I were to guess, I’d say yeah, that’s what it looks like.”

She turns to me and asks, “Do you know why Dad would have dynamite?”

Dynamite? In the shed?

Then Con is saying. “Until you know, you might want to close those doors real

In her memoir, author Anne-Marie Oomen shares her journey to finally knowing her mother, Ruth, as well as the heartbreaking loss of her mother’s immense capacities. At left, Ruth in her early teens, in the mid 1930s. Baby Anne-Marie, with her parents Ruth and John in 1951.

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careful like and just not breathe for a while. Do not disturb and all that.”

Right on, Con. But this old building is disturbed and disturbing. Periodically the trumpet vine nailed to the back weights down with bloom, yanks out the wall anchors, and pulls down roof chunks as it falls. The roof leaks, and the siding is pocked with rot. And now—dynamite?

I slide past their bodies so I can see what they see, and there on the highest shelf, barely visible in the dim light, resting on heavy but decaying brown paper, eight sticks, faded red, the size and shape I imagine for dynamite. The sticks are bulbous with moisture and tiny crystals. I can just make out the faded “warning” and “fuse,” a skull and crossbones, other words, blurred by age. Shit.

If it has a fuse, does that mean . . . ? I back slowly out of the shed, making sure not to jostle the rusted implements.

“How long does dynamite stay . . .”

I search for the word.

“Stable?” Con’s face screws up in thought. “The shelf life of nitro-glycerin? No clue. But that much, the whole place would go.”

The shed sits six feet from the back of the house. Marijo lifts one brokenhinged double door and with precise care pushes it into place, closes and latches it. She looks at me, and the

Dad kept an unstable explosive and broke federal laws? Con’s right, this is not something to handle on our own.

This is a family affair. I text Tom: “Found what may be dynamite in

Does she realize how this changes who we are? question enters our heads simultaneously. Why would Dad have dynamite? When we voice this to the man of the hour, Con throws his hands out, palms up. “I dunno. You better let Tom and Rick know.”

Tom and Rick, our brothers, run Oomen Farms, where we all grew up a few short miles away, the farm that my father and mother ran. From that small farm my brothers built an operation known throughout the region.

Though they were creating a success, Dad shook his head at their progressive “risks.” Dad was a cautious man.

So dynamite seems out of character.

Marijo asks, “Isn’t the stuff outlawed?”

Con grins, “Like since the seventies. Federal.”

Dad’s shed. Can you check ASAP?” We head back into our parents’ house and Con heads home, hollering over his shoulder, “If I hear a big noise, I’ll know what happened.”

S

.

he’s finally signed all the right papers, but I have never asked her this. What makes her daily life worth living? What I know: even though I helped create this life, I would be hard pressed to live as she is living. “Judge Judy.” Bingo. Canned pears. Starlings at an empty feeder.

Boredom. Loneliness. We made her safe, so she could stay alive, but what makes her want to stay alive?

“Mom, I need to ask you a ques-

tion,” soft opening.

She has a mother’s sixth sense for alarm that never fades. It kicks in.

She looks at me sideways, “What’s wrong now?”

“Mom, I figure you will live for a long time yet, but I want to avoid what happened when Dad died, us trying to figure out what to do if you couldn’t tell us what you want. And so I wondered if you can tell me what it is that makes life worth living for you? So I would know that if you couldn’t have that—whatever it is, I should let you go.”

I expect her to scold me for bringing it up, tell me not to worry about her, that it’s in God’s hands, which it may well be, but I’m not trusting God all that much these days. But my mother answers like it’s a second-grade question. “Oh, if I didn’t know you.”

I sit back. “So, if you didn’t know . . . couldn’t interact with people . . . ?” I want a more nuanced explanation. “As long as I know you.” She’d said it right the first time.

Does she realize how this changes who we are?

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T

he family is faced with moving the rusted sprawling machinery, back to where we might sit and no one would Mom to a full-scale care the bustle that you were once the volcanic trip over this lug of a wheelchair. I see facility which happens to be center of, back to your spinning life. You Mom’s face taking on the distant right next door to The Manor, the and your Breezy will ride the currents of look—she’s slipping back into her brohome for the aged where she has pretime, and escape, hair streaming, wheels ken mind, and I can’t bear to let her go viously been living. spinning in the wind. just yet. Quick now. I ease the wheel“Are we going to lunch?” She’s “Next door, Mom,” and I giggle machair down the curb, rattle our way maybe hoping for McDonald’s. niacally and push harder up the slow over cracked concrete, dodge a couple “We’re going right next door, Mom, incline, past the smokers’ tree, past the of cars, up the other curb, and through to the medical care facility.” She goes convalescent unit, over the darkened the boot-scuffed aluminum storm quiet. potholes. And then we are there. door into the dark space. The patrons, I focus on the wheels, this wheelcoveralled out-of-work men and a . chair, ironically called a Breezy, this couple of ciggy-scented women, seerolling cart, these fortunate circular legs have promised to take her to ing us struggle over the threshold, that ease her across the parking lot to lunch from the facility, pushing slide their heavy bodies off the stools the much larger parking lot of the facilthe wheelchair over sidewalks, and become more than kind, shoving ity. The surface is not easy; the journey, and when we find the café closed, we short as it is, takes muscle, but it’s easier end up making a different choice. than renting an ambulance to transport The only option? Down the block, her the length of a football field. We Kristi’s Pour House, a local dive that bump over the curb, and then I am smells of spilled beer and fried food shoving her Breezy up the slow incline, and could qualify for the Antarctic releaning forward, using my legs to gain search station, the air-conditioning is momentum over the asphalt incline, so high. I remember a side room cracks and seams pocked with weeds.

“Where are we going?” Her voice again, plaintive.

I’m breathless. Pushing. Well, Mom, I’m kidnapping you. I’m taking you away, rolling you out onto the highway a mile FROM HOME’S earliest away, andFLORA you can BAE take this beautiful old beginnings,ofNatalie Lauzon part of her contraption a wheel chair,knew this Breezy, mission would be it to out collaborate other and you can wheel onto the with concrete women.

“To a negative surface and useme, thecompetition highway ashas a runway, connotation,” she says.

“It is old veryUS ego-cenyou can speed north down 31, faster faster,winning; cross thenot bridge over Ithe betric. and It is about growing.

Hart yourother wild women white hair flying lieveRiver, that lifting up, supporting inother the wind, and if weand do collaborating this right, that artists are women chair get going somake fast, ayou willlarger lift morewill worthwhile and much into that on wild levitate withonwheels impact ourblue, community—and my perspinning like tops, your sonal life and business.”Breezy will rise in the breezes, and you will escape from us herself of this quote by Shebreezing often reminds all, out over these buildings, around this small American town, out Amanda Rubin of She & Me Collective: “The over apple and peach orchards, over bestthe kind of women-owned business is one thethat asparagus thewoman’s stoneuses her and fire tobean lightfields, another laden cemetery brick church, you as match.”

Some and favorite items fromand Lauzon, will follow the old familiar way down keeper of the flame: Jackson Road, you will pass the gray farmhouses of friends you grew old with, pass over the loam fields that always are freshly tilled in your mind, the wide stretches of woods and pasture that defined you, and you will fly over them, over the cedar swamp, the irrigation pond, and over the familiar white farmhouse with Opposite: Mom Ruth at Deer Park with baby Marijo and tamed deer, late 1950s. its grand silver maple, over our red-ga- Above, clockwise: Ruth on her honeymoon in Ontario, 1947; a graduation in early 1970s; bled barns with their ghost animals, over honeymoon shot; a wedding party in the 1980s.

I

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The Oomen family after Sunday mass, 1962.

tables and chairs as we negotiate our way to the side room. Even the regulars, leaning out from the booths, scoot out of the way. Can ya make it? Sure ya okay? Once settled in the side

if she will object, this woman who once walked out of a restaurant for being owned by people whose political views were so far left she thought they might be communists. That, and

She studies the room, then asks, “Is this a bar?” room, the sweet waitress opens the side door to the street and the hot air rushes in, warming the space. At my look, she shrugs, Aw, what the hell, in reference to the air-conditioning.

Mom can see the traffic, the comings and goings of the town, and this will occupy her. We are fine.

I order soup for her, chicken noodle, and when it comes, thick oldfashioned egg noodles crowd the broth. I break up the noodles so they won’t slide off her spoon.

“Ummm, good,” and she tucks right in. After a while, she lifts her head, straight white hair glowing in the gray light. She studies the room, then asks, “Is this a bar?”

I brace myself. It’s not that she minds bars, but for all the memory she has lost, certain proprieties remain indelible as tattoos. We are here in the middle of a weekday, not Friday night fish fry for Catholics, which was the appropriate time she and Dad patronized our local bar. I don’t know

they served pork chops with garlic instead of apples.

“Yes, Mom, it’s a bar.”

“I thought so.” She nods like she’s figured out something. She inhales a long noodle, broth spilling from the spoon.

I brace myself and ask, “How do you feel about that?”

“Oh, real good.” She nods, slurps her soup.

I smile. “Well then, would you like a beer?”

“Oh no. I couldn’t.” She puts her spoon down like that’s final. I decide right then I’ll have a beer.

“You want some of mine?”

“Are you gonna?”

I know what that means. “I’m gonna have something Belgian.” This appeals to her ancestry.

“Well, a little sip.” She raises her eyebrows: how daring.

I order a pint of Blue Moon and a highball glass on the side. When it comes, I pour off a third, tuck in a straw,

and hold it up to her lips. She wraps her lips around it and sucks. And sucks, and it’s gone. I pour in the rest, and over the course of the lunch, she drinks it all. My mother has not had a drink in years, not by choice, but because alcohol exacerbates her incontinence. But now that she wears heavy-duty pull-ups every day, it’s a moot point, isn’t it? I don’t care: I’m thrilled she’s enjoying a beer.

It’s the smallest of adventures, the simplest of forays into normalcy, a momentary reprieve. I know the aides will have to deal with the results, and I should be ashamed of myself, but to see her draw on that beer with such intensity makes my eyes smart.

Before we know it, lunch is over.

To go out means to come back.

To return to that other country.

Anne-Marie Oomen writes from her handmade house and studio in Empire.

She is a poetry and nonfiction instructor at the Solstice MFA at Lasell University and Interlochen College of Creative Arts. anne-marieoomen.com

^ READ ON: Writer Anne-Marie Oomen won the 2021 AWP Sue William Silverman Prize in Creative Nonfiction and a coveted Michigan Notable Book Award 2023 for “As Long As I Know You.” In what she’s dubbed “The Mom Book,” Oomen shares a bold but tender take on dementia, exploring how humor and compassion grow belatedly between a mother and daughter.

These excerpts were reprinted with permission from University of Georgia Press. Head to ugapress.org to f ind a copy of the book.

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Northerners Living with Lyme Disease

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Learning to Use Food as Medicine Navigating Mental Health for Kids

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WILD SWIMMING FOR MIND & SPIRIT PAGE 6

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Michael Wnek Cara McDonald

PRESIDENT EXECUTIVE EDITOR

Elizabeth Edwards Emily Tyra Carly Simpson Allison Jarrell

SENIOR EDITOR FEATURES EDITOR MANAGING EDITOR ASSOCIATE EDITOR DIGITAL CONTENT & SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGIST

Rachel Soulliere

PROOFREADERS

Elizabeth Aseritis Caroline Dahlquist

ART DIRECTOR

Tim Hussey Theresa Burau-Baehr

PRODUCTION DIRECTOR ASSOCIATE ART DIRECTOR, SPECIAL SECTIONS

Rachel Watson

CONTENTS 6

WILD SWIMMING FOR THE SOUL Finding wellness in water can be as simple as drinking a glass or running through a sprinkler. For Ashlea Walter, it’s open-water swimming in Lake Michigan—where she finds a release from gravity and worries that seem to only live on land. No matter how you choose to immerse, you’ll be rewarded with an instant mood boost.

