Traverse Northern Michigan, March 2025 by MyNorth

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Guiding Lights 5

SPIRITED LEADERS CHANGING THE NORTH FOR GOOD

Remembering Crescent

Logging and Life on North Manitou

Living the Dream 2025 Edition

MARCH 2O25

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502 S Grand Avenue, Leland Remarkable opportunity to build this picture perfect cottage home in the idyllic town of Leland. Situated just steps from North Lake Leelanau at the end of Grand Avenue, the main floor offers a primary suite, open kitchen, living and dining area, mudroom and 1/2 bath. The upper level brings three additional bedrooms, a loft area and full bath. The lower level features a 5th bedroom, bath and recreation room. Amenity includes a one stall detached garage, landscaping, Pella windows, LP siding, hardwood floors, tile, quartz countertops, and Kohler fixtures. Owner is broker in the State of Michigan. MLS:1930381 $1,800,000

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features 20

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The North Stars

Meet five Northern Michigan women who are connecting the dots, bending norms and lighting the road ahead. PHOTOS BY C O U R T N E Y K E N T

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

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photo by Courtney Kent

Remembering Crescent

Today, the village of Crescent is largely hidden in the 15,000-acre wilderness on North Manitou Island, the long-abandoned homes and businesses left to forces of nature for more than a century. But the memories remain. BY B I L LY R O SA & K A R E N R O SA

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Stepping into the Dream

Whether it’s a downtown condo a stone’s throw from your favorite restaurant, a flower farm to ground you or a fixer-upper with sturdy bones, we all have an Up North dream. Here are seven stories of those who brought their dream to life. MARCH 2025

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Traverse

NORTHERN

MICHIGAN A MyNorth Media Publication

Vol. 44 | No. 10

EXECUTIVE EDITOR

Cara McDonald

MANAGING EDITOR

Carly Simpson Allison Jarrell Acosta

ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Caroline Dahlquist

PROOFREADER REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS

ART DIRECTOR

departments photos (top) courtesy of Trenary Toast; (bottom) by Allison Jarrell Acosta

07 | Editor’s Note 09 | Up North

ASSOCIATE ART DIRECTOR, SPECIAL SECTIONS

Rachel Watson

DIRECTOR OF SALES

Lisa Froning

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES

Mike Alfaro Cyndi Ludka Rachel North Erin Lutke

CIRCULATION MARKETING COORDINATOR

Ashlyn Korienek Kayla Kennedy

EDITORIAL & ADVERTISING OFFICES

15 | Outdoors

415 Cass St., Traverse City, MI 49684 Phone: 231.941.8174 | Fax: 231.941.8391 SUBSCRIBER SERVICES

Heat up your next adventure with a portable sauna rental.

49 | Culinary North

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Trenary Toast is the official breakfast of the U.P.; plus, unlock the goodness of balsamic vinegar. A spring wildflower hike at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.

Tim Hussey Theresa Burau-Baehr

OFFICE MANAGER

A slushy March tradition for the brave at heart, plus the secret finds our editors are loving this month.

56 | Love of the Land

PRODUCTION DIRECTOR

Lissa Martin Meagan Francis

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Visit MyNorth.com/Account to renew your subscription, change your address or review your account. Subscribe to Traverse Northern Michigan at MyNorth.com/Subscribe. Please email other subscription inquiries to info@mynorth.com or call 800-678-3416 between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. EST.

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ON THE COVER Dana Frost, Founder of the Forced Joy Project Photo by Courtney Kent

Traverse Northern Michigan, (ISSN10713719) is published monthly by Heritage Broadcasting Company of Michigan, 1 Broadcast Way, Cadillac, MI 49601. Periodicals class postage paid at Traverse City, MI 49684 and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Traverse Northern Michigan, 415 Cass St., Traverse City, MI 49684. Advertising rates available upon request. Subscription rate: $39.95 for 12 issues. Single issue price: $6.50. All rights reserved. Copyright 2025, Heritage Broadcasting Company of Michigan. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.

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Editor’s Note

BIG JOY

n a snowy morning while working at the coffee shop, with the ginger-pepper smell of brewing chai floating up from behind the barista counter, I was doing some research and stumbled upon a citizen science project called the Big JOY project. The premise: That we can discover what feels good and do more of it. The project starts you off with a seven-day plan of challenges designed to reset your joy level, including things like asking another person to tell you about something fun and inspiring in their life; writing down the positive outcomes of challenging times; watching a beautiful nature video to inspire awe. My first reaction was that studying joy seemed paradoxical—the very idea had an element of showing up and doing your homework that seemed contrary to the lightness joy implies. But that’s the point. Happiness is a feeling that’s fleeting—warm words from a colleague, discovering a crocus on your morning walk, caramel-flavored Nespresso. Big JOY suggests joy is more than just exaggerated happiness. Instead, it’s a posture we can hold, a response to reality we can take. It is about showing up. It’s a way of showing up. In Carly Simpson’s beautiful conversation with Dana Frost this month, who is one of this year’s North Stars, Carly taps into some of Dana’s vulnerable truths about deciding how we want to experience the world. Frost, who lost her husband to cancer, made a pact with him before he died that if joy wasn’t forthcoming, they would find it. Her resulting

Forced Joy Project is a compassionate, brilliant way of meeting those in grief where they are and lighting a path forward. It leans into the idea that joy can be cultivated, even in darkness. I know many of us think of Northern Michigan as our “happy place,” but maybe more accurately it’s our joy zone. Happiness reacts. But joy? Joy transcends. Joy overcomes. We don’t only love it here when there are blooming trillium or northern lights or fall colors. Our love is less conditional than that. We hold the gray skies in March and the lonely woodsmoke days in November and the crowded sidewalks in summer and we decide that they are not only yoked to the beauty we remember, but also a part of the beauty itself. Maybe choosing an intentional life here is our Big JOY project. Whether celebrated in our North Stars feature on page 20 or tucked inside “Stepping into the Dream” on page 38, you’ll find joy seekers who had a fleeting vision and held it. And they show us how joy finds its roots and grows when we in turn help others do the same. Cara McDonald, Executive Editor cara@mynorth.com

MARCH 2025

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Up North

local buzz · nostalgic finds · travel inspo

“

On Cairn Highway, an 11,000-square-foot warehouse is filled with antique European treasures—it’s a place you want to get lost in.

photo by Carly Simpson

—MANAGING EDITOR CARLY SIMPSON

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EDITORS’ PICKS: SECRET DISCOVERIES

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Up North Curiosities

EDITORS’ PICKS

photo by Allison Jarrell Acosta

The secret discoveries we tell our friends about. March Matcha Madness

I don’t follow basketball, so this month I’m running my own March Madness bracket—to find the best matcha latte in the North. As an ardent always-teanever-coffee drinker (and a Japanophile who nerds out over green tea), I’ve tried my fair share of Northern Michigan’s matcha offerings, and I’m always excited when I find a new one.

