Top Ten

this week’s top ten

Growing Good Vibes

Grow Benzie is all about finding the balance between healthful food and a rich, meaningful life. The community-forward organization has been around since 2008, and has since become a haven and partner for other local clubs, organizations, and nonprofits. In keeping with their mission of bringing folks together, they’re hosting a concert on June 10 with Sally Rogers and Claudia Schmidt, the dynamic duo known for folksy tunes, quirky humor, and incredible music. Rogers sings and plays guitar and Appalachian dulcimer—a lute-like instrument—while Schmidt combines music, poetry, and story in her performances. Doors open at 6:30 pm, and the concert starts at 7:00 pm. Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door. (You can find that door at 5885 Frankfort Highway, Benzonia.) Note: Proof of vaccination is required, and masks are optional. For tickets and more information, call Grow Benzie at 231-882-9510 or go to growbenzie.org/events.

2 tastemaker

Cheese & Co.’s Cheba Sauce

This food truck specializes in all things cheese—beer-battered cheese curds, mac & cheese, mac & cheese bites, five kinds of grilled cheese sandwiches—you get the picture. But the item even the lactose tolerant among us love most is its cheese-free Superfood Salad, contents: baby kale and mixed greens, pickled carrots and cukes, lemon quinoa, shredded purple cabbage, sweet potato chips, blueberries, and a scoop of avocado. Credit the cheesy-tasting but yet inconceivably-still-cheese-free (!) Cheba Sauce under which this salad of heroes is cloaked. A multi-layered salty, savory, spicy, and tangy delight, the Cheba Sauce is “simply” olive oil, lemon juice, garbanzo beans, water, garlic, turmeric, curry, cumin, garlic salt, onion salt, cayenne, mustard powder, and that B-vitamin powerhouse that both smells and tastes like—yet is not—parmesan cheese, nutritional yeast. The truck is open and drizzling that sauce at Petoskey’s Back Lot Beer Garden and Charlevoix’s The Back Lot through summer. Get summer hours at cheeseandcompany.com/locations.

Get Smart

Hop on your bike, use your two feet, take the bus, or carpool to celebrate the 28th Annual Smart Commute Week in TC, June 6-10. Presented by TART Trails, this week offers free daily breakfasts at various locations around town, plus incentives and prizes. Sign up a team for a competition known as the Smart Commute Week Challenge. Register and see the breakfast schedule and Smart Commute Week happenings at traversetrails.org/event/28th-annual-smart-commute-week

4

Hey, watch It! The Lincoln Lawyer

The first thing you need to know is that our beloved, slowdrawling Matthew McConaughey is not reprising his role in this reboot of Michael Connelly’s bestselling series. But Manuel Garcia-Rulfo (known for roles in The Magnificent Seven and Murder on the Orient Express) offers a refreshing new take on Mickey Haller, the L.A. defense lawyer who runs his business out of the back of—in this version at least—a collection of Lincolns ranging from a ’60s Continental convertible to a Navigator SUV. After suffering a surfing accident followed by a painkiller addiction, Haller finds himself thrust back into the legal spotlight when he is bequeathed the law practice of a murdered colleague. The show shines brightest in the courtroom and during scenes with Haller’s two ex-wives— Neve Campbell as fellow lawyer Maggie McPhearson and Becki Newton as the charming Lorna Taylor. Verdict? The Lincoln Lawyer is a solid pick for fans of legal dramas with a touch of murder and mystery. Now streaming on Netflix.

5

6 Trout Time

The Charlevoix Area Trout Tournament kicks off with a captains’ meeting on Thursday, June 9, before a weekend of fishing fun. The fun comes with more than bragging rights—each of the tournament’s five divisions offers a $1,000 prize and trophy for first place, as well as monetary prizes for the other top 20 finishers. Though it’s called the Trout Tournament, entrants will face off lake trout, salmon, steelhead, brown trout, and walleye. The competition begins at 5am Friday morning and ends at noon on Sunday. All fish must be a minimum of 20 inches, and your catch will need a verified witness. Inperson registration ($35 for adults; $10 for ages 6-14; free for 5 and under) is available Thursday and Friday in East Park in downtown Charlevoix, or you can register online and read up on the rules and event details at fishcharlevoix.com.

Stuff We Love: Pride in Interactive Art

Up North Pride is inviting folks around the region to think outside the box again. Following the success of last year’s catharsis-themed outdoor art installations, the LGBTQ+ organization unveiled three new interactive art exhibits running June 1-30, all underscoring the ’22 theme, Unconditional. Find the first, by artist Roger Amundsen, in front of The Dennos Museum (Aspen Lot), where everyone can “perform the radical act of stopping and looking at yourself in the mirror—to love what you see unconditionally.” Go during the family-friendly Pride CARNIVAL 11am to 2pm June 11, and you can also whizz down a super slide, ascend a climbing wall, nosh on goodies from food vendors, enjoy live music, and explore the Dennos Museum, free of charge. The second installation, by Grand Rapids muralist Maddison Chaffer, invites you to Iron Fish Distillery in Thompsonville, where the distillery also hosts the Drag Bingo event 7pm–9pm June 17, featuring special guests The Real Dragwives of Northern Michigan. Finally, Short’s Brewing Co. in Elk Rapids hosts the third installation, by Bellaire artist Brooke Ruble, plus an evening of Queer Trivia 7pm–9pm June 24. Learn more: upnorthpride.com

One of 2021’s Catharsis-themed installations, at Iron Fish Distillery.

MBA Program Headed to Traverse City

The Upper Peninsula is getting a bit closer to home now that Michigan Tech has announced its launch of a hybrid version of TechMBA®—the university’s Master of Business Administration program—in Traverse City. Last year, MTU began the process of building out its Grand Traverse Research Workspace, which took up residence in downtown Traverse City in the same building as Traverse Connect. Beginning this fall, students in the Grand Traverse area will have the option to complete the 30-credit program in a hybrid format, where virtual classes will be mixed with in-person instruction and connections at the Research Workspace. (Students can also continue to take the program on campus in Houghton and fully online.) According to MTU, the TechMBA® will be the first of multiple collegiate opportunities headed to Traverse City. Visit mtu.edu/business/graduate/techmba to learn more.

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A few weeks back, we were lucky enough to find ourselves inside Mackinac Island’s famed Pink Pony the night of the equally famous Kentucky Derby. And while the loyal Southerner in our gang upheld Kentucky Derby tradition and chose the almighty Mint Julep (with which the Pony did not disappoint; highly recommended you try one), we broke from the bridle on convention and made a mad dash for the Pony’s Bourbon Sparkler—a cocktail made much like a Moscow Mule, but with a punch of horsepower and more depth. Instead of the mule’s vodka, the sparkler brings Bulleit Bourbon to the fore, sweetening it only slightly with a honey-infused simple syrup and the requisite ginger beer. A strong squeeze of lemon both lightens and mellows the load. A bit like Rich Strike himself, this one’s a winner. Find the Bourbon Sparkler at Pink Pony, inside and adjacent to The Chippewa Hotel, at 7221 Main St., Mackinac Island. (906) 847-3341