16

FEEDING A HEALTHY COMMUNITY Culinary medicine—connecting patients and providers with healthy locally grown food—has long been the goal of Groundwork Center for Resilient Communities. Now, they’ve opened a first-of-its-kind teaching kitchen in Traverse City to further that mission.

26

LIVING WITH LYME DISEASE DIRECTOR OF SALES SALES COORDINATOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES

MARKETING DIRECTOR MARKETING COORDINATOR GRAPHIC DESIGNER

Julie Parker Erin VanFossen Mike Alfaro Ann Gatrell Julie James Meg Lau Kirk Small Erin Lutke Ashlyn Korienek Nichole Earle Beth Putz

OFFICE MANAGER

Prevention is important, but for those battling Lyme disease, a swift and accurate diagnosis can be a life-changing step toward wellness.

34

MENTAL HEALTH HELP FOR UP NORTH KIDS Roughly 22 percent of American kids will face a severe mental health issue. But getting support and treatment for the under-18 set and their families is limited and infinitely complicated. Thankfully, Northern Michigan families can lean on the Grand Traverse affiliate of NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

42

WHERE THE BETTER ANGELS WORK Hospice volunteers guide patients and loved ones through one of the most emotional, challenging and beautiful parts of life.

ON THE COVER Open-Water Swimmer Ashlea Walter Photo by Andy Wakeman EDITORIAL & ADVERTISING OFFICES

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editor's note

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Confident Caregiver If you’re caring for a loved one with a serious illness and want to keep them at home, Hospice of Michigan can help.

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or this inaugural issue of Health & Wellness our writers and editors met several Northern neighbors willing to show their own paths to better health and true wellness.

Writer Shea Petaja talks with a fellow local living with Lyme disease who reveals how she discovered and faced that diagnosis and, most important, the ways she is beginning to heal.

Artist, activist and elected official Ashlea Walter shares why she is a “wild swimmer”—dedicated to waking early to swim the bays and lakes surrounding her downtown Traverse City home. (Hint: She says the healing quality of water helps her harness deeper calm and mindfulness.)

Readers will get a first peek inside Groundwork’s teaching kitchen at Traverse City’s new co-op community center, Commongrounds. In the coming days, chef instructors and dietitians will gather around those state-of-the-art stoves to share nutrition science with medical providers. In turn, doctors and nurses can pass on this knowledge of culinary medicine to their patients.

From Manistee to Northport, you’ll hear the stories of comfort, courage and, yes, love from those who volunteer in hospice care or who have welcomed hospice support.

We’re also shining a light on a new mental health navigator on the block, who is helping one Northern Michigan family at a time receive care and treatment, especially kids.

This is just the beginning. We hope these pages inspire personal wellness, and treating our collective health with the greatest of care. -The Editors

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WILD SWIMMING

FOR THE

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hatever the issue of the hour, water is the solution. I like to think that water is my secret superpower when it comes to parenting, including parenting myself. Instant mood changer: drink a glass of water, take a bath, run through the sprinkler, jump in the lake, get in some laps. As powerfully renewing as it is, we never regret being immersed in water, do we? Maybe it’s because the human body is said to be made up of 60 percent water 6

that I always feel at home in it. But it’s also more than that; more than returning to the womb. Whenever I jump into a pool or “Mama Lake,” as we affectionately refer to Lake Michigan, I feel like I’m 8 years old again: immediate smile, freedom, a release from gravity and worries that only seem to live on the land.

When some friends invited me to start open-water swimming with them several years ago as we trained for Swim for Grand Traverse Bay, an event that benefits The Watershed

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SOUL Center, I had no idea what limitless joy I would find. I guess I thought that by the time I reached middle age, I would’ve already tried most things and known what my outdoor passions were. I knew I liked mountain biking, running, hiking, snowboarding and casually jumping in any body of water to cool off, but open-water swimming? Hmmm. How wrong I was, when at 40-something, I found a new true love.

Looking back, I don’t remember ever not knowing how to swim. The family story my parents love to tell is that my mom

Finding wellness in the water.

by ASHLEA WALTER photo by ANDY WAKEMAN

threw me in a pool in Portugal after my older brother was thrown in, right before she remembered that I couldn’t swim.

I was 3. I was precocious, but still, 3. Sink or swim, the adage goes. Swim I did, as I came to the surface and never looked back. When I was a kid, I was the first one in a pool and the last one out, sporting shriveled fingers and toes, maybe even a pair of blue lips over Memorial Day weekend in a friend’s just-filled pool. I was on a few swim teams through early high school, but racing was never really my thing; I just loved to be in the water. mynorth.com

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Water makes us feel alive and while swimming is exercise, it’s mostly play. And what adults need more of is just that—play.

I’m not quite crazy enough to swim outside year-round in Northern Michigan, but I want to be someday; I know people who are. Sometimes I overhear their excited chatter in the locker room after logging our weekly swimming pool laps. They talk about the water temperature (40 degrees!) and ponder that they might need a couple more weeks till they jump in. I think, when I’m 75, I want to be like them.

I’m a wee bit wimpier and usually start to swim outside again DIP A TOE IN WITH with friends in May, sometimes A GOOD READ June if we’ve had a real Up North winter. We start out swimming Wild swimmer Ashlea Walter in the inland lakes, usually Cedar loves these two authors’ Lake near Traverse City because it perspective on swimming— warms up faster than Mama Lake. and on human behavior itself.

Northern Michigan’s inland lakes are mostly predictable, and you Why We Swim

By Bonnie Tsui, Algonquin barely have to glance at a weather Books of Chapel Hill report if heading out early in the “To live deliberately as a swimmer morning before the boats wake up. means you are a seeker…” Tsui The only other people we ever see writes. New York Times contributor are the occasional solo rowers and and lifelong swimmer Bonnie Tsui the adventurous water skiers. It dives into the deep, from the San takes a special breed of humans to Francisco Bay to the South China Sea, head out into the water before the investigating what it is about water sun comes up. I’ve met the coolest that seduces us, and why we come people during these early mornback to it again and again. ing encounters before the day gets away from you, and your time is The Joy of Swimming: A Celebration of Our Love not your own anymore. The lists for Getting in the Water begin and the day marches on, but

By Lisa Congdon, Chronicle Books you’ve got solitude, quiet advenCongdon, bestselling author ture and a form of meditation as of “Whatever You Are, Be a Good One,” you leave shore and begin to make inspires readers to get in the water your way through the water. with real people’s personal stories, When I was a kid, I was told illustrated collections of vintage over and over to “never swim swimming objects and an emphasis alone,” and “never swim right on swimming as a way of life. after eating,” and while I’m not here to debunk important rules of mothers, these familiar phrases have taken on new meaning. Surely you don’t want to swim alone because of safety reasons.

The real reason I don’t swim alone, however, is

because some of the most magical times I’ve experienced as an adult have involved stopping to rest on a swim buoy 500 yards or so out from shore and chatting with girlfriends while the sun rises. We talk of the beauty in the day, politics, health, family—no topic is off the table.

And whatever is shared out in the water stays in the water. We leave it behind while stroking it out over and over, occasionally spotting some point on shore to stay on track.

By the end of June, swimming in the inland lakes has become placid and calm, bordering on easy and predictable, almost dull. That’s when, as our sea legs slip back on, we rediscover our courage for cold and the uncertainty of conditions as we venture into Grand Traverse Bay. Things quickly get more interesting. Meditation turns into concentration as waves, wind and quickly changing conditions come into play.

You’ve got to be on your game, and we are reminded of why we spent all those hours swimming to nowhere in the pool over the winter.

When you’re not worried about your fitness, your heart opens to adventure in the open water.

It’s not that we choose the waves exactly, but sometimes the waves choose us; the rollers catch you off guard, coming seemingly out of nowhere.

Some days I swallow a lot of water and, even hours later, feel the pressure of the crest of the waves in my ears. We’ve had a few harrowing moments when the waves are beating against us and we lose track of each other. One time I thought dramatically for a moment, “This is how people die,” as I was being pummeled relentlessly and couldn’t find my swim partner, but then I realized the waves had pushed me back in and I could stand. I felt alive, I chuckled and sighed.

Spending time immersed in the azure crests and troughs of our Great Lakes has given me a deep respect and passion for this incredibly precious freshwater gift; I invite you to come on in, the water’s fine.

Ashlea Walter is a passionate open-water swimmer. She lives in downtown Traverse City with her family and serves on the Grand Traverse County board of commissioners.

Andy Wakeman is a Northern Michigan-based photographer inspired by the characters and scenic views of his hometown. mynorth.com

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nervous system affecting overall health and body function, it generally assumes that well-being is affected by everything in an individual’s environment and lifestyle.

“I had a more traditional chiropractic practice for seventeen years and was very content, but it was always at the back of my mind to create a collaborative wellness space to more completely serve the patients I cared for,” Rassel says.

The result of that moment of zen is JOVIA Wellness, a beautiful, high-vibe energetic space for personal growth, healing and clearer expression of one’s inner vitality. Rassel opened JOVIA Wellness in June 2018, and currently, seven separate businesses are practicing within it: 1. Pure Chiropractic, Dr. Heather Rassel, DC 2. Amazon Blonde, Wendy Schaub, hair stylist 3. Cana’s Beauty & Wellness, Cana Guernsey, skin care specialist 4. Dr. Carley Fardell, DC, chiropractor 5. Traverse City Total Care, Dr. Robert Rees, DO, with a focus on bioidentical hormone therapy replacement 6. Keep In Touch, Eileen Byrne, licensed massage therapist 7. Better Balance Wellness, Sarah Orth, exercise physiologist/holistic health coach

From the Inside Out

In an inviting, spa-like space, a community of like-minded practitioners are bringing together holistic health, beauty and well-being for a one-of-a-kind wellness experience.

photo courtesy of Jovia Wellness

by CARA MCDONALD

The idea came to Dr. Heather Rassel when she was meditating, something she does almost every day—not just an idea, actually; more like a complete download, a vision with all the parts and pieces. A plan for more than a chiropractic wellness center— a way to create a community of like-minded health, wellness and beauty practitioners who are independent yet delightfully complementary. And above all, in a space that was as welcoming and healing as those who practiced within it.

Rassel, a chiropractor, was raised in a very holistic household. She was born at home; her parents valued and trusted the inherent knowledge and recuperative healing powers of the human body. Both of Rassel’s parents were also chiropractors (there are 30 total in her family, and her mother built The Chiropractic Well-Being Center in Okemos in the early ’90s).

While chiropractic practice focuses on the role of the spine and

From the moment you step into the cozy reception area, you’re wrapped in calming shades of violet and blue. The front desk curves like a wave—what Rassel calls a feminine flow of energy—under 20-foot ceilings with skylights. Here, clients will wait before or after services, cuddling with a blanket and a cup of organic peppermint tea. There are Japanese-designed massage chairs and a stash of noise-canceling headphones for those needing to tune out. Rassel created a blend of 12 essential oils to invoke a sense of peace, grounding and happiness, diffusing it throughout the space.

“I’ll come and find people sitting back in the massage chairs and reading a book,” she admits. “They say, ‘Take your time, Dr. Rassel, I’m here a little early…’”

Her practice doesn’t take appointments—it’s walk-in only, with an as-you-need-it, spontaneous feel (other practitioners at JOVIA have their own booking systems and business models).

It’s a unique model, but one that lands with her patients. “There are plenty of ‘back doctors’ out there, and I’m more of a nervous system, family wellness provider helping your body function at a higher level. People may have ailments initially, but I like to guide them to not only feel better but also help them to express more of the vitality they were created with.”

JOVIA is a living, breathing entity, a dynamic community whose feel shifts as its practitioners do, with an initial spiritual and meditation emphasis when it opened in 2018, to what Rassel now describes as having a strong element of inner and therefore outer beauty that is safe, natural and holistically aligned.

