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NORTHERN MICHIGAN’S WEEKLY • February 10 - February 16, 2020 • Vol. 30 No. 06

Valentine's Weekend Wine Dinner Saturday, February 15 This Valentine's weekend, treat your special someone to a truly memorable food & wine experience. Enjoy four delicious courses prepared by our in-house chef, and expertly paired with our beautifully made Chateau Chantal wine.

Reservations & menu available at http://shop.chateauchantal.com 2 • february 10, 2020 • Northern Express Weekly

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Debate is Still Hot Stephen Tuttle (Jan. 20 column) writes that “the most significant and consistent temperature increases in the last 2,000 years have occurred in the last century.”

Neal Stout (Jan. 27 letter) uses this to accuse Tuttle of espousing “the global warming hoax.”

To support his view, Stout argues that the Roman Climate Optimum (2,000 years ago) and the Medieval Warm Period (1,000 years ago) were warmer than now.

He also claims that the 1930s was the hottest decade of the 20th Century, much hotter than any decade since and that global temperatures have been flat since 1998. Stout wants to convince us that the current level of warming has been surpassed many times in the past, implying that present action to limit “greenhouse” gases is unnecessary.

Scientists agree that much warmer than average periods occurred in the past, but they note that the evidence is primarily from the North Atlantic region and that other areas, such as the tropical Pacific, were much cooler than today.

Thus, average global temperature during these earlier periods was likely similar to those of the mid-Twentieth Century.

It is also recognized that 1934 was a very hot year in the United States, with temperatures comparable to those since 2000. However, global warming includes temperatures over the entire planet, not just the U.S., and on a global scale the 1930s were not especially hot.

Stout’s claim that global temperatures have been flat since 1998 is grossly inaccurate. The World Meteorological Organization reports that 13 of the 14 warmest years on record have occurred in the 2000s, and NASA reports that 20102019 was the hottest decade ever recorded.

Stout’s final message is clear: fossil fuels caused the progress of the past 150 years and this progress will reverse if we convert to renewable (“Green New Deal”) energy sources.

James A. Hopson, Traverse City

It Depends on What the Definition of Inappropriate Is Senator Lamar Alexander considers Donald Trump’s “proven” delay of congressionally approved – and absolutely essential military aid to Ukraine in order to leverage Ukrainian President Zelensky to publicly announce an investigation of the Bidens – to be simply an example of “inappropriate” but not impeachable behavior.

The Senator’s unintentional weaponization of the term “inappropriate” might ultimately force us to consider even the Holocaust to be just another example of inappropriate behavior.

Bob Ross, Pellston 8th Street Medians Must Go When I first saw construction crews building medians into 8th Street, I sighed and rolled my eyes not because I anticipated nightmarish traffic jams throughout the summertime, but because it was obvious that the medians would become a slight inconvenience to plows and snow removal crews. What I have observed, though, is that the medians even further inconvenience emergency crews like ambulances and fire trucks.

Save a life and get rid of the medians.

Matthew Monley, Redford The Republicans’ Valuable Gift By deciding to conduct Trump’s “trial” without witness testimony, Republican senators have handed the Democrats a valuable gift … if only they don’t squander it. Trump’s acquittal was a foregone conclusion, but by refusing to call witnesses its lack of legitimacy is apparent for all to see. Obviously, Trump’s base won’t care about that, but a substantial majority of Americans were in favor of hearing testimony. There should be an endless drumbeat of “cover-up, cover-up” from Democrats for the next nine months. I also suspect there will be a gradual release of more incriminating evidence in the meantime. If Democrats will fight toothand-nail for every vote until all the votes are counted, maybe we can remove this ignorant, racist, sex criminal from the White House.

Sean Palmer, Traverse City Putin’s ‘Hat Trick’ Regarding Trump’s obstruction of Congress: He is protected by Attorney General Barr and the majority leader of the Senate McConnell has denied the American public from getting a fair trial (no witnesses). And there you have it: Trump, Barr and McConnell: Putin’s “hat trick.” What can we expect? The integrity of our future elections is at stake; Trump will accept election help from foreign countries with the blessing of Republicans and Trump will continue to ignore our Constitution and the separation of power.

Our allies can no longer count on the United States because of Trump’s throwing the Kurds “under the bus.” Addressing climate change is left up to the states.

Our intelligent agencies are ignored by Trump, who relies on Russia’s Putin for advice. World leaders are laughing at Trump. Trump’s backing out of the Iranian Nuclear Arms Treaty has made the world

a scary place. The only bright spot is that Trump’s wall fell down, but that is “pale” to Putin’s “hat trick.”

Ronald Dykstra, Beulah R-E-S-P-E-C-T Let me get this straight. Our president was angry because some NFL players knelt respectfully during the national anthem to protest police violence. He demanded that they be fired. Colin paid the price (was released) and has been blacklisted ever since.

Yet the president himself can clown around with hand gestures and lack of attention during the Super Bowl national anthem?

All around him stood at attention with their hands over their breasts. What’s with that?

Who was showing disrespect for our great nation? Who should not be our quarterback?

I just don’t get it.

Fred Curow, Traverse City The Death of Democracy Calling witnesses and examining relevant evidence is the bare minimum we expect from almost every court in America. But our Senate cannot even meet the same standard as traffic court.

My husband and I have two young daughters. We are very concerned about their future and the future of our country.

We will vote for Democracy in November.

CONTENTS features Crime and Rescue Map......................................7 ‘Receipts, Hair, Bullet Fragments and Rumors’...10 For Love and Money........................................12 Cooking Up A New Valentine’s Tradition............15 Eat Your Heart Out...........................................16 Laith Al-Saadi.................................................18

dates................................................20-24 music Four Score.....................................................26

Nightlife.........................................................28

columns & stuff Top Ten...........................................................5

Spectator/Stephen Tuttle....................................6 Modern Rock/Kristi Kates................................25 Film................................................................27 Advice..........................................................29 Crossword...................................................29 Freewill Astrology..........................................30 Classifieds..................................................31

Alisha Davidson, Grand Rapids/Traverse City Health and Wealth A former drug addict and cigar chomper goes deaf AND has lung cancer? What a shock (!) from a guy who has preached selfresponsibility to every American for years.

Should we deny him health care like he’s been trying to do to Americans for years because his own dangerous habits have contributed to his situation? Or would that be cruel?

You see, like justice, conservatives believe you should only get what you can afford, right? His money won’t mean crap when he can’t breathe anymore and he will hopefully come to the realization that everyone should have some basic means of care. He will also be faced with the fact his own habits may shorten his life considerably. Or do you go to your grave still feeling that only YOU and the other fortunate bastards really deserve to be helped or saved?

Consider this next time Republicans vote or sue to take away health care, even for people like 9/11 responders or people who didn’t do anything AT ALL to contribute to their poor health.

No matter his status or politics I hope he lives on, comfortably, and that his scenario and treatment help others. To feel otherwise would be inhumane and put me in a category of human beings I consider immoral and reprehensible when they turn their backs on the sick or terminally ill. Today they call themselves “conservatives,” while they mindlessly advocate policies that deny there is a human life behind their cold calculations.

I want to live in a country where status does not determine your ability to live a full, healthy life. If you believe your life carries the same value as a wealthy radio host, actor or athlete, vote accordingly in the 2020 election.

Northern Express Weekly is published by Eyes Only Media, LLC. Publisher: Luke Haase 135 W. State St. Traverse City, MI 49684 Phone: (231) 947-8787 Fax: 947-2425 email: info@northernexpress.com www.northernexpress.com Executive Editor: Lynda Twardowski Wheatley Finance & Distribution Manager: Brian Crouch Sales: Kathleen Johnson, Lisa Gillespie, Kaitlyn Nance, Michele Young, Randy Sills, Todd Norris For ad sales in Petoskey, Harbor Springs, Boyne & Charlevoix, call (231) 838-6948 Creative Director: Kyra Poehlman Distribution: Dave Anderson, Dave Courtad Kimberly Sills, Randy Sills, Roger Racine Matt Ritter, Gary Twardowski Listings Editor: Jamie Kauffold Reporter: Patrick Sullivan Contributors: Amy Alkon, Rob Brezsny, Ross Boissoneau, Jennifer Hodges, Michael Phillips, Steve Tuttle, Alex Tank Kristi Kates, Meg Weichman, Janice Binkert Al Parker, Craig Manning Copyright 2020, all rights reserved. Distribution: 36,000 copies at 600+ locations weekly. Northern Express Weekly is free of charge, but no person may take more than one copy of each weekly issue without written permission of Northern Express Weekly. Reproduction of all content without permission of the publisher is prohibited.

Randy Arthur, Onekema

Northern Express Weekly • february 10, 2020 • 3

this week’s

top ten Former Scout Camp Now an Everyone Camp

An historic 493-acre Boy Scouts summer camp is now an outdoor education center open to anyone who wants to go outside.

The Greilick Outdoor Recreation & Education Center (GOREC) is located on land owned by the Rotary Club since 1923 to offer outdoor education to youth. That mission carries on today, but it’s open to everyone, said Melissa Fri, GOREC’s communications and development director.

“Anyone can come hike our (three miles of) trails, cross country ski, snowshoe, swim and fish our property at no cost,” Fri said. “We rent our 20-person bunkhouses, four-person cottages, Adirondacks, Tentsile tree tents and standard campsites.”

They’ll be offering kayak rentals this summer and will have a 40-foot climbing wall open to the public.

“Our goal is to get people into the outdoors and teach them what to do when they get there,” Fry said.

GOREC is located at 4754 Scout Camp Road; the property has frontage on Spider, Rennie and Bass lakes. www.greilick.org

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winterlochen Head to Interlochen Center for the Arts to enjoy winter indoors & out at Winterlochen on Sat., Feb. 15 beginning at 11am. Participate in family friendly crafts, snow games, art demonstrations and more. Join the Arts Academy Dance Co. at 2pm for a free performance of The Sleeping Beauty. interlochen.org

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Here’s your chance to score some sinfully delectable treats for your Valentine from the number-one chocolate shop in the state, Gaylord’s Alpine Chocolat Haus.

The chocolatier was given that high ranking late last year by mentalfloss.com.

Manager Heather McKinnon says that chocolate-covered fruits and nuts do well at the store.

“Our chocolate covered oranges and strawberries, along with our pecan caramels are among our most popular choices,” she said.

Potato chips slathered in chocolate, gourmet hot chocolate, decorated candy apples and sea salt caramel corn are other favorites at the Gaylord location and at the other shops in Boyne City, Sault St. Marie and Plymouth.

Whether you grab a bag or a big box, you’ll enjoy the sweet treats created by “der Chocolatmeister” Bruce Brown and his staff. They been crafting chocolates and making folks smile since 1985.

The shop is at 208 W. Main St., right next to the landmark Sugar Bowl restaurant. Contact them at (989)732-1077 or Gaylord@alpine-chocolat-haus.com.

4 • february 10, 2020 • Northern Express Weekly

Shuggie Bain

The year is 1981’and Glasgow is cloaked in a curtain of poverty. Agnes Bain is an exception. Her jet-black beehive, immaculate makeup and growing alcohol addiction mask the project she shares with her parents and her three children. But when her chiseledbut-cheating second husband “Shug” jumps ship, her youngest child, “Shuggie,” is left to fill his father’s namesake shoes. Everyone knows that Shuggie is “not right” with his effeminate nature and too-girly gait. Can Shuggie break the toxic mother-son bond to expose the one secret he never meant to keep? From seasoned storyteller Douglas Stuart comes Shuggie Bain, a bluecollar chronicle. As harrowing as it is heartbreaking, this indelible debut novel hits everything from desire to dependency … and then some.

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tastemaker ALPINE CHOCOLAT HAUS

Hey, read it!

6

Brewpub Gets $100,000 to Can Beer

Canned beer will translate to full-time, year-round jobs for Manistee.

North Channel Brewing Co. won a rural development grant of $100,000 from the Michigan Department of Agriculture to fund brewery expansion and canning equipment.

The expansion will mean year-round employment for three current employees and new employment for two to three additional workers over the course of the next two years, according to a press release.

The microbrewery also plans to find new customers for those cans of beer – they’ve entered into a distribution partnership with Ludington Beverage Company. The new canning line and expanded production capacity will allow for distribution of packaged products to area retailers.

North Channel was one of 110 applications for the grant. A total of $8.4 million was requested, which was approximately eight times the available funding for the program.

Stuff we love Young Drivers with Good (and AFFORDABLE!) Tires Leelanau Auto in Cedar has a new program for student drivers in the area: It’s selling new tires to student drivers — at cost!

— as a way to give back to the local community and promote safe driving. This is not a limited promotion; it’s shop owner Ryan Thompson’s new policy. He said he knows good quality tires are a difficult for anyone to afford but especially teens. “When thinking about how we can help young drivers stay safe, we thought offering tires at cost is the way we could help the most.” Students are asked to call or text Leelanau Auto at (231) 835-0686 to schedule an appointment for a new tire fitting. Car driver must show a current student ID to qualify. (Installation and and old tire disposal costs are set at regular rates.)

Tell Everyone You Heard These Singers/ Songwriters Before They Hit It Big The next James Taylor or Carole King? Maybe a young Ed Sheeran or Adele?

Interlochen Arts Academy singer/songwriters will perform their original material Feb. 21 at the City Opera House in Traverse City. The students, having been schooled in instrumental and vocal technique, recording and production, the music business, and creative writing — have written and arranged their songs, and this show puts them to the test. Be the first to hear them sing their songs, and/or accompanying themselves on guitar or piano, as part of a full band. Stylistically, the music will range from folksy to pop, undoubtedly with some classical, jazz, and rock influences as well. Tickets are $15–$20; $10 for students. Go to www.CityOperaHouse.org.

8 Bottoms up ETHANOLOGY’S FRESH FROST

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HARVEST THE ENERGY OF THE SUN

Just off Elk Lake, Ethanology is embracing the art of shaking off winter’s chill with warming spirits.

All products of the three-year-old business are distilled on site, using hyper-local ingredients sourced within a 33-mile radius. Co-owners and spouses Geri and Nick Lefebre produce vodka, gin, white whiskey and Mel, a unique spirit derived from local honey. “If it’s not good enough to drink neat, it’s not good enough,” promises Nick during an informative guided tasting. The distillery proudly supports its farm partners, each of whom is listed on every bottle produced. Ethanology’s craft cocktail of the moment is Fresh Frost, a fragrant concoction of the distillery’s Eros Gin, King Orchards blueberry preserves and a splash of bubbles. Grapefruit and mint garnishes complement the gin’s herbaceous subtleties. All botanicals used for the Eros Gin are wild-foraged within 30 miles of the distillery to ensure a true expression of northern Michigan’s terroir, the very same essence of soil and climate championed by vintners. Geri is the technical magician behind every drop. She is a primarily self-taught, artisanal distiller who numbers among a small cohort of female head distillers operating in the country today. The nuanced spirits she creates and Ethanology’s inviting, modern space reflect each of northern Michigan’s seasons in every glass. Discover the art and science of distillation at Ethanology’s distillery, open Thurs.-Sun. at 127 Ames St. in Elk Rapids; ethanologydistillation.com; (231)498-2800.

Northern Express Weekly • february 10, 2020 • 5

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DEATH AND DISEASE spectator

by Stephen Tuttle John Altobelli, Keri Altobelli, Alyssa Altobelli, Christina Mauser, Sarah Chester, Payton Chester, Ara Zobayan. Do any of those names ring a bell? Those are the seven people not named Kobe or Gianna Bryant who died in the same helicopter crash.

Like always, we’ve decided to beatify a famous person because they died unexpectedly and too early.

Most of us, including those now joining the grief bandwagon, know nothing about Kobe Bryant other than he was a great basketball player. And chances are pretty good that if you weren’t a fan of the Los Angeles Lakers – the team for which he played for two decades – you believed Bryant was a sullen, ball-hogging jerk. That’s how it works when a great athlete consistently beats our favorite team in any sport.

This isn’t meant to disparage Kobe Bryant.

He was, in fact, a great player who will surely be voted into the NBA Hall of Fame on his first year of eligibility. He was a successful businessman and venture capitalist who by some accounts left behind an empire valued at around $2 billion. He was involved in his community and would have been more so, and, by all accounts, was a doting and devoted father. His sudden death was awful.

But Mother Teresa he was not.

We seem to enjoy this over-the-top grieving and memorializing for celebrities we’ve never met and never will. Maybe it functions as some sort of collective release valve. Or maybe during the social media era we’re anxious to attach ourselves to celebrity vicariously … even in death.

We do a version of this every day with obituaries. We highlight the best parts of someone’s life in a sort of posthumous resume, a loving tribute created by someone close to the deceased. The rest of us rarely join in.

It’s What’s Inside That Counts 616-644-9963 margiefaganinteriors.com

6 • february 10, 2020 • Northern Express Weekly

We first heard about this outbreak in December though doctors in Wuhan, China who had treated patients with the virus earlier and were castigated by local bureaucrats for trying to sound the alarm. By the time the Chinese government started containment efforts it was too late.

We’re told this likely started in bats that then infected wild animals that were then illegally sold for food at a fish market. At least that’s what the Chinese now claim.

Whatever, it couldn’t have happened at a worse time. The Chinese Lunar New Year involves the largest human migration on the planet with at least 400 million people going

With celebrities we seem to believe they should be judged as better than their finest moment.

But now we suddenly love him?

MARGIE FAGAN INTERIORS

lives in fear that the Wuhan coronavirus, which can lead to pneumonia, is heading our way? Maybe not.

somewhere, many jammed into overcrowded trains and buses making the perfect environment for the spread of contagion. It does not help at all that the incubation period of the illness is 14 days and people are contagious long before any symptoms arrive.

(The online conspiracy theorists are having a field day with this. The Chinese have some sort of biological research facility near Wuhan so this was an easy dot-connector for those so inclined.)

As this is being written, more than 17,000 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed with 500 deaths. Those numbers are likely to be significantly higher by the time you read this. The World Health Organization has declared a “global health emergency.” Wuhan, a city of nearly 3.3 million, has been quarantined from the rest of the world. We have initiated mandatory 14-day quarantines for anyone arriving from the Wuhan area and placed restrictions on travel there.

All of which sounds threatening.

Somebody said every person should be judged by their finest moment. With celebrities we seem to believe they should be judged as better than their finest moment.

But the United States has reported fewer than a dozen cases of the virus and all involved people who had been in China. Only two fatalities have been recorded outside of China, one in Taiwan and one in the Philippines.

Kobe and Gianna Bryant’s deaths were terrible and those close to them will likely grieve forever. But so too will those close to John and Keri Altobelli and their 14-yearold daughter Alyssa, Sarah Chester and her 13-year-old daughter Payton, Christina Mauser and Ara Zobayan.

Meanwhile, last year in the US there were more than 15,000 cases of whooping cough (pertussis) with five deaths. And, so far this season, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, we’ve had 19 million confirmed cases of influenza with 10,000 deaths.

We might remember them for a second, too, while we’re naming streets for Kobe.

Speaking of death, should we run for our

It’s good our health officials and politicians are being vigilant in trying to stop the outbreak. But the rest of us should stop worrying and just go get a flu shot.

Crime & Rescue SUSPECTS ARRESTED AT JAIL Police say money from a robbery at an East Bay Township hotel was used to pay bail for an inmate at the Benzie County jail.

By the time investigators pieced together what happened, they also discovered that the two suspects – a 43-year-old Copemish man and a 30-year-old Frankfort woman – were at the jail and the pair were arrested.

The case began when Grand Traverse County Sheriff’s deputies were called to the hotel on US31 North at just before 9pm on Feb. 3.

A 24-year-old Frankfort woman had been robbed of her purse by the suspects, who were acquaintances, deputies said. The suspects pistolwhipped the woman, causing an injury, and then fled in her car.

The car was later found abandoned at the Costco parking lot in Traverse City and the suspects were arrested after they conveniently showed up at the jail to bail out a friend.

FIRE VICTIM FACES ARSON CHARGE State police fire investigators say that a 54-year-old woman who was seriously injured in a 2018 fire was responsible for starting the fire.

Gretchen Lee VanOrmer was charged with first-degree arson Feb. 5 in Kalkaska County District Court in connection with the Oct. 15, 2018 fire on Anderson Road.