But, that being said … not all matcha lattes are created equal. From the quality of the powder to the method used to make it, matcha preparations can easily fall flat. And some do.

While my bracket will be filled out behind the scenes (taste is subjective after all!), I will put you on to a few of my favorite seasonal drinks in Traverse City. Keep an eye out this spring and summer for: Higher Grounds’ lavender matcha, Mundos’ strawberry matcha and Hexenbelle’s peach matcha. Honorable mention: The Outpost serves up a mean pistachio milk matcha latte. Let’s talk tea! Send an email or shoot me a DM—I’d love to know who ranks highest on your bracket. allison@mynorth.com / @allisonjarrellphotography – A.J.A.

photo by Carly Simpson

Warehouse of Wonder

On Cairn Highway, an 11,000-squarefoot warehouse is filled with antique European treasures. Towering pine cupboards, wooden bread boards, Turkish pots, an oak kitchen dresser that I’d fill with vases of freshly cut cosmos come summer—it’s a place you want to get lost in. Called House on Horizon, the Elk Rapids shop is curated by Liv and Sam Barnsley, a husband-and-wife team who regularly travel to England, where Sam grew up, to source classic pieces. houseonhorizon.com Read more about their journey north on page 41. – C.S.

Two-Ingredient Cookies

A friend called me the other day, and the subject of baking came up: Had I heard of two-ingredient cookies? I love my baked goods and don’t go for box mixes or mug cakes, so I was skeptical. But I tried them— just almond flour and maple syrup. The verdict? Delicious.

To make: Use a fork to stir together 1 cup almond flour with 5 Tablespoons maple syrup. (Harwood Gold in Charlevoix has punchy flavors like Chai spice and cinnamon quill.) With oiled hands, form dough into six balls and flatten into rounds on a cookie sheet covered in parchment paper. (The flatter you make them, the crispier they will be.) Bake for 10–12 minutes at 350 degrees, until edges are slightly browned. Cool for 30 minutes before serving for best texture. – C.M. MARCH 2025

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Up North Buzz

TIPS TO MAKE IT ACROSS

Speed, more speed, tips up, lean back. Southwell has seen a lot of people hit the pond just fine, but they don’t have enough speed, so they sink on their feet. It’s much harder for snowboarders to make it across, but it’s definitely doable. MEMORABLE CRASH

SLUSHY SHENANIGANS by CARLY SIMPSON

photos courtesy of Shanty Creek Resort

In Northern Michigan, daredevils wear Speedos and onesie pajamas.

ach march, a plucky bunch of skiers and snowboarders try to hurtle themselves across a 4-foot-deep, 40-foot-long pond without getting soaked in the frigid 45-degree water. Most fail. But the 50-year Slush Cup tradition at Shanty Creek Resort is one of the best days of the season with wild costumes (so many Speedos); prizes for most epic crash, fastest time; and a crowd of cheering spectators reveling in the warmth of their dry clothing and the splashy scene unfolding in front of them. “I think one of the most surprising elements for people is they don’t realize just how cold the water is,” says Marketing Director Lindsey Southwell, who has been at the resort, and a Slush Cup attendee, for 23 years. “You can see the shock on their face the instant they hit the water. It is cold.” There are 80 participant slots, and they fill up every year no matter the weather conditions. This year’s shenanigans will take place on March 8.

“Last year we had a snowboarder who hit the water wrong and sprayed the entire audience,” Southwell chuckles. “And that’s the thing I love about Slush Cup, it’s really a spectator sport. There are plenty of people who are watching who are not skiers, and they come for the entertainment.” IMPRESSIVE CROSSINGS

“A brother and sister made a tandem pair of skis with two sets of bindings, went down together and made it across. It was amazing,” Southwell says. “People going down backward is always a big accomplishment, too; there are one or two people who try to do that every year.”

MARCH 2025

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Up North Outdoors

SAUNA YOUR WAY by KANDACE CHAPPLE

Welcome to the ultimate portable sauna experience.

photo courtesy of Sleeping Bear Sauna

magine 180 degrees in your own private sauna. Not in a building. Not in a gym. Not in a spa. No, it’s on sand with the cool relief of Lake Michigan lapping just a few steps outside your door. Welcome to Sleeping Bear Saunas—the portable tent saunas you rent, erect and fire on your own—anywhere you’d like. Vlad Borza started his business a few years ago and his customers are renting two-, six- or eight-person tents for use in their backyards, beaches, family events and day trips. “Saunas are a growing movement,” Borza says. “For a long time, it was mostly the diehards using them, but people are starting to see the benefits of using a sauna. These tents are an affordable and different way to get into them.” The tents have no issue getting hot—even in winter you can stoke the woodstove to 200 to 240 degrees. They take about 15 minutes to set up, and Borza recommends planning for about three hours to get a full experience.

“You can take it at your own pace with no pressure; build the fire as hot or mellow as you’d like and take rounds going outside to enjoy the surroundings before warming up again.” Which, of course, means a cold plunge if you’re set up on a beach! “You can work up your courage and, after two or three rounds inside, you’ll have enough to go jump in the lake!” he says with a laugh. One of Borza’s favorite things to do is to set up the tents at night, when you can see the stars and build a beach bonfire nearby, too. (If you choose a public beach, don’t leave the tent up overnight.) “For me, there is a deep comfort to [saunas] that is hard to explain until you experience it,” Borza says. “Once you do, you want it to be a part of your life. It’s a way to give yourself a chance to relax, zone out, look out over Lake Michigan. You disconnect in one way and connect in a new way.” › MARCH 2025

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photo courtesy of Sleeping Bear Sauna