“Above all,” she says, “we want our clients to walk out saying, ‘I feel better in my body and my life.’” mynorth.com

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S E R E N E AWA I T S

Spa Amira is different. It’s far away from the world, yet nestled nearby.

The dazzling colors of nature, majesty of Lake Michigan, and serenity of the National Lakeshore inspire treatments and melt troubles.

Come. Listen to the birds. Watch the sun sizzle into Sleeping Bear Bay. Be serene. Relax and recharge by yourself or…with your daughters or best friends. Serenity packages available.

For reservations, 231-334-5100.

thehomesteadresort.com

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A Prescription for the Weary Woman Self-care, fresh air, pizza, Prosecco and pedicures—a solo escape to The Homestead.

by LYNDA WHEATLEY

What kind of woman doesn’t bring her family to a well-appointed lakeside resort stocked with all the essentials of a good old-fashioned vacation—think: classic Beach Club, clay tennis courts, a par 3 golf course, ski hills and opportunity for memorymaking galore, from playing with clay and kayaking to swimming, stargazing, snowshoeing, fishing, biking and hiking?

The wise kind. The kind who, in my case, is a 48-year-old working mom of an 8-year-old girl, 6-year-old boy, and, perhaps somewhat less wisely, new puppy.

In short, the kind of woman who needs a break. And no, a 20-minute bubble bath during which small humans and canines whine outside the door does not count, nor (dads, take note) will it ever.

For two blissful, affordable offseason days, I’m trading caretaking for self-care. My destination: The Homestead, a historic resort on the northwest edge of Lower Michigan’s fabled Leelanau Peninsula.

A petite pocket of pools, ponds and vacation rentals of all kinds tucked into hillsides, The Homestead sits between the sparkling blue of Sleeping Bear Bay and the sandy swales and deep woods of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.

The moment I enter my lamp-lit room at The Inn, a classic yet cozy hotel that hails back to The Homestead’s origins as a 1920’s-era wilderness camp, I gasp.

From my window, I can sit by the fire and watch seagulls battling the wind blowing off Lake Michigan’s white-capped waves.

But I resist. Something even more relaxing awaits: a one-hour massage at the resort’s Spa Amira.

Twenty minutes later, my massage therapist, Brenda Albrecht, lays a warm wrap over my shoulders and says the words every mother of young kids longs to hear: “We can talk if you like, but

if you’d prefer to enjoy the quiet, that’s okay, too.”

For the next 50 minutes, she silently untangles the warp and weft of my body’s muscle fibers, her fingers taking on the telltale crunch of stubborn knots until they puddle. After she hands me a cup of post-massage turmeric tea, I slip into the serenity room, just off the spa lobby.

Like so much of The Homestead, Spa Amira and its summer pool and tranquil gardens are perched atop a bluff. I level my gaze at the drifting clouds, trembling treetops and infinite pool of Lake Michigan. I’m present. I’m grateful.

I’m also starving. So I stroll down to the resort’s Mountain Village, hub of fine and casual dining options and fun- and wellness-enhancing spots like Rocky’s sport shop, New Leaf Fitness Center and Lilyjade Salon.

With a big salad, homemade chili and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups from Cavanaugh’s market in hand, I return to my room to savor each bite by the fire slowly, serenely and without interruption.

Though having two days and a flatscreen TV to myself feels like a miracle, I resist the temptation and set out to enjoy something else I haven’t in years: a long, aimless walk. Alone.

With no goal heart rate in mind or productivity podcast prattling on in my ears, I ascend the Bay View Trail, which wends into the heart of Sleeping Bear’s northern forests. I meander, poking at pockets of snow and mud, wondering when spring’s leeks will sprout.

Later, I’ll return to Cavanaugh’s to indulge in a very self-caring dinner of pizza and Prosecco, maybe do some fireside yoga before reading in bed. In the morning, I’ll walk the beach, get a pedicure at Lilyjade, see if Brenda has room for a facial.

And this summer, I promise myself, when Sleeping Bear Bay is warm and the property’s pools and Beach Club are packed, I’ll bring the kids, and my husband, too. But only after I book another couple of days for myself.

photo courtesy of The Homestead

I level my gaze at the drifting clouds, trembling treetops and infinite pool of Lake Michigan.

I’m present. I’m grateful.

mynorth.com

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HEALTHY MEALS START HERE VISIT OUR WEBSITE FOR RECIPES MADE HEALTHY WITH FUSTINI’S

Let’s Get Together and Cook!

TRAVERSE CITY • PETOSKEY • HOLLAND • ANN ARBOR

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Nutrition That’s Delish To enhance every meal, extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar make a fine splash.

photo courtesy of Fustini's

by PATTY LANOUE STEARNS

The Mediterranean diet—around for more than 5,000 years and considered one of the world’s healthiest—has been extensively studied for its nutritional benefits since the 1950s. It’s packed with fruits, nuts, legumes, vegetables, fish rich in omega-3 fatty acids, and uses little or no red meat, sweets, sugary drinks or butter.

Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) takes a starring role. EVOO can do wonders for our health, according to the Mayo Clinic, Harvard Medical School and leading health and nutrition experts around the world. EVOO provides monounsaturated fat, which lowers total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein (“bad” LDL) and raises high-density lipoprotein (“good” HDL).

It also supports brain health, combats inflammation and high blood sugar levels, and contains antioxidants that protect against heart disease, cancer and other diseases.

A lesser-known component of the Mediterranean diet is aged balsamic vinegar, an acetic acid that also boasts amazing powers: It’s been shown to lower cholesterol, stabilize blood pressure and keep glucose levels stable in diabetics. Some research suggests it can also work as an appetite suppressant, and it contains strains of probiotic bacteria that are good for your gut.

Understanding that these ingredients were more than just a flash in the pan, Jim Milligan took a leap in 2008 from the international corporate world and opened a shop on East Front Street in Traverse City called Fustini’s Oils and Vinegars. He envisioned a niche market for his oil-and-vinegar emporium in the emerging foodie region of northwestern Michigan, and despite the Great Recession, it became an immediate hit.

Today townies and travelers flock to Fustini’s to sample the artfully labeled bottles filled with fragrant oils and vinegars. Tasters not only enjoy mouthwatering flavors but also learn how to use each product to enhance their meals. Special events, a cooking school, accessories, cookbooks and foodstuffs are part of the experience. Fustini’s features four to five SELECT extra virgin olive oils, 20 infused olive oils, two specialty oils, 35 balsamic and five non-balsamic vinegars.

Fustini’s Denise Walburg explains what sets real-deal extra virgin olive oils apart: “What makes EVOO a true EVOO is no heat or chemicals used in extraction, and no damage in the olive handling—sitting on the ground, getting wet, taking too long from harvest to milling, adding refined olive oil.”

She adds that because there is no governing body to verify authenticity and quality from adulterated and fraudulent products, “Fustini’s relies on taste as well as a chemical profile to ensure the highest quality olive oil.”

Walburg says Fustini’s SELECT EVOO is harvested on average three weeks earlier than most olives. “Three times the number of olives is needed for the same yield because they are still green, but the result is vastly superior olive oil with higher polyphenols and a longer shelf life.”

Fustini’s 18 Year traditional dark balsamic, from Modena, Italy, is made with Lambrusco, Sangiovese and Trebbiano grapes.

The first mention of this thick sweet-sour vinegar dates to the 11th century. In early days it was used as a disinfectant and a cure-all; today it’s a divine ingredient for everything from apps to desserts.

TO YOUR HEALTH

For salads, use two parts oil to one part balsamic. Pair brighter balsamics with sweeter lettuces. For stronger flavored leaves, like arugula, pair Gremolata olive oil with Citrus Oregano balsamic, or Persian Lime with Pomegranate balsamic.

For a healthful Mediterranean-inspired appetizer, try Greek yogurt blended with Fustini’s citrus oregano balsamic, Fustini’s Delicate SELECT olive oil and za’atar seasoning. Serve the yogurt alongside pita chips, cherry tomatoes, mixed Greek olives and cucumber slices.

Because Fustini’s oils and vinegars are preservative-free, mix just before using when making dressings, marinades and sauces.

For hands-on fun, sign up for one of Fustini’s virtual smallgroup classes at fustinis.com. mynorth.com

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Feeding a Healthy Community A first-of-its-kind teaching kitchen opens in Traverse City.

by LYNDA WHEATLEY photos by DAVE WEIDNER

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ocal farms grow healthy food, which grows healthy locals. And locals who buy healthy local foods make for healthier local farms. This all makes for a healthier local economy.

For nearly 30 years, Groundwork Center for Resilient Communities, formerly known as Michigan Land Use Institute, has been putting the healthy local food + people + farms equation into action, expanding the region’s food economy far beyond farmers markets and into Northwest Lower Michigan’s schools, food pantries, restaurants and grocery stores.

But until recently, there was one field where Groundwork hadn’t fully sowed its local food love: the region’s healthcare system. As it turns out, it was fertile ground, and physicians—and their patients—were hungry for help.

See, despite the massive role proper nutrition plays in preventing disease and promoting longer, healthier lives, most physicians can’t do more than recommend their patients eat “better.”

With the average patient-provider visit clocking in at 20 minutes, few providers have the time or bandwidth to explain what “better” means, let alone create meal plans or show patients how to

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select and prepare the variety of fresh foods a healthy diet should include. Providers are busy enough managing the conditions and chronic diseases poor diets cause—high blood pressure, diabetes, certain forms of cancers and cardiovascular disease, the latter of which caused more American deaths (800,000) in 2020 than even Covid-19.

“It’s unfortunate the way our healthcare system is set up. [Doctors] get reimbursed for what they do; they don’t get reimbursed for prevention,” says Groundwork Community Nutrition Specialist Paula Martin.

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Truth be told, doctors don’t get much education on prevention if you’re working with kids, or part of another healthcare entity, like either. Despite four years of medical school, most physicians-toAddiction Treatment Services, we’re inviting those folks to come be spend less than 20 hours on nutritional training. into and rent [the kitchen], and we can provide consultation and While Groundwork’s changemaking mojo hasn’t targeted help them develop a program if they don’t already have one.” medical school curriculums or Medicare’s fee-for-service reimAlso on the horizon: developing worksite wellness programs with bursement approach (yet!), the organization launched a Culinary Commonplace, the co-working space within the Commongrounds Medicine initiative that’s planted many a seed in the last decade building; CSA drop-offs and cooking classes for subscribers; liveto support local providers and patients through food grown and streamed cooking demos; and before the year is out at least two raised here at home. events for the community at large.

Since 2014, Groundwork’s been creating opportunities for healthcare providers not only to learn more about local food access and nutrition at its Farms, Food and Health conferences but also to earn some of the continuing medical education credits they need to maintain their license and board certifications.

In 2019, Groundwork successfully secured a grant from the Michigan Health Endowment to support a Prescription for Produce program with McLaren Northern Michigan Foundation in Petoskey. And in 2020, despite the pandemic, Groundwork designed and ran “Dinner With Your Doctor,” a pilot program of six healthy-cooking classes for at-risk patients, held in the lobby of Munson Family Practice Center in Traverse City.

This January, you might say Groundwork’s Culinary Medicine seeds went full bloom: Groundwork teamed up with Commongrounds real estate cooperative to open a first-of-its-kind teaching kitchen—intended for GET COOKIN’ WITH CULINARY MEDICINE use by local medical providers and eventually for other mission-aligned groups—in the co-op’s new four-story Mark your calendar for Groundwork’s upcoming Farms, Food and building on Eighth Street in Traverse City.

Health Conference happening Sept. 22–24, 2023. Can’t make it?

“The vast majority of teaching kitchens like this are Find culinary medicine presentations from the 2019 conference on owned by an institution,” Martin says. “Like a univerGroundwork’s YouTube channel: @GroundworkCenter. sity or a health care system.”