State police investigated the house fire, which also injured a firefighter who went into the home to rescue VanOrmer. Investigators discovered accelerants in the living room, leading to the arson case against VanOrmer.

METH BUST NABS THREE Straits Area Narcotics Enforcement officers arrested three suspects in a methamphetamine investigation in Wolverine.

Undercover officers arranged to buy some meth and fentanyl from a suspect at a meeting on Jan. 27; they met two suspects from Detroit who allegedly drove from downstate to the Cheboygan County village to make the sale.

Kevin Duane Hairston, 33 and Tiera Lasha Bennett, 31 were arrested in a traffic stop on I-75 following the sale, according to a SANE press release.

The bust led investigators to raid a house in Detroit, where they arrested 40-year-old Brian Eugene McAfee, who was brought to Cheboygan to face drug conspiracy charge alongside Hairston and Bennett.

VANDALS STRIKE NORTHPORT Leelanau County Sheriff’s deputies are investigating after disturbing racist graffiti was discovered in an abandoned building in the Village of Northport.

Sometime on Feb. 3 or 4 someone entered the Pier Group Building at 206 Rose St. and spraypainted racial slurs on several windows.

The Leelanau Township deputy collected evidence from the scene and the department is looking for tips.

In a Facebook post they wrote: “The messages left are disturbing and any help in identifying the person or persons responsible would be greatly appreciated. Anyone with information on this crime is requested to contact Deputy Lott at (231) 2568626.”

PHONE GIVES UP SUSPECT’S LOCATION Police arrested a man at a casino after he allegedly stole an iPhone and then was tracked through its “find my phone” app.

by patrick sullivan psullivan@northernexpress.com

A 30-year-old Traverse City man reported to police that someone stole his phone, a pair of Beats by Dre headphones and some medicine from his gym bag in the locker room at YMCA South at 7pm on Feb. 1.

The man told Grand Traverse County Sheriff’s deputies that according to his “find my phone” app, the phone was taken to Turtle Creek Casino that evening.

Deputies worked with tribal police officers to scan surveillance footage and locate the suspect; the 34-year-old Traverse City man allegedly attempted to ditch the phone as officers approached and arrested him inside the casino, said Capt. Randy Fewless.

A search of the suspect’s vehicle turned up the other missing items and when investigators looked in his wallet, they found a white powder that turned out to be methamphetamine, Fewless said. Justin Caleb Hilts, of Traverse City, is expected to face charges of larceny from a building and possession of methamphetamine.

TEEN INVESTIGATED AFTER MALL INCIDENT Retail fraud charges might follow a misunderstanding that caused a massive police response and a lockdown at the Grand Traverse Mall.

Grand Traverse County Sheriff’s Capt. Randy Fewless said one of three teenagers – ages 14 and 15 – allegedly shoplifted an airsoft pistol from Dunham’s Sports and that another mall customer alerted mall security when she saw the youths with what closely resembled a Glock handgun and feared they might be planning a robbery.

That prompted a call to 911 where central dispatchers issued an emergency alert at 4:42pm Feb. 1 as deputies, Traverse City Police and Michigan State Police descended upon the mall.

The responding officers found the airsoft pistol abandoned just outside one of the mall’s exits and they learned the identity of the suspects from witnesses who knew who they were, Fewless said. They soon determined there was no threat to public safety and the lockdown was ended.

Though the threat was a misunderstanding, detectives are still conducting interviews to determined exactly what happened; one or more of the teenagers could face retail fraud charges stemming from the stolen weapon, Fewless said.

POLICE: MAN ROBBED AT KNIFEPOINT A couple face armed robbery charges after a man told police he was held up at knifepoint when he went to a Traverse City motel to meet a prostitute.

The man told Traverse City Police that he found a woman on an “erotic” website and agreed to meet her at a Traverse City motel and pay her $260 an hour for sex.

The man told police he was directed via text to a specific room where he met the woman, but that after 10 minutes with her he became suspicious and checked the bathroom to make sure they were alone. There, he found a man in a knit cap who robbed him at knifepoint of $280 in cash, according to the charges.

Armed robbery charges were filed against Ryan John Hart and Michelle Robinette, both 38-year-olds from Kalkaska, stemming from the November incident. They are both charged as fourtime habitual offenders and face life in prison if they are convicted.

The man went to police following the incident; he handed over photos of the woman and her phone number. Investigators used motel records to lead them to Hart and Robinette, according to the charges.

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Northern Express Weekly • february 10, 2020 • 7

ZONING AND ITS TIE TO THE AFFORDABLE HOUSING SHORTAGE

surprised by who’s reading this right now?

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NortherN express readers: Have a median income above $86,500 an incredible 92 percent of express readers have purchased food, wine, or products based on an ad they saw on our pages For advertising information contact: info@northernexpress.com

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Lack of affordable housing obviously impacts families and their quality of life. In addition, many businesses are having a hard time hiring quality employees, partly because there is no place for their workers to live.

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For many reasons, lack of affordable housing has long been a big issue in Traverse City. The problem has now spread to the surrounding areas, such as my town of Mancelona. As a real estate broker who works with housing issues daily, I do not see this housing shortage improving soon.

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Our local leaders are attempting to solve this problem by creating more government regulations, such as restricting property rights for those who own vacation rental homes.

surprised by who’s reading this right now? expres s

NortherN express readers:

Have a median income above $86,500 an incredible 92 percent of express readers have purchased food, wine, or products based on an ad they saw on our pages For advertising information contact: info@northernexpress.com

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However, I strongly believe that the problem of affordable housing could be solved with FEWER regulations, particularly in relation to zoning and building restrictions. Many communities across the country are easing these restrictions or even eliminating them.

Traverse City and surrounding communities should do the same, as studies show that these regulations artificially inflate the price of housing and therefore price many people out of the market.

“The cost of the regulations reduces the supply of homes, driving up the cost of existing homes that are on the market,” according to economists Edward L. Glaeser and Joseph Gyourko, who wrote a paper titled “The Impact of Zoning on Housing Affordability.”

“Those who can afford to buy will pay a higher cost. Others who can’t will do without and continue to rent or even become homeless,” agreed UCLA economist Matthew Kahn.

Unfortunately, current homeowners have an incentive to keep the system in place, because it benefits them as their own home values rise, said Kahn.

“If developers build too many homes, prices fall, and housing is many families’ main asset,” he said.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, housing consumes 30% of most Americans’ income. However, those in the lowest 20% income bracket are paying almost 40% of their income for housing.

Zoning regulations and urban renewal have greatly reduced low-cost opportunities for these people. These lost opportunities include boarding houses and residential hotels, where 30% or more of the urban population once found shelter.

In my town of Mancelona, investors are eager to renovate historic downtown buildings into active storefronts and return the upper floors of these same buildings into much-needed housing. They are also snatching up older homes in need of repair and improving them for rent or resale.

However, every attempt to renovate these buildings has required time, money and navigating a frustrating bureaucracy. Even after jumping through all the government hoops, an investor for bigger projects won’t know if he/ she will be approved until after submitting expensive architectural plans.

8 • february 10, 2020 • Northern Express Weekly

In fact, one of my investor clients recently told me that he is giving up on future projects because of the frustrating red tape.

It is the frustration factor that causes zoning and building restrictions to benefit politically well-connected developers, who are often the only ones to get construction permits in such an environment.

Ironically, despite the harm these regulations inflict on the poor and disadvantaged, the nation’s most liberal cities tend to have the most restrictive zoning laws, according to Derek Thompson of The Atlantic, who wrote “Why Middle-Class Americans Can Not Afford to Live in Liberal Cities.”

Fortunately, these same communities across the country are now realizing the connection between zoning and lack of housing. Many laws have been enacted recently across the country to limit or eliminate zoning restrictions.

In 2018, Minneapolis became the first major U.S. city to eliminate single-family zoning in an effort to increase housing supply and density, reduce housing costs and create more racially and economically integrated neighborhoods, according to Solomon Greene and Jorge González of the Urban Institute, who wrote a paper entitled “How Communities Are Rethinking Zoning to Improve Housing Affordability and Access to Opportunity.”

Other communities, such as Washington, D.C. are allowing homeowners to add secondary housing, or in-law units, on their properties. Seattle recently rezoned several single-family neighborhoods to allow smaller, denser multi-family housing that provides more affordable options.

Communities such as Pinellas County, Florida and Austin, Texas have expedited their review processes for building projects and will waive fees if the project involves dedicated affordable housing.

The history of the original regulations is complex. Some laws are national, such as the American Disabilities Act. Building codes are not only statewide, but also subject to local interpretation.

The idea behind zoning laws, which are usually local, is to restrict certain activity to specific locations so as not to interfere with other forms of activity. For example, areas of manufacturing are zoned industrial, which separate residential units from factories, because they do not mix well.

Regardless of where these regulations originated, or what the original intent was, most people in the real estate and building industries agree that there is now an overreach in many areas. Many zoning and building rules and regulations have done more harm than good.

It is time for the leaders of northern Michigan communities to seriously consider modifying their zoning regulations and building restrictions in order to facilitate more affordable housing options.

Donna Gundle-Krieg, owner and broker of DEK Realty in Mancelona, is the District 1 Representative for the Libertarian Party of Michigan. She is the chairperson of the newly formed Northwest Michigan Libertarian Party (NWMLP).

FIT MY LIFE Ready for a change?

Making Positive Lifestyle Changes

EW UNDER NHIP! S R E N OW

Least Competent Criminal Matthew Davies, 47, of Dunfermline, Scotland, pleaded guilty on Jan. 17 to assault and robbery in the case of a bumbling Bank of Scotland holdup in September, the Daily Record reported. On that day, Davies charged into the bank with a meat cleaver in hand and a pillowcase over his head. Unfortunately, he had neglected to cut eyeholes in the pillowcase and therefore couldn’t see -- so he had to take it off. Undeterred, Davies used the cleaver to batter a glass partition on the counter and eventually took off with almost 2,000 pounds, casually wandering toward home, even stopping to pet a dog along the way. One brave customer of the bank followed Davies to his home and alerted police; there they found cash and the pillowcase, along with a stun gun. He’ll be sentenced in February.

Police Report Antoine McDonald, 21, of Altamonte Springs, Florida, became famous last year for dressing up as the Easter Bunny in Orlando, but he found his costume unhelpful on Jan. 16 after ramming his motorcycle into a carport, which collapsed on a car parked there, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. The motorcycle then hit a fence and flipped over, and a neighbor observed the Easter Bunny limping away from the scene. When officers caught up with McDonald, lying in the back ssseat of a car, he denied involvement in the crash: “I wasn’t in any crash. I’m the Orlando Easter Bunny. Google it,” he claimed. “The bunny appeared to be alive,” officers reported, according to the Orlando Sentinel, and they asked him to remove the costume before arresting him and transporting him to the hospital for rib and leg injuries sustained in the crash.

People With Issues A mystery was solved on Jan. 22 in Natick, Massachusetts, when police arrested Andrea F. Grocer, 51, of Ashland, on suspicion of defecating in front of the Natick Outdoor Store eight times over the last four months. Henry Kanner, the store’s owner, had reported the incidents to police in December, and officers first thought an animal might be the culprit -until they found “toilet paper and other wipes,” Natick police spokesperson Lt. Cara Rossi told The MetroWest Daily News. Some of the incidents had been recorded by surveillance video, but police hadn’t been able to identify a license plate. During extra patrols of the parking lot, they spotted Grocer at 6:51 a.m. as she prepared to leave her mark again, police said. “I have no idea who she is,” Kanner said, adding that he knows of no connection she has with the store. Grocer’s lawyer described her as a “pillar of the community.”

Now-retired high school English teacher Jeffrey S. Churchwell, 60, of Elkhorn, Wisconsin, apologized to Walworth County Sheriff ’s deputies in October and admitted that he had been defecating, sometimes several times a day, since 2017 outside and on a building in the rural Natureland Park in Whitewater. The Milton Courier reported Brent Brooks of the Walworth County Highway Shop met with deputies in October about the repeated offenses, which required parks department workers to power-wash and sometimes repaint facilities, on top of picking up used toilet paper. Trail cameras recorded the man relieving himself, and deputies caught up with Churchwell on Oct. 8. When

asked why, he replied, “Stupidity,” according to sheriff ’s office reports. Churchwell was charged with disorderly conduct and was ordered to pay more than $6,000 in fines and restitution. He was put on leave from the Milton School District on Nov. 25; his retirement took effect Jan. 16.

Unclear on the Concept United Press International reported that an unnamed man in Orlando, Florida, got a little mixed up as he tried to fill his boat’s gas tank before a fishing trip on Jan. 27. Rather than putting the gas nozzle into the fuel tank, the man inserted it into a fishing pole holder and pumped 30 gallons of gas directly into the cockpit. Orange County Fire Rescue was called to the 7-Eleven, and a hazmat team siphoned most of the errant gas from the boat before the fisherman filled up the actual tank and went on his way.

Oops!

In June 2019, the city of Roubaix, France, proudly announced it had installed 187 solar panels to generate electricity for the city’s library, and paid a local company about $113,000 for the “green” equipment. But during the installation of a wind turbine to supplement the clean energy effort in December, workers noticed the solar panels had never been connected to the library’s electrical network. Oddity Central reported the panels were intended to supply about a quarter of the library’s needed power, but “we realized this was not the case,” admitted Alexandre Garcin, the city’s deputy mayor, who did not elaborate on why it took six months to figure out the oversight.

Creepy Houston mother Emily Madonia’s nightmare began in 2015, when the Elsa (from “Frozen”) doll her daughter received for Christmas 2013 began reciting lines from the movie in both English and Spanish; originally it had only spoken English. Next, the doll began speaking and singing randomly, even when her on/off switch was in the OFF position.

In December 2019, Madonia threw the doll out, Click2Houston reported, but she and her husband later found the doll in a bench inside their home. So they double wrapped the doll in plastic bags and “put it in the bottom of our garbage can,” Madonia wrote on Facebook.

Days later, her daughter found the doll again in the backyard. Finally, Madonia sent the doll to a friend who lives in Minnesota, where it remained at press time. In the meantime, Madonia has been contacted by paranormal investigators and the Travel Channel.

Suspicions Confirmed. Not. Ben Lilly, 40, on his way to Halifax in West Yorkshire, England, on Jan. 25 passed an object in the road that looked like a dead animal -- a leopard, to be specific.

Lilly stopped and turned around, carefully approaching the large cat. He told Metro News his heart was racing and he was afraid his face might be “ripped off ” by the beast.

“I saw the markings on it. It had the tail bit on it, too,” Lilly said. “But as soon as I looked at it from the other angle, I started laughing.”

It turned out to be a leopard-print jumpsuit, complete with tail. Lilly speculated on Facebook it might be “some tart’s coat from last night. ... It was Saturday morning and Halifax is a bit of a drinking town.”

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INTERLOCHEN ARTS ACADEMY SINGERSONGWRITERS Friday, February 21

Enjoy an evening of original songs encompassing a variety of styles and instrumentation.

REMEMBERING PATSY CLINE: a benefit for city opera HouSe Sunday, February 23

A tribute to the iconic music legend, Patsy Cline, featuring Judy Harrison and ReBooted. Proceeds benefit COH.

DANú St. patrick’S celebration

Tuesday, March 10 Playing to standing-room-only concerts throughout Ireland, Danú delivers high-energy performances and a glorious mix of ancient Irish music and new repertoire.

Northern Express Weekly • february 10, 2020 • 9

‘RECEIPTS, HAIR, BULLET FRAGMENTS AND RUMORS’

There were eight elk killed in poaching cases in the Pigeon River State Forest this season.

Five of those killings remain unsolved. Michigan Department of Natural Resources investigators want to catch those responsible for every last elk death, even if it takes years.

By Patrick Sullivan It’s been an eventful season in the Pigeon River Country – eight dead elk, all killed without permits. That may not make set a poaching record, but since five of those deaths remain open cases, Department of Natural Resources investigators are working overtime to solve those crimes.

On top of that, one of the cases, the killing of three cow elk at the beginning of December, was a seemingly nonsensical massacre.

“It should sicken people,” said Lt. James Gorno of the DNR law enforcement division in Gaylord. “It really should. I mean, they’re just laying there and they get wiped out. It’s like a slaughter.”

In the scheme of things, under Michigan law, poaching elk is a minor crime. It can be a costly crime, especially for those who have devoted their lives to hunting: a conviction can cost a person their hunting privileges and carry penalty of $5,000 or more. It’s still a misdemeanor that carries a maximum penalty of 90 days in jail, three days less than the maximum sentence for a first-offense drunk driver.

THE HUNT IS ON You wouldn’t know it was a low-level crime by the way DNR officers investigate it, however. They treat poaching the way regular police treat homicide. Making an elk poaching case can sometimes take years, Gorno said, but DNR officers are committed to solving them, no matter what.

“We consider our elk one of our top species here that we’ve got to protect, elk

and sturgeon out of Black Lake, so we treat that like a homicide, like a normal big police agency would treat a homicide for a human,” Gorno said. “There’s dozens and dozens of officers who have made unbelievable elk cases with nothing; with receipts and hair and just bullet fragments and rumors.”

HYPED ELK ON SOCIAL MEDIA Michigan’s elk herd is carefully managed so that it can thrive and at the same time stay within a limited area. The DNR treats the herd as if it is penned into the Pigeon River State Forest, an area roughly bordered on the west by I-75 from Vanderbilt to Indian River, on the north by M-66 to Onaway, on the east by M-33 to Atlanta and on the south back over to I-75, with an area in the corner around Gaylord cut out of the range.

The DNR uses the annual elk hunt as a means to keep the animals within this imaginary barrier. To keep the herd within the range healthy and thriving, the agency strives to limit poaching and prevent the spread of disease.

The eight poaching deaths this year is higher than average, but it’s not a threat to the herd, Gorno said. Gorno said elk poaching cases have gotten more attention this year because news about them took off on social media.

“This year is pretty bad mainly because social media has hyped it up, but it’s really not unusual as far as numbers,” he said. “We’re not having an epidemic of elk poaching. It’s a little high this year, but nothing way out of the ordinary.”

Poaching, at current numbers, is not a significant threat to the size of the size of

10 • february 10, 2020 • Northern Express Weekly

the herd. Brian Mastenbrook, DNR wildlife field operations manager in Gaylord, said an optimal herd size is considered to be between 500 and 900 animals. The population today is estimated to be between 900 and 1,300.

So far, poaching has claimed fewer animals than are lost on average each year to car-elk crashes, around 10.

The annual elk hunt is used to keep the population from getting too large and needing to roam further afield to search for food.

“We want to keep them in (the Pigeon River Country) and we want to keep the numbers manageable and healthy, and if they get too big, they end up going out into the agricultural areas and causing damage,” Gorno said. “It’s a balancing and it’s closely managed.”

COMMUNITIES EMBRACE THE HERD There was a time when poaching threatened the very existence of the elk herd.

Elk are native to Michigan, but overhunting killed them off by 1875. In 1918, seven elk were relocated from the West and released near Wolverine. The offspring of those elk grew to a population of 1,500 by the early 1960s.

In the early days, the residents of northern Michigan were ambivalent about the reintroduction of these forest beasts.

Farmers did not like them. The opportunity to spot a group of elk in the wild was not widely considered a tourist attraction.

Hunting elk was allowed beginning in t he mid-1960’s, but at the same time, the poaching of elk was rampant, and cases in those days were not investigated as rigorously as they are today. By 1975, the elk

herd had been decimated. There were just around 200 animals left in Michigan.

At the same time, by the late 1970s, public opinion about the elk herd shifted, perhaps spurred by the prospect of the elk vanishing from Michigan for a second time.

Hunting was restricted. Wildlife officers cracked down on poachers. And popular opinion changed so that many area residents came to see the elk herd as an asset.

While conflict with farmers increased with the size of the elk herd, over the years the elk have become a pillar of the local economy in their own right, drawing thousands of tourists each year who come to the state forest in Otsego, Cheboygan and Montmorency counties for the chance to view elk in the wild.

Local pride in the elk herd is a great deterrent to poaching, Gorno said, because it’s made poaching socially unacceptable and people more likely to tip off authorities if they have information about a case.

“What kind of changed was that people around here … took stock in this elk herd.

And after the poaching everybody said, ‘Wait, we want these to flourish,’” Gorno said. “So, all these communities, Atlanta and Vanderbilt and all these small communities, embraced the elk herd. They get mad when somebody poaches an elk. They know who did and who didn’t, some of the times, so they discourage it.”