The rentals come with everything you need. Tent, wood stove, benches and wood for the session. Borza does not have a retail shop, but instead renters access the goods from a storage unit in Traverse City. The tent kits can fit into the back of a standard vehicle. He is also working with a local surf shop in Empire to have saunas available for rental along the Lake Michigan coast. Borza, originally from Romania, moved to Canada with his family as a child, then across the border from Windsor to Detroit to study biology. He found himself as a young boy growing up in a subdivision surrounded by an industrialized city and sought out the woods whenever he could. His first career was as an ecology teacher for middle and high schoolers, and he loved bringing his classes north to Sleeping Bear Dunes on field trips. But he left education five years ago when he stumbled

across an island caretaker position by chance, where he’s worked and lived for five years now. He considers Traverse City his home base and comes back to “land” often. “This was always the dream—Lake Michigan—the connection has always felt so right for me,” he says. “Living up here is everything I could have ever dreamed of.” But, of course, there is (at least) one more dream still on the horizon. Borza is building a floating sauna, hopefully coming this summer. Imagine a pontoon boat decked out with a sauna, and get excited. Mark Your Calendar: The first annual Michigan Sauna Fest is coming to Clinch Park in Traverse City Feb. 27– March 2. “We are going to bring in commercial saunas from around the state and let the public experience the culture,” Borza says. You’ll be able to learn about breathwork and try a variety of saunas. michigansaunafest.com MARCH 2025

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INSPIRED LIFE

FIND YOUR CREATIVE COMMUNITY Having a sunny outlook, and getting artsy, can do wonders as we age. by ALLISON JARRELL ACOSTA

People with more positive beliefs on aging live, on average, 7.5 years longer than people who equate aging with disease and decline. That’s the findings of a new Yale study, and the focus of a recent CBS News segment featuring actor and activist Jane Fonda and anti-ageism advocate Ashton Applewhite. The duo appeared together to promote the power of positive thinking, and touted the importance of bolstering that positivity by finding a community—specifically, an art class or group—to engage with as we age. A National Endowment for the Arts study found that art classes increased both mental engagement and physical activity; created new or stronger relationships; and resulted in fewer falls and doctor visits. And art is defined broadly: singing, theater, dance, jewelry making … the list is endless. Here are some local options we love: Secondhand Social Club, Traverse City > an art studio with space to explore mediums on your own, or join a class like tapestry weaving, vision boarding, cheesemaking or free form dancing Glen Arbor Arts Center > learn everything from embroidery and needlepoint to linocut and indigo dyeing Creative Crowd, Gaylord > a free and open space for anyone wanting to socialize and work on their art in a communal environment Crooked Tree Arts Center, Petoskey + Traverse City > immerse in ballet, culinary classes, life drawing, fine art photography and more Traverse City Philharmonic > join other community musicians in the TC Phil Civic String Orchestra Program, Encore Symphonic Winds, Horn Club or group piano classes

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THE NORTH STARS photos by Courtney Kent

Meet five Northern Michigan women who are connecting the dots, bending norms and lighting the road ahead. by Allison Jarrell Acosta, Cara McDonald, Carly Simpson, Jacob Wheeler & Kandace Chapple

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he U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw isn’t the same ship that Commanding Officer Jeannette Greene knew when she joined its inaugural crew 20 years ago. These days the 240-foot vessel based in Cheboygan spots bits of rust here and there. The big crane at the front of the ship sometimes “gives us hell,” she says, as the crew moves it around to get the hydraulic fluid working for the hoist to lift 40,000 pounds. At age 42, Greene isn’t the same sailor either. “I have back pain now. I wake up and I’m stiff,” she says with a laugh. “[But] I’m in command of the ship I got my start on. Mackinaw is special to me.” Up until January 15, when the Soo 1 Locks in the St. Marys River (between Canada and the United States) close for the winter, it is the Coast Guard’s job to keep product moving and keep the taconite mills running. (Taconite mined from Overcoming barriers and clearing the northern Minnesota’s Iron Range is used way for those who come after her to make steel.) BY JAC O B W H E E L E R Greene is keenly aware that the nation relies on the products ships transport, and her take is that the longer she can keep ships moving through the ice, the better the economy does. It’s not just altruism that motivates Greene and her crew—they love patrolling the open water. “We hope for ice on the lakes in the winter because that’s our mission,” she says. “The feeling of navigating our boat super close to a thousand-foot ship, that’s a unique experience. We look forward to helping them. It’s fun for us to do what we’re trained to do.” The Mackinaw’s crew also has an ice rescue team. Greene’s life on the cutter means sleeping in staterooms above the water line so they are farther away from the sound of breaking ice; luxuries are simple, like heated decks and a gym workout during their weeks-long patrols. When she’s not on the water, Greene lives near Harbor Springs with her husband, Eric, and their two sons, Grady, 11, and Sawyer, 7. Eric works remotely as a mechanical engineer so he can handle the family’s moves across the country and time zone changes. Her Coast Guard career has taken Greene—who grew up in rural Colorado—from Connecticut, to Wisconsin, to Rhode Island, to Cleveland, to Alaska, to Oakland, back to Alaska, before she returned to the Mackinaw as commanding officer in 2022. Greene followed her sister, Molly, into the Coast Guard. Molly, whom Greene describes as a “total badass,” served on the original cutter Mackinaw, which was decommissioned in 2006 after a 62-year run in the same waters that Greene’s ship now sails. Molly passed away in 2019, and at the request of their mother, the family left her ashes near Poe Reef Light in Lake Huron, just east of the Mackinac Straits—a beacon the ship visits frequently. Greene honors other women, too, for blazing a trail for gender equality in the Coast Guard. When she was first assigned to the Mackinaw 20 years ago, Greene was one of very few women onboard. Today the crew has 13 women, including one other mom. Her predecessor captaining the Mackinaw was Commanding Officer Kristen Serumgard, another mother of young children. “It’s always been hard to sacrifice time away from family,” Greene says. “But we’re starting to see more and more women who want to go to sea and have family support. “My sons have slowly realized that I am different from some moms, and that’s okay.”