In this case, the Esperance Community Teaching Kitchen is a part of a community-led, communityowned property. It’s owned and managed by the 800-plus mem“You know, Groundwork’s mission in our food and farming bers of Commongrounds Cooperative (of which Groundwork is programs is to make sure that we have markets for local farms, a tenant/owner), alongside a steering committee of community right? To sustain farms, we need to make sure people are buying health and wellness leaders. Groundwork oversees the kitchen’s and using and knowing how to use the local product,” Martin programming. says. “The overarching goal of the kitchen is to get people more And in line with that neighborly model (and the commuused to cooking with local foods. nal vibe-making that sharing good food tends to foster), the “If we can get more and more people in the community 600-square-foot facility, though state of the art, is specifically turning to locally grown food,” Martin adds, “we strengthen designed to look and feel cozy and unimposing—a lot like a our local food economy, we strengthen farmer income, we prehome kitchen, says Jeff Smith, Groundwork’s communications serve farmland, and by doing that, we strengthen the overall director. It’s primarily meant to hold intimate classes of 15 or community. Our farms are stronger economically, and our fewer, but thanks to a retractable wall, can easily double in size people are healthier.” to accommodate larger classes.

Interested in learning more about the Esperance Community So far, Groundwork has developed approved CME/CE courses Teaching Kitchen, Groundwork’s initiatives or how to bring basic for physicians, dietitians and nurses, but, Martin explains, the principles of culinary medicine cooking into your home kitchen? pool of professionals who require continuing education credits Visit groundworkcenter.org. runs deep—to physical therapists, social workers, pharmacists and other allied healthcare providers, whom they’ll target next.

Lynda Wheatley is an award-winning writer specializing in stoGroundwork’s continuing education programming is in partries that showcase Michigan travel and recreation, history, and the nership with Munson Healthcare and the Great Lakes Culinary passionate folks who make this place so extraordinary. ltwriter.com Institute. A chef instructor and a dietitian will team up to lead each education session, so providers will get the nutrition science Dave Weidner is an editorial photographer and videographer and culinary skill-building simultaneously. based in Northern Michigan. Follow him on Instagram and “Then eventually, we’ll be opening up to anybody whose mission Facebook @dzwphoto. is aligned with ours,” Martin says. “If you’re working with schools, mynorth.com

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3/17/23 12:40 PM

Your local personal network for living with Parkinson’s Disease.

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• Research and treatment updates • One-on-one counseling, advocacy, identifying solutions • Summer forums • Independent, Traverse City-based, no fees Call Hettie Molvang 231-947-7389 www.pnntc.org

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Ask us about the MonaLisa Touch

We are the only Medical Practice in northern Michigan offering this new advanced, non-hormonal, painless, in-office laser treatment

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Comprehensive Obstetrical Services • On Site Lab Services Thermal Ablations, Tubal Ligations • Menopausal Treatment including New Laser Therapy for Genitourinary Symtoms of Menopause Breast Health • Family Planning • Infertility Treatment Gyn Evaluations, Cancer Screening & Pelvic Disease/Pain Treatment Management of Urinary Incontinence & Pelvic Reconstructive Surgery

health & wellness 2023

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^ Groundwork’s Easy Pantry Stir-Fry Serves 8 1 ½ cups brown rice 4 Tablespoons olive oil 3 cloves garlic, minced 1 Tablespoon fresh ginger, minced 1 cup onion, julienned 1 cup carrot, julienned 1 cup celery, julienned ½ cup red cabbage, julienned 1 cup Michigan Farm to Freezer organic sweet pepper mix, frozen 1 cup Michigan Farm to Freezer organic broccoli, frozen 3 Tablespoons tamari lite, 50% less sodium 2 Tablespoons peanuts, unsalted 1 large egg ½ to 1 cup water 3 to 4 Tablespoons microgreens 1. Cook rice according to packaging, set aside.

2. Heat wok or large skillet over medium heat, then coat with oil. Sauté garlic, ginger and onion until fragrant. Set aside.

3. Coat wok or large skillet with oil once again. Cook each vegetable (carrots, celery, cabbage, peppers, broccoli) over high heat in small batches until crisp and tender. Use a small amount of tamari to season each vegetable.

4. Add water, a few Tablespoons at a time, to help deglaze the pan as needed between batches.

5. When the last batch of vegetables is done, add all the vegetables back into the wok/skillet. Add the rest of the tamari and stir.

6. Cook and stir for a couple minutes, then push vegetables to the sides, creating a well in the middle of the wok/skillet. Scramble the egg in the well, then continue mixing and cooking until everything is crisp.

7. Serve over the rice and garnish with microgreens and peanuts.

Cooking tips: Julienne the vegetables in uniform sizes to ensure the best cooking results.

photo by Dave Weidner

Add frozen products to your skillet while they are still frozen, no need to defrost first.

Not ready for all brown rice? Consider preparing half white and half brown rice and mixing them together to transition to using more whole grains.

Storage crops—like local onions, celery, cabbage, carrots and garlic—are available year-round.

We used Lakeview Hill microgreens, which are also available year-round. mynorth.com

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Live Your Best Life Enjoy all the comforts of home without the work or worry so you can relax.

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health & wellness 2023

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What Does Successful Aging In Place Look Like?

Lean on Comfort Keepers for friendly support, wisdom and care.

by COURTNEY JEROME

As people age, most want to live in their homes for as long as they can, rather than move to a new and unfamiliar living environment. In fact, a national U-M poll recently discovered 88 percent of people between the ages of 50 and 80 find it important to live in their homes as long as possible.

However, in order to accomplish that, plans need to be prepared. “More Americans are choosing to age in place. That is, they opt to stay in their homes rather than move to alternative retirement settings,” says Leslie Knopp, co-owner of Comfort Keepers. The franchise organization she runs alongside her husband Russ Knopp has served Northwest Lower Michigan for more than 18 years. Their teams provide in-home care and other services that assist seniors in maintaining their independence.

“Aging in place has many benefits,” Knopp says. “Seniors who remain in their own homes as they age enjoy the consistency of belonging to communities where they may have lived for many years surrounded by friends and families. This offers both emotional and social benefits, as they have an already established support network.”

Knopp describes that the overall quality of life is better for seniors when they are as independent as possible, including participating in their communities in a meaningful way.

“Remaining in the home also avoids the stress of relocation and acclimating to new environments, and, even more compelling: aging in place can be cost-effective,” she says.

Comfort Keepers has locations both in Traverse City and Petoskey, allowing them to serve seniors from Manistee to the Mackinac Bridge. About 200 Comfort Keepers employees are passionate about the care they provide clients and their families throughout the area.

“Many families today are unaware of the many options available to assist seniors in their homes,” Knopp explains. “When loved ones begin to demonstrate difficulty with certain daily tasks, family members may automatically believe that it is time for assisted living or a nursing home. However, these are not necessarily the best options. Today, the senior care industry and new technologies make it possible for older adults to continue to live in their own homes safely and with assistance.”

Services with Comfort Keepers include: meal delivery, household maintenance, safety checks, emergency response assistance, transportation, medical needs, personal care, nutrition and health care coordination. With new technology tools being developed all the time, they are, “Staying on top of it so we can offer that kind of alternative to people who do want to stay in their homes all the way to the end of life—it’s possible,” says Knopp.

Part of their process is to meet with seniors and/or their family members to collaborate on a comprehensive, custom and curated plan that’s individualized to their needs.

“When someone is serious in exploring options, we meet with people in their homes and start a conversation to learn what the issues are, what their pain is, what their concerns and worries are, and to start developing a solution with them that addresses their needs within their budget,” Knopp says.

“There’s no single-one answer to how we can help,” she adds, explaining they partner with a strong network of senior-serving area organizations to provide care, inclusive of the Commission on Aging, Bay Area Senior Advocates and many medical providers and hospice organizations. “It’s a process of communication, learning, and constantly making sure the solution we originally developed is still meeting all the needs.”

photo courtesy of Comfort Keepers

Today, the senior care industry and new technologies make it possible for older adults to continue to live in their own homes safely and with assistance.

mynorth.com

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STROKE & BRAIN INJURY SUPPORT GROUP

Improving quality of life for survivors & their caregivers.

The Stroke and Brain Injury Support Group offers a safe environment for patients and caregivers to share challenges and gather information through speakers, demonstrations, and group discussions in a nonthreatening setting.

For support group times and locations please scan the QR code or visit us online at mclaren.org/NorthernStroke

This support group is generously funded by donors through the McLaren Northern Michigan Foundation.

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health & wellness 2023

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Smoothing the Bumpy Road to Parenthood Declining maternity services in small-town America is an ongoing struggle. McLaren Northern Michigan is creating a comfortable birthing experience that’s closer to home.

by LISA BLAKE

Pregnant women in rural America are facing more barriers than the last generation of expectant mothers. Rural hospitals are closing at an alarming rate, many shutting down obstetric (OB) units first, while the post-pandemic shortage of health professionals continues to surge.

A 2021 Harvard Medical School study linked the rise of maternity care deserts—or geographic areas where access to safe maternity care is hundreds of miles away—to a substantial increase in maternal and infant mortality rates. Since 2005, the study states, there have been 170 rural hospital closures, with even more rural hospitals operating at a deficit.

McLaren Northern Michigan is working to change that narrative. The 202-bed regional hospital in Petoskey serves 22 counties across northern Lower Michigan and the eastern Upper Peninsula. In 2022, the hospital’s Family BirthPlace welcomed more than 400 babies with a monthly high of 50 babies born at McLaren in December alone.

McLaren Northern Michigan Director of Marketing & Business Development Joe Miles says he’s seeing mentalities shift from families feeling the need to drive two hours south for NICU access—to cover any possible complications—to more and more mothers confidently staying local for the entire birthing journey.

“What we’re proving is that not only can we handle births, but we also have surgeons available and can handle anything from a C-section standpoint,” Miles says. “You can stay close to home, have your support system with you and be able to have that child locally the way you’d like to.”

The birthing team at McLaren Northern Michigan provides compassionate care, welcoming mothers to hotel-like birthing rooms—think cozy sleeper sofas, birthing balls, hydrotherapeutic Jacuzzis, WiFi and blanket warmers. After baby arrives, families stay together in one of 10 postpartum rooms where the same nurse cares for mother and baby. A lactation consultant makes rounds to nursing mothers to help support all nursing efforts and to help troubleshoot any feeding issues that may arise.

“We have great nurse-to-mother coverage, and we have beautiful private rooms overlooking the lake,” Miles says. “It’s a very nice place to be able to have a baby.”

The Family BirthPlace at McLaren Northern Michigan recently elevated the birthing experience with the addition of two nitrous oxide units as a pain management option. Nitrous oxide is combined with oxygen in a fixed 50/50 blend and is self-administered through a bedside system. The light blend wears off right away and helps mothers cope with anxiety and discomfort during labor. Family BirthPlace began offering this option in December and has received lots of positive feedback from mothers about their experience.

“Birthing centers in Europe have been using nitrous oxide since the 1960s,” Miles says. “Now it’s catching on in America, as more and more mothers are looking toward natural birth. Instead of injections and being knocked out of the experience through an epidural, they’re using nitrous oxide to ease the discomfort.”

Once families return home with their newborn, they’re welcome to call Family BirthPlace nurses anytime during those first few weeks to ask important questions. Follow-up calls from a lactation consultant extend the breastfeeding support for as long as is needed.

McLaren Health Care encompasses 11 Michigan-based hospitals, including the Karmanos Cancer Institute in Detroit, and is leading the fight against breast cancer with McLaren Breast Center’s state-of-the-art mammography systems.

Learn more about McLaren Health Care at mclaren.org and listen in on McLaren’s weekly “In Good Health” podcast for intel on leading a healthier life. mynorth.com

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LIFE IS A GIFT, BUT LIVING IT TO THE FULLEST — THAT’S A CHOICE .

