Top Ten

this week’s top ten

Centennial Celebration in Gaylord

The City of Gaylord is celebrating 100 years this weekend with a parade and City Hall open house. This celebration, just shy of three months after a devastating tornado leveled parts of the town, is intended to honor “100 years of community.” Saturday, Aug. 13, from 12pm to 3pm, the parade will cruise through town, ending at City Hall. There, participants can view the Gaylord Area Council for the Arts’ “Hometown” exhibit, which features the work of local artists. City officials will also be collecting memorabilia—photos, newspaper clippings, tickets to special events, etc.—for a time capsule that will be sealed up and opened again 50 years from now in 2072. Kids will get to explore the city’s public works trucks and police vehicles that will be on display at City Hall, and a farmers market and sidewalk sale will happen concurrently for hungry shoppers. Get all the details at cityofgaylord.com.

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L’Chayim’s Reuben

“L’Chayim” in Hebrew means “to life,” and what’s life without a little corned beef? At the eponymous delicatessen—with locations in Beulah, Frankfort, and now Glen Arbor— you don’t even have to ask. Their famous “cool” Reuben sandwich shaves priceless time off the afternoon queue, and you definitely don’t want to wait for this. Featuring thinlysliced corned beef stacked between house-made Jewish Rye—or, if you’re feeling extra peckish, on any one of their scratch-baked bagels—this heaping hand-held is finished with Swiss cheese, sauerkraut, and Russian dressing. While you’re waiting for your order or enjoying the accompanying pickle slice, be sure to peruse the drool-worthy deli case (feta spreads, olives, and salads, oh my!). Need a last-minute picnic plate, or in charge of your company’s lunch festivities? The Reuben, along with nine other sandwiches, can be turned into a customized platter, capable of serving up to 12. To life, and one heck of lunch! Find L’Chayim Delicatessen in Beulah, Frankfort, and Glen Arbor. For menu and location information, visit lchayimdeli.com. 4 • aug 08, 2022 • Northern Express Weekly

Life in the 1800s Comes Alive

Head to the Port Oneida Fair in the Rural Historic District of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore to experience life as it was in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The fair runs Aug. 12-13 from 10am to 4pm. Take the trolley, hike, bike, or drive to the select historic sites where a variety of traditional rural crafts and activities take place. Over 60 demonstrators will be at the Thoreson, Olsen, Burfiend, Dechow, and Kelderhouse farms, as well as the schoolhouse. nps.gov/slbe/planyourvisit/pofair.htm

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Hey, read It! Life Ceremony

Black Mirror lovers, this one’s for you. From international bestselling author Sayaka Murata (Convenience Store Woman) comes a fresh short-fiction collection to make you rethink…well, just about everything. Her first book to be translated to English, courtesy of Ginny Tapley Takemori, Life Ceremony contains 12 narratives ranging from disconcerting to darkly absurd. In her title story, protagonist Maho attends a “life ceremony” (read: bizarre funeral), only to learn that it’s customary to eat the deceased. There’s the lighter brief of “Love on the Breeze,” whose perspective is that of a bedroom curtain, which falls uncomfortably against “A First Rate Material,” wherein it’s trendy to reuse human parts as objects like jewelry and furniture. As predicted, Murata’s skin-tight prose takes familiar forms and irreparably distorts them. As for what’s really going on? That’s up to you to decide.

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6 A Dog and Human Show

We have three words for you: Northport Dog Parade. (If you really need more information than that, we suppose you can read on.) The fluffiest, wuffiest parade in northern Michigan takes place Saturday, Aug. 13, at noon. This year’s theme is Alice in Wonderlab: Through the Woofing Glass—we are barking over those puns—and celebrates the 25th anniversary of the parade. Pup parents can pre-register ($6 per dog at northportomenachamber.org), and themed costumes are highly encouraged. The parade lineup will start at 10:30am on 3rd Street in front of the Northport Public Works Department, with the tail-wagging strut through town to follow at noon. Food, drinks, dog treats, and prizes for costumes abound. Daniel Caudill, one of the parade’s volunteer organizers and owner of Olean’s in Northport, also says, “We will have a large tea party set up for the kids and dogs at the end—yes, a long, long table like Alice in Wonderland.” Proceeds from the event benefit local pet charities.

Big Week for Booze and Beer

NoMi beer and craft spirit makers got a national boost last week. First, our very own Iron Fish Distillery in Thompsonville brought home bronze medals for their Mad Angler Whiskey and Slightly Lost Barrel Rested Gin from the American Craft Spirits Association’s Annual Judging of Craft Spirits. The competition was stiff, with over 400 spirits from 37 states plus Washington, D.C. Iron Fish was in good company, as Michigan’s Detroit City Distillery (Detroit), Long Road Distillers (Grand Rapids), and Wonderland Distilling (Muskegon) also brought home accolades. On the beer side of the alcoholic equation, the Michigan Brewers Guild has released a documentary, Great Beer State, in observance of the guild’s 25th anniversary. The film features more than 60 interviews from brewing experts and tells the story of Michigan’s rise to prominence in the beer community. Watch parties are being organized throughout the state, and the schedule can be found at mibeer.com.

Stuff We Love: Following the Music

We wish we had infinite room in our Dates and Nitelife sections to alert you to every live music show in northern Michigan. Problem is, we print a paper each week—not a book—so we limit our listings to the 13 counties in northwest Lower Michigan we cover. Enter an opportunity to expand your musical horizons, our latest favorite Facebook page, Northern Michigan Live Music Scene. Perhaps you’ll discover that the Lake Fanny Hoe-Down 2 in Copper Harbor, featuring offthe-radar-favorite Joe Nichols and Ricky Skaggs, rolls the same weekend you’ll be camping the Keweenaw (Aug. 26 and 27). Or maybe you’ll end up making plans to head east for a Sunrise Side Music Festival (featuring a few favorite The Voice and America’s Got Talent contestants) near Alpena this weekend. Music lovers, performers, and anyone looking for more reasons to road-trip around our region will not be disappointed.

bottoms up Leelanau Cellars’ Watermelon Wine

There was a time in our life, maybe one we’re not too proud of, when we’d eat spears of pineapple or clusters of blackberries soaked in Bacardi rum. Now that