Jeannette Greene Breaking Through

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ne hundred days after receiving a diagnosis of stage 4 renal cell carcinoma, Dana Frost’s husband, Brad, passed away, and she found herself thrust into a new world. At age 33, Frost, who had already fought her own cancer diagnosis at age 28, was left to navigate the isolating experience of loss, searching for resources that, at the time, simply didn’t exist. Tired of suffering in silence (no, she was not “fine”) and knowing she wasn’t alone in her pain, Frost created the Forced Joy Project. The idea of “forced joy” was something Frost and Brad talked about often during his final months. Facing a terminal diagnosis, they made a conscious decision to look for moments of happiness, no matter how small. “We would sing in the car, dance, take walks. We had these big 2 dreams of going on the road together—to podcast about other people’s stories. We even looked at buying an RV, which is an incredible memory, but ultimately Brad was too sick for us to move forward,” Frost says. “It wasn’t about erasing the pain, but Proving that, even in the darkest times, about holding space for both the joy and the grief. there is still room for joy “We felt the heartbreak of his diagnosis—that BY C A R LY S I M P S O N was very real—but we also made sure to add in something positive, and because we forced ourselves to do these things, I now get to reflect on some amazing moments from those last days instead of just the horror.” At the heart of the Forced Joy Project is the Book of Stories, which is Frost’s gift to Brad, who had always dreamed of writing a memoir. The book is a way for people to collect memories of their loved ones from those who knew them best, gathering stories from friends and family through an online platform, which Frost then compiles into a hardcover book. “They say grief is love with nowhere to go,” she says. “But that love doesn’t just disappear when a person does; it stays with you.” Two years ago, Frost started the Forced Joy Club, at a time when she was transforming the project from a part-time labor of love to a full-time job. The Club has become a global online community and resource hub. Members participate in monthly speaker series, where experts cover topics ranging from finances to the afterlife. There are also grief chats, writing circles and “stitch and bitch” sessions. The Club has members across the world from Sweden to South Africa supporting each other through their grief, with some members connecting in person, too. Frost also hosts retreats, called Joy Scout Camp, on Lake Superior and leads international trips to places like Patagonia, Italy and Bali through Widows in the Wild, giving people who have lost their travel partners a safe place to connect with others who have a shared experience. For her 40th birthday, Frost ticked off her own bucket list dream, Antarctica, and has now visited all seven continents. Her grief has taught her to love deeply—not just the people in her life, but life itself. “It’s about living with intention and embracing all the moments, even the hard ones.” Ultimately, Frost hopes the Forced Joy Project will start conversations, making grief more acceptable to talk about, to question, to learn about “before we’re in it, so we’re better equipped,” she says. “It’s about honoring the dead and fighting like hell for the living.”

Dana Frost Finding Joy After Loss

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he first time Gussie Peterson stepped into a pair of cross-country skis she stood there regretting her choice. “I kept thinking, ‘This is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard of. How do you move?’ I just didn’t understand it,” she says. “It felt like a lot of work and not fun.” Her mission now, however, is to meld work and fun in order to help more women find the delight that Nordic skiing can bring to their lifestyles, health, even the way they experience the snowy landscape. Fun to Peterson had previously meant alpine skiR ing—flying down the mountains of Boyne country 3 with her husband, a former ski racer. But a move to Killington, Vermont, meant skiing on ice and bitter cold slopes filled with East Coast crowds, so on a lark, the couple pivoted to Nordic skiing. And nothing in Peterson’s life has quite been the same. Helping people thrive in the cold A move back to Michigan meant that she and her depths of a Northern winter husband could immerse in cross-county ski culture. BY C A R A M C D O N A L D “I’m not a real competitive person,” she explains. “I don’t crave it. But my husband got me involved in racing because I’d go to the races waiting for him to finish, and I thought, ‘Why don’t I do this? This is good, that I’m out of my comfort zone.’” Way out, turns out. Peterson has become a well-known presence on the Nordic race circuit, including the past 27 years of the Noquemanon Ski Marathon, as well as skiing the North American Vasa race, which she won at age 58. While racing, she couldn’t help but notice that 75 percent of her friends and fellow racers were men. Where were all the female skiers? “I realized skiing takes commitment and consistency—and time. Women aren’t so good at taking that for themselves.” She decided to use her experience of going from “never ever” to “never stopping” to help empower others. Now 76, Peterson teaches and volunteers with SheSkis, a Grand Traverse area ski community in which she coaches the next gen of enthusiasts not only as a means to winning races, but also to give women a way to step into their own potential and find the joy and soul comfort she finds in slipping into the forested trails. “The hardest thing about winter here is just getting out the door,” she admits. “Once you’re out the door it’s fine. To me just being in the woods does a lot for your soul, so I love anything that will get me there.” She appreciates the joy of skiing itself and the outcome of “feeling good, feeling healthy; being able to do things other people my age can’t do that I can still do, and I attribute it to Nordic skiing.” Peterson has seen many women she’s coached go on to compete. She’s watched friend and student, Courtney Kent (who photographed the women in this story) grow from a talented-but-casual skier to a racer so committed and capable that she finished just a minute behind Peterson in a recent longdistance race. “I want the women I teach to get better; I never understood how anyone could go out and do something and not want to get better at it.” Racing is, as she explains it, “second-degree fun.” “First-degree is when something is totally fun in the moment, second-degree is you hate every minute of it, but then you can say it was fun after the fact. Like a race; you hate it a bit and then you cross the finish line and are like, ‘Oh, yeah. That was fun.’” But not everyone is the racing type, and Peterson says that’s more than fine. “My motto has been, ‘Keep moving, just keep moving.’ It keeps you alive and keeps you interested in the world.”

Gussie Peterson Winter’s Ambassador

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onsider the bright lights of a doctor’s office: the order, the cleanliness, the schedules. Now consider the opposite of all that: sun over a field, dirt tilled in a row, the wait for harvest. It’s that sharp contrast that Julia Mueller, MD, loves when she’s working on her farm in Petoskey with her husband, Dustin. But—and here’s the plot twist—it’s the commonalities between the two that she loves, too. Mueller is a Petoskey doctor who specializes in lifestyle medicine and works with patients to manage their chronic diseases with (alongside their traditional medications) lifestyle changes in exercise, food and stress relief—the very things that her farm offers. “My patients will come by the farm, and we joke around that [this is] me out in the wild,” she says. “But it also helps them see that the things I’m recommending for them are things that I do to 4 care for myself: being outside, prioritizing movement, eating healthy.” Plus, flowers—the universal symbol of comfort. Mueller spends her summers growing Showing how a small Petoskey farm a rainbow of dahlias and building seriously brings health full circle happy bouquets for purchase at her roadBY K A N DAC E C H A P P L E side stand. In fact, her bouquets even took first place this summer in the Emmet County Fair. “The fair wasn’t that big, though,” she adds with a laugh. But far more than that blue ribbon, she’s proud of their use of organic techniques on the farm. “For example, we use organza bags to protect the petals from beetles and earwigs. After I put the kids to bed, you’ll find me on a summer night at 9:30 putting little bags over the flowers. It’s time-consuming, but the results are beautiful, chemical-free blooms.” In addition to the flowers, the farm opens up to the public each fall for a U-Pick pumpkin patch, something her two children, Dakota, 8, and Owen, 4, inspired. “We originally grew pumpkins as a family and the kids really enjoyed seeing them grow and picking them from the vine,” she says. “Plus, we had so many pumpkins, that we opened it up for a U-Pick next. It’s great to see other families enjoying it!” While Mueller spends her time at her “day job,” Dustin takes care of the farm, having served 10 years in the Navy and earning an agricultural degree. He brings his own creativity to the farm by making stonecast pumpkins out of copper and bronze, and weaving brooms made with Northern Michigan hardwoods. They have also planted roughly 500 trees over their 40 acres. Mueller feels her work is driven by some kind of internal compass, one that she has felt the longer she lives and works here. The outdoors keeps her grounded and her patients keep her inspired. She wants to help others see the benefits of choosing a life built around better food, outdoor endeavors and fresh air, and she sees people in the community are starting to take notice. She brings a fresh bouquet of her flowers into the office to not only spark joy, but to spark conversation. It’s the beginning of moving the needle, just a bit, to have her patients stop and smell the roses.