Whether it’s that lakeside cottage or lifetime vacation, we help you make financial choices that allow you to live life fully — now and into the future. Start living today.

Life looks good on you.

hemmingwm.com / 231.922.2900 financial planning & abundant perspectives hemming& Wealth Management, Inc. (“hemming& Wealth Management”) is a Registered Investment Advisor (“RIA”) with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”).

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Is Money Stressing You Out? Here’s how to tackle financial planning and keep your mental health in check.

by LISA BLAKE

Your relationship with money is very personal. And complicated. Easy access to credit cards, lingering college debts, rising inflation costs and volatile markets can eat away at your emotional, physical and fiscal health.

Harmful behaviors can often show up as focusing on regret— regret of not starting to save sooner, of a bad purchase or investment decision and shoddy financial relationships. That pit of regret may leave you frozen and unable to make decisions and move forward. When financial stress starts to disrupt your ability to enjoy life and causes anxiety, depression or even headaches and stomachaches, it’s time to talk to a financial professional.

“Often financial stress comes from the shame of thinking you ‘should’ be better off or further along, regretting decisions you made or debt you’ve accumulated,” says hemming& Wealth Management certified financial planner Autumn Chalker Soltysiak.

In addition to mental anguish, money-related stress can begin to manifest in the body as physical ailments and self-harming habits. Overeating or stress eating, insomnia, weakened immune systems and unhealthy behaviors such as alcohol and drug use can crop up when stress about money elevates to an unmanageable level.

HOW TO COPE?

process: embrace, educate, empower. This progression helps clients learn how to think about money, communicate about money with the right people, and to feel confident in their financial plan.

“How you spend your money is intrinsic and affects your health, your experiences and your relationships,” Soltysiak says.

“We are intentional in developing a comprehensive plan for every family we serve.”

Takeaway Tip: Experts recommend spending money on healthy activities or experiences, versus purchases that leave you wanting the next big thing.

Financial planning isn’t about accumulating a magic dollar amount, Soltysiak says. How much you should save and for how long is different for everyone.

As a certified financial planner, she has seen young families in well-paying high-stress jobs save aggressively and live modestly to have the ability to retire early and live simply. At the same time, she sees aging couples with a desire to make their money last beyond their years, taking care of their children and grandchildren.

“Their investment and saving strategies look very different,” she says.

New clients preparing for retirement will often joke, asking, “Where were you twenty years ago?” There is a cost to waiting to take control of financial stress, Soltysiak adds. The anxiety can cause desperation and a lack of focus on long-term goals.

Takeaway Tip: By addressing the issue that brings you the most stress and building a team of support to guide and educate, the burden can be lifted.

“With our financial guidance, we encourage clients to go after the things that will make them happy, now and later in life,” Soltysiak says. “Money is a resource or a tool to obtain fulfillment and joy in all phases of life—it’s not the end goal.”

How you spend your money is intrinsic and affects your health, your experiences and your relationships.

Finding a holistic-minded financial expert allows you to start with understanding your current situation and finding out what’s important to you.

Takeaway Tip: The first step is to track your spending and outline a spending plan—one you’ll actually follow.

After that, building an emergency fund will put you in control of your finances. “If you’re in a relationship, this is also a time where open communication between partners and an understanding about a strategy for the future is necessary,” Soltysiak says.

To build financial confidence, hemming& uses a three-step

mynorth.com

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Living with Lyme Disease

by SHEA PETAJA photo by DAVE WEIDNER

Prevention is important, but for those battling Lyme disease, a swift and accurate diagnosis can be a life-changing step toward wellness.

R

ich spends his summer days at the family cottage on Crystal Lake. The extended relatives gather in droves to enjoy everything it has to offer— boating during the day, bonfires at night and nonstop meal-prep. Uncle Rich is the instigator of all things fun, and “can’t stop won’t stop” is the unspoken agreement.

But this summer was different. For weeks, a strange fever would come and go. His newfound insomnia at night became intolerable. Even at work, he admits, “I had to put my feet up on the desk and close my eyes every day. I couldn’t rally one hundred percent no matter what I did.” It wasn’t until his wife started to google symptoms that they suspected Lyme disease. Was it that tiny red bump on his leg a few weeks ago that started all of this? Maybe.

Jenny likes to golf, walk the dog and garden at her farm. When an onslaught of bizarre symptoms showed up, she was mystified. Extreme exhaustion, body pain, lead-weight arms, chest pain. Every step she took sent pounding pain to the top of her head.

A low-grade fever, exhaustion and profound sweating at night. Edema started in her legs, then gout and finally pink eye. Emergency room tests revealed nothing. Then, allergic reactions to medications she had previously tolerated. Looking back, was it that little rash she noticed while golfing a month ago?

Anne is the consummate tomboy and has been since childhood, her brothers hard pressed to keep up with her boundless energy. She and her husband have worked side-by-side building houses together while raising five children (all homeschooled) and keeping up with grandchildren.

About 20 years ago she got the flu and just when she thought it was over, it would come back. Extreme exhaustion, inability to lift her legs, terrible headaches and a cataract in her early 40s.

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Lyme disease awareness advocate Anne Fielstra

health & wellness 2023

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Anne pushed through and ignored the pain as a temporary setback. Her daughter noticed the changes and insisted (several times) that she pursue answers. Eventually she did, but the truth is, she waited too long.

Rich, Jenny and Anne all have something in common: they are hardwired to push through pain and none of them suspected Lyme disease.

With more than 300 symptoms that manifest differently in different people, Lyme is very hard to detect. In fact, 75 percent of Lyme patients have no memory of a tick bite. Most patients are diagnosed with chronic fatigue, autoimmune disorders or completely dismissed. If not diagnosed immediately, patients like Anne are faced with chronic Lyme disease. Without treatment they will learn to manage the pain but very rarely be cured of it. Lyme disease is like a puzzle without a picture. The pieces fit together but it’s up to you and medical professionals to interpret the image.

Dr. Aaron Heindl, a family doctor in Traverse City, diagnosed Rich almost immediately. “It can be a very complicated diagnosis,” he says, “but if you have a combination of fever, joint pain, flu-like symptoms and remember a bite or classic rash, it’s good to get tested.

“Historically, Michigan has not been listed as a high-risk area so it wasn’t on many practitioners’ minds, including my own, until recently. Different patients will have a variety of manifestations of the disease,” Heindl explains. “The type of symptoms a patient is having, and the timing of them, can make a big difference in how your practitioner will choose to evaluate you.”

LIVING WITH CHRONIC LYME

Anne Fielstra of Traverse City waited too long to seek a diagnosis and treatment. This can be common since many do not suspect Lyme disease at the start, but the longer the disease goes undiagnosed, the tougher it can be to treat.

Anne explains she became a “human library,” an expert on Lyme. But it took over her life. “It’s easy to become self-absorbed in the pain,” she admits. At some point she realized that if it wasn’t going to kill her, she had to learn to live with it. Anne wakes early in the morning to give her body time to become mobile. Daily stretching, walks, a strict vitamin regime, breath work and clean eating keep her thriving. If she can’t sleep, she gets up and does something so as not to lie in bed with frustration. She enjoys her life by hiking, swimming, biking and staying active. She says, “Awareness is your friend, but obsession will work against you.”

Dr. Jeffrey Wulfman, M.D., has spent most of his 30-year career in Vermont. He never set out to be an expert on Lyme disease; it started with one patient who had a mysterious illness that started teaching him what he didn’t know about Lyme, which was a lot. Soon he realized he was in the middle of a silent epidemic of a hidden, potentially devastating illness exacerbated by a lack of knowledge. The reality was, most of what he was taught in school was inadequate. He quickly saw

how complex the situation was and to become proficient in the world of tick-borne diseases, it would require extensive self-study and rewriting his belief systems. There were many unknowns, but the need was great.

He learned that Lyme disease is a great imitator and there is no single way it presents, or single way to diagnose and treat it.

Lyme disease also can’t be ruled out with labs because the accuracy of tests are very poor. During the first month of onset of symptoms, lab tests are maybe 50 percent accurate—a coin flip.

Also, there is no test that can “prove” cure. Antibodies produced to fight off the bacteria that cause Lyme disease can persist— and show up in blood tests—long after the infection is gone.

Additionally, due to the weakening of the body’s systems in the chronic forms, the longer someone has been ill the more a cascade of other problems can develop such as immune dysfunction, hormone issues, neuro-psychiatric issues and parasites. It can become very complex over time.

Chronic late-stage symptoms are much less responsive to treatments, so it’s very important for patients to advocate for themselves quickly. If suspicious of acute (recent onset) Lyme, Dr. Wulfman is an advocate of antibiotics immediately, because, “At the early stage they can be curative and prevent, with very little risk, the development of a potentially life-altering illness.” The chronic condition, by contrast, usually requires a much more comprehensive approach.

WORDS OF HOPE

People are incredibly resilient, and Dr. Wulfman has seen the sickest of the sick get a lot better. His message? Prioritize self-care. The best prevention is to have a vital and healthy baseline in case of infection. Lyme disease or any chronic illness is relentless, making you come to terms with your life and lifestyle, and to choose healing and, equally important, a healing mindset.

Lastly, remember to be your own best advocate, and trust your own knowing that something is not right. Advocate for your health at all times and continue to make your immune system strong so that you can enjoy all the adventures life holds.

OTHER RESOURCES:

• International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society, ilads.org • “Bite Me” by Ally Hilfiger • lymedisease.org • Dr. Wulfman is not currently taking patients; however, he is involved in a new group model for people to have better access to addressing chronic complex illnesses including tick borne disease; learn more at functionalmedicineconsultinggroup.com.

Shea Petaja is a Traverse City-based speaker, writer and certified life coach, who also performs improv and is a regular guest on NewsTalk 580. She is an advocate for those suffering with chronic illnesses and the medical practices that champion patients’ healing. sheapetaja.com mynorth.com

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MADDY STUMPOS, DDS, MS BOARD CERTIFIED ORTHODONTIST

BOOK YOUR FREE CONSULTATION TODAY 231-935-1440 545 S. GARFIELD AVE SUITE A, TRAVERSE CITY, MI 49684

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Big Fixes for Little Teeth New-in-town orthodontist Dr. Maddy Stumpos carries on a beloved practice with a knack for helping kids.

by GREG TASKER

When most of us think of children with braces, we tend to imagine middle or high school students with a mouth full of metal brackets. These days, however, more and more young children— those between the ages of 7 and 12—are benefitting from early intervention in orthodontic treatment.

“Seeing children earlier has become more of an emphasis in orthodontics,” says Dr. Madelyn Stumpos, who owns and runs Traverse City Orthodontics and works with children of all ages. “It is beneficial to see kids early so we can evaluate if they need any early intervention treatment. Early treatment, which occurs while some baby teeth are still present, can guide the growth of facial and jaw bones into a better growth pattern and provide more space for the adult teeth. This can provide for a better long-term outcome.”

In fact, the American Association of Orthodontists and the American Dental Association recommend all kids be evaluated for orthodontics by age 7. By this age, the orthodontist can detect problems with jaw growth and emerging teeth. Most kids begin active treatment between ages 9 and 14.

“Things go a lot easier when we have early intervention,” says Dr. Maddy, as her patients call her. “More and more research shows that we can find a better treatment plan when we start at a younger age.”

She recently moved to Traverse City last summer after practicing in the Denver, Colorado, area. A native of Lansing, Stumpos earned her doctor of dental surgery degree from the University of Michigan School of Dentistry. Her philosophy? A visit to the orthodontist at an earlier age doesn’t necessarily mean braces. “It can simply mean working with children before their adult teeth

are established to address any issues of concern,” she says.