THE GOLDEN TICKET For some Michigan residents, the chance to lawfully hunt an elk is a life-long dream.

It’s one that few get a chance to realize.

In 2019, for instance, just 200 elk tags were

awarded to hunters in a lottery. The coveted licenses to hunt elk are literally once-in-alifetime opportunities (once a person wins a bull elk tag, they cannot enter the lottery again) and tens of thousands of people enter each year.

“It is like a golden ticket here in Michigan,” Gorno said. “Every year we give out maybe 140, maybe 200 permits, and there’s 50,000 people applying for them.

It’s really a big thing when you get an elk permit.”

The annual hunts are broken into two parts – an early hunt that takes place on several days over late August and September and a late hunt that takes place in December.

The hunts are designed to limit elk herd migration. The early hunt takes place on the southern boundaries of the state forest where the parkland meets farms.

“We want people to take them out of there, because they’re causing damage and conflict,” Gorno said.

On the eve of the elk hunt, each hunter is required to attend an orientation meeting. The DNR hosts these at township halls across the area. The hunters learn about the rules they are expected to follow, such as staying off private property and not carrying loaded guns in a vehicle.

Perhaps the most important rule that’s covered in orientation is about the restraint hunters must have when they encounter a group of elk – they get one shot to get their kill because otherwise, if they fire their rifle more than once, the chance of shooting two elk is too high.

“They don’t run when you shoot, they just stand there. They’re not like a deer; they’re not like another wild animal. These things are different,” Gorno said. “You shoot and these things just stand there. And there’s four or five or eight or 20 standing around. And they lose track of which one they shot, and they’ll shoot another one. We kind of drill it into their head: don’t do that. And unfortunately, every hunt, something happens.”

ACCIDENTAL POACHERS Accidental shots make up many of the poaching cases in Pigeon River Country.

That’s what three of the eight cases were this season, and in each of those three cases, the culprits turned themselves in to authorities. They occurred over the first weekend of firearm deer season; each one involved a deer hunter.

While the punishment for poaching usually involves some jail time (usually around 10 days) and thousands in fines and costs, Gorno said they try to take it easy on people who accidentally shoot an elk and who turn themselves in.

“We work with the court to try to break that ($5,000) in half or even not even charge them with a crime, have them just pay half or a third of the restitution or the reimbursement to the state, so it is a far cry from getting prosecuted for poaching,” Gorno said. “We want to encourage people to come forward.”

When the shooters don’t come forward, like in the case of the five other dead elk, investigators have their work cut out for them. Gorno said that despite scant evidence, he is hopeful that some of those cases will be solved.

Gorno said there are suspects in one of the bull elk cases and in the three dead cow elk case, though he wasn’t ready to say those cases had been solved. Bad weather wrecked the crime scene in the other bull elk case and that one has gone cold, he said.

Gorno said he is unaware of a theme that connects the unsolved cases. The motive could stem from resentment over a state-imposed baiting ban, dislike of the government or something else.

“We don’t know whether people are just shooting them to spite the DNR or to spite the government, who knows? Or they’re just kids joy riding,” Gorno said. “I don’t know.

It’s hard to tell.”

What the crimes have in common this year is that in each case, the carcass was left behind.

UNDERTAKING AN INVESTIGATION When an elk is found shot dead in a field, it may not appear that there’s much for an investigator to go on, but Gorno said a crime scene can leave a surprisingly large number of clues.

When an animal is reported deceased under suspicious circumstances, a team of DNR investigators is assembled to look at the case.

First, they conduct a field necropsy in an effort to determine the cause, manner and time of death. That enables them to carefully put together a reconstruction of the crime scene: Where was the animal when it was shot? Where was the shooter? What did the animal do after it was shot?

The carcass is stripped down; the bullet path is determined; the bullet is sent to a state police crime lab for ballistic tests.

Investigators comb the area searching for clues. Footprints in snow or dirt near the scene are photographed and measured.

They look for tread marks from trucks. They document everything they find.

If the kill is fresh enough, once the crime scene is processed the carcass may be donated to a food bank, but that’s the exception rather than the rule.

“Normally, it’s been too long and the meat’s not salvageable,” Gorno said. “We love to salvage it and to get it to someone who can use it. But normally that doesn’t happen because it’s a day or two or three before people find it.”

Collecting evidence to understand what happened is the priority, however, he said.

“There’s lots of evidence that’s left,” Gorno said. “First of all, there’s a bullet left in the animal; second of all, there’s tire tracks and boot tracks and witnesses and all kinds of different things that we have to our benefit that help us.”

POACHING COLD CASES Cases can take months or years to develop.

In one case, Gorno said someone shot

a bull elk, butchered it, took the meat and then set out to dispose of the bones and the rest of the remains throughout the region.

“The poacher killed the elk and then butchered it up himself and then discarded parts throughout the area in different parts, so we started finding elk parts all over,” Gorno said.

At one location where parts were dumped in a river, the box used to carry them had been discarded nearby. Inside the box, investigators found a gift receipt from a downstate store. They were able to learn the name of the redeemer of the receipt from the store, and that woman led investigators to one of her relatives who turned out to be the poacher.

In another case, a tenacious officer found an unusual boot print at a poaching scene and he refused to let it go.

“The officer said, ‘Boy, that’s kind of a unique print,’ and he just started pushing more and more, so just on a boot print that was at the scene, three years later he noticed somebody with the same type of boot prints who was out hunting deer, he did an interview and someone confessed to shooting that elk three years later,” Gorno said.

That officer, Lt. Joe Molnar, said he couldn’t remember whether it was two or three years between the crime and the arrest, but he said he remembers finding a unique boot track frozen in the mud.

Molnar, who works in the Traverse City DNR office today, said he also sent the bullet to the state police crime lab and they were able to tell him what kind of rifle was used. He also had tread marks from the vehicle that likely drove the shooter away from the scene.

Molnar said he went back to the same spot the next year looking for a deer hunter with those strange boots, that particular rifle and the vehicle that made those tread marks, but he had no luck.

It was the next season or the season after that when, at the same location, he spotted someone who matched what he was looking for and he stopped their vehicle.

After some questioning, the man confessed to killing the elk and he was ultimately convicted of poaching, Molnar said.

“Any case of poaching, we take very seriously,” Molnar said. “Sometimes it might take two or three years to solve a

case. Our officers are passionate for working these cases.”

‘ELIMINATING THOSE COWS FOR A REASON’ Elk hunt guide Jennifer Drake was the first female hunting guide in Michigan when she registered five years ago.

She said that she and other hunting guides find the poaching cases to be very upsetting. She said most hunters strive to follow the rules.

“I believe that there’s a majority that do follow the rules; there’s always the slim few that aren’t going to,” she said. “We can’t let the ones that don’t destroy it for those of us that do.”

Drake, who lives in Afton, said she finds it interesting that in the five unsolved elk death cases this year, the carcass was left behind to rot in each instance. She said that tells her something about the people who shot them.

“In my honest opinion, I think because they were shot the way they were and left, and no meat was taken, if that really was the case and they were just left like that, it was probably someone who just doesn’t want them there,” Drake said.

She said the fact that three cow elk were taken at once is disturbing and indicates that someone really wanted to affect the elk population – each of those cow elk might have produced one offspring per year for the next 10 years. That killing, she said, represents perhaps 30 elk over a decade.

“They were somebody that was eliminating those cows for a reason,” she said.

James Poe, an avid outdoorsman and hunter who moved to northern Michigan six years ago from metro Detroit so that he could be closer to the woods, has a different theory about what happened to the poached elk.

The Lewiston resident said he believes deer hunters could be responsible, he said, because he knows that a small minority of deer hunters don’t act responsibly. They come Up North to hunt, they don’t really know what they are doing, and they drink too much. He believes addled deer hunters may have shot the elk by mistake.

“Alcohol and hunting don’t mix, but a lot of these guys come up here for deer camp, not necessarily to hunt, but to get away from their wives and drink,” Poe said. “Personally, I think that’s what it is.”

Northern Express Weekly • february 10, 2020 • 11

For Love and Money Couples who make it work 9 to 5 … and then some

By Ross Boissoneau

Love and marriage are hard work, but some couples take this challenge to a new level.

The Northern Express spoke with the rare breed that both live and work together. The couples shared their not only their concerns and challenges, but also what brought them closer together.

Vic Herman and Amy Reynolds Horizon Books, Traverse City and Cadillac

Gail and Geoff Frey Crooked Vine Winery and Vineyard, Alanson

Denise and Scott Sheperd Great Lakes Oral and Maxillofacial, Petoskey

The longtime bookstore owners have been in the news recently because of their plans to close the downtown Traverse City landmark store this year.

Their decision has nothing to do with being tired of one another; it’s simply a recognition that they’d like to spend more quality time together away from the business.

Their time started at the bookstore, which Herman owned when Reynolds came aboard.

“It’s been no challenge working together,” said Vic. “We worked together well as a twosome right from the beginning.”

Amy agreed.

“There’s mutual respect,” she said. “We both had a love of books and worked hard.”

Competitors never particularly bothered them, whether brick and mortar or online.

“We never paid much attention to competition. Borders took about 15% when it opened,” said Vic. The growth of the area also helped.

“It was a bigger pie,” he said.

As for Amazon, Vic said he knows it had an impact on their business, “but we’ve always been profitable.”

They said the partnership also flourished during the store’s expansion phases, with the purchase and move to the former JC Penney building in Traverse City, as well as opening stores in Petoskey and Cadillac.

“That was exciting to be growing,” said Amy. “That’s fun … really invigorating.”

Now that they are winding down their time in Traverse City – Petoskey closed three years ago; the smaller store in Cadillac will remain open after the flagship store in Traverse City closes sometime later this year – the two are looking to spend more time together.

“We don’t have anything particular in mind. Do some traveling,” said Vic. Looking back, what would they do differently?

Apparently not much.

“It was all perfect,” said Vic.

For Gail and Geoff Frey, the timeline was marriage, wine, retirement, and then more wine as they started their first business together.

“The first year we were married I worked for a company handling Gallo wine at grocery stores,” recalled Geoff.

That was in 1973. His work took them to California and they visited Napa, even meeting Robert and Margrit Mondavi at a wine tasting.

They’d vacationed in the Petoskey area for decades and wanted to make it their home.

“We always wanted to retire here,” said Gail.

So, in 2009, they did, but they still had the wine bug.

Three years after retiring, they purchased 40 acres, planted vines and began building their tasting room.

“We’d built a number of homes and thought we could tackle this,” said Geoff.

Today Crooked Vine Vineyard and Winery is part of the Petoskey Wine Region. The challenges the Freys face stem mostly from the fact that the winery employs just two people full-time – the two of them.

“We have to rely on each other,” said Geoff.

Asked how they handle the communication and division of duties, Gail said they just naturally divide it up.

“One does (something), the other picks up the slack,” she said.

The two mostly fill different roles. Geoff is often out in the vineyards, while Gail is the hostess in the tasting room.

They say the most trying time is when it’s busy, and as time goes on, it’s getting busier.

“It’s the crowds. With the wine trail and publicity, you’re exhausted,” said Geoff.

“Especially the weekends. You don’t want to talk” after working all day, said Gail.

So how do they turn it off?

“We don’t live on the property,” said Geoff. “We turn off the light and go home.”

“It helps to get away,” agreed Gail.

For oral surgeon Scott Sheperd and his wife Denise, their relationship may have predated their business, but not their common field of interest.

“We met while in (dental) school,” said Scott.

He then joined the U.S. Air Force while she finished her dental hygienist program. After their marriage, the Michigan natives were stationed in New Jersey when Denise got him his first civilian job.

“We moved back here in 2007 and opened in February 2008,” Scott said.

The two worked side by side the first year, before the business got legs and Denise was able to move away from fulltime dental hygiene to more of an office management position.

“As we grew my job moved from operations on the front desk to the back,” she said. “That gave me flexibility for our kids.”

Not that they had any work conflicts.

“It’s a field we’re both passionate about. It wasn’t hard to work elbow-to-elbow,” said Denise.

Today the office has 10 employees, including both the Sheperds. Another oral surgeon has joined the firm, allowing Scott a day off during the week.

They said any challenges came from the intense schedule they first maintained and also those caused by growth.

“We did what we needed to do,” said Denise.

“The third year, one day I went in and we were booked out (only) two days,” Scott said. That meant if the phone didn’t ring, within three days they would be out of patients.

“Within a month we were booked out a week, then two to three weeks.

“It’s better to be busy.”

12 • february 10, 2020 • Northern Express Weekly

Pete and Pearl Brown Old Mission Bakery, Traverse City

Matt Nahnsen and Gretchen Bookeloo-Nahnsen

Old Mission Bakery came about as the result of a family meeting. Pete Brown was running his own recruiting agency from their home when the Great Recession hit. Pearl was homeschooling their kids and they had to find a way to bring in money.

“Our son said, ‘Mom, you make a mean loaf of bread,’” said Pete.

That was the beginning of Old Mission Bakery. Before that, Pete had been the breadwinner, first as a coach, then a corporate recruiter.

“We realized we wanted to eat and pay our bills,” said Pearl with a laugh.

They moved from back to the area (he’d grown up in Frankfort) and Pete started working for a recruiting agency in Grand Rapids before going out on his own.

Then came the recession, followed by the fateful decision to trust their future to Pearl’s recipe for multigrain bread.

“We poured everything we had into it,” said Pete about the 12- to 15-hour days they put in. “We had to learn how to leave the work at work.”

The couple have what they call “plan meetings” to discuss the business, said Pearl.

That’s changed over the years, in part because they’ve been able to grow and hire additional staff and take some of the burden off.

“The first couple years we were never not working,” she said.

Today, Old Mission Bakery breads are available in stores across the region, as well as the bakery itself, now located at 813 S. Garfield Rd. Needless to say, the partnership has flourished, in part because it has always been more than a partnership between the two: Their children all worked with them.

“The three oldest each gave up a year of college to get us started,” said Pearl.

The Roadhouse Mexican Bar & Grill, Benzonia Gretchen and Matt met at work before starting a relationship. Gretchen owned the restaurant on M-115 in Benzonia when 15 years ago, she hired this “young punk,” as bartender Matt Nahnsen describes himself “I enjoyed working there, and after five years I got a crush on my boss,” he said.

She was divorced, and so they started dating.

“It was weird at first,” admitted Matt. “I made sure I wasn’t taking any ownership. It was a balancing act.”

Gretchen had grown up in the restaurant business. Her parents owned Denny’s in Beulah, which eventually became the Brookside Inn. She ended up working at Crystal Mountain Resort in food and beverage.

When Jim Barnes, the owner of the Roadhouse, told her he was looking to sell, she jumped at the chance.

“I knew Jim had something going,” she said.

Eventually, so did the owner and the bartender. They married in 2014 but don’t work much together. Gretchen spends most of her days at the restaurant, but typically leaves shortly after it opens at 4pm.

“We work opposite shifts,” she said.

Gretchen is still the owner, while general manager Chris Wells runs the daily operations. Matt is the bartender who’s married to the owner. While it could have been awkward, both say it’s worked out well.

“I like it because he’s there when I’m not,” said Gretchen. “I love having him there, his eyes, his experience, watching over things.”

“For me, I like what I do. I’m a people person,” said Matt.

But he still takes care not to be perceived as the boss.

“I go in when she says to go in,” he said. “She is an awesome boss.”

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By Janice Binkert Valentine’s Day is a time where we’re urged to splurge on fancy chocolates, an extravagant bouquet of flowers, dinner out at an elegant restaurant, and/or an appropriately embellished greeting card filled with sweet declarations of affection.

That said, it sure didn’t start out that way.

While Valentine’s Day is all about love and romance now, it actually has some pretty grim origins going all the way back to the third century. Not to spoil the the mood, but we’re talking animal sacrifices, whippings, beheadings and martyrs here.

However, thanks to legends inevitably supplanting facts – and to the poetic works of Chaucer and Shakespeare hundreds of years later – February 14 somehow morphed into a holiday for sweethearts.

Just like the old telephone game, its message got more than a little garbled over time. But since the message was endearing and universal, eventually clever marketers saw a chance to cash in on it. It happens to the best of holidays and traditions … and this one is no different.

But you could make it different this year with the best gifts of all: your time and attention. Love is worth the effort, isn’t it? So here’s a proposal: If you don’t already have plans to go out, how about staying home and cooking a romantic dinner together? You can still get the card, buy the flowers (a single red rose placed on each plate is striking and won’t break the bank) and incorporate chocolate into your dessert!

It doesn’t have to be a big production.

The most important thing is to connect with each other over foods you both enjoy eating.

It can be anything from homemade pizza to beef Wellington.

Need a plan of attack? A few suggestions: • Sit down together a few days ahead to discuss and write out what your menu will be. Choose one that allow you to prep at least some components a day or a few hours ahead, so that everything will come together more easily and quickly when it’s time to do the final cooking. Assign prep tasks according to talents and proclivities.

• Consider doing more than one course – a simple appetizer with cocktails or mocktails, a soup or salad, an entrée and a dessert. (Sound complicated and time consuming? See sidebar “Four Courses? Of Course!” for ideas!)

• Source recipes from your own collection, food magazines, cookbooks or online.

• Make a shopping list of the ingredients you’ll need, and then go together to select and buy them. Many of them will no doubt be available from your nearest grocery store, but also try checking out a local specialty market and/or bakery for certain things, and visiting a wine shop, butcher shop and/ or fish market, where the proprietors will be more than happy to answer any questions you have and help you make your choices.

Doing so can turn what would otherwise be ordinary grocery shopping into a fun and inspiring outing!

• Set your table the night before if you can and break out the good stuff – it doesn’t have to be linen, china, silver and crystal, but by all means, if you have any or all of that, use it! Candles are a nice touch, too. And be sure to incorporate Valentine’s red into the color scheme.

A couple of “rules,” if we may be so bold: No TV in the background (soft music is encouraged, though), and no smartphone, laptop, iPad or Kindle anywhere on or near the table. The same goes for cans or bottles of any kind, with the exception of a wine bottle, if that’s part of your menu plan.

Besides that, it’s all up to you. This is your show and you two are the stars of it.

But wait, you say – there’s a supporting cast in place that could flip this show on its end, transforming it from the scene of a romantic tête à tête into a raucous comedy.

Ah, you’re talking children. This is where grandparents, aunts and uncles and good friends come in. Hopefully, with their help, you can farm the kiddies out for the night and get some much-needed couple’s time.

If that’s not in the cards, you could help them organize their own little Valentine’s party (decorations will add to the fun but encourage them to make their own lacy hearts and cupids and festoon their surroundings themselves). Order their favorite takeout food, and usher them to the family room or downstairs rec room – if you are lucky enough to have one – with a good movie and some games. Don’t be above bribing the oldest to keep the younger ones entertained for a couple of hours, either – you deserve this “us” time!

And in the event that none of this is practical or realistic, and the supporting cast will inevitably be part of the story line, go with it. Family love is also something to celebrate!

Most of all, have fun, relax and don’t dismay if everything doesn’t turn out perfect (in real life, it seldom does). The perfect things here are togetherness, a sense of satisfaction, and time to share with each other. Vive l’amour!

FOUR COURSES? OF COURSE! You can do this. Make it simple, make it elaborate – the choice is yours!

Cocktails and appetizers: • Serve Champagne/prosecco, wine, beer, cider, or a non-alcoholic beverage – but whatever you choose, pour it into a pretty glass.

• Set out purchased almonds and marinated olives or assemble some special luxury nibbles with ingredients like smoked salmon, fresh oysters or gourmet cheeses.

Soup or salad: • Toss together a straightforward (but delicious) salad of torn Bibb lettuce and julienned radicchio with a classic vinaigrette, or make an asparagus soup garnished with a dollop of sour cream or crème fraîche.

Entrée: • Pasta, in its virtually unlimited variety and versatility, is a favorite with almost everyone.

Consider fettuccine Alfredo (add chicken or shrimp if you like), carbonara made with specialty shaped pasta like torchio or gemelli instead of spaghetti (peas optional), or manicotti with spinach and ricotta. If you’re feeling “cheffy”, stir up a pot of delicious risotto with wild mushrooms, Mediterranean vegetables or lobster and saffron.