Dr. Julia Mueller Growing Wellness

MARCH 2025

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“T

here’s a Lakota phrase I like to use: ‘cante ishta.’ It means ‘see with the eye in your heart, not in your head.’ “People should follow their hearts more often. That’s how we connect as humans. We need each other.” Holly T. Bird makes many different connections on any given day. She’s a fierce activist, attorney, volunteer, artist and mother who R splits her time between causes like racial injus5 tice, environmental protections and supporting local youth. But no matter which issue she’s focused on, she leads with her heart. For Bird, all of these An activist and attorney with true topics share a common thread: making this planet a better place, for all of its inhabitants. grit and compassion Descended from Apache, Yaqui and PerépuBY A LL I S O N JA R R E LL AC O S TA cha Tribes as well as Europe, Bird has served as a Tribal judge and as a private practice attorney helping indigenous communities, as well as tirelessly advocating for clean water and energy. She’s led legal work protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline, and created the Michigan Water Protectors Legal Task Force, which has been fighting Enbridge’s Line 5 oil and gas pipeline under the Straits of Mackinac. Those in Traverse City might recognize Bird from her service on the TCAPS Board of Education, or the Grand Traverse Area Children’s Garden (a passion project her mother started 25 years ago). Or perhaps as the Co-Executive Director of Title Track, a local nonprofit founded by musician Seth Bernard that’s dedicated to supporting clean water, racial equity and youth empowerment. As Bird describes it, Title Track uses creative practices to shine a light on and address these issues in the region. After the murder of George Floyd in 2020, they created an “Understanding Racial Justice” class, where Bird helped work on curriculum, lending an indigenous perspective. “That program was created to bring white people into a space where they can explore their internal bias, because we have all been raised in a racist society, every single one of us, and we carry those biases and sometimes we don’t know it,” Bird says. “And sometimes we do, but we don’t know what to do about it. So part of our work was helping people to recognize that, and to help move them past that into healing and becoming actively anti-racist.” The class was a resounding success, so Title Track went on to develop a sister course, “Healing Ourselves,” which brings together people of color, especially those who have experienced racism or oppression, to build relationships, learn, strategize and focus on healing. Bird’s work at Title Track also includes outreach like podcasts such as Eminazhichiget, which celebrates Anishinaabek leaders from across the Great Lakes region who are doing good for their communities. And State of Water focuses on clean water issues as they relate to policy, equity, community and climate. Another project close to Bird’s heart, Title Track’s Water Protector’s Training Camp, provides kids with an opportunity to connect with professional artists and activists and learn about being water advocates. “This is particularly important, especially for us, as we live near 22 percent of the world’s fresh water,” Bird says. “Kids can feel really helpless in the face of the climate crisis. It’s not something they created, and they need to know that they can do something about it. They can talk. They can become the Lorax for the water. And we want to help them do that.” Today, Bird’s excited to continue her work in the environmental realm with a new role at Groundwork Center for Resilient Communities: Clean Energy Specialist. “Groundwork has been instrumental in the formation of many exceptional environmental groups in Michigan; they’re definitely changemakers,” she says. “We live in such a beautiful place, and I’m a water protector, an Earth protector, and in order to do those things, we need to have clean energy in place.” She’s looking forward to working on campaigns and initiatives that promote clean sources of energy across the state, and seeing what kind of deeper connections and collaboration can come from that work. And no, she doesn’t plan on slowing down any time soon. “Sleep is a premium,” she says with a smile.

Holly T. Bird Leading with Love

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Remembering Crescent

Excerpt by Billy H. and Karen J. Rosa

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rescent, named for the shape of Lake Michigan shoreline where it sat, was briefly a vibrant community, conceived and then abandoned in less than 10 years. It was a company town, built to cut, process, and ship lumber from thousands of acres on the western side of North Manitou Island. There were homes, barns, streets; a store and post office, a school, saloon, hotel and railroad; even sports teams. In a new book, Remembering Crescent: Logging and Life on North Manitou Island, the family of Andrew James White, who owned and ran the Crescent Sawmill, share a trove of historical photographs from the years 1907 to 1915. Author Billy H. Rosa grew up hearing island stories from his grandmother, Esther (White) Morse, who spent eight years as a child on North Manitou. After Esther’s passing in 1994, Rosa and his wife, Karen, wanted to preserve the history of those years that were so memorable to Esther. Here we share a few of those many incredible images which highlight a little-known chapter of the island’s history before it became a part of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.

Top to bottom: This photo was taken in front of the one-room school house. In the front row, Esther White, the grandmother of author Billy Rosa, is second from left; This photo shows the Stafford, with a portion of her sails rigged, closer in toward the dock. The Stafford was built in Tonawanda, NY, in 1868. It was 112 feet long and had 190-ton capacity. Opposite: The logs in this image are being loaded on the Russell Railroad Car using the log boom jack.

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Top to bottom: October 15, 1910. Dave Smith, on the left, is one of the blacksmiths working in the blacksmith shop. The man helping Dave is unknown; The steamer J. S. Crouse at the Crescent Dock; In the early 1900s, it was common for towns and villages to have ball teams. Crescent was no exception. The town had two baseball teams— the Tigers, and a Native American team called the Red Wings (pictured here).

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Top to bottom: A good view of the lower roadway and the tramway system that was used to transport lumber to the lumber yard and the dock. The power line, visible beyond the tramway, conveyed electricity from the mill’s generator to various buildings in Crescent; An early photo of Rose and Bert Gray, standing in front of their Crescent home; The Manitou Limited #1, at work. This image shows the gear drive mechanism for which Shay Locomotives are noted. These engines were especially suited to logging, mining, and industrial operations and could operate successfully on steep grades and less-than-ideal rails. The men in the engine may be Jack Edwards and Joe McFadden.