Those concerns can range from crooked and crowded teeth to problems with jaw growth to bite malocclusions, such as crossbites, overbites and underbites. Early treatment can correct or improve conditions in young, growing children. Intervention at a young age can also turn a severe problem that could require jaw surgery into a moderate problem that can be treated with braces at a later age.

“A lot of times early treatment is to help the jaws fit together,” says Stumpos. “It doesn’t mean you need braces at the time. We want to be efficient with our treatment plans.”

Those braces options include clear and metal braces that are made of the latest technology in high-grade stainless steel. Stumpos also offers clear aligner therapy such as Invisalign or Spark and in-house clear aligners.

Braces and retainers come in a variety of colors.

“It’s nice to say, ‘We don’t need to do anything right now; we just want to watch you grow,’” she says. “It’s a bummer when someone comes in who is done growing and there are issues. It makes it more complicated. It’s harder in terms of treatment options.”

In addition to a welcoming environment full of toys and patients’ colored pictures brightening the walls, Stumpos and her team also make each patient feel like they’re the most important person in the place, she says. “We give them a lot of attention and make kids feel important to help the process go a lot smoother,” she explains. That attention also extends to moments of anxiousness or minor discomfort. “We tell them gently, ‘We’ll give you a break when it’s safe,’” Stumpos says. “We give them all the time they need.”

photos courtesy of Traverse City Orthodontics

More and more research shows that we can find a better treatment plan when we start at a younger age.

mynorth.com

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A Welcoming Approach Financial planning can be overwhelming.

This local team of experts invites you to ease into it.

photo courtesy of Prout Financial

by CARLY SIMPSON

When the team at Prout Financial Design in Traverse City began searching for a new office, their primary goal was to find a spot with enough space for a classroom. They wanted a place where they could welcome the community. This dream is part of a larger staff mission to invest in education—not just continuing education for advisors or informing clients about the latest investment strategies, but also answering questions and offering resources to the community at large.

Another goal? Create a relaxed atmosphere. Thanks to a steadily growing staff and 700-plus clients, Prout Financial’s original headquarters on Front Street was starting to feel “cramped.” Walking into the lobby at their new Eighth Street home is anything but—it feels more like a friend’s living room, with a crackling fire, comfy couches, coffee mugs at the ready.

Now settled in after their big move in November 2022, Prout Financial is ready to invite guests over, and this spring 2023, the team is hosting the first of many Lunch & Learns. The free hour-long events will cover a variety of topics—some financial and some just plain ol’ fun—from Roth IRAs and 529 plans to travel, gardening and cooking classes. Prout Financial will also bring in experts on subjects like Medicare, Social Security and life insurance. The classroom has a full kitchen—with an oven, refrigerator, two dishwashers and counter space for prep work—along with a separate restroom, two big-screen TVs, a high-tech sound system and rolling tables that can be easily rearranged. Outside groups can also rent the room and host their own events.

“Locally, I don’t know of anyone else who has a learning center like this,” says Financial Advisor and Managing Director Heidi Cartwright. “Other people do hold classes for clients to introduce products, but our monthly program that’s open to the public is a little different.

“People who come in our door may have some fear or anxiety about financial planning,” Cartwright adds. “They might not know how to get started or are worried about making a mistake. We want to give people tools to navigate these topics, which can feel like tangled webs.”

For those who want one-on-one time with an advisor, Prout Financial also offers an hour-long complimentary consultation.

It’s an opportunity to ask questions and learn about different services. “I’ve had people with a couple thousand dollars who are just starting out and who want to know what to do first, to people who have substantial portfolios,” Cartwright says. “But that hour is available to anyone. We try to give you as much information as possible and a list of action items. We want you to leave having the confidence of knowing what to do next.”

Consultations are available with Cartwright and Nathan Prout, son of Prout Financial Founder Dennis Prout, who has joined the advisor team. Nathan recently passed his Series 65, allowing him to give clients investment advice and analysis, and he also specializes in life insurance, annuities and financial plans.

Lunch & Learn dates and topics will be announced online (proutfinancialdesign.com) and on-air during WTCM’s “New Retirement Radio” program, featuring Cartwright and Prout. Space is limited; call to save your spot.

Securities offered through Geneos Wealth Management Inc. Member FINRA/SIPC. Advisory Services offered through Capital Asset Advisory Services, LLC, a Registered Investment Advisor. mynorth.com

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You, Only Better In a warm and caring environment, a family practice doc helps patients look and feel like the best versions of themselves.

by CARA MCDONALD

It was an ordinary follow-up email from a patient, but with an extraordinary attachment. When Dr. Rebecca Zipser Hoffman’s staff clicked on the image, up popped a photo of a woman posing with a pair of her big old sweatpants. She was standing in one leg of them, her smile glowing, the picture of pride and health.

Even better? Her newly healthy and slimmed-down husband, inspired by his wife’s success, was standing in the other leg.

This reinvigorated, half-of-themselves duo was the perfect testimony to the outcomes Hoffman and her team are seeing at Cherry Bend Health & Wellness. The new medical spa, focused on skin care and weight loss, is the sister business to her longestablished Traverse City practice, Cherry Bend Family Care.

As a Doctor of Osteopathy (D.O.), Hoffman has always embraced holistic wellness but was frustrated by traditional care models that only allow for a few minutes of patient interaction and often leave people with more questions than answers. Add to that the impact Covid-19 had on her staff and the people in her care—as the first clinic in the area to have rapid Covid testing, they found themselves taking care of the community at large, not just their own patients.

Battling burnout, Hoffman took stock: “I was thinking, well, I’m a middle-aged woman, some of my staff are in the same situation, what do I want? What can we offer? I wanted to do something that I enjoy, that gives me new knowledge, something fun in medicine. I decided to address the things people have asked me about over the years; the ‘I can’t lose weight. What do I do with brown spots from all the sun?’ questions and the issues that keep us from feeling our best as we age.”

She’d also noticed troubling health trends exacerbated by the pandemic—spiking anxiety, alcohol abuse, poor health habits.

How could she wrap her arms around all of her patients’ needs?

Then Hoffman’s landlord retired and offered to sell her the other half of the building where her practice was, and she knew she had the space to expand into something new and exciting.

The result is a practice where patients can receive weight loss, skin and body care services that help them lean into their health and wellbeing in a way that helps them feel inspired and at home in their bodies—and most important, done in a sound, medically informed way.

The clinic now offers medically supported weight loss that starts with a habit and diet reboot. “What you put into your body makes such a difference—it will impact your skin, your joint pain,” Hoffman explains. “So we start people out on a super clean diet for a very short period of time, but people can’t believe how good they feel.”

That super clean diet? It starts with three weeks of real, whole food. “It’s very spelled out,” says Hoffman. “We’ve found it helps people a lot to know exactly what to do for success.”

The other secret to success is the accountability the weekly appointments and check-ins provide. “When you have accountability, when you’re investing in something, you’re less inclined to cheat,” she adds.

In addition, the team offers skin care that’s tightly curated—instead of a laundry list of treatments, they’ve narrowed it down to the most impactful and least-invasive options that don’t change how you look (so no lifts and fillers), but improve and enhance.

Similar to the weight loss model, her team helps patients come up with a highly individualized plan, which can range from simply switching to new products, to facials, chemical peels, Botox and microneedling and microdermabrasion. (Her personal fave? Virtue Microneedling. “I can tell it’s made a difference in a very short period of time without making me look like a different person.”)

The result is a care model where people who have experienced frustration or hesitancy to tackle personal improvements can feel supported and guided in the best way possible. “We don’t go with the, ‘What don’t you like about yourself?’” Hoffman says. “We help you choose what’s going to make you feel good about yourself.”

I wanted to do something that I enjoy, that gives me new knowledge, something fun in medicine.

mynorth.com

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B

efore Jessica Perez became a NAMI navigator, she urgently needed one.

Her daughter Ava—normally an active, outgoing 12-year-old with a busy school, sports and social calendar—had become increasingly withdrawn during the pandemic.

No longer able to attend school in person, play on the three sports teams she loved or build and brainstorm alongside her robotics team, Ava went from feeling hopeful for a return to normal life to feeling hopeless. She became anxious. What initially seemed like sadness about the situation began showing itself through worsening signs of anxiety and depression.

“In our family, we treat mental health issues as we do a broken bone or other serious medical condition, so we took her to the emergency room at Munson [Medical Center in Traverse City],” Perez explains.

In terms of mental health care in Northern Michigan, she says, “We lack everything. We’ve seen adults and kids stuck in the emergency department for weeks or sometimes a month.”

The region isn’t alone, of course. For kids and adults across the nation, there’s a huge chasm between the need for and availability of mental health services, not only for inpatient psych beds and crisis stabilization units but also basic community clinics, intensive outpatient programs, respite services and therapy.

Although Michigan isn’t the worst, this year Mental Health America named Michigan among the nation’s lowest-ranked states in terms of access to care for both kids and adults.

Yet even Perez, who has 20 years of experience navigating state and local social services thanks to a degree and career in social work, was unprepared for the difficulties her family would face in getting local crisis care and follow-up support for Ava. “We as a family are well-versed in mental health,” she says. “But we were still surprised with the lack of resources here in Grand Traverse County and [the surrounding region].”

As with residential crisis and inpatient programs, there are a few partial hospitalization/ outpatient programs and mental health services available in Northern Lower Michigan but, again, limitations abound: Some are for adults only.

Other services, like most offered through Northern Roughly 22 percent of American Lakes Community Mental Health—just one of kids will face a severe mental health five member Community Mental Health Services Programs covering 21 counties in Northern Lower issue. But getting support and treatment Michigan—are accessible only to those with Medfor the under-18 set and their families icaid. Others can be prohibitively expensive, even in Michigan—and Up North, in particular— for folks with insurance.

Coverage, cost or age of the patient notwithis not only limited but also infinitely standing, long waiting lists for programs, services complicated. What’s an overwhelmed and psychiatrists—the only kind of mental health parent to do? Lean on the Grand specialist able to prescribe medication, often critical in managing certain conditions and behaviors—are Traverse affiliate of NAMI, the the norm, Dahlstrom says.

National Alliance on Mental Illness.

While Ava’s parents were ultimately able to get their daughter the help she needed at the time

by LYNDA WHEATLEY of her crisis and afterward, Perez acknowledges, “That’s not the case for all families.”

The clinicians recommended Ava get treatment in a residenIn hopes of helping others navigate their own mental health tial/inpatient program, but Munson couldn’t admit her. Nor and treatment odyssey, Ava and Perez shared their experience could any other facility in the area. Northern Lower Michigan with a local paper. Many Northerners struggling with their or has only 32 inpatient mental health beds—not nearly enough their children’s mental illnesses began reaching out to Perez for supply for demand—and not one accepts kids under 18. advice, guidance or simply to share their story, too.

With nowhere to go but unable to leave while awaiting Not long after, Perez joined NAMI Grand Traverse to guide transfer, Ava and her parents stayed in a small windowless families in an official capacity: as a NAMI navigator. room in the emergency department, hoping a youth inpatient Founded around a kitchen table by a group of Colorado bed would open up somewhere, anywhere, in Michigan. Five moms struggling to find help for their kids in 1979, NAMI nights later, one finally did at Pine Rest in Grand Rapids, three is a nationwide organization with affiliates in every state and hours south.

1,100-plus local communities across the country. Its mission: Ava’s experience isn’t uncommon, says Kate Dahlstrom, a to improve the lives of both kids and adults, as well as their longtime mental health advocate based in Traverse City and families, who are living with mental illness—through support, NAMI board member. education and advocacy.

Mental Health Help for Kids

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A 2022 report by Mental Health America found that nearly 60 percent of Michigan’s youth with major depression, roughly 74,000 kids, didn’t receive any treatment.