Dessert: • Chocolate is almost de rigeur for Valentine’s Day, but you can make it easy and still elegant by serving purchased artisan truffles with coffee and/or distilled brandy after dinner – or ramp it up by baking a flourless chocolate cake, which is rich, decadent, and actually quite easy to make, and all it needs as the finishing touch are a dollop of whipped cream, some fresh berries and a dusting of powdered sugar.

Northern Express Weekly • february 10, 2020 • 15

EAT YOUR HEART OUT Valentine’s Day gifts run the gamut from chocolate, to cooking classes, to lunch-and-learns.

By Ross Boissoneau That day is coming again. Expressions of love are all the rage on Valentine’s Day. But why be stuck with the mundane? Whether for a loved one or even yourself, there are plenty of unique and intriguing gifts and ways to spend the holiday.

BELLY DANCING LESSONS Anyone can dance … even belly dance, says Amira Hamzar, and she should know.

She’s a certified belly dance instructor and offers lessons – perfect for you to purchase for your partner or yourself. Belly dancing has evolved over thousands of years as different cultures have embraced and enhanced its movements.

Well-versed in dance? No problem.

Never taken a belly dance class before?

Ditto. All dance levels are welcome in Hamzar’s belly dance classes. For neophytes, Hamzar will provide easier versions of the moves being taught. Those with more experience or who catch on quickly will be challenged with a more difficult version of the same move.

Hamzar teaches at Unity and Higher Self in Traverse City and in the summer at the Northern Center in Houghton Lake. She also teaches hula and burlesque. In addition to weekly classes, Hamzar teaches at festivals and offers private lessons. Find out more at amirahamzarraks.com.

BOUDOIR PHOTO SHOOT New year, new you. Or the same you, simply showing off your best self. Either way, Traverse City’s Sarah Brown has you covered … or maybe uncovered. The owner of Empowered Bombshells by Sarah Brown Photography will help bring

out your best sexy self in a comfortable, private setting.

Brown offers years of experience behind the camera and will help you relax and enjoy your session. That starts before your shoot, when the two of you meet to discuss what your vision is. The next step is wardrobe styling, professional hair and makeup, and access to the boudoir closet.

Some of the images are revealed during the shoot. But when all is shot and done, it’s still not done. Brown will retouch your favorite images and then you can decide which you like and how to display them.

Brown says the experience is fun, empowering and a boost to self-confidence.

Boudoir sessions are $299, which includes three outfit changes. There is a $100 print credit toward any collection. All prints and products are sold separately. The entire experience takes about four to five hours. Call (231)883-7481 or learn more at sarahbrownphotography.com COOKING LESSONS Celebrate the holiday by enjoying the flavors of Tuscany at Fustini’s in Petoskey with chef Christie Struck. The menu features panzanella salad with tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, and olives; creamy Tuscan chicken with sundried tomatoes, spinach, mushrooms, and purple cabbage with Fustini’s Tuscan herb oil; and for dessert, dark chocolate pot de crème with Fustini’s raspberry vinegar and raspberry coulis. Cost is $55 per person. Each attendee will receive a 10% discount on products purchased the day of the class.

Want more? Head to Fustini’s in Traverse City the next day for a Sweetheart Vegan Dinner, courtesy of chefs Lisa Robinson and Ryan Moberly of Radish. On the menu are a shrub mocktail, tangy herbed vegan cheese

16 • february 10, 2020 • Northern Express Weekly

spread with bread and fruit, cucumber lemon orzo salad, mushroom stroganoff and dessert, all including various Fustini’s products. Cost is $60.

Both Petoskey and Traverse City classes run 5pm-7pm. They’re among the many cooking classes offered at the olive oil and balsamic vinegar shops. Call the Petoskey store at (231) 758-3575 or the Traverse City store at (231) 944-1145, or visit fustinis.com.

GET SWINGIN’ In spite of what’s outside, golf season is actually right now, right here. As long as “right here” is at Xgolf. The indoor golf center bills itself as “the most innovative and accurate golf simulator experience in the world.” It features a combination of camera systems, infrared lasers, impact sensors and advanced gaming software to provide a realistic golf experience.

You actually hit the ball and see where it lands.

Best of all? Well, there are several “bests.”

Start with the fact you can golf no matter the weather. Darkness won’t affect your play.

You won’t lose any balls, either. A round of Xgolf will take about 45 minutes, less than half the time of a normal round. You like competition? You can join a league. Add to that the fact you can watch your friends play from the comfort of a padded chair while you enjoy snacks and your favorite beverage.

Rates start at $35/hour. Located next to Buffalo Wild Wings, across from Grand Traverse Mall. Go to XgolfTraverseCity.com.

MUSICAL LUNCH LECTURE Feeling down? Getting over a breakup?

Want to know more about the song stylings of important historical figures and how they inspired hitmakers from the Rolling Stones to Blackberry Smoke? Celebrate your blues on Valentine’s Day with Stuart Fenton at

North Central Michigan College in Petoskey, part of its Winter Luncheon Lectures.

The blues originated on Southern plantations in the 19th Century and provided the foundation for jazz and rock.

Fun fact: Bluesman Blind Lemon Jefferson was a friend of singer Marty Balin, and served as inspiration and part of the name for Balin’s band, Jefferson Airplane.

An attorney by trade, Fenton became such a big fan of the blues that for several years he hosted a weekly four-hour blues show on a Kalamazoo radio station. He’ll provide an overview of some of the most influential blues artists from the very beginning through the modern era. Fenton will also play samples of their work.

Reservations are required. Call (231) 348-6600 or email luncheonlectures@ ncmichi.edu to reserve your place. Cost is $12 (cash or check only, payable at door) and includes lunch.

DINNER AND A MOVIE – AND MORE Dinner and a movie? Old hat. Dinner and a movie and craft beer? You’re piquing our interest. Dinner and a movie and craft beer and curling? Now you’re talking. Head to Frankfort’s Stormcloud Brewing, where you can enjoy your dinner with a pint of stout, porter or the always popular Whiled Away IPA or Rainmaker. The Garden Theatre next door is your classic restored smalltown theater showing a variety of first-run movies. Purchase any food item and receive admission to the theater for $6.

Or you can opt for the Dark & Stormcloudy Film & Beer Series. It pairs award-winning films with small batch dark beers, handcrafted specifically for each movie selection by Stormcloud. February’s movie is Cold Case Hammarskjöld, about the death of the UN Secretary-General, with

Have dinner with us.

Join us in the warehouse kiTChen + cork any night of the week for a fresh, seasonal menu and your favorite beverage.

Complimentary valet parking for dinner guests.

Hotel Indigo Traverse City

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Scandinavian cuisine developed by Rock’s Landing Executive Chef Joe Meyers. It takes place Feb. 25 at 6:30pm. Tickets are $70 per person, which includes movie admission.

Still not satisfied? Then check out the curling rink located just outside the pub.

Stormcloud offers learn to curl lessons, with the last session scheduled for Feb. 15. Or sign up with your friends for a private curling session with instruction and equipment.

Cost is $125 per group. For information on all, call Stormcloud at (231) 352-0118 or visit stormcloudbrewing.com.

GROCER’S DAUGHTER TRIP TO ECUADOR A trip to Grocer’s Daugher Chocolates in Empire can reward you with a host of delicacies, from truffles to candy bars, even cookies and croissants. The store’s biggest claim to fame may be the special herbs and spices they use. Owners Jody and DC Hayden and their staff imbue the chocolate with unexpected flavors like lavender, rosemary, basil and peppers.

For those seeking a deeper dive beyond the Empire store, you can join Jody and other international chocolatiers on a trip to Ecuador to visit the cacao farms they source from and learn about the origins of everyone’s favorite treat. This year’s trip is May 30-June 5; cost is $2,800, not including airfare.

For more information, call (231) 3263030 or email chocolate@grocersdaughter. com. Of course, you can always stop in the bright green store on M-72 just north of the light in Empire and taste for yourself. And this year on Feb. 14 there will be a Grocer’s Daughter popup store at Millie & Pepper Creperie in Traverse City.

VALENTINE’S DAY CONCERT She’s been dubbed “a banjo-playing soul singer,” but Chastity Brown is even more than that. Start with the fact she’s conversant with guitar, dobro and keyboards, while her original music draws from love, loss and literature. The singer/songwriter from Tennessee by way of Minneapolis returns to the concert stage at the cozy confines of Freshwater Gallery in Boyne City on Feb. 14.

Yep, that’s Valentine’s Day and Brown will no doubt sing songs from and about the heart.

Brown grew up playing saxophone and drums in church. Her Americana music encompasses elements of jazz, blues, R&B, and folk, while her lyrics detail love, pain, acceptance and wonder. As one example, her song “Mad Love” came from a chance encounter with a white supremacist. The biracial artist was confronted outside a club in Eau Claire, Wisconsin where she was verbally attacked by a person who’d read her interview in the local paper. She wrote the song as an anthem for forgiveness and selfacceptance, refusing to see herself through the eyes of those who would judge her based on her skin color or sexual preference.

Showtime is 8pm. Tickets are $35 in advance; call (231) 582-2588 to reserve, as seating is limited. Share the love and bring an item for the food pantry collection box.

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By Craig Manning Laith Al-Saadi is still standing.

It hasn’t been an easy road for the 42-yearold The Voice contestant, who made it to the May 2016 finale of the popular NBC show.

For one thing, the Michigan native has brushed up against reality TV’s dark side: that finishing favorably on a televised singing competition watched by millions of people doesn’t guarantee a superstar music career.

When the Ann Arbor native takes the stage at Traverse City’s City Opera House on Saturday Feb. 15th, he wants to do more than just play his signature blend of blues, rock and soul.

For Al-Saadi, this show is nothing less than the start of a new chapter.

TRAVERSE CITY TIES Let’s rewind: Although his Ann Arbor roots got a lot of air time during The Voice, Al-Saadi also has considerable ties to northern Michigan.

As a freshman in college at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, AlSaadi was recruited by Traverse City local Larry Avery to join the cast of the Golden Garter Revue at Dill’s Olde Towne Saloon on Union Street.

For years, aspiring entertainers flocked to Traverse City in the summers to perform as part of the Golden Garter Revue – a threeshows-per-night, six-days-a-week musical revue production. During the summers of 1996 and 1997, Al-Saadi was part of that group. He lived on Lake Street and considered Traverse City a second home.

Eventually, things changed. Dill’s shut down (the building is now home to Blue Tractor) and the Golden Garters went their separate ways. Al-Saadi transferred from WMU to the University of Michigan, where he earned a music degree while playing guitar with the Detroit Lions pep band.

Still, the singer says he kept his ties with northern Michigan, making monthly pilgrimages to Traverse City and playing venues like Streeters and Union Street Station right up until he landed a spot on The Voice.

A successful appearance on NBC’s The Voice turned out to be a mixed blessing for singer-songwriter Laith Al-Saadi,

scheduled to appear at the City Opera House on Feb. 15.

18 • february 10, 2020 • Northern Express Weekly

A WHIRLWIND ON NATIONAL TV When Al-Saadi appeared on The Voice, he was an anomaly. On average, the show’s contestants tend to be 20-something. AlSaadi was 38 at the time his season aired. He sounded – and looked – like someone a bit outside the show’s wheelhouse.

“I made it to the finals as an older, balding, bearded rock ‘n’ roller and I never thought I would make it that far in a show with a mostly pop/country and R&B format,” he said.

On the show, Al-Saadi was coached

by Adam Levine, front man for pop band Maroon 5. Levine praised Al-Saadi for “the best show of musicianship I’ve ever seen on The Voice.”

Al-Saadi says the spotlight helped him expand his platform significantly, particularly outside the state of Michigan.

“What The Voice did was expose me to millions of people on a weekly basis,” he said.

“So, there was a demand for me and my music when I got off the show. I was getting offers to play festivals, or to play these beautiful theaters and performing arts centers. I would set foot in places that I had no market history (of playing) and be able to sell out shows.

That was a really amazing experience. The Voice let me focus more on what I wanted to do, instead of playing covers for people in a bar who were drinking and talking loudly.”

If Al-Saadi has a qualm about life after The Voice, it’s the same one that many critics have already levied at the show: that it does little to invest in the long-term careers of its contestants once their respective seasons come to a close.

“Look, I would do The Voice again in a heartbeat,” Al-Saadi told the Express. “But with that said, there has not really been any support for my career from The Voice since I got done with the show. You are left to make the most of what that experience is when you’re done. There is not much support beyond the camaraderie of other people, and the fact that I have since gotten to play shows with a few other contestants that I developed relationships with on the show.”

One factor is that, for most of its run, The Voice has aired two seasons per year, which means “reigning champions” don’t reign for long. The series concluded its 17th season in December 2019; the 18th season is set to air its first episode on February 24.

In comparison, American Idol, the show that set the template for what reality TV singing competitions could be, will air the first episode of its 18th season on February 18, despite having premiered nine years earlier (in 2002) than The Voice did (in 2011).

Al-Saadi reckons that the quicker cycle means Voice contestants are forgotten more quickly and have less time to cultivate fruitful careers in the wake of the show.

He’s not wrong. Where Idol minted a relatively lengthy list of household-name superstars – including country megastar Carrie Underwood, Oscar-winner Jennifer Hudson and inaugural victor (and current Voice coach) Kelly Clarkson – The Voice has yet to catapult a single contestant to that level of success.

According to the Huffington Post, only two of the show’s contestants – former winners Cassadee Pope and Danielle Bradbery, both country singers – have managed to chart post-Voice singles on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Still, Al-Saadi is thankful for the experience and the exposure and believes it gave him enough of a boost to keep growing his brand – even if that growth might be a little slower going forward.

“I’m not giving up on trying to expand and believing that my career has a lot further to go,” he said.

A FRESH START Al-Saadi’s goal in 2020 is to unveil a new full-length album – his first in seven years and the first original music he’ll release in the aftermath of The Voice. The as-yet-untitled album, he says, is a largely autobiographical account of what has been a tough period in his life.

“I’ve had a rough go of it the last couple years. I lost my manager, I lost my booking agent, I lost the longest relationship of my life and it’s no secret that I got arrested in Gaylord a couple years ago,” he said. “So, trying to rebuild and come out of that has been difficult. I spent a lot of time being really depressed and I wrote a lot of music.”

Al-Saadi declined to comment further on his arrest, other than to say that most previous media coverage of the situation had been neither accurate nor fair.

“There were not people that asked for the truth or chose to report it,” he said.

The arrest concerned a variety of prescription medications that Al-Saadi was charged with possessing illegally. His lawyer argued in court that Al-Saadi had been prescribed the medications previously to treat chronic pain issues, but that the prescriptions had lapsed. Last February, a year after the arrest, Al-Saadi was sentenced to 12 months of probation after pleading no contest to a charge of illegal possession of hydrocodone.

“I don’t think that you are using these things recreationally,” the judge on the case was reported as saying. “That makes a difference to me in sentencing.”

While Al-Saadi was happy to get past his

legal troubles, the case effectively left him bankrupt, unable to get into the studio to start recording the hundreds of new songs he’d written since his last album, 2013’s Real.

“It’s a bizarre Catch-22 to be trying to build your career without being able to get any of your new content out there,” he said.

Compounding Al-Saadi’s concerns is the simple fact that recorded music is not as lucrative now as it once was. In 2017, he recorded and independently released a four-song EP of Jimi Hendrix covers to commemorate what would have been the legendary guitarist’s 75th birthday.

He says the release won more than half a dozen awards, got decent exposure and generated buzz among his Voice fans – enough attention to generate tens of thousands of plays. So far, he’s made back less than a quarter of what he spent recording the release.

“This is a really strange time to be an artist,” Al-Saadi explained. “It’s important for people to know that we’re struggling with Spotify and not being compensated fairly. We’re at a point where, unless people come to our shows, we don’t even make the money back that we spent recording our material, because Spotify pays in the hundredth of the decimal point (of a cent) per play.”

Ultimately, Al-Saadi decided that his career couldn’t move forward if he didn’t bet on himself. So, in 2019, he put a band together – an impressive collection of session musicians that includes drummer Jim Keltner (featured on records by the Traveling Wilburys, John Lennon, George Harrison, Joe Cocker, Tom Petty, John Mayer, and many more), bassist Kenny Gradney (of the band Little Feat), keyboardist Mike Finnegan (known for his work with Crosby, Stills & Nash, Jimi Hendrix and Bonnie Raitt) and Jerry Jemott (who’s played with B.B. King, Herbie Hancock, Nina Simone and Wilson Pickett).

Al-Saadi says that he and the team “laid down tracks in California before Christmas” and that he has been working in Ann Arbor to finish the vocals and guitars. He even called in the Motor City Horns, Bob Seger’s famed horn section, to play on a few songs.

While the album won’t be finished in time for Al-Saadi’s visit to Traverse City, he’s hoping to have it out in the world sometime this spring.

“I’m really, really excited about getting the album out,” he said. “It will be a full-length album – maybe not the most uplifting, but very true to my experiences in the last few years of my life. I think it is a very authentic and good record.”

Of the investment, Al-Saadi says it was a “major gamble.”

“I kept waiting for the time to be right, but I basically just decided I had to take the risk and put all my eggs in the basket and get my music out there,” he said.

The album – and his return to Traverse City – are the start of what the singer hopes will be a fresh chapter in his life and career.

The show is an encore of sorts, bringing AlSaadi back to the City Opera House stage by popular demand after a well-received February 2019 show. His goal is to make the concert, titled “Cure for the Winter Blues,” a standing annual arrangement.

“The Opera House is a beautiful venue and I love all my fans up in Traverse City,” Al-Saadi said. “Any chance to get up there and play for them is one I would take at the drop of a hat.”

A portion of ticket sales will be donated to raising mental health awareness throughout West Michigan. Show begins at 8pm on Feb. 15; ticket prices range from $29.50 to $75 and are available at cityoperahouse.org/ laith-al-saadi.

BECAUSE YOU DESERVE A BURRITO

For Traverse City area news and events, visit TraverseTicker.com

THE INSIDERS: a Tom Petty Tribute

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 14 @ 8 PM

Tickets $30 includes valentine sweets ~ MyNorthTickets.com L E E L E L A U C O M M U N I T Y C U LT U R A L C E N T E R

OLD ART BUILDING

111 SOUTH MAIN STREET(M-22),LELAND

Northern Express Weekly • february 10, 2020 • 19

feb 08

saturday

WINTERFEST 2020: Downtown Beulah. Featuring a Poker Run, Frozen Turkey Bowl-ing, Chili Cook-off, horse drawn wagon rides, Snowball Target Competition, 14th An-nual Frozen Fish Toss, Rubber Duck Race, Winterfest Parade & more. clcba.org

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NORTH AMERICAN VASA 44TH ANNUAL FESTIVAL OF RACES: 8:30am, TC. Fea-turing the Okerstrom Marathon (50km) Freestyle, Korteloppet (12 km) Freestyle, 6 km Freestyle HS Boys & Girls, The George Kuhn Half Marathon (25 km) Freestyle, Skate Fun Tour (6 km) Freestyle, Short’s Grand Fat (42 km) Fat Bike, Short’s-n-Fat (13 km) Fat Bike, Junior VASA, Vasasaurus Stomp 8km Snowshoe Race & much more. vasa.org

---------------------COMMUNITY YOGA FOR EVERY BODY: 9am, 206 S. Oak St., TC. Love your body through gentle breath/body movement. Donation based class. Find on Facebook.

---------------------NMCAA SUPER SATURDAY: 9am, TBAISD Career-Tech Center, TC. Show Me the Money to be Healthy, Wealthy, & Wise. A day of education & training for people expe-riencing poverty in the Greater Grand Traverse Area. This free physical & financial health & wellness event features classes, a free lunch, & a vendor café expo. Register: 231-590-0100 or nmcaa.net.

---------------------KITE RACE: 9:30am, Lake Leelanau. Triangle Race with two classes (ski & snow-board).

Each race leg will be appx. two miles. Find on Facebook.

---------------------25 CENTS KIDS MATINEE: 10am, State Theatre, TC. Featuring “Playmobil: The Mov-ie.”

Dental Health Day Northern Michigan - Oral Health Coalition NMC skit & tooth care bags. stateandbijou.org/calendar

---------------------MAKE-A-GIFT SERIES: ANNUAL CHOCOLATE POTLUCK: 10am-noon, Interlochen Public Library, Community Room. Bring your favorite something chocolate to share. For adults. Sign up: 231-276-6767.