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In May of 1908, 7-year-old Esther White came on the steamship J.S. Crouse to her new home at Crescent. Cresent still had the look of a logging town when the A.J. White family moved off North Manitou Island in 1915—though the population was rapidly departing. Esther (White) Morse, who is the grandmother of author Billy Rosa, was a teenager when her family left the island. She returned more than 60 years later, for one last look, and found that nature had largely reclaimed the townsite.

Recollections from

Esther (White) Morse

On one occasion in the winter, she was in need

of shoes and the only shoes available at the island store were boy’s shoes with button hooks. She had no choice but to wear the boy’s shoes or go without.

–

Billy Good, a cousin of Esther White’s, skated from Crescent to Pyramid Point, on the Lower Peninsula mainland, to be with his wife Clara for the birth of their first child in February 1912. –

One time Esther had a toothache; Dr. Frederick Murphy came with forceps and told her he wanted to try them on to see how they fit. They fit all right and out came the tooth. Esther was angry! To make things better, Dr. Murphy had a bag of crème candy which was very special back in the day.

The four big boilers shown in the picture provided steam pressure for all the steam-powered saws and conveyors in the mill, as well as the generator that provided electric power for the mill and the town. A huge amount of slab wood and sawdust was used to fire the boilers. The man with the shovel feeding the boiler is Mont White, A.J. White’s brother. In the foreground is A.J. and Mont White’s nephew, Billy Good.

–

Madam Storr, a fortune teller, visited the island on May 30, 1912. She predicted that in seven years the island would sink. Esther said that “worried her.” Obviously, Madam Storr was wrong. –

There were times when the family would ride

the J.S. Crouse to Traverse City. Captain Anderson would let Esther sleep on the floor between the captain’s desk and the wall. She loved the rocking of the boat.

–

On the day the White family moved off the island, which was July 5, 1915, Lake Michigan had fairly large swells. The piano was in the hull of the boat and she remembers it rocking. The piano made the trip safely and remains in the family today.

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Clockwise from above: The completed sawmill in operation; A nice team of dapple gray horses and a good view of how big wheels were used to move heavy logs. The leading edges of the logs were lifted so only the rear portion dragged on the ground. That kept most of the weight on the axle between the wheels, and made the job much easier for the horses; Several generations of a Native American family; Two loggers with axe and crosscut saw taking time for a photo. Pay for an unmarried lumberjack was $25 per month, plus meals and housing in the bunk house. A lumberjack who had a family was paid $30 a month, plus a noon meal and housing in Crescent.

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STEPPING

INTO

THE

DREAM. 38 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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THE DREAM: STARTING FRESH, WITH FLOWERS “Do you believe people get to live here?” Lindsay and Mark McLaughlin couldn’t stop wondering aloud while visiting Glen Arbor for a friend’s wedding. Both Lindsay and Mark hail from downstate, and after a 10-year stint in Minneapolis, they had returned and settled in Ann Arbor during the pandemic to be closer to family with their son, Levi. But after spending a few glorious summer days Up North, the McLaughlins thought maybe this was the place to raise their family. So, they pulled up Zillow—what would it even look like to move up here? And that’s when they saw it: a flower farm on Old Mission Peninsula. Lindsay, a lawyer, and Mark, a nurse, had zero agricultural experience. But somehow, the idea took root immediately.

HEEDING THE CALL OF THE NORTH HAS A WAY OF CHANGING THINGS. HERE, THOSE WHO MADE THE LEAP SHOW US THAT ACROSS THE THRESHOLD OF A NEW HOME AWAITS THE LIFE YOU’VE BEEN IMAGINING.

decided to rent in Traverse City first, to test the waters. Lindsay was working remotely, and Mark accepted a contract position with Munson. It only took three days in TC to realize they were committed—it was time to check out the farm.

The criteria: The McLaughlins’ priorities

photo by Jim Haefner

BY ALLISON JARRELL ACOSTA, CARA MCDONALD, CARLY SIMPSON, LISSA MARTIN & MEAGAN FRANCIS

The hunt: After that initial trip, the couple

were simple: They wanted to be active, outside, near water. The peninsula property satisfied that wish list—it’s surrounded by orchards, vineyards and conservancy land, and they’re only a few minutes away from beach picnics with Levi and their pup, Panda. “Even though you never would have convinced us, six months or even a week before we saw the flower farm that we would be flower farmers, and that would be our path, it checked off all of the important things for us,” Mark says. “It ended up being such a great fit.”

The find: A bucolic 1852 farmhouse on 1.3

acres of land. The property, which included a greenhouse and market stand, had been MARCH 2025

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THE DREAM: AFFORDABLE, LOW-MAINTENANCE LIVING IN DOWNTOWN TRAVERSE CITY Three years ago, mary corning-hyman and her boyfriend, Mitchell Ward, set out to find a place to live that was both budget-friendly and located in the heart of downtown Traverse City. They found that and much more at the TC Lofts, located within walking or biking distance from virtually everything Traverse City has to offer. Besides stopping into a brewery for a beer or heading a block north to sip and graze down lively Front Street, Mary says: “I love socializing and going out to the farmers market and to local events like the Cherry Festival.”

The find: A one-bedroom, one-bathroom flat in TC Lofts.

Constructed in 2018, the apartment building boasts fast-speed fiber internet (perfect for Mitchell, who works remotely for a medical team in Maryland), thick cement sound-proof walls, floors and ceilings, energy efficient hydraulic heating and upscale stainless appliances. Better yet? Their two big dogs are welcome (cats are allowed, as well) and there is space for their bikes—both on their balcony or on hooks in the building’s garage. There’s also a community conference room that residents can book for business meetings.

operated as a flower farm for 30 years prior to the McLaughlins, and they happily embraced the business as their own. Moondance Flower Farm (named after the Van Morrison song), officially opened in 2023, offering U-Pick flowers, subscriptions, workshops, and wedding and event florals. “We’re heading into our third year and it just continues to grow and evolve,” Lindsay says. “It’s been fun to learn what the community needs and what lights us up, too. We just feel so lucky to live in this space, and we want to share it with as many people as we can.”

Best relo advice: Keep an open mind.