Except for one affiliate in the Upper Peninsula, NAMI Alger/Marquette, NAMI Grand Traverse is the only NAMI affiliate north of Midland. As NAMI Grand Traverse’s sole navigator, Perez works by phone and in person to help people find the right mental health care for themselves or someone they love—during a crisis, in conjunction with treatment and afterward.

“I listen and provide empathy and direction,” she says, from guiding people to next steps when a mentally ill family member has been arrested to connecting them to resources like treatment programs, support groups or therapists.

She also strives to help people develop what she calls “their mental health toolkit.”

“You can’t be at therapy every day, so what can you do in the meantime? I help people think outside of the box so that they can find something to do each day to support their mental wellness,” Perez says.

To that end, NAMI offers some services of its own—all free: • For people living with mental illness, there’s NAMI Connection, a weekly Zoom meeting where attendees can talk openly about their struggles and receive respect, understanding, encouragement and hope. It’s led by a trained individual who is in recovery. Note: NAMI Connection is intended in conjunction with treatment, not as an alternative.

• For adult family members, caregivers and others who love someone living with mental illness, NAMI’s Family Support Group offers a structured way to gain insight from the challenges and successes of others facing similar circumstances. It’s led by a trained peer support specialist who also has a family member living with a mental illness.

• For family caregivers of individuals with severe mental illnesses, NAMI offers a Family-to-Family Education Program, a free, 12-week course (and national program) taught by trained family members. It covers the latest research, evidence-based treatments and medication for major disorders like schizophrenia, major depression, bipolar disorder and more. It also offers strategies for communication techniques, handling crises and relapse, and—especially important—helping the caregiver cope with worry, stress and emotional overload.

A BETTER TOMORROW

Although Northwest Lower Michigan has a long way to go in meeting the outsized demand for mental health care, NAMI and others are giving families and people living with mental illness more reasons for hope.

Recently, NAMI Grand Traverse started working with local high school students to help them better understand their own

and others’ mental health: recognizing warning signs of struggle or suicide, identifying triggers, learning coping skills, how to seek help, and reducing the stigma of mental illness—a key tenet of NAMI’s education efforts.

McLaren Hospital in Cheboygan has broken ground on an 18-bed behavioral health unit for adults, but a planned second phase would add 12 beds, expand its partial hospitalization program and include a crisis stabilization unit.

In Grand Traverse County, NAMI and other partners’ advocacy efforts have resulted in $5 million in ARPA funds earmarked for “mental health infrastructure.” While details are still unfolding, a crisis wellness center, projected to offer several levels of mental health services for adults, adolescents and their families, is in the works. In addition to that future center, a “Crisis Welcome Center” already exists in TC, offered

by Northern Lakes Community Mental Health. The center has group sessions, support and crisis interventions seven days a week. It’s open to anyone, regardless of age or coverage.

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 mynorth.com

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by CHASE EDWARDS

What if you were told there was one treatment that helps the healing of almost every injury and illness? Too good to be true?

Not anymore. Meet hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT). Used since the 1940s to treat scuba divers for decompression sickness, HBOT has been found to promote healing for those with burns, strokes, headaches, athletic injuries, even Alzheimer’s.

What sounds almost incomprehensible is actually as simple as oxygen: HBOT heals by carrying O2 to the parts of the body that need it the most. Oxygen is vital in numerous biological processes including cell proliferation, angiogenesis and protein synthesis, which are required for restoration of tissue function and integrity.

“Oxygen helps everybody,” says Dr. Tony Aboudib, who regularly treats people using HBOT at his practice, the Michigan Health & Wellness Center in Traverse City. In the seven years since Aboudib has used HBOT he’s seen astounding results, from the post-stroke patient whose numbness went away after only a few sessions, allowing him to walk without a cane, to the Covid-19 long-hauler who found relief from both pain and fatigue.

Aboudib describes HBOT as a supplemental treatment. “Patients typically use it in conjunction with other treatments and therapies,” he says. For example, a cancer patient would use HBOT along with chemo and radiation to enhance the effectiveness of those treatments.

During therapy sessions, patients are placed in a pressurized chamber where oxygen is compressed, and the increased air pressure in the chamber helps the lungs collect more oxygen. Oxygen is then carried in the person’s plasma to red blood cells. The pressure in the chamber stimulates blood flow and increases the circulation of oxygen throughout the body.

For patients with burns and soft tissue wounds, this increase in oxygen decreases swelling caused damaged blood vessels. The increase in oxygen to the burn area also decreases pain while promoting the healing of the injury. Dr. Aboudib worked with one burn patient who saw a decrease in burn size after every visit.

HBOT works wonders for athletic injuries in much the same way, and it also enhances recovery so athletes can get back to training more quickly.

The healing process is similar for patients suffering from traumatic brain injuries, headaches and strokes where an increase in oxygen is carried to the brain, and healing is promoted. For one patient with trigeminal neuralgia and severe facial pain, the pain was reduced 50 percent after the first visit. This same patient also had swelling in his feet, and after two or three visits the swelling in his ankles was gone.

Additionally, HBOT boosts the immune system by increasing both the quantity and quality of white blood cells while increasing blood flow, which helps detoxify the body. And because it also increases collagen production, patients not only feel better but look better, too.

At Michigan Health and Wellness, the number of HBOT sessions prescribed depends on your personalized treatment plan. Most cancer patients will receive 40 sessions, whereas a typical stroke patient or a patient with a brain injury may receive 30 sessions. Sessions last from an hour to 90 minutes.

To prepare for treatment, clients are asked to wear comfortable cotton clothes and to take off shoes and empty their pockets. Once the door is closed, oxygen begins flowing through the chamber. The level of compression is adjusted according to the patient’s treatment plan and the ailment being treated. Patients can then relax inside the pressurized chamber by reading, watching videos or napping.

“It feels like being in an airplane,” Aboudib says. “You feel a little pressure in your ears and then it equalizes.” mynorth.com

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Solutions for Neuropathy Pain Symptoms Exploring drug-free and non-surgical treatment approaches at Traverse City’s Shift Health Center.

by COURTNEY JEROME

Tingling, aching and numbness in your hands and feet is a pain that’s hard to ignore. In fact, when you experience it, the feeling can be overwhelming and all-consuming when accomplishing even daily tasks.

“Neuropathy pain can vary from person to person, but it could feel like burning, stabbing, aching, tingling or numbness,” says Kyle Konas, D.C., founder of Shift Health Center who treats the condition along with his chiropractor colleagues, Dr. Peter Kelly and Dr. Damian Mendoza. “At Shift Health Center, we use a plethora of treatment modalities depending on each specific case.”

Patients from throughout Northern Michigan travel to Traverse City’s Shift Health Center, seeking a solution. The chiropractic office says the pain is most commonly experienced by both male and female patients 50 years of age and older.

Common causes of neuropathy pain include diabetes, prescription medication side effects (especially statins), autoimmune diseases, alcohol use, spinal injuries and chemotherapy side effects.

“However, about forty percent of cases are called idiopathic, which means we don’t know why they started,” Konas says.

Whether idiopathic, or the cause is known, the team at Shift cares about finding a solution that doesn’t include surgery or medication.

“I’ve always been into natural means—a holistic lifestyle has always resonated with me,” Konas says. “I was so sick of seeing all these options that are only band-aids for people’s problems‚ just trying to mask the symptoms. It’s a big problem. And it’s propagated by some patients who just want to take a pill.”

Dr. Konas believes their team’s passion for Shift’s treatment modalities stems from the desire to see people get well and stay well, instead of using a pain killer that will cause other negative symptoms.

“The nice thing is that much of this therapy we can give our patients to do at home, so they do not need to come to our office

every day,” continues Dr. Konas. “Our goal is not necessarily to ‘cure’ neuropathy, but to reverse the symptoms that you are experiencing.” Their six treatment modalities include: LOW-LEVEL LIGHT THERAPY

This treatment is designed to hit mitochondria (the powerhouse of the cell), giving it energy to heal the tissues and the nerves around the area of focus.

NERVE STIMULATION

To re-educate the nerves, nerve stimulation is another option. As nerves may be firing in improper frequencies, they need to be re-educated back into a normal rhythm.

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Working similarly to low-level light therapy in terms of targeting the mitochondria of cells, laser therapy also has a pain-reduction effect, in addition to pushing fluids through the area.

SPINAL CARE

The nerves that exit the spine feed down to the feet and hands, so it’s crucial to screen the spine and those areas to make sure none of a patient’s symptoms are coming from the spine.

DIET MODIFICATION AND SUPPLEMENTATION

Goals for most of Shift’s neuropathy patients include lowering systemic inflammation so the body has the ability to heal, and improving circulation, which can be achieved by modifying diet and adding supplements.

SHOCKWAVE THERAPY

This therapy works by recycling old and damaged cells, turning on the stem cell mechanism in the body to produce new cells. It also brings blood flow to the area and moves fluids through the tissues to reduce pain levels. mynorth.com

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Where the Better Angels Work How area hospice volunteers guide patients and loved ones through one of the most emotional, challenging and beautiful parts of life.

by PATTY LANOUE STEARNS

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W

hen my mother was in the last stages of ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease, hospice came to the rescue. Not just to usher our beloved mom into the great hereafter, but also to help her and our family members accept the weighty inevitability of her death.

Mom was of the generation that only whispered about dying.

But after she read the breakthrough 1969 book, “On Death and Dying” by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, a co-founder of the hospice movement who outlined the five stages of grief before and after death, my mother’s thoughts began to evolve.

Hospice care services include doctors, nurses, social workers, spiritual counselors, home health aides, bereavement counselors and trained volunteers. The idea is to offer comfort, dignity and quality of life to patients whose diseases don’t respond to curative treatment.

My family witnessed firsthand the selflessness, caring and keen wisdom of Darlene, our hospice worker. She came to my parents’ home several times a week and made us all feel comfortable at the saddest time of our lives. Each time she visited, my mom felt more and more at ease. Just before Mom died, Darlene let us know that it was time for my large family to assemble. My brother played a Simon and Garfunkel tune on his guitar as she took her last breath.

A LOVE STORY

Anyone who knows Denny and Monterey Wheeler knows the great story of how they met. They were both divorced, and even though they both went to the same high school, they didn’t know each other until Monterey’s best friend introduced the two at a party in Onekama. Not long after, on their first date, she says, “We knew.”

Their love story began in May 2000, and the couple married soon after, enjoying more than two decades of love, laughter and a mutual adoration of good food and rock ’n’ roll. In 2022, Denny was diagnosed with ALS. As his condition began to deteriorate, Monterey contacted a social worker at their insurance provider, Priority Health, to get the ball rolling. Two days later, they began receiving hospice care through Munson Hospital Cadillac at their Manistee home.

“It was a wise decision. They have been wonderful, with a team much like the ALS Clinic in Grand Rapids, except they come to us,” says Monterey. “No more trips to GR. And they do everything we need. Someone from their team comes nearly every day.”

Hospice has provided all of the equipment Denny needs— an online app for voice recognition with large print, a ventilator and suction machine and, the biggest hit so far, the visit from a retired pastor, who brought his guitar and played Bob Seger and Neil Diamond. “Denny just beamed,” Monterey says, noting that Christmas was more meaningful in 2022 because of “the gift of having Denny, and the time we’ve been given to continue writing our love story.” She wants people to know that, “Hospice doesn’t mean death is imminent. We just go one day at a time, and try to do something different every day.”

A LONG-TIME VOLUNTEER

Traverse City resident Jan Chapman witnessed her mom and, more recently, her boyfriend, go through hospice. And over two decades, she’s experienced many passings as a volunteer.

But before that, at only 34 years old, she watched her husband die without hospice. It was a lesson.

“After that, I felt I had to help people who were dying,” Chapman says. “People can die peacefully and it’s not scary. It’s the most natural thing, and it can give you peace to be with a loved one and take care of that person. It’s beautiful.”