---------------------SPECIAL OLYMPICS POLAR PLUNGE: 10am-noon, North Peak/Kilkenny’s, TC. Plunge by soliciting contributions for Special Olympics.

Best costume receives an award. Minimum $75 contribution to plunge. Lunch & drinks after the plunge. $5 fee for lunch for those not plunging.

Donation. somi.org/polarplunge

---------------------TRAVERSE CITY LOCAL WINTER MARKET: 10am-2pm, 801 Front St. Once-a-month local winter market featuring local businesses.

Raffle drawing for a basket of goodies. Five raffle tickets for a donation of non-perishable food items to be donated to the Fr. Fred Frostbite Food Drive. Facebook drawing for gift certificate good at any vendor at the market. Free admission/onsite parking. Find on Facebook.

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“LOVE LOCALLY,” A VALENTINES DAY POP-UP MARKET: 11am-5pm, Higher Art Gallery, TC. Featuring several local artisans & makers. Find on Facebook.

---------------------5TH ANNUAL WINESHOEING EVENT: 11am, Maple Moon Sugarbush & Winery, Pe-toskey.

Enjoy a guided tour, wine before & after snowshoeing, a bowl of chili, & a sou-venir glass.

Guided snowshoeing departs at 11:30am, 1:30pm & 3:30pm. Reserve your spot: 231487-9058. $25. mmsyrup.com/index.html

---------------------VALENTINE WORKSHOP: 11am-2pm, Leland Township Library, Munnecke Room. Create vintage-inspired valentines for family, friends & seniors in the community. Re-freshments & supplies provided. Free. lelandlibrary.org

---------------------SIT ‘N’ SIGN WITH MI CHILDREN’S AUTHOR AMY NIELANDER: 11:30am-1:30pm,

Saturn Booksellers, Gaylord. Enjoy this author of “Grama’s Hug,” as well as crafts & stories related to Valentine’s Day. saturnbooksellers.com

february

----------------------

08-16

DOODLE DAY: 1-3pm, Twisted Fish Gallery, Elk Rapids. Held every second Sat. of the month.

This free event welcomes all who wish to express their creativity in a warm & inviting environment.

Supplies are available. twistedfishgallery.com

---------------------SKULLS & SCAT: 1-2:30pm, Grass River Natural Area, Bellaire. Look at mammal skulls & teeth indoors to understand the natural history of some Grass River mammals. Then head out on a hike to search for these animals’ scat & learn basic ID techniques. $5. You can bring snowshoes if snow is deep, or rent them for an extra $5. grassriv-er.org

send your dates to: events@traverseticker.com

---------------------EAST BAY CALVARY SPORTSMEN’S FELLOWSHIP WEEKEND: 3:30pm, East Bay Calvary Sportsmen’s Fellowship, TC. Hundreds of sportsmen gather to honor local men & women who have served or are serving for our freedoms. Featuring main speaker Jimmy Gretzinger, Michigan Out of Doors; David McIntyre, History Channel’s “Alone” Second Season Winner; live music by CrossCut Kings; a canned/nonperishable food items drive; & a carpool drawing. Free breakfast on Sun., Feb. 9 at 9am with speaker David McIntyre. traverseoutdoors.com

---------------------INDOOR WINTER PICNIC: 5-8pm, Leelanau Community Cultural Center, Old Art Building, Leland. Cash bar, music & games. Free. oldartbuilding.com

---------------------AMICAL’S COOKBOOK DINNER SERIES PRESENTS “POLPO”: amical, TC. From his restaurant in London, Russell Norman brings a collection of simple Venetian reci-pes that focus on the use of fresh, quality ingredients. Call 941-8888 for reserva-tions. amical.com/polpo

---------------------FULL MOON SNOWSHOE &/ OR CROSSCOUNTRY SKI: 6-8pm, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Dune Climb, Empire. Bring your cross-country skis &/or snowshoes. Snowshoes will be loaned on a first-come, first-served basis. Bring a flashlight or head lamp & wear layers. Free w/ park pass. facebook.com/sbdnl

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GRAND TRAVERSE DEMS WINTER RALLY: 6pm, GT Resort, Tower Ballroom, Ac-me. Entertainment, hors d’oeuvres, speakers, MDP Chari Lavora Barnes, Floor Leader Yousev Rabhi, Regional 2020 candidates. 946-5555.

Suggested donation: $20. grandtraversedems. com/2020-winter-rally

---------------------“COOKIN’ WITH GUS”: 6:30pm, Northport Performing Arts Center. A camera-shy ce-lebrity chef tries to launch a TV show, but threats from her agent & spells cast by her gypsy neighbor are no help. Dinner & show. Choose an entrée including salad & dessert: baked chicken puttanesca, beef stroganoff or Thai salm-on. $60. northportperformingarts.org

---------------------“THE HUMAN ELEMENT” FILM SCREENING: 6:30pm, Old Town Playhouse, TC. En-vironmental photographer James Balog captures the lives of everyday Americans on the front lines of climate change. Following the film will be a short presentation by Citi-zens’ Climate Education. Suggested donation of $5 towards the Westwoods Elemen-tary School Solar Project. Find on Facebook.

---------------------BAYSIDE TRAVELLERS CONTRA DANCE: Elk Rapids Township Hall. 7pm basic skills workshop; 7:30-10:30pm dance. Live music by The Johns. Youth must be ac-companied by an adult.

For more info, email: tccaller@yahoo.com. $11 adult, $7 stu-dent, $9 member. dancetc.com

---------------------VOICES WITHOUT BORDERS PRESENTS: A TIME TO SHINE: 7pm, Great Lakes Center for the Arts, Bay Harbor. Featuring performances by northern MI singers, danc-ers, musicians & entertainers of all ages, as well as silent & live auctions. $10; $25 VIP. greatlakescfa.org

20 • february 10, 2020 • Northern Express Weekly

“Part Stomp, part boy band gig, part West End Musical,” The Choir of Man performs radio hits, classic rock, pub tunes, folk, Broadway and more. Known across the globe as “the ultimate feel-good show,” this group plays Great Lakes Center for the Arts, Bay Harbor, Sat., Feb. 15 at 7:30pm. $45, $40, $35, $30. greatlakescfa.org LOVE, LOSS & WHAT I WORE: 7:30pm, Old Town Playhouse Studio Theatre @ the Depot, TC. A play about women’s love/hate relationships with their wardrobes. $17 plus fees. oldtownplayhouse.com

----------------------

MOONLIT HIKE AT DEYOUNG NATURAL AREA: 7:30pm. Join docents Ed Ketterer & Karin Jacobson for a snowshoe walk through woodlands, along a streamside, & up to a prominence for a view across the farmstead toward TC. Depart from the parking lot off Cherry Bend Rd., near the barn & entrance to the TART trail. Register. Free. leelanauconservancy.org/events/moonlit-snowshoe-hike-atdeyoung-natural-area

---------------------GOOD ON PAPER COMEDY IMPROV: 8pm, West Bay Beach, A Delamar Resort, TC. $10. facebook.com/GoodOnPaperImprov

---------------------HELL ON HEELS PRESENTS HEARTS OF GLASS: 8pm, Red Sky Stage, Bay Harbor.

Enjoy lip syncing, dancing & singing with Drag Queens Kelly, Mercedes, Vajojo, Dahl-ia & Zuzu. $10. mynorthtickets.com/events/hell-onheels-presents-hearts-of-glass-2-8-2020

feb 09

sunday

10TH ANNUAL BENZIE COUNTY WATER FESTIVAL: Feb. 9-15. Today features Sunday Sermons: Local churches designate water as a theme for Sunday Ser-vice. facebook.com/BenzieCountyWaterFestival

ships with their wardrobes. $17 plus fees. oldtownplayhouse.com

---------------------CTAC SCHOOL OF MUSIC COMMUNITY ORCHESTRAS WINTER CON-CERT: 2:30pm, Crooked Tree Arts Center, Theater, Petoskey. The CTAC Concert Or-chestra and Chamber Orchestra will perform selections highlighting the diversity of string orchestra repertoire. Free. crookedtree.org

---------------------“COOKIN’ WITH GUS”: 4pm, Northport Performing Arts Center. A camera-shy celebri-ty chef tries to launch a TV show, but threats from her agent & spells cast by her gypsy neighbor are no help. Dinner & show. Choose an entrée including salad & dessert: baked chicken puttanesca, beef stroganoff or Thai salm-on. $60. northportperformingarts.org

---------------------AMICAL’S COOKBOOK DINNER SERIES PRESENTS “POLPO”: (See Sat., Feb. 8)

---------------------ACADEMY AWARDS PARTY: State Theatre, TC. Doors open at 7pm for Red Carpet; broadcast begins at 8pm. This fundraiser for the State Theatre includes gourmet pizza, salad, dessert, pop & popcorn. There will also be cocktails, beer & wine available for purchase. $15. stateandbijou.org/movies/academy-awards-party

feb 10

monday

NORTH AMERICAN VASA 44TH ANNUAL FESTIVAL OF RACES: (See Sat., Feb. 8)

DEC. COFFEE HOURS W/ STATE SEN. WAYNE SCHMIDT: For constituents through-out the 37th Senate District. 9-10am: GT Pie Co. 12-1pm: Cafe Sante, Boyne City. 2:30-3:30pm: Cheboygan City Hall. senatorwayneschmidt.com

VASASAURUS STOMP: 10:30am, Timber Ridge Resort, TC. A 6-8km snowshoe race held on as much ungroomed snow as possible. Afterwards celebrate in the Event Tent with the help of Short’s Brewing Co. timberridgeresort.net

NORTH AMERICAN VASA 44TH ANNUAL FESTIVAL OF RACES: 9am, TC. Today includes the Lombard Loppet (34km) Classic, 6km Classic, Chemical Bank 17km Classic, & 8km Vasasaurus Snowshoe Race. vasa.org

---------------------------------------------------------------LOVE, LOSS & WHAT I WORE: 2pm, Old Town Playhouse Studio Theatre @ the De-pot, TC. A play about women’s love/hate relation-

------------------------------------------10TH ANNUAL BENZIE COUNTY WATER FESTIVAL: 4-5:30pm. Today features Marvelous Art w/ Mrs. McLaren at Benzonia Library

for kindergarten - 3rd grade. facebook.com/ BenzieCountyWaterFestival

OLD TOWN PLAYHOUSE AUDITIONS FOR CHICAGO: (See Mon., Feb. 10)

FREE HEART MONTH EVENT: 5:30pm, John & Marnie Demmer Wellness Pavilion & Dialysis Center, Petoskey. “Make It Mediterranean” Cooking Demo with Fustini’s Oils & Vinegars.

Registration required: 800-248-6777.

PETOSKEY AUDUBON PROGRAM: 7pm, Northern Lights Recreation Center, Harbor Springs. Conservation Biologist Richard Couse will discuss his work with birds in the Netherlands. Free.

------------------------------------------OLD TOWN PLAYHOUSE AUDITIONS FOR CHICAGO: 6:30pm, Old Town Play-house, Schmuckal Theatre, TC. This hit musical has roles for at least 20 men & women ages 16 & older. Free. oldtownplayhouse.com

---------------------G.T. HUMANISTS PRESENT DEB LAKE FROM AMERICAN WASTE: 7pm, Traverse Area District Library, TC. Deb will speak about the state of the recycling industry & American Waste’s part in it. Free. gthumanists.org

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FREE BASIC KNIFE SKILLS FOR NINJAS: 7:30pm, Oryana Community Co-op, TC. Learn how to comfortably & safely use kitchen knives as well as how to keep them sharp. Learn the best way to cut onions, garlic, peppers, kale & tomatoes. Make kale pesto, homemade salad dressing & build a basic salad-in-a-jar. eventbrite.com/e/basic-knife-skills-for-ninjas-tickets-91678572077

feb 11

tuesday

COFFEE @ TEN TALK, TC: 10am, Crooked Tree Arts Center, Carnegie Rotunda, TC. Learn about opportunities happening at the TBAISD Career Tech Center with graphic arts instructor Rebecca Kinnee & some of her students. Free. crookedtree.org/event/ctac-traverse-city/coffee-february-2020

---------------------PEEPERS PROGRAM: SWEET SNOWFLAKES!: 10am, Boardman River Nature Cen-ter, TC. For ages 3-5. A 90-minute nature program that includes stories, crafts, music & discovery activities. End with an outside portion. $5. natureiscalling.org/event/peepers-program-sweet-snowflakes

---------------------GET CRAFTY: SHAVING CREAM HEARTS: Great Lakes Children’s Museum, TC. Held from 11am-noon & 2-3pm. greatlakeskids.org

---------------------CONNECTING WOMEN LUNCHEON: 11:30am1pm, Otsego Grand Event Center, Gaylord. Power Networking Lunch. $20 members; $25 not-yet mem-bers. gaylordchamber.com

---------------------SNOWSHOE HIKE AT TORCH LAKE NATURE PRESERVE: Noon. Join Heidi & An-trim Conservation District for a #TrailTuesday at the new Torch Lake Nature Preserve (off of Robinson Rd.). Meet at the trailhead/parking area for a short hike. Bring snow-shoes if you have them.

231-533-8363, x3. Free. antrimcd.com/snowshoe-hike-at-torch-lake-nature-preserve.html

---------------------FREE SCHOLARSHIP SUCCESS WORKSHOP: 5:30pm, NMC University Center, Room 204, TC. Hosted by GVSU Traverse City. Participants will learn “Tips and Tricks” on how to write a winning scholarship essay. They will also get more info on local scholarship opportunities. RSVP. gvsu.edu/traverse

---------------------10TH ANNUAL BENZIE COUNTY WATER FESTIVAL: 6pm. Today features a Potluck Panel Discussion: Eat dinner with your community & listen to local & regional experts discuss water issues related to theme of Pipes.

Hosted by Grow Ben-zie. facebook.com/BenzieCountyWaterFestival

---------------------POWER! BOOK BAGS FRIEND RAISER: 6-8pm, The Little Fleet, The Yurt, TC. Bring a kid’s book or a box of 24 crayons to donate, & learn how you can help spread litera-cy throughout 9 counties & 20+ assistance sites & schools. powerbookbags.com

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feb 12 glucose & more.

wednesday

FREE HEART MONTH EVENT: 10am, Gaylord Family Practice, 1320 E M-32.

Health Screening & Community CPR Training. Blood pressure, BMI, cholesterol,

---------------------A SHORT HISTORY OF COLOR IN PAINTING: Noon, Glen Arbor Arts Center. Featur-ing art educator Linda Young. A BYO brown bag lecture.

Offered as part of the GAAC exhibition COLOR, on display Jan. 10 - March 26. $10 GAAC member; $15 nonmem-ber. GlenArborArt.org

---------------------ISEA CAFE - BOOK DISCUSSION: 1pm, Capt.

Thomas M. Kelly Biological Station, Suttons Bay. Featuring “The Living Great Lakes: Searching for the Heart of the Inland Seas” by Jerry Dennis.

Free. schoolship.org/news-events/isea-cafe

---------------------INTRO TO WATERCOLOR PAINTING FOR BEGINNERS & INTERMEDIATE: 1-3pm, Interlochen Public Library, Community Room. For adults. Learn techniques profes-sional painters use. Bring your own watercolor brushes, paints & paper. Sign up: 231-276-6767. Free.

---------------------‘FAMILY LOVE LETTERS’: 2:30-4:30pm, The Presbyterian Church, TC. The GT Bay Area Stroke Club will host financial planner Vicki Beam from Fortitude Wealth Plan-ners, LLC at its meeting. 935-6380.

---------------------10TH ANNUAL BENZIE COUNTY WATER FESTIVAL: 3-6pm. Today features interac-tive, water-themed workshops at the COGNiTiON Science & Discovery Center, Beu-lah. facebook.com/BenzieCountyWaterFestival

----------------------

INDIE LENS POP-UP: “ALWAYS IN SEASON”: 7pm, Dennos Museum Center, Milli-ken Auditorium, NMC, TC. In this film by Jacqueline Olive, descendants of the victims & perpetrators of lynching are working together to heal a violent history. A discussion with community leaders & scholars will follow the film. Free. dennosmuseum.org/events/films.html

---------------------“THE THANKSGIVING PLAY”: 7:30pm, Glen Arbor Arts Center. Presented by Parallel 45 Theatre. A contemporary, comedic satire about the beloved national holiday. This encore performance is followed by a community talk-back session designed to explore & ask questions about the play. Advanced registration re-quired. Free. glenarborart.org/events/parallel-45-performs-thethanksgiving-play

---------------------LOVE, LOSS & WHAT I WORE: (See Sat., Feb. 8)

---------------------THE JIMMY GRANT TRIO: 7:30pm, Acoustic Tap Room, TC. Enjoy a night of gypsy jazz with this trio who showcases the music of Django Reinhardt as well as their own original works.

231-275-2041. $20 advance; $25 door.

----------------------

THE SLEEPING BEAUTY, ARTS ACADEMY DANCE CO.: 7:30pm, Interlochen Cen-ter for the Arts, Corson Auditorium. $32 full, $14 student. tickets.interlochen.org

feb 14

friday

NORTHERN MICHIGAN WINTER BIKE TO WORK & SCHOOL DAY: 6am-10pm.

Cel-ebrate riding bikes all year long & help northern MI become the Winter Biking Champion Of The World as you compete against northern cities in Canada, Europe & the U.S. Sign up at: winterbiketoworkday.org. Tell your buddies & ride your bike to work or school. Stop by a participating shop for a free cup of coffee. Enjoy happy hour at The Filling Station Microbrewery, TC from 4:30-6pm.

---------------------OTSEGO COUNTY ECONOMIC ALLIANCE ANNUAL PARTNER CELEBRATION: 7-9am, Ellison Place, Gaylord. Keynote speakers include George Blaha: The Voice of Detroit Pistons & MSU Football, & Betsy Hogan Sanders: Owner, Hogan’s Jewelers, Inc., Gaylord. 989731-0287. $25/person; breakfast provided.

A DOWNTOWN VALENTINE’S BUSINESS AFTER HOURS: 5-7pm. Held at the Big Ticket Festival Office, 145 W. Main St., Ste. 202, back entrance of Phoenix Building, second floor, Gaylord. Featuring appetizers by various downtown restaurants, drinks from Snowbelt Brewing Co., door prizes, live music, & a grand prize drawing for a Traeger Pellet Smoker & Grill. Regis-ter. gaylordmi.chambermaster. com/eventregistration/register/3802

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NIGHTLINK: 5-7pm, X-Golf TC. TC Professionals will be hosting this networking event.

Free. eventbrite.com

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feb 13

thursday

FREE MEDICARE SEMINAR: 10:30am, Suttons Bay Bingham District Library. Hosted by Fiorvento Law P.L.L.C. RSVP: 231-421-1237.

--------------

INTERACTIVE STORYTIME: 11am, Great Lakes Children’s Museum, TC. Featuring “How Do Dinosaurs Say I Love You?” by Jane Yolen, followed by an activity or craft. greatlakeskids.org

---------------------10TH ANNUAL BENZIE COUNTY WATER FESTIVAL: 3-6pm. Today features the Frozen Water Tour: Guided tour including Crystal Lake, Cold Creek, & Five Shores Brewing. Hosted by Benzie Conservation Dis-trict. facebook.com/ BenzieCountyWaterFestival

---------------------ARTS FOR ALL VALENTINES DANCE: 6:30pm, Elks Lodge, TC. For ages 15 & up. A4A provides art & culture opportunities that are adaptive, accessible & inclusive to inspire ALL abilities. $5 per person. artsforallnmi.org/programs/access

BOYNE CITY’S CHOCOLATE COVERED BOYNE: Downtown Boyne City. Merchants & vendors will offer treats & some in-store specials. Join in the Dessert Contest from 11am-1pm to sample this year’s entries. Free. boynecitymainstreet.com DISCOVER WITH ME: 10am-noon, Great Lakes Children’s Museum, TC. Create a val-entine keepsake with your child. greatlakeskids.org

---------------------LUNCHEON LECTURE SERIES: THE BLUES: NCMC, Library Conference Center, Petoskey. Attorney Stuart Fenton, who hosted a weekly fourhour blues show on a Kalamazoo radio station for several years, will give a brief overview of some of the most influential blues artists from the very beginning through the modern era. Lunch begins at 11:30am; program at noon. $12, includes lunch. ncmich.edu/community-events/lectures-events/ winter-2020-luncheon-lectures.html

---------------------10TH ANNUAL BENZIE COUNTY WATER FESTIVAL: 2-4pm. Today includes Fish-nPrints. Held at the Beulah Trailhead. facebook. com/BenzieCountyWaterFestival

---------------------VETERAN INFO COFFEE TALK: 2-4pm, Interlochen Public Library, Conference Room.