“Just seeing the farm kind of opened our eyes to a different way of living,” Lindsay says. “And know you’re going to find a welcoming community. We’ve experienced amazing support, and we can’t thank people enough for that.” Mark adds: “Embrace the friction. If you’re pursuing something that’s brand new, it’s going to feel really odd. People are probably going to question you. But if you’re unhappy or you feel like you’re due for a change, you have to just dive in a little bit and trust yourself.” –A.J.A.

The bonus feature: The sixth (top) floor community room/

kitchen with its adjacent rooftop patio with gas grills and firepit that looks out over West Grand Traverse Bay. “Being able to look over the heart of Traverse City and the bay and the sunsets, I can’t even express into words what that means,” says Mary. “It’s like having your own little downtown café,” she adds. Mary even finds the utility sitch pleasant. “It’s a fixed bundle so it makes it really easy to just automatically know what we’re going to pay monthly, instead of having a surprise.”

Best relo advice: In the end, neighbors can make or break

any living experience, and Mary can’t say enough about the intergenerational community that inhabits the building’s 39 units that range from one to two bedrooms, from young families to retirees. “We’ve made a lot of friends here,” Mary says. “Everybody is warm and welcoming.” –L.M.

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antiques side of our business to allow us to go back and forth more frequently. We love home design, and finding quality European antiques is tricky in the States. This allows us to do what we love while remaining connected to family and friends despite the distance.”

The hunt: The Barnsleys bought their

THE DREAM: RAISING A FAMILY IN NORTHERN MICHIGAN, AND ABROAD Husband-and-wife team liv and sam barnsley met in college while Liv was studying advertising at The University of Southern Mississippi and Sam was playing soccer and working on a finance degree at William Carey College. After graduating, they made the move north, back to Liv’s hometown where a shared love for architecture and interior design led to their business, House on Horizon. In addition to design services, the duo regularly travels to England, where Sam was raised, to source antiques that they sell back home in an 11,000-square-foot warehouse in Elk Rapids. “The dream for our business is to be more flexible with where we spend our time,” Liv says. “After having kids, we wanted our boys to be close to grandparents. Sam’s parents and friends still live in England and we launched the

first home in 2018 and sold it at the end of 2020. While they were in England for a 12-week stay with Sam’s family, they bought their current Old Mission Peninsula home over FaceTime.

The criteria: “In both our first and current home

searches, we made sure we would be able to add value to the house through cosmetic upgrades,” Liv says. In each home, the duo installed solid hardwood floors throughout, gutted bathrooms, removed dated textured ceilings and added a touch of personality with wallpaper and trim treatments.

The find: A four-bedroom home on Old Mission

Peninsula in need of some love (can we all agree to stop putting carpet in bathrooms, please?). Liv and Sam did many of the projects themselves, giving each other permission to mess up, try things out of their comfort zone and keep learning. They documented the design process and remodel on their Instagram account, @houseonhorizon.

Best relo advice: “Find a home that is in the right

location for your family. Cosmetic changes can be made as your budget allows, but the location isn’t something to be compromised.” –C.S. MARCH 2025

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THE DREAM: FINDING PASSION AND PURPOSE WITH A BUSINESS UP NORTH Mindi jarman was born and raised in lansing, Michigan, but growing up, she always felt a strong pull to the water and the easygoing summers her family spent at their cottage on Harsens Island in Lake Saint Clair. When Jarman met her husband, John, she joined his family’s traditions of fishing and camping in Frankfort on the banks of the Betsie and Lake Michigan, and even got married in a small ceremony on Frankfort Beach. “We talked constantly about moving Up North, but I was a teacher at the time and loved my school—we just couldn’t make it work,” Mindi says. “Once I left teaching in 2023, we started looking in earnest but knew we needed a business to justify the move. We looked at everything from restaurants to storage units to Airbnbs. Nothing felt right.” Until the iconic Cherry Bowl Drive-In Theatre went up for sale in 2024. “I knew when we saw it that I had found the reason for us to move,” Mindi says. “It’s an amazing piece of history that has served the community for 71 years and counting.”

The hunt: Mindi and John started their home search the

moment they finalized the purchase of the theater and are patiently waiting for the right spot to hit the market. “We are currently working on selling our home in the Lansing area and plan to rent a place until we find the right location for us,” Mindi says. “We’ve waited this long; we don’t want to get carried away and choose the wrong thing.”

The criteria: A house or a lot with a minimum of 10 acres

within Benzie County. “We want a place that will allow us to entertain and have family join us for the summer. It doesn’t sound like a lot, but it’s been tough to find.”

Best relo advice: Take your time. “We have spent the past

eight years learning about the area, exploring and deciding where we want to be. We’ve spent time in so many places in Northern Michigan; we have tried to experience each season and talk to as many locals as we can. My dad always says, ‘Another bus will come by,’ meaning, if it’s not the right house or the right time, another one will show up. That’s been our motto as we continue to search. You don’t want to get on the wrong bus and end up at the wrong stop.” –C.S.

THE DREAM: AN OLD HOME IN TOWN WITH LOTS OF CHARM Amy ellis grew up in a small town and vacationed up north as a kid; and as she and her husband were poised to start their own family, a nagging feeling pulled her North from the Detroit area where they lived. Though her husband, Patrick, was relatively unfamiliar with Northern Michigan, some of his law school friends were living in Traverse City. “We’d talk about them and say, ‘They’re living the dream,’” Amy says. So, when a friend heard a Traverse City law firm was hiring, Patrick was quick to take the job. The outdoor lifestyle plus the slower, laidback pace of life was a choice they wanted for their growing family, and when Amy, a talent acquisition lead, was nine months pregnant, they made the leap.

The hunt: Turns out second time was the charm. The Ellises landed at first in a home near the water between Suttons Bay and Traverse 42 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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City—just when their son Teddy was born and the pandemic hit. They quickly realized they needed to be in town, and after a year of searching, they found a house in Traverse City’s Oak Park neighborhood.

The criteria: Historic neighborhood, room for a family, architectural

charm. “We knew quickly we wanted to be downtown—to bike more, walk more, be close to our neighbors and have accessibility.” Another wish-list item was for a spacious front porch to hang out on all summer.

The find: A 1930s Victorian-inspired home on Washington Street. “It was smaller and needed work, but it was way under budget so we knew there would be room to renovate,” Amy says. She loves the home’s stainedglass elements, colorful bathroom tile and original casement windows in the bedrooms. Though there’s not much of a porch now, it’s on their list to add a wraparound and to expand the kitchen out the back of the home with an added living area.

Best relo advice: “Spend a good amount of time here before you buy.