Chapman lauds clinical social worker Mary Raymer for starting the hospice program in Traverse City with the intent to help people live their last days of life as fully as possible.

Chapman shares, “People think once you call hospice, it’s the end—and what is wrong with that? Hospice allows you to die at home, helps you with living in the here and now, and teaches you so much—to be happy every day you wake up.”

She says hospice offers the most tranquil way to die, for patients and families alike. “It can be peaceful if you know how to navigate the storm,” she says. “None of us like that our loved one is dying, so we say, ‘How can we make it as peaceful as possible.’”

She recalls volunteer work with an especially crabby hospice patient who was in a lot of pain. “I told him, ‘You can be as crabby as you want, but if you will let me, I will make you as comfortable as possible. I’m here because I love you and want to help you.’

“About an hour later, he told me, ‘I’ve never felt this comfortable in my entire life.’ He died in the middle of the night.

Everybody’s death can be a lesson to somebody that this can be beautiful,” Chapman adds. “Nobody teaches us how to ask for help. We don’t know what to say. That’s where hospice can help.”

ANOTHER LESSON

Like Chapman, Northport writer and village trustee Susan Ager went through elaborate training as a hospice volunteer.

She remembers her patients well.

“One client was a woman from Slovakia,” Ager says. “I saw her for a year. We would sit side by side and I would hold her hand and watch TV.” What she learned was that families need respite from their sorrow as their loved ones move through the process of dying, and hospice volunteers provide that help, such as holding hands, massaging them, taking patients to the bathroom and doing bereavement calls after the patient has died.

“All of my experiences have been with families who signed up early—something that truly helps patients understand what is happening and what will happen next. Hospice is there to solve problems.”

Ager’s mother called hospice and made her own arrangements, to which the facility told Ager: “We wish we got more people like your mom.”

Patty LaNoue Stearns is a longtime Michigan journalist and author. mynorth.com

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TO WIN! R E T N E

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3/13/23 4:21 PM

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

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3/13/23 4:16 PM

T he Cu l i nary North local restaurants . craft drinks . seasonal cuisine

“

Sometimes you NEED a sandwich … We’re talking two-hands-required stacks of meat and veg.

ph o t o by A l l i s o n J a r r e l l

—MANAGING EDITOR CARLY SIMPSON

SAMMIES ON HIGH P. 59 NEW IN TOWN: FOUNDRY BAR & GRILL P. 60 MAKE MOM THESE RHUBARB CURD SQUARES P. 62 M AY 2 0 2 3

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Photo courtesy of Traverse City Ticker

Truly world-class dining in Michigan's original "foodie" capital Dozens of inspired, charming and LOCAL shops and boutiques Year-round arts, culture and entertainment Nestled on gorgeous Lake Michigan

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Photo courtesy of Traverse City Ticker

T he Cu l i nary North Grab & Go

SAMMIES ON HIGH

by CARLY SIMPSON

Order one of these hunks at Shipwreck Café, then take ’em exploring at Sleeping Bear Dunes.

photo by Allison Jarrell

S

ometimes you need a sandwich. And not just any old PB&J or a couple slices of turkey with a squirt of mustard. We’re talking two-hands-required stacks of meat and veg between thick slices of (preferably salty) bread slathered with sauce.

A fancy toothpick-in-the-center-holding-it-all-together sandwich. Enter Shipwreck Café. The unassuming eatery in Empire sits on M-22, a few blocks from Empire Beach, right in the heart of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore (just around the corner from the park’s visitor center, in fact).

Inside, story clippings about area shipwrecks dot the dining counter and Great Lakes maps line the walls. A nauticalinspired menu starts with the popular Fitzgerald—turkey,

bacon, homemade pretzel bun—followed by offerings like the Rouse Simmons, piled with roast beef, cheddar and pickled onions, or the Three Brothers with its capicola, prosciutto and salami on an Italian herb roll. (Don’t get wrecked: You’ll regret it if you don’t grab a chocolate cherry cookie.)

Shipwreck Café 11691 S. Lacore Rd. (M-22), Empire shipwreckcafe.com M AY 2 0 2 3

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T he Cu l i nary North New in Town

60 T R A V E R S E N O R T H E R N M I C H I G A N

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D I N I N G OUT

THE CLASSICS, KICKED UP

by CARLY SIMPSON

Grab a seat at Elk Rapids’ newest hangout, Foundry Bar & Grill, where the team is taking American eats and giving them a craft-level touch.

photos by Dave Weidner

F

or andre bushell, it doesn’t get better than the #6. Thick slices of sourdough from Detroit Bread Bakery. Sizzling ribeye. Caramelized onions. “Oooo sauce”—a blend of barbecue and mayo. Melty muenster and cheddar cheese topping it all off.

Adam Earle is a wings guy. Parmesan-garlic. Creamy buffalo.

Peach poblano BBQ. If they’re on a menu, he’s ordering them. And then there are the burgers. Build your own or go with Earle’s favorite, the Spicy Jam: a half-pound patty topped with a fried egg, hash browns and sweet jalapeño bacon jam. It’s the stuff of dreams.

Bushell, Earle and a third partner, Loren Akerman, are the trio behind Elk Rapids’ newest restaurant, Foundry Bar & Grill. It’s the eatery’s second location, the first opening in East Jordan in 2019. The group is working toward a May opening in Elk Rapids.

But in a market flooded with Foundry East Jordan wings and burgers, what makes it special? “It’s American food, but it’s scratch-made,” Bushell says.

“We’re always asking, ‘How can we elevate what we do, take it to a craft level?’” The answer: Use as many local products as possible, including Michigan Craft Beef, produce from Revolution Farms and spirits crafted by Iron Fish Distillery.

Both restaurants are “urban rustic, edgy and high-energy,” Bushell adds, while also being family-friendly.

Here are a few things we love about each location: Foundry East Jordan: Patio overlooking the South Arm of Lake Charlevoix, upper deck with views of the lake and an eagle’s nest, live music.

Foundry Elk Rapids: Streetside patio with downtown views, cornhole and live music; garage doors create a family-friendly section and a bar side.

Foundry Bar & Grill 151 River St., Elk Rapids 101 Main St., East Jordan foundrybg.com M AY 2 0 2 3

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T he Cu l i nary North On the Table

DINING IN

TART SMART

by STACEY BRUGEMAN

Shortbread squares made with rhubarb curd are a fresh-coast iteration of a coastal grandmother classic.

W

hen i moved home to michigan, my dad potted up all of the rhubarb plants in his garden and hauled them to our farmhouse. It was a housewarming present of sorts—my childhood rhubarb at a time when he and my mom were simplifying. My husband popped them in the ground that first growing season and we treated them like newborn babies—checking on them often and tending to their every need. The second summer we simply let them grow—gardening experts recommend waiting three or four growing seasons to harvest transplanted rhubarb stalks. This spring, as these hardy members of the buckwheat family shot through the earth, I laughed at the era of letting them establish themselves. My 11 childhood plants are far happier on the sunny slope where Dan planted them than they ever were during my youth. With leaves the size of small umbrellas and firm, beet-red stalks, we now have more rhubarb than I can use, and I’m always looking for creative things to do with it.

Those who cook with rhubarb know that it is bracingly tart, much like lemon. I recently asked myself, “What do I make with lemon that I could instead be making with rhubarb?” Curd came to mind. When I was in college, my grandma used to send me lemon bars in the mail. While she spent most of her life in Michigan, she was living in Charleston at the time and was so very “coastal grandmother,” before coastal grandmothers were a thing. I grabbed her recipe (yes, handwritten on a splattered index card) and used it to inspire these rhubarb bites. This May, let’s make fresh coastal grandmother a thing by offering these at the next soccer tournament tailgate, for teacher appreciation week or that choir concert bake sale.

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.

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

62 T R A V E R S E N O R T H E R N M I C H I G A N

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^ Rhubarb Curd Squares Makes 16 2-inch bites 1 pound rhubarb, about 7 to 10 stalks, cut into 1-inch pieces 2 cups unsweetened 100 percent cranberry juice

photos and styling by Sarah Peschel

2 sticks unsalted room-temperature butter, separated ¾ cup granulated sugar, divided 1 cup all-purpose flour a few pinches of salt 3 large eggs ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom confectioners sugar for dusting

1. Place rhubarb and cranberry juice into a non-reactive saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil then reduce heat to simmer, allowing it to cook until the rhubarb is stringy and no longer resembles individual chopped pieces, about 20 minutes.

Remove from the heat and allow the mixture to continue steeping, uncovered, as it cools to room temperature.

2. While the rhubarb mixture cools, make the shortbread. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and use 1 Tablespoon of butter to generously grease an 8-inch square baking dish. In a mixer, cream together 1 stick of room temperature butter and ¼ cup of sugar, beating at high speed for 1 minute, until light in color and whipped.

Working in batches at low speed and scraping the sides of the bowl as needed, fold in the flour and salt, mixing until the dough resembles gravel. Create a ball with the dough, then use your fist and fingers to press it into an even layer that covers the bottom of the pan. Bake on the center rack for 20 minutes, until golden brown at the edges.

3. While the shortbread bakes, use a blender or immersion blender to puree the rhubarb mixture. Pour it into a fine mesh strainer set over a bowl, pressing the puree with a spatula to release as much juice as possible. Wipe out the saucepan in which it simmered with a paper towel, return the strained pink liquid to the pan, and discard the solid portion of the puree. Bring the rhubarb juice back to a simmer. Keeping a watchful eye so that it doesn’t over-reduce, let it cook over low heat, uncovered, until the liquid measures a ½ cup. Remove from the heat.

4. Break the eggs into a small bowl and whisk them until combined and frothy.

Place a few inches of water into a saucepan and cover with the metal bowl of a double boiler. Bring the water under the bowl to a simmer. Working over low heat, slip the eggs into the warm bowl and add the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar, whisking constantly until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is glossy. Add the ½ cup of rhubarb concentrate and continue whisking for a few minutes, until the mixture is foaming and beginning to thicken.

Remove from the heat and add 7 Tablespoons of butter, whisking again until the butter is fully incorporated and curd is the consistency of runny baked Brie. Fold in the cardamom.

5. Pour the curd over the par-baked shortbread and bake again at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Remove the baking dish from the oven and allow it to cool completely before cutting into 16 2-inch squares. Dust with confectioners’ sugar just before serving. – S.B. M AY 2 0 2 3

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4/6/23 1:28 PM

love of the land

get there ST. CLAIR LAKE / SIX MILE LAKE NATURE PRESERVE

photo by Dave Weidner

Dip your paddle into the waters of this marshy preserve that lies along the upper Chain of Lakes Water Trail in Antrim and Charlevoix counties— where St. Clair Lake meets Six Mile Lake via the Sinclair River—and you might just spot an otter playing among the ripples or a great blue heron searching for his next meal.

This wildly magical 250-plus-acre natural area is jointly managed by Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy and Little Traverse Conservancy, and is home to one of the longest stretches of undeveloped shoreline within the Elk River Watershed.

Beyond being a breathtaking spot to launch a canoe, kayak or paddleboard, this preserve also offers a universally accessible path—the Mary Behrens Sorrell Trail—allowing nature lovers of all ages and abilities to enjoy views of the river and the surrounding cedar wetlands and forests.-A.J.

64 T R A V E R S E N O R T H E R N M I C H I G A N

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4/5/23 1:16 AM

50 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals

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A HEARTFELT ACHIEVEMENT At McLaren Northern Michigan, our dedicated team of cardiovascular experts are committed to providing the highest quality of care to the people of this region.

For six consecutive years, the hospital has been recognized as one of the Nation’s Top 50 Cardiovascular Hospitals, a testament to this commitment. By introducing leading-edge procedures to the area, including transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) and WATCHMAN, we are constantly seeking the next generation of heart care.

Learn more about our cardiovascular services at mclaren.org/NorthernHeart

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4/5/23 1:16 AM