Drop by to get info about Veteran benefits from the GT County Department of Veterans Affairs. interlochenpubliclibrary.org

---------------------PETOSKEY WINTER CARNIVAL: Chocoholic Frolic: 3-7pm. Tour the downtown Petoskey

participating stores & be treated to chocolate treats. Winter Ghost Walk: 6pm. Starts at the Perry Hotel. $15. petoskeydowntown.com/ downtown-events/winter-carnival-lew54

---------------------ROCK OUT FOR RESCUE: 6-9:30pm, Grand Unity Events Center, Petoskey. Featur-ing Main Street Dueling Pianos, a silent auction, heavy hors d’oeuvres, dancing & more. Benefits the homeless animals at Little Traverse Bay Humane Society. $75 ad-vance; $85 door. ltbhs.com

---------------------VALENTINE’S NIGHT SKI: 7-9pm, Grass River Natural Area, Bellaire. During the ski there will be a bonfire along the trail. Ski with your valentine to the bonfire & then loop back to the Center to warm up with some cocoa. Bring a headlamp & skis. $5/person. grassriver.org

---------------------LOVE THROUGH THE AGES BY AGED TO PERFECTION READERS’ THEA-TRE: 7:30pm, Old Town Playhouse, Schmuckal Theatre, TC. Six short plays take you from memories of the 17th century to the 21st. An evening about Time and Tide & Post-it Notes. Donation. oldtownplayhouse.com

---------------------LOVE, LOSS & WHAT I WORE: (See Sat., Feb. 8)

----------------------

THE SLEEPING BEAUTY, ARTS ACADEMY DANCE CO.: (See Thurs., Feb. 13)

---------------------VALENTINES DAY EVENING PERFORMANCE: BLISSFEST FOLK & ROOTS MINI CONCERT SERIES: 7:30pm, Red Sky Stage, Bay Harbor. Featuring country sing-er/songwriter Dustin Olson. Dustin has opened for Shooter Jennings, Jo Dee Messina, Lonestar, Jason Michael Carroll & Big Smo. His next single, “Memories We Don’t Make,” is set to release March 1. $15 advance; $20 door.

---------------------BLISSFEST CONCERT SERIES: 8pm, Crooked Tree Arts Center, Petoskey. Featuring Freddy & Francine. $15 members; $20 gen. admission. blissfest.org

----------------------

FRESHWATER CONCERT: CHASTITY BROWN: 8pm, Freshwater Art Gal-lery/Concert Venue, Boyne City. $35 advance; $40 door. Find on Facebook.

---------------------SIPS ‘N GIGGLES: 8pm, West Bay Beach, A Delamar Resort, TC. Presented by Uncorrect Comedy. An evening of wine & comedy.

Featuring Steve Iott. $20 advance; $25 door. mynorthtickets.com

---------------------THE INSIDERS: A TOM PETTY TRIBUTE: 8pm, Leelanau Community Cultural Center, Old Art Building, Leland. $30, includes valentine sweets. mynorthtickets.com

---------------------DIRTY DANCING - BE MY BABY VALENTINE’S PARTY: 9pm, State Theatre, TC. “Dirty Dancing” Movie Party. Enjoy an evening featuring specialty cocktails (“I Carried a Watermelon” & more), beer & wine, a photobooth, surprise contests & entertainment. $5. stateandbijou.org/movies/dirtydancing-be-my-baby-valentines-party

feb 15

saturday

GLEN LAKE WINTERFEST: Festivities start at 7am with ice fishing on the Glen Lakes for participants in the Perch Fishing Contest. All participants will bring their biggest catches from Big & Little Glen Lake to the Sportsman Shop at 1pm, & winners will then be crowned. Head to Boonedocks for a winter-time deck party. The Chili Cook-off kicks off at noon. $5-$10 per person. visitglenarbor.com/ event/glen-lake-winterfest-2020

---------------------KALKASKA WINTERFEST: Featuring breakfast, Sled Dog Races, a craft show, IWPA Dog Weight Pull, a luncheon & more. kalkaskawinterfest.org

---------------------9TH ANNUAL ALPENFROST: Gaylord. Featuring the Frosty 5K (begins & ends under the pa-

Northern Express Weekly • february 10, 2020 • 21

vilion in downtown Gaylord), a moonlit snowshoe hike through the grounds of Otsego Resort & much more. gaylordmichigan.net/the-white-stuffweve-got-it-heaps-of-it/festivals-events

---------------------COMMUNITY YOGA FOR EVERY BODY: (See Sat., Feb. 8)

----------------------

BENZIE COUNTY DEMOCRATS MONTHLY MEETING: Benzie County Democratic Party Headquarters, 9930 Honor Hwy., Honor. Meetings on third Sat. of the month, with 9:30am coffee klatch, 10am community announcements, followed by featured speaker. Free. benziedemocrats.com

---------------------CLIMATE ADVOCACY WORKSHOP: 9:30am, Traverse Area District Library, TC. Learn how you can help build political will for effective climate solutions. Citizens’ Cli-mate Lobby (CCL) is a non-partisan, grassroots organization. Free. 5leversgt.eventbrite.com

---------------------10TH ANNUAL BENZIE COUNTY WATER FESTIVAL: Today features the Betsie Bay Frozen 5K; watercraft & display at Benzie Shores District Library; LEGOS: Build your own boat, watercraft or sea creature at Benzonia Public Library; & Wonderful Water: Stories, facts & fun activity hour at Betsie Valley District Li-brary. facebook.com/BenzieCountyWaterFestival

---------------------BOYNE CITY’S CHOCOLATE COVERED BOYNE: (See Fri., Feb. 14)

---------------------ROMANCING THE RIESLING: Visit the ten wineries along the Old Mission Peninsula Wine Trail to taste their top Rieslings. Each wine is paired with a small bite. Designat-ed Driver tickets are available for $25. When you purchase your ticket, you will choose your starting winery location. 231-223-7355. $30. ompwinetrail.com/event/romancing-the-riesling

VETERANS FOR PEACE MEETING: 10amnoon, Horizon Books, TC. horizonbooks.com/ event/meeting-veterans-peace-1

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PETOSKEY WINTER CARNIVAL: Downtown Petoskey. Petoskey District Library, 10am-2pm: Cardboard Sled Workshop. Make your cardboard sled to take to the Winter Sports Park for the Cardboard Sled Race. Petoskey Winter Sports Park, 10:30am-7pm: Char-Em C. League Hockey Game, Bumpjumping Competition, Youth Sledding Com-petition, figure skating performance, Carboard Challenge XXV, & more. petoskeydowntown.com/downtown-events/winter-carnival-lew54

---------------------TEDDY KNAPE FEST: 10:30am-4:30pm, Crystal Mountain, Thompsonville. Held slopeside, near the Crystal Clipper. Featuring the Silver Raffle & Gold Raffle. Enter for your chance to win some prizes, plus enjoy tunes with a live DJ. Benefits adaptive win-ter sports which allows special needs participants the ability to ski. crystalmountain.com/event/teddy-knape

---------------------GALLERY TALK: 11am, Charlevoix Circle of Arts, Exhibit Gallery. Photographer Bill Higgins presents “Winter Photography in Northern Michigan.” Learn about the benefits of photographing in winter, gear survival tips, personal survival tips, & shooting strate-gies for capturing winter landscapes. Free. charlevoixcircle.org/gallery-talks

---------------------WINTER FEST AT POND HILL FARM: 11am9pm, Pond Hill Farm, Harbor Springs. Featuring trailside tasting, Snowman Explosion, live music

by One Lane Highway, drinks, wine & beer tasting, Gnome House Hunt, cross-country ski, snowshoe, fat tire bike or hike miles of groomed trails, sled hill, animals & more. pondhill.com

---------------------WINTERLOCHEN: Visit the Interlochen Arts Academy campus for a variety of family-friendly indoor & outdoor activities such as crafts, snow

games, arts demonstrations, Winterlochen Parade, sustainable sculpting class, “postcard poem” writing workshop & more. Join the Arts Academy Dance Company at 2pm for a free performance of “The Sleeping Beauty.” Free. tickets.interlochen.org

---------------------ANNUAL KIDS FREE ICE FISHING DAY: 124pm, Emmet County Parks & Recreation is partnering with volunteers from Friends of Oden Fish Hatchery Visitor Center to host this event at Camp Pet-o-se-ga located in Alanson. For kindergarteners through 8th graders & their parents. If the outside temperature (including wind chill factor) is below zero degrees, the event will be held on Sun., Feb. 16. Find on Facebook.

---------------------100 YEARS OF POLISH INDEPENDENCE: ZAKOPANE 1918: 1pm, Ramsdell Re-gional Center for the Arts, Manistee. Featuring Dr. Kate Wroblewski, lecturer & assis-tant director of undergraduate studies in the University of Michigan history department. Kate wrote her dissertation on “Migration to the Self: Education, Political Economy, and Religious Authority in Polish Communities, 1880-1929.” This lecture is an event that takes place within the art exhibit “100 Years of Polish Independence: Zakopane 1918.” The exhibit opens on Feb. 15 at 1pm, with the lecture at 2pm & the reception from 3-5pm. Exhibit runs Feb. 10 - March 27 from 10am-5pm on Mon., Tues., Thurs., Fri., with the exception of Feb. 15.

Free. ramsdelltheatre.org/art-exhibits

---------------------BEAVER DAM OLYMPICS: 1-3pm, Otsego Resort, Gaylord. Golf, beer pong, corn-hole, plank skis. $50 per team. otsegoclub.com

---------------------ELK RAPIDS 3RD ANNUAL “IT’S CHILLY” COOK-OFF: 2-5pm, Downtown Elk Rap-ids.

River St.: 15+ local businesses compete for title of “Best Chili.” Memorial Park out-door ice rink: Elk Rapids Hockey players will be giving free skate lessons. Elk Rapids District Library:

Build your own s’more & enjoy a sledding party.

Chili Cook-off tickets: $5. Ice skating & sledding events are free; bring your own skates & sleds.

Find on Fa-cebook.

----------------------

THE SLEEPING BEAUTY, ARTS ACADEMY DANCE CO.: 2pm, Interlochen Center for the Arts, Corson Auditorium. Free. tickets.interlochen.org

---------------------AUTHENTIC CREATIVE EXPRESSION – DEEP PLAY FOR THE SOUL: 3pm, New Moon Yoga, Studio #4, TC. InterPlay’s combination of drama, movement, sound, story-telling & connection. $15-$25 suggested donation (but no one turned away for lack of funds). 231774-6146. soulwayshealing.com/interplay

---------------------ONESIE BAR CRAWL: 3-9pm, Downtown TC. Wear your onesie as you mingle through multiple TC bars enjoying exclusive drink specials.

Tickets include flashing LED glasses, a souvenir cup, drinks & a bar crawl mug. Participating bars will be listed on the lanyard you receive at registration. $25-$35. eventbrite.com

---------------------GT ART BOMB FEBRUARY PROM: Right Brain Brewery, TC. 80’s themed. 4-6pm: Mykl Werth Movement’s dance group, followed by DJ music. Find on Facebook.

---------------------HEARTS TO GRANT WISHES: 4pm, TC Eagles, 409 W. Fourteenth St., TC. Featuring dinner, Chinese auction, 50/50 raffle, live entertainment & more. Admission is free. Dinner tickets are $10 presale & $12 at the door. Benefits Make-A-Wish® Michi-gan. michigan.wish.org

---------------------BLISSFEST FOLK & ROOTS MINI CONCERT SERIES: 7:30pm, Red Sky Stage, Bay Harbor. Presents traditional & contemporary gypsy jazz with the Jimmy Grant Trio. $15 advance; $20 door. redskystage.com

INTERLOCHEN ALTERNATIVE HEALTH 231-276-3311 NOW OPEN

Mon-Sat 10am-6pm Sun 12pm-6pm

Free joint Friday is back!

Jordan, Barb and Steve

* The ONLY locally owned and family operated dispensory in Grand Traverse region. * Fully licensed * Same location since 2013 * Multiple Cannabis Cup winning dispensory * Discounts for Veterans, Seniors & new patients * Medical only (for now) 22 • february 10, 2020 • Northern Express Weekly

2074 M-137 Interlochen

LOVE THROUGH THE AGES BY AGED TO PERFECTION READERS’ THEA-TRE: (See Fri., Feb. 14)

---------------------LOVE, LOSS & WHAT I WORE: (See Sat., Feb. 8)

---------------------THE CHOIR OF MAN: 7:30pm, Great Lakes Center for the Arts, Bay Harbor. Known across the globe as “the ultimate feel-good show,” The Choir of Man offers over 90 minutes of exciting vocals, harmonies & choreography. They perform radio hits, classic rock, pub tunes, folk, Broadway & more. $45, $40, $35, $30. greatlakescfa.org/event-detail/the-choir-of-man

---------------------LAITH AL-SAADI: CURE FOR THE WINTER BLUES: 8pm, City Opera House, TC. Laith AlSaadi returns with his authentic blend of blues, soul & classic rock. In 2016 this Ann Arbor-based blues/rock musician won a spot in the finale of NBC’s “The Voice.” $29.50, $36.50, $49.50, $55, $65, $75. cityoperahouse.org/laith-al-saadi

---------------------TONY ORLANDO: 8pm, Little River Casino Resort, Manistee. This singer, songwriter & network TV star now has his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, two Platinum albums, two Gold albums, & 15 Top 40 Hits. $30, $40, $45. lrcr.com/event-calendar/concerts/tony-orlando

feb 16

sunday

KALKASKA WINTERFEST: (See Sat., Feb. 15)

--------------

11TH ANNUAL HAVE A HEART VALENTINE’S BENEFIT: 12-8pm, Emmet County Community Center, Petoskey. Food, drinks, silent auction, entertainment from James Greenway, Craig Cottrill, The Pistil Whips, Yankee Station, Northern Nites, Crooked and Easy Picks. Ben-

efits Brother Dan’s Food Pantry. $15; free for 14 & under. Find on Facebook.

---------------------2020 MACKINAW CITY BRIDAL SHOW: 122pm, Audie’s Restaurant, Mackinaw City. Featuring dozens of local wedding professionals.

Enjoy refeshments & samples & en-ter to win prizes. Free admission for brides & their guests.

---------------------PAINTBALL BIATHLON: 1pm, Crystal Mountain, Thompsonville. A combination of paintball & cross-country skiing. For ages 8+. Start times are 1-3pm. $15/person. crystalmountain.com/event/ biathlon

---------------------SKI THE VINES FOR TART: 1-5pm. A loop around the vineyards of Shady Lane Cel-lars, Suttons Bay will be open & groomed for those interested in skiing or snowshoeing between noon - 4pm. Ski & snowshoe rental will be available to rent. All donations for chili & soup, as well as a portion of wine sales, go directly to support TART Trails. shadylanecellars.com

---------------------LOVE THROUGH THE AGES BY AGED TO PERFECTION READERS’ THEA-TRE: 2pm, Old Town Playhouse, Schmuckal Theatre, TC. Six short plays take you from memories of the 17th century to the 21st. An evening about Time and Tide and Post-it Notes. Donation. oldtownplayhouse.com

---------------------LOVE, LOSS & WHAT I WORE: (See Sun., Feb. 9)

---------------------TRAVERSE AREA HISTORICAL SOCIETY LOCAL HISTORY PROGRAM: 2pm, Traverse Area District Library, McGuire Community Room, TC. TAHS Board President Stephen Siciliano will present “Abraham Lincoln’s Presidency Through the Eyes of the Political Cartoonists of His Day.” Free. traversehistory.wordpress.com

---------------------10TH ANNUAL WINE & CRAFT BEER TASTING: 3-6pm, R.A. MacMullen Conference Cen-

ter. Hosted by the Friends of the Roscommon Area District Library. At least ten wines & multiple craft beers, selected by John Bennick of Fifth Street Wines & Market in Roscommon, will be available for sampling. Warm & cold hors d’oeuvres prepared by Fred’s of Roscommon & chocolates will be served along with coffee, tea & pop. 989-281-1305. $25 ($30 at door).

---------------------BEETHOVEN SQUARED: 3pm, Interlochen Center for the Arts, Corson Auditorium. Van Cliburn International Piano Competition gold medalist & frequent Traverse Sym-phony collaborator Ralph Votapek returns to perform Beethoven’s first & last Piano Concertos: Piano Concerto No. 1 & Piano Concerto No. 5. $22.50-$61.50. traversesymphony.org/concert/ beethoven-squared

ongoing

ACORN ADVENTURERS: Fridays, Feb. 7-28, 10am, Boardman River Nature Center, TC. For ages 0-4. A mix of guided & self-guided outdoor activities that allow young ex-plorers & their grown-ups to explore, engage with, & experience the outdoors. Regis-ter. natureiscalling.org/ acorn-adventurers

---------------------BOYNE CITY’S INDOOR FARMERS MARKET: Saturdays, 9am-noon, Feb. 1 - May 9.

City Hall, Boyne City. boynecitymainstreet. com/farmers-market-welcome

---------------------CORNHOLE LIVE!: Tuesdays, Feb. 11 - Mar. 31, State Street Market, TC. Weekly cornhole tournament with live commentary by ref Chwaz. Registration starts at 6:45pm; games begin at 7:05pm.

The first 12 teams will be registered for places in the double elimination bracket. Find on Facebook.

---------------------FLY TYING SERIES: Tuesdays, 5:30-7pm, Feb. 11-25, Elk Rapids Library, Meeting Room.

Eric Crissman will teach three different trout

flies with info about each fly. Learn how to make a Black Stonefly Nymph, Hendrickson Dry Fly, & a Rabbit Strip Leech Streamer. Class is limited to 8 people; call the library at 231-264-9979 to regis-ter. elkrapidslibrary.org/news-events/ february-fly-tying-series

---------------------GENTLE YOGA FOR ADULTS: Tues. & Fri., 10am, Interlochen Public Library. Focus on breathing, gentle repeated movements & stretches. Bring your own mats, water & towels.

Free. tadl.org/interlochen

----------------------

KIDS ON SKIS IN THE WOODS EVERY SUNDAY: Sundays, 11:45am, Timber Ridge Resort, TC. Presented by Norte & Vasa Ski Club. A group ski for families. The use of Timber Ridge Resort will be free for the entire Winter Vasa Domingos Ski Sea-son. elgruponorte.org

---------------------NEW SNOWSHOE HIKES: Saturdays, 1pm, Jan. 4 - Mar. 14. Choose from two ranger-led snowshoe hikes to explore the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore park. “Snowshoe Saunter” is for beginners & “Snowshoe Trek” is for more experienced snowshoe hikers. Meet for an introduction at the Philip A. Hart Visitor Center, Empire.

These hikes are free, but participants do need a park entrance pass or have an annual pass to participate. Reservations are required whether participants borrow snowshoes from the National Lakeshore or have their own. facebook.com/sbdnl

---------------------SNOWSHOE WEEKENDS: Rove Estate Vineyard & Tasting Room, TC. Held every Sat. & Sun. through March at 11am. Bring your snowshoes or cross-country skis. The-se are not guided tours.

---------------------STORYTIME: Fridays, 10:30am through March 20, Leland Township Library. Stories & more designed to promote joy & growth in literacy.

Children ages 0-6 & their caregiv-ers welcome. lelandlibrary.org

Fat Tuesday February 25th

Paczki ~12 flavors~ 5 days only PRE-ORDER NOW 908 E. 8th St. Traverse City, MI

Northern Express Weekly • february 10, 2020 • 23

Don’t Forget Your Special Someone • Solid Fudge Hearts Dipped in Chocolate • Hand Dipped Clusters Assorted flavors of fudge

We mail anywhere!

Pick your own fudge flavors to place in a special Valentine’s Box.

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4700 Wallaker Rd • Benzonia, MI

Leland Blue for your Valentine Open Friday Feb. 1110–15! thru Monday 14 • 10am 5pm Open Daily February FridayFeb. & Saturday all- Winter!