Meet locals and talk to people, get a sense of what each neighborhood offers. People are very nice and open and easy to make conversation with. Brace yourself for experiencing the seasons in a different way—and get the gear. The more you embrace the seasons, the better, there’s so much to explore outdoors. Oh, and prepare to spend $250 on Halloween candy! The downtown neighborhoods are into it.” –C.M.

THE DREAM: REPLANTING HOMETOWN ROOTS Kelly and john kehl are true locals. Kelly’s family has called Traverse City home for five generations; she spent her childhood growing up and going to school in Northport, before graduating in Suttons Bay. Born in Traverse City, John has lived most of his life in Northport, and fun fact—his ancestors were actually the first homesteaders in Northport, circa 1849. (You might recognize the surname from Kehl Lake). Northport has always been home for Kelly and John. But it’s not the easiest place for first-time homebuyers to find a toe hold. The Kehls were renters when the pandemic hit and were forced to relocate. The only affordable housing they could find was in Traverse City, so they moved, living and working in Traverse for four years, and hoping that one day they’d get back home. “We were always curious about buying a house. We wanted to plant roots and establish a home here in Northport, but it was difficult,” Kelly says.

Making the move: The Kehls were

well aware of the reality: Most homes in Northport sell for upward of $500K. So, when their friend, Realtor Hillary MARCH 2025

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photo courtesy of Peninsula Housing

Voight, reached out about a house that was a part of a new affordable housing program—Peninsula Housing—they couldn’t ignore it. They had heard rumblings about Peninsula Housing, a nonprofit community land trust led by Larry Mawby to create affordable housing in Leelanau County. The concept: Homes are available to anyone making the area’s median income or lower, and land is leased to the homeowners, ensuring the house will remain affordable, even for future buyers. Voight helped the Kehls navigate the program, and Kelly admits it wasn’t easy. But it was more than worth it to become homeowners for the first time. “That was the best feeling in the world,” Kelly says. “It felt unreal, that we were purchasing a home in our hometown, and that it was affordable. We were both just on cloud nine—going through the process, signing the paper and then getting the keys and realizing … this is ours.”

Kelly has created a “magical” space; a true home. “It feels really cool to be able to do it all ourselves,” Kelly says. They love their super-short work commute. And being near the Northport Creek Golf Course (Kelly runs in the winter, John golfs in the summer). But most of all, they’re grateful for a community that welcomed them back with open arms, kind words and respect.

Best relo advice: “Don’t give up. It’s not easy, but there are

ways to get the support you need from local programs, government and communities,” Kelly says. “It’s really important, now more than ever, because it’s getting harder and harder for working class and low-income people to live up here. Anytime we can talk about that and sort of spread the news— that it is possible—I think that’s the dream also. At least for us. “We’re proof that it can happen. It just takes time and the will to do it—to keep going.” –A.J.A.

How they live: “Our dreams are simple. We want to work

and live a wholesome life here in Northport with our friends and community and just continue creating and being a part of it all,” Kelly says. “To just grow old here and be happy.” While finding an affordable home was a happy surprise for the couple, their dream truly became a reality when work fell into place, too. John dreamed of returning to Northport to “make a living cooking,” and today, he’s the chef and kitchen manager at Fingers Crossed, a bistro and cocktail bar downtown. Kelly was able to successfully move her esthetician and herbal medicine business, Little Beauty Kitchen, from Traverse City to Northport, thanks to the help of childhood friend David Millard and his wife, Margo—the new owners of Barb’s Bakery. Her shop fits right in next door to the beloved bakehouse, and Kelly says her work is thriving in Northport, more than she anticipated.

Coming home: It’s been a little over a year now since Kelly

and John moved into their 1950s powder blue, two-bedroom house in downtown Northport. And in that time, John says 44 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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THE DREAM: LIVING ABOVE A SMALL-TOWN INDIE BOOKSTORE Kathreen francis grew up in the upper peninsula, but Michigan State University drew her below the bridge. After raising four children in downtown Lansing, Kathreen was beginning to feel ready for a new adventure with her husband Eric Neilson, a lifelong downstater. The two had met working together in an independent bookstore, and a love of literature had drawn the couple together. For decades the U.P. had been relegated to yearly summer vacations, but as the kids got older, Kathreen and Eric began to travel across the bridge more and more frequently, exploring new hiking trails, towns and campgrounds across the U.P. “Those visits definitely rekindled my love of the North,” Kathreen says. Meanwhile, Kathreen’s younger sister, Meagan, and her husband Eric Johnson, had fallen in love with the lakeside town of Manistique, with its pristine beach, boardwalk, lighthouse and shopping, and asked Kathreen and Eric if they’d consider opening a business together.

The find: Enchanted by Manistique’s mix of natural beauty and encouraged by the buzz of energy in the downtown business district, Kathreen and Eric jumped on board. Together the foursome purchased a nineteenth-century brick retail building in the heart of downtown that also included an apartment upstairs where Kathreen and Eric could live full-time while managing the store’s operations.

How they live: The fact that they’re located right

downtown made the change from urban to small-town living much easier than they expected, says Kathreen: “We’re within walking distance of the grocery store, restaurants and other amenities, so it still feels downtown-ish.” Eric adds that the immediate access to nature from the downtown setting is a huge plus. “We liked living in a bigger city, but while we were there it was still taking us so much time to get out of the city to do the things we really wanted to do. Now we’re out in thirty seconds flat,” he says.

Best relo advice: “Just jump

in,” the couple says. They quickly secured friends and a sense of belonging by volunteering to sit on boards and committees, attending cultural events and hitting trivia nights at the local brewery. Owning a bookstore also helps—it gave the couple an instant platform to host events for other passionate readers and interesting people across the area. Keeping their lives simple has also helped them focus their free time on exploring the Upper Peninsula’s natural wonders and adjust their expectations. “We were a little worried about not having enough restaurants to go to at first, but now we just don’t go out to eat very much,” Eric says. “We spend that time doing other things we want to do, like exploring new hiking spots.” And reading, of course. –M.F.

The surprise: Given the large

footprint of the space, the foursome broadened their original plan to create a multi-vendor public market. In July of 2023, Kathreen and Eric prepared to open the market’s flagship store, Paper Mill Books, and one year later, the full vision was realized as the bookstore expanded into a public market known as The Mill, with multiple shops, community events and cozy gathering spaces.

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A PLACE TO CALL HOME

“Birchwood Farms is the ultimate in Harbor Springs ‘community’. Once you’ve been a guest, you can’t help but want to belong to it”

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