112 North Main Street • Leland, MI 49654 • (231) 256-7747

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With a Four Course Prix Fixe Dinner FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 14TH, 2020 5 PM TO 10 PM 45 per person

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(231) 947-3700 ext. 122 If you’re looking for more, West Bay Beach is the ideal place to bring that special someone. Decadent chocolate covered strawberries and a bottle of delicious champagne await your arrival with our Romance Package.

Book your Romance Package Today!

(231) 947-3700 ext. 1

24 • february 10, 2020 • Northern Express Weekly

TRAIL TUESDAY: Held Tuesdays through winter at noon. Antrim Conservation District Office, 4820 Stover Rd., Bellaire. Enjoy a hike through the Cedar River Natural Area. 231-533-8363.

art

CROOKED TREE ARTS CENTER, TC: - CALL FOR ARTISTS: ART FAIR: Artists & artisans are invited to apply for the 60th annual Crooked Tree Art Fair, now through Feb. 15. crookedtree.org/call-for-artists/crooked-treeart-fair - YOUTH ARTS EXHIBIT: Celebrating the work of area K-12 art students & educators.

On display Feb. 2 - March 14. crookedtree.org/ event/ctac-traverse-city/2020-youth-art

---------------------DENNOS MUSEUM CENTER, NMC, TC: - 40 CHANCES: FINDING HOPE IN A HUNGRY WORLD: Featuring the photography of Howard G. Buffett. Forty photographs document the world hunger crisis as part of a global awareness campaign. Runs through April 26.

- ERGO SUM: A CROW A DAY: On Aug. 1, 2014 artist Karen Bondarchuk set out to mark the passing time that her mother – diagnosed with dementia in 2010 – no longer could. For 365 days, she produced a crow a day on a hand-cut, hand-gessoed panel, remembering her mother as she once was & grieving her loss. Runs through May 24.

- PULPED UNDER PRESSURE: THE ART OF HANDMADE PAPER: With traditional hand papermaking at its core, this exhibit underscores important contemporary issues steeped in history & craft. Runs through May 24. Hours are 10am-5pm daily & 1-5pm on Sundays. dennosmuseum.org

---------------------GAYLORD AREA COUNCIL FOR THE ARTS, GAYLORD: - BLACK & WHITE WITH A HINT OF COLOR EXHIBIT: A reception will be held on Sat., Feb. 8 from 5-7pm. Exhibit runs through Feb. 29.

- CALL FOR ENTRIES--INSPIRED BY THE MASTERS: Inspired by the Masters Exhib-it will run March 4 - April 11, 2020. All Michigan artists 16 years old or older (including part-time residents) may enter this exhibit. Entries can be of any medium but must be in good condition & of the artist’s own creation. Art work will be accepted from Feb. 5-29 during normal business hours (11am-3pm, Tues.-Fri. & 12-2pm, Sat). Maximum en-tries: 4 pieces due to space limitations. gaylordarts.org - FUNDAY MONDAYS: Held every Mon. through April 27 at 10am. Try a different art or craft each week. All supplies provided. gacaevents.weebly.com

---------------------HIGHER ART GALLERY, TC: - OPEN CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: “CITIZEN’S COPING” - ARTISTS RESPOND TO 4 YEARS OF AN ADMINISTRATION: Higher Art Gallery is the incubator to new Non-Profit Art Organization: Project Civilization which is having its first Open Call to All Art-ists for its Annual Juried show. Deadline to apply & enter submission is: 9/1/2020. Show Opens: 10/9/2020. higherartgallery.com/calls-for-art - CALL FOR ARTISTS: “SENSE OF HOME” ANNUAL COMMUNITY FUNDRAISER EXHIBIT: Presented by Higher Art Gallery to benefit Pete’s Place, which is a branch of Child & Family Services & is TC’s only homeless youth shelter. The open call for this show has a theme of art called: “To Comfort.” Artists are asked to respond with pieces that invoke comfort, a sense of home & what brings you comfort. The deadline to sub-mit images is Aug. 1, 2020. higherartgallery.com/calls-for-art

----------------------

NORTHPORT ARTS ASSOCIATION, NORTHPORT: - NORTHPORT PHOTO EXHIBITION: CALL TO ARTISTS: Now through April 30: Pho-tographers of all skill levels are invited to submit their work to the Northport Photo Ex-hibition, which will take place from May 22-31. $30/ member; $40/non-member. northportartsas-

sociation.org/all-happenings/2020/5/22/northport-photo-exhibit-2020 - DARK SKIES: CALL FOR ARTISTS: Jan. 18 - Feb. 28: Submit up to three pieces in the medium/media of your choosing that celebrate the night sky. northportartsassociation.org/ all-happenings/2020/4/16/call-for-artists-darkskies - PLEIN AIR: CALL TO ARTISTS: Jan. 18 Feb. 29. Northport’s 2020 Plein Air event takes place from Sat., July 25 at 7am through Sun., July 26 at 8:30pm. Sat. & Sun. Paint Out: $30/ member; $40/non-member. Dark Skies Paint Out: $15/member; $20/non-member. northportartsassociation.org/all-happenings/2020/7/25/ northport-2020-plein-air-paint-out - ARTS! FOR KIDS WINTER SATURDAYS: Saturdays, 1pm, Feb. 1 - Mar. 21, Village Arts Building, Northport. Experience different media at three different art stations. Kids make creative art choices, interspersed with teacher directed les-sons. northportartsassociation.org

Deadline for Dates information is Tuesday for the following week.

NORTHWESTERN MICHIGAN BESTSELLERS For 2/2/2020

HARDCOVER FICTION American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins Flatiron Books $27.99 Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens G.P. Putnams’s Sons $27.00 Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes Pamela Dorman Books $28.00 PAPERBACK FICTION Every Breath by Nicholas Sparks Grand Central Publishing $15.99 Little Women by Louisa May Alcott Vintage $10.00 Great Alone by Kristin Hannah St. Martin’s Griffin $17.99 HARDCOVER NON-FICTION A Very Stable Genius by Rucker & Leonnig Penguin Press $30.00 Profiles in Corruption by Peter Schweizer Harper $29.99 The Life of the Sleeping Bear by Friends of the Sleeping Bear Dunes Mission Point Press $29.95 PAPERBACK NON-FICTION Great Lakes Wetland Walks by Peg Comfort Grass River Natural Area $22.64 Library Book by Susan Orlean Simon & Schuster $16.99 Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson Spiegel & Grau $17.00

Fall Out Boy Falling Into Tour Fall Out Boy are now in outlets with their second greatest hits collection for Island Records, which they’ve dubbed Greatest Hits: Believers Never Die – Volume Two. This collection was just released and serves as promo for the band’s upcoming global tour, which will kick off on June 13 in Paris, France.

In addition to the plethora of FOB hits on the set, fans will also hear “Dear Future Self (Hands Up),” a surf-rock-meets-reggae track that the band recorded with Wyclef Jean, whom they say they’ve always been fans of.

Fall Out Boy’s last studio album was August 2018’s Lake Effect Kid EP; no word yet on when they’ll be back in the studio again…

OneRepublic have returned, too, with a new single co-penned by Brent Kutzle, Casey Smith, Zach Skelton, Tyler Spry, and hitmaker Ryan Tedder. The track, called “Wanted,” was also released with an official music video as directed by Christian Lamb of Black Dog Films. This is the band’s second new single from their latest album, Rescue Me; the other recent release you’ll be hearing from them is “Start Again,” a single featuring Logic that’s been included on the soundtrack for the Netflix drama 13 Reasons. OneRepublic will be spending much of their spring on tour in Europe, beginning in March…

MODERN

Falllout Boy

ROCK

BY KRISTI KATES

If you’re a fan of musical artists like YBN Nahmir, Tyler the Creator, Vince Staples, and Lil Yachty, then you’ll be glad to see this new joint venture between mega label Warner Records and Masked Records, the latter being a new boutique label founded by hip-hop entrepreneur Roger Gengo (founder of the Masked Gorilla website and Unmasked concert series.) Warner are reportedly planning to expand their roster in part by tapping into Gengo’s abilities to help break out artists like 2KBaby and Denzel Curry, and help performers’ careers grow.

The deal also marks the 10th anniversary of Masked Gorilla, which Gengo founded when he was still a teenager…

The legendary Elton John will be honored with a set of Royal Mail stamps in the U.K. to mark the performer’s 50 years in the music business. John is the second solo musician to get stamps in his likeness following David Bowie’s stamps in 2017. The primary sheet of Elton John stamps feature images of a selection of his album covers, including Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Songs from the West Coast, and Honky Chateau; a secondary “miniature stamps” sheet will showcase images of John’s live performances…

LINK OF THE WEEK Post Malone has expanded his current Runaway tour further into the year, adding

more dates in February and March across North America – including a stop in Michigan - with Swae Lee and Tyla Yaweh as opening acts. Shows include Grand Rapids, Michigan (Feb. 12), Toronto (Feb. 14), Philadelphia (Feb. 21), and Las Vegas (March 14); get the full schedule and ticket info at postmalone.com…

THE BUZZ Mavis Staples will be performing on Feb. 15 at the Michigan Theater in Ann Arbor…

Grand Rapids Southern-rock influenced roots band Paradise Outlaw have released

their album Shadows, with lead singles “Steel Drivin’ Man” and “Voodoo Cadillac”…

Grand Rapids roots band Jack Droppers and the Best Intentions have just released their latest single, “Found My Way”…

Fellow Michigan outfit Boy From School have also released a new album – called White Hot Light, the set focuses on synthesizer riffs and ‘80s-inspired pop-rock tunes… and that’s the buzz for this week’s Modern Rock.

Comments, questions, rants, raves, suggestions on this column? Send ‘em to Kristi, modernrocker@gmail.com.

A gorgeous view and wonderful setting Wedding receptions and gatherings

noverrfarms.com

Northern Express Weekly • february 10, 2020 • 25

CRISPIN CAMPBELL

LIVE

DOWNTOWN

TRAVERSE CITY

FOURSCORE by kristi kates

SUN 3:30 PM SUN 1 PM MON & THU MON & THU 12:45 • 6 PM 3:30 • 8:30 PM TUE 3:15 • 8:30 PM TUE 12:45 • 6 PM WED 1 PM WED 3:45 PM

•••••••••••••••••••••••••• •••••••••••••

OSCAR PARTYNR SUN 8 PM - $15 Fundraiser Tickets THE UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURGNR WEDNESDAY 10:30 AM - 25¢ Classic Matinee

NATiONAL THEATRE LivE: ALL MY SONSNR WEDNESDAY 7 PM

DiRTY DANCiNG - BE MY BABY vALENTiNE'S PARTY! FRIDAY 9 PM - Tickets $5

Lawson Rollins – True North – Infinata

With the title alone sure to appeal to northern Michigan fans, Rollins offers up a dozen new original contemporary jazz-pop/experimental guitar compositions showcasing his writing skills as well as the strength of his improv abilities, with which he takes plenty of risks. Rollins plays nylon string, electric and slide guitars on the set (additional musicians fill in the other instruments); standouts include “With the Wind� with its electronic burbles complementing Rollins’ guitar work and “Bluewave Bossanova,� the sets first Latin-inspired single.

Specialty Cocktails, Beer & Wine Available for Purchase

DOWNTOWN

IN CLINCH PARK

TICKETS

OR

Free Nationals – Free Nationals – OBE

Their current claim to musical fame is the fact that they’re Anderson .Paak’s live band – but they’re about to ramp up their status with this self-titled debut album, on which they’ve also brought in a host of special guests including Syd, Chronixx, Daniel Caesar, Unknown Mortal Orchestra and Paak himself.

The set melds many of the band’s influences, from Herbie Hancock to Stevie Wonder, resulting in energetic, funky hip-hop and retro-soul tunes like the musical phone conversation “Gidget,� and highlight “Cut Me a Break� with T.I. on rap/trap duties.

SUN 3 • 6 PM SUN 12:30 PM MON 1 • 6:30 PM MON 3:45 PM TUE 1:15 • 6:30 PM TUE 4 PM WED 1:15 • 4 PM WED 6:45 PM THU 12:30 • 6:15 PM THU 3:15 • 8:45 PM 231-947-4800

Marshall Crenshaw – Miracle of Science – MRI

Crenshaw is reissuing albums from his Razor and Tie catalog, and if you’re already a fan you’re going to want to start grabbing these now, as each one is being offered up with some tweaked production and bonus tracks. (There’s also a live album on the way.)

This is the first in the series of reissues, and polishes the original set to a worthy sheen. Opener “What Do You Dream Of� is immediately catchy with one of Crenshaw’s signature acoustic guitar riffs; other must-listens include the ‘60s-inflected “Laughter� and a grooving cover of Grant Hart’s “Twenty-Five Forty-One.�

Cursive – Get Fixed – 15 Passenger

Sourced primarily from the same recording studio sessions that spawned the band’s critically acclaimed 2019 set, Vitriola, Cursive’s eighth collection of tunes is something of a mirror image to that set, most likely because the processes were in such close proximity to each other. Vitriola’s is clearly in evidence on tracks like the gritty “Black Hole Town� and the stress-filled “Barricades,� while Get Fixed breaks some of its own territory on the more aggressively noise-rock numbers like “Look What’s Become of Us� and “Vultures� with its immediately commanding opening melody line.

26 • february 10, 2020 • Northern Express Weekly

The reel

by meg weichman

Downhill the assistant

P

erhaps the first truly great movie of the #MeToo era, The Assistant follows one day in the office for the young female assistant of a high-powered Hollywood mogul who is clearly a stand-in for disgraced accused sexual predator Harvey Weinstein. And while I will never be able to shake his victims’ testimony in Untouchable (the documentary about his rise and fall) for me The Assistant was even more effective in condemning not just the Harvey Weinsteins of the world, but everyone else who allowed it to happen and the systems and structure under which this behavior thrives. Director Kitty Green, known more for her documentary filmmaking in work like Casting Jon Benet, takes the focus off the idea of the “bad man.” You don’t even see or really hear “the boss” and we don’t know his name. Instead the focus is on Jane (the incredible Julia Gardner, fresh off a Golden Globe win for Ozark) on what at first seems like a rather standard day at the office. Her experience builds through some of the subtlest of details to something completely damning, ultimately revealing why it took so long for someone like Weinstein to be exposed.

In his recent rousing Golden Globes acceptance speech, Parasite director Bong Joon Ho encouraged U.S. audiences to “overcome the one-inch tall barrier of subtitles” in order to be introduced to “so many more amazing films.”

While his words struck a chord with film lovers everywhere, until that barrier has been overcome by mainstream audiences you can see for yourself, writ large, just how this issue plays out in Hollywood today with directors Nat Faxon and Jim Rash’s (The Way, Way Back) remake of the Swedish dark comedy and sharp psychodrama Force Majeure.

Ruben Östlund’s original film was masterful look at the fragile male ego – gripping and subtle and brilliant. And through a process of adaptation for American audiences that essentially amounts to the indie film-verse’s own version of Disnification, you get a film with big stars, but that goes soft. Its comedy takes a broad, friendly and much less incisive approach.

But the premise remains essentially the same. A well-to-do American couple (Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Will Ferrell) and their two tween boys are taking a ski vacation in the Austrian Alps when a near-death experience causes their trip to take a very different turn.

While enjoying a lovely outdoor mountainside lunch, a controlled avalanche gives the appearance that the family is about to be buried in the snow. And when faced with the oncoming threat, husband Pete (Ferrell) grabs his phone and runs away, leaving his family to fend for themselves.

When Pete returns to the table, he moves on like nothing has happened, but for Billie (Louis-Dreyfus) and the kids, things become uncomfortably tense and awkward, and the incident instigates Pete and Billie to revaluate their relationship.

Providing comedic foils to the buttonupped middle aged Americans is the

wacky and free-loving Charlotte (Miranda Otto), the hotel’s concierge who takes an interest in Pete and Billie, as well as Pete’s co-worker Zach (Silicone Valley’s Zach Woods) and his painfully millennial girlfriend Rosie (Zoe Chao) who are on a #nodestination#noplans-style trip through Europe.

There’s not a lot of subtlety in their characterizations, but thankfully we get a little more shading from Louis-Dreyfus who offers a strong turn (can she please be in more movies!?!?) in a role that is very much tailored to her remarkable talents.

While so much of the film is on the surface level, her character digs a little deeper into the original film’s themes.

And although I had thought the pairing with Ferrell would make for a true comedy dream team, Ferrell seems too subdued, like he’s holding something back – even for a performance that falls on the more serious side of his work.

Being fortunate enough to attend one of the premiere screenings at Sundance, it was even more bittersweet to see how absolutely delightful Louis-Dreyfus and Ferrell were together when they were playing off one another during the Q&A following the screening. If the filmmakers were going to go broad, they really should have committed. Instead, you get a mishmash of tones.

That being said, there are still a lot of very strong ingredients at work, with the film offering some penetrating moments of truth – and even more moments of laughter. And with its wide release, I hope that after seeing or reading about Downhill people are encouraged to also check out the original (which, FYI, is now streaming on Hulu!) ‘Cause, guys, I know you’ve got this – it’s only an inch!

just mercy

A

familiar legal drama, the filmmaking of Just Mercy is predictable and formulaic, but the real-life story of the man who defends death row inmates is nothing less than extraordinary. Director Destin Daniel Cretton adapts the memoir of world-renowned civil rights defense attorney Bryan Stevenson into a moving film that focuses on the early days of his landmark career. Stepping into Bryan Stevenson’s heroic shoes is Michael B. Jordan (Creed, Black Panther). Fresh from graduating at the top of his class at Harvard Law, Bryan rejects the route of high-powered, high-paying corporate law in order to move to Monroe County, Alabama, where he starts the Equal Justice Initiative, a nonprofit that takes on cases of death row inmates. There he’s introduced to Jamie Foxx’s Walter McMillian, a man whose case just doesn’t add up. Even though there was no DNA evidence, no motive, and he had an alibi, Walter has been convicted of brutally murdering a white teenage girl. While the film doesn’t offer viewers much new in the way of narrative or artistry, it’s a heartfelt and genuine work that features strong performances, high production values, and a powerful message we cannot ignore.

1917

O

ne of the top directors working today, Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Skyfall), pays tribute to his WWI veteran grandfather with a story that is intensely epic and almost impossibly intimate. It’s a simple enough of a concept: Two ordinary men (neither of them anyone’s idea of statuesque “war heroes”) are sent on an extraordinary, high-stakes mission in which the lives of 1,600 men hang in the balance. But there is nothing simple about 1917’s execution. To further immerse you in the don’t-you-dare-lookaway action that unfolds in near-realtime, is how Mendes has constructed the film to play like one long take. And while he fakes the single take through seamless, flawless editing, don’t underestimate the technical or artistic achievement at play here. In fact, not only do I urge you to see this extraordinary film, but after seeing it, you must immediately Google behindthe-scenes videos of how they pulled it off. I guarantee it will make you want to watch the whole thing again.

Meg Weichman is a perma-intern at the Traverse City Film Festival and a trained film archivist.

Northern Express Weekly • february 10, 2020 • 27

nitelife

feb 08 - Feb 16 edited by jamie kauffold

Send Nitelife to: events@traverseticker.com

Grand Traverse & Kalkaska

7 MONKS TAPROOM, TC 2/13 -- Mike Moran, 7:30-10:30

PANGEA'S PIZZA, TC Tue -- Trivia Tuesday, 6

2/14 -- Matt Mansfield, 8 2/15 -- Chris Sterr, 8

ACOUSTIC TAP ROOM, TC 2/8 -- Luke Woltanski, 8 2/13 -- The Jimmy Grant Trio, 7:30 2/14 -- Aaron Dye, 8 2/15 -- Corbin Manikas, 8

PARK PLACE HOTEL, TC BEACON LOUNGE: Thurs,Fri,Sat -- Tom Kaufmann, 8:30

THE WORKSHOP BREWING CO., TC 2/8 -- Matt Borghi & Will Jurkeiwicz, 8 2/9 -- Saturday Night Live Trivia, 7 2/10 -- Big Fun Jam Band, 6 Tue -- TC Celtic, 6:30 Wed -- Jazz Jam, 6-10 2/14 -- Jazz North 7, 8 2/15 -- Aaron Johnson, 8

FANTASY'S, TC Mon. - Sat. -- Adult entertainment w/ DJ, 7-close GT DISTILLERY, TC 2/8 -- Blake Elliott, 7 2/14 -- Radel Rosin, 7 2/15 -- The Duges, 7 HOTEL INDIGO, TC 2/8 -- Chris Sterr, 7-10 2/14 -- Greg Evans, 7-10 2/15 -- Brett Mitchell, 7-10 KILKENNY'S, TC 2/7-8 -- Lucas Paul, 9:30 2/11 -- Levi Britton, 8 2/12 -- The Pocket, 8 2/13 -- 2Bays DJs, 9:30 2/14-15 -- Protea, 9:30 LEFT FOOT CHARLEY, TC 2/10 -- Open Mic Night w/ Rob Coonrod, 6-9 2/14 -- Jeff Brown, 6-8

ROVE ESTATE VINEYARD & WINERY, TC 2/14 -- Sam & Bill, 5-8 SAIL INN BAR & GRILL, TC Thurs. & Sat. -- Phattrax DJs & Karaoke, 9

UNION STREET STATION, TC 2/11 -- TC Comedy Collective, 8-9:30 2/12 -- DJ DomiNate, 10 2/13 -- Rags & Riches, 10 2/14 -- Happy Hour w/ Sydni K; then Electric Red 2/15 -- Electric Red, 10 2/16 -- Karaoke, 10

STATE STREET MARKET, TC Thu -- Open Mic Night, 6-9 TAPROOT CIDER HOUSE, TC Fri. -- Jazz Cabbage, 7-9 THE DISH CAFE, TC Tues, Sat -- Matt Smith, 5-7 THE LITTLE FLEET, TC THE YURT: 2/9 -- Michael Beauchamp-Cohen & Samantha Cooper, 6:30-9:30

WEST BAY BEACH, A DELAMAR RESORT, TC 2/8 -- Good on Paper Comedy Improv, 8 2/12 -- David Chown, 6:30-8:30 2/13 -- Jeff Haas Trio, 6-8:30 2/14 -- Sips 'n Giggles w/ Steve Iott, 8

THE PARLOR, TC 2/8 -- Joe Wilson, 8 2/11 -- Jimmy Olson, 4 2/12 -- Wink Solo, 8 2/13 -- Chris Smith, 8

ETHANOLOGY, ELK RAPIDS 2/8 – Flower Isle, 8 2/15 -- Blair Miller, 8 HELLO VINO, BELLAIRE 2/11-12 -- Doc Woodward, 7 2/14 -- Karaoke: Love Edition, 7

LAKE STREET PUB, BOYNE CITY Weds. -- Mastermind's Trivia, 7-9

STIGGS BREWERY & KITCHEN, BOYNE CITY 2/8 – Eric Jaqua, 7 2/14 -- Something Great, 7-10 2/15 -- Crosscut Kings, 7-10

SHORT'S BREWING CO., BELLAIRE 2/8 -- The Go Rounds, 8:30-11 2/14 -- South City Revival, 8:3011 2/15 -- Full Cord, 8:30-11 2/16 -- Kanin, 8-10:30

BEARDS BREWERY, PETOSKEY 2/8 -- The Lonely Lovers, 8-11 2/9 -- Owen James, 6-9 2/13 -- The Insiders: Heartbreakers Ball, 8:30-11 2/15 -- Adam Labeaux Duet, 8-11 2/16 -- Charlie Millard Solo, 6-9 CITY PARK GRILL, PETOSKEY 2/8 -- The Marsupials wsg Brian McCosky, 10

TORCH LAKE CAFÉ, CENTRAL LAKE 1st & 3rd Mon. – Trivia, 7 Weds. -- Lee Malone Thurs. -- Open mic Fri. & Sat. -- Leanna’s Deep Blue Boys 2nd Sun. -- Pine River Jazz

2/14 -- Pirates Ball III, 9 2/15 -- Sean Miller & A Brighter Bloom, 10 KNOT JUST A BAR, BAY HARBOR Mon,Tues,Thurs — Live music

NUB'S NOB, NUB'S PUB, HARBOR SPRINGS 2/8 -- Pete Kehoe, 3-6 2/15 -- MYK Rise, 3-6 THE SIDE DOOR SALOON, PETOSKEY Sat. – Karaoke, 8

LEO’S NEIGHBORHOOD TAVERN, PETOSKEY Thurs — Karaoke w/ DJ Michael Willford, 10

Leelanau & Benzie 231 BAR & GRILL, THOMPSONVILLE 2/15 -- Tim Thayer, 7 CHERRY REPUBLIC, GLEN ARBOR PUBLIC HOUSE 2/14 -- Blind Dog Hank, 5-8 CRYSTAL MOUNTAIN, THOMPSONVILLE VISTA LOUNGE: 2/8 -- Johnny P Band, 7-11 2/14-15 -- The Broom Closet Boys, 7-11 2/16 -- Jim Hawley, 7-11 DICK’S POUR HOUSE, LAKE LEELANAU Sat. — Karaoke, 10-2

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IRON FISH DISTILLERY, THOMPSONVILLE 2/8 -- Barefoot, 7-9 2/14 -- Jeff Bihlman, 7-9 2/15 -- Drew Hale, 7-9:30 2/16 -- Blake Elliott, 7-9 LAKE ANN BREWING CO. 2/12 -- Trivia Night, 7-9 LEELANAU SANDS CASINO, PESHAWBESTOWN BIRCH ROOM: 2/8 -- Risque, 8 SHOWROOM: 2/15 -- Derailed, 8 LUMBERJACK'S BAR & GRILL, HONOR Fri & Sat -- Phattrax DJs & Karaoke, 9

ST. AMBROSE CELLARS, BEULAH 2/8 -- Jen Sygit, 6-9 2/11 -- Acoustic Jam Session, 5-7 2/13 -- Open Mic w/ Jim & Wanda Curtis, 6 2/14 -- Lynn Callihan, 6-9 2/15 -- Dale Wicks, 6-9 STORMCLOUD BREWING CO., FRANKFORT 2/8 -- Pete Fetters, 8-10 2/9 -- Storm the Mic - Hosted by Blake Elliott, 6-9 2/14 -- Kenny Thompson, 8-10 2/15 -- Jake Frysinger, 8-10 THE LELAND LODGE 2/12 -- Chris Smith, 6

Otsego, Crawford & Central

ALPINE TAVERN & EATERY, GAYLORD Sat -- Live Music, 6-9

Antrim & Charlevoix CELLAR 152, ELK RAPIDS 2/8 -- Jazz Cabbage, 7 2/14 -- Brett Mitchell, 7

Emmet & Cheboygan

BELLE IRON GRILLE, GAYLORD 2/8 -- Tribe of Chiefs, 8:30

BENNETHUM'S NORTHERN INN, GAYLORD 2/11 -- Randy Reszka, 5-8

Manistee, Wexford & Missaukee LITTLE RIVER CASINO RESORT, MANISTEE 2/15 -- Tony Orlando, 8

RIVER ROCK SPORTS BAR & GRILLE: 2/7-8 – The Rock Show, 10

NORTH CHANNEL BREWING CO., MANISTEE 2/8 -- Sean Miller, 7

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the ADViCE GOddESS Business Whirled

Q

: I’m a woman who’s fiercely competitive in the business world. I’ve been rewarded for pursuing deals as relentlessly as highly successful men do. Yet, taking this approach in my dating life -- energetically pursuing men and confidently asking them out -- has been a bust. The men I go after seem to find my openness, excitement, and confidence offputting. I keep hearing that I need to chill out and let men pursue me. This seems crazy. I shouldn’t have to act like a debutante, waiting for a man to ask me out.

— Irritated

A

: In seduction, more is not more. You’ll be most attractive if you simply let who you are sparkle ( — a term that has more in common with “twinkle” than “immobilize men with the alien death ray of your personality.”

As a heterosexual woman, pursuing romantic partners as ferociously as you’d pursue a business deal is especially counterproductive.

Though we’re living in modern times, we’re stuck with an antique psychological operating system, calibrated to solve ancestral mating and survival problems. This means the psychology driving us is sometimes seriously mismatched with our modern world.

For example, we now have reliable birth control, and even if that fails, children won’t die of starvation or be eaten by feral goats because the dude who fathered them “hit it ’n’ quit it.” Yet, we’ve still got our evolutionary legacy running the show. In vetting potential sex partners, women evolved to be more quality-conscious — choosier, more “hard to get” — while men evolved to take a more, shall we say, quantity-driven approach: “The more the merrier! Hey, next time, invite your sisters!”

These differences in sexual choosiness emerge from what evolutionary biologist Robert Trivers explains as men’s and women’s differing levels of “parental investment.” The members of a species with the greatest possible costs from having sex — like pregnancy and a screaming kid to feed — evolved to be more selective in mate choice.

Women’s emotions are their parental investment watchdogs, pushing them to make sure a man’s willing and able to stick around and provide resources. Though some women can take an emotionally Teflon approach to casual sex, anthropologist John Marshall Townsend finds that for many, hooking up comes with some emotional reflux — even

BY Amy Alkon

when a woman knows a one-nighter is all she wants from a guy. She’ll boot some himbo out of bed only to get all angsty afterward, worrying that the guy she wants nothing more from doesn’t want anything more from her.

These differences in male and female mating selectivity showed up in a big way in a recent study looking at heterosexual Tinder users.

Belgian econ doctoral candidate Brecht Neyt calculated the percentage of profiles men and women gave “super likes” to — a function on Tinder as of 2015.

For those uninitiated in Tinder-ese, swiping right “likes” another user, but they will be none the wiser unless they, too, swipe right on you.

Swiping up, however, is a “super like,” which triggers an automatic notification to the superliked person. (Annoyingly, the researchers didn’t mention or take into account that super likes are generally seen as super uncool — a sign of desperation — leading many Tinderers to note in their profile, “If I super like you, I did it by accident.”)

Neyt and his colleagues found that men super liked 61.9% of women’s profiles, while women super liked only 4.5% of the men’s.

Their finding is a pretty dramatic reflection of men’s evolved quantity-over-quality default.

In short: Stripperliciousness is nice, especially when packaged with kindness, intelligence, and killer cooking skills, but “Same species!

Not in jail! Has internet access!” works, too.

So, if you’re reasonably attractive and in a man’s age range, there’s a good chance he’ll go out with you simply because you ask — though he may not be interested beyond a hookup. But let’s say he’s somebody who would be interested in you. Because men coevolved with women, men expect women to be choosy, and they tend to devalue women who just tumble out of the sky into their lap.

The best test for whether a man has real interest in you is seeing whether he’ll lay his ego on the line to ask you out. You aren’t without control in this approach; you can flirt with a guy you’re interested in to signal that you’re open to being pursued by him.

Should things be different? Well, sure, in a more perfect mating universe. But if you want to be successful in this one, you should do what works -- which is driven by men’s evolved psychology. Though men will eventually take a selective approach when considering a woman as a long-term partner, many will have sex with anything this side of a pound of liver in the refrigerator (and sometimes that will just have to do).

“Jonesin” Crosswords

"Decade in Review, Part 4"fun stuff from 2016 & 2017. by Matt Jones ACROSS 1 Compensation in a lawsuit 8 “Don’t mind ___ do!”

11 Media device manufactured for the last time by Funai Electric in 2016 14 Check out 15 Exclamation from Poirot 17 Margaret Atwood’s 2016 retelling of Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” 18 It may be drafted for impeachment 19 Brute in a storybook 20 They may be dire 21 ___ out (back down from a daunting task) 24 ‘16 and ‘17, e.g.

26 Signature of Pooh’s tree-dwelling friend 27 Being employed 29 Sharp ___ tack 31 “Major” or “Minor” constellation 35 Slide into your ___ 36 2016 event featuring a shirtless Tongan, green pool water, and Ryan Lochte shenanigans 40 Hit the buffet 41 Jones who ran from a big boulder 42 +, on a battery 43 TV host who misannounced the winner of Miss Universe in 2017 45 Sault ___ Marie, Canada 46 Garr of “Young Frankenstein” 47 Shakespearean laments 48 Clean vigorously 50 Journalist Mary Louise Kelly’s employer 52 Prefix for dermis 55 MIT’s middle, in brief 56 Kick-ass 60 Chain to buy some stacks 62 Biblical king 63 Hit 2017 indie video game in the style of 1930s animation 67 Celebrated 68 Sees if one can 69 Network that aired a “Candy Crush” game show in 2017 70 Admin’s domain, for short 71 Sound setups

DOWN 1 Homer’s exclamation 2 “Defending Liberty, Pursuing Justice” org.

3 Flavor enhancer initials 4 “___ Fables” 5 Actor Kinnear 6 The “E” in “EGBDF” 7 Passover feast 8 “___ shocked as you are” 9 Indiana’s second-largest city 10 Album opener 11 “I conquered,” to Caesar 12 Ancient Briton 13 Feels sorrow about 16 Broadband forerunner 21 Least narrow 22 Cell dweller 23 Good thing to pass 25 Ronan of “Little Women” 28 Lake that borders Ohio 30 Montenegrin, e.g.

32 Gets after 33 D.C. nine, for short 34 Affirm as true 37 Forming a chord, say 38 “Honeysuckle Rose” singer Anita 39 Hall of Famer Willie 44 Antarctic mountain ___ Massif 49 Coded message 51 Apples and pears, e.g.

53 Ancient Britons 54 “___ myself today ...” (NIN/Johnny Cash lyric) 56 “Be with you in just ___!”

57 Place for growth?

58 Yale students 59 Docs that use endoscopes 61 “The Andy Griffith Show” kid 64 Linguistics suffix 65 “From ___ Zinc” (multivitamin slogan) 66 Two, to Juan

Northern Express Weekly • february 10, 2020 • 29

aSTRO

lOGY

Walcott had a perspective on love that I suspect might come in handy for you during this Valentine season. “Break a vase,” he wrote, “and the love that reassembles the fragments is stronger than that love which took its symmetry for granted when it was whole.” I urge you to meditate on how you could apply his counsel to your own love story, Aquarius. How might you remake your closest alliances into even better and brighter versions of themselves?

Virgil, a renowned author in ancient Rome, wrote three epic poems that are still in print today. His second was a masterpiece called the Georgics. It took him seven years to write, even though it was only 2,740 lines long. So on average he wrote a little over one line per day. I hope you’ll use him as inspiration as you toil over your own labors of love in the coming weeks and months. There’ll be no need to rush. In fact, the final outcomes will be better if you do them slowly. Be especially diligent and deliberate in all matters involving intimacy and collaboration and togetherness.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): [Warning:

Poetry alert! If you prefer your horoscopes to be exclusively composed of practical, hyper-rational advice, stop reading now!] Happy Valentine Daze, Capricorn! I invite you to copy the following passage and offer it to a person who is ready to explore a more deeply lyrical connection with you. “I yearn to earn the right to your whispered laugh, your confident caress, your inscrutable dance.

Amused and curious, I wander where moon meets dawn, inhaling the sweet mist in quest of your questions. I study the joy that my imagination of you has awakened. All the maps are useless, and I like them that way. I’m guided by my nervous excitement to know you deeper. Onward toward the ever-fresh truth of your mysterious rhythms!”

PISCES (Feb 19-March 20): Piscean poet Saul

Williams wrote a meditation I hope you’ll consider experimenting with this Valentine season. It involves transforming mere kisses into SUBLIME KISSES. If you choose to be inspired by his thoughts, you’ll explore new sensations and meanings available through the act of joining your mouth to another’s. Ready? Here’s Saul: “Have you ever lost yourself in a kiss? I mean pure psychedelic inebriation. Not just lustful petting but transcendental metamorphosis, when you became aware that the greatness of this other being is breathing into you. Licking your mouth, like sealing a thousand fleshy envelopes filled with the essence of your passionate being, and then opened by the same mouth and delivered back to you, over and over again—the first kiss of the rest of your life.”

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Now that she’s in

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her late forties, Aries comedian and actress Tig Notaro is wiser about love. Her increased capacity for romantic happiness has developed in part because she’s been willing to change her attitudes.

She says, “Instead of being someone who expects people to have all the strengths I think I need them to have, I resolved to try to become someone who focuses on the strengths they do have.” In accordance with this Valentine’s season’s astrological omens, Aries, I invite you to meditate on how you might cultivate more of that aptitude yourself.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Taurus artist Joan

Miró loved to daub colored paint on canvases. He said he approached his work in the same way he made love: “a total embrace, without caution, prudence thrown to the winds, nothing held back.” In accordance with astrological omens, I invite you to invoke a similar attitude with all the important things you do in the coming weeks. Summon the ardor and artistry of a creative lover for allpurpose use. Happy Valentine Daze, Taurus!

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): In 1910, Gemini

Mon - Sat 10 am–6 pm | Sunday Closed | Bahles.net est · 1876

30 • february 10, 2020 • Northern Express Weekly

BY ROB BREZSNY

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Aquarian author Derek

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) The poet

d o w n t o w n s u t t o n s b ay

FEB 10 - FEB 16

businessman Irving Seery was 20 years old.

One evening he traveled to the Metropolitan Opera in New York City to see an opera starring the gorgeous and electrifying soprano singer Maria Jeritza. He fell in love instantly. For

the next thirty-eight years he remained a bachelor as he nursed his desire to marry her. His devotion finally paid off.

Jeritza married Seery in 1948. Dear Gemini, in 2020, I think you will be capable of a heroic feat of love that resembles Seery’s. Which of your yearnings might evoke such intensely passionate dedication? Happy Valentine Daze!

CANCER (June 21-July 22): I’ve been

married twice, both times to the same woman.

Our first time around, we were less than perfectly wise in the arts of relationship. After our divorce and during the few years we weren’t together, we each ripened into more graceful versions of ourselves; we developed greater intimacy skills. Our second marriage has been far more successful. Is there a comparable possibility in your life, Cancerian? A chance to enhance your ability to build satisfying togetherness? An opening to learn practical lessons from past romantic mistakes? Now is a favorable time to capitalize. Happy Valentine Daze!

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): In 1911, the famous

Russian poet Anna Akhmatova and the famous Italian painter Amedeo Modigliani were in love with each other. Both were quite poor, though.

They didn’t have much to spend on luxuries. In her memoir, Akhmatova recalled the time they went on a date in the rain at the Luxembourg Gardens in Paris. Barely protected under a rickety umbrella, they amused each other by reciting the verse of Paul Verlaine, a poet they both loved.

Isn’t that romantic? In the coming weeks, I recommend you experiment with comparable approaches to cultivating love.

Get back to raw basics. Happy Valentine Daze!

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): [Warning: Poetry alert! If you prefer your horoscopes to be exclusively composed of practical, hyper-rational advice, stop reading now!] Happy Valentine Daze, Virgo! I hope there’s someone in your life to whom you can give a note like the one I’ll offer at the end of this oracle. If there’s not, I trust you will locate that person in the next six months. Feel free to alter the note as you see fit. Here it is. “When you and I are together, it’s as if we have been reborn into luckier lives; as if we can breathe deeper breaths that fill our bodies with richer sunlight; as if we see all of the world’s beauty that alone we were blind to; as if the secrets of our souls’ codes are no longer secret.”

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): In the course of your life, how many people and animals have truly loved you? Three? Seven? More? I invite you to try this Valentine experiment: Write down their names on a piece of paper. Spend a few minutes visualizing the specific qualities in you that they cherished, and how they expressed their love, and how you felt as you received their caring attention. Then send out a beam of gratitude to each of them. Honor them with sublime appreciation for having treasured your unique beauty. Amazingly enough, Libra, doing this exercise will magnetize you to further outpourings of love in the coming weeks.

ScORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): [Warning: Poetry

alert! If you prefer your horoscopes to be exclusively composed of practical, hyper-rational advice, stop reading now!] Happy Valentine Daze, Scorpio! I invite you to copy the following passage and offer it to a person who is receptive to deepening their connection with you.

“Your healing eyes bless the winter jasmine flowers that the breeze blew into the misty creek. Your welcoming prayers celebrate the rhythmic light of the mud-loving cypress trees. Your fresh dreams replenish the eternal salt that nourishes our beloved song of songs.

With your melodic breath, you pour all these not-yet-remembered joys into my body.” (This lyrical message is a blend of my words with those of Scorpio poet Odysseus Elytis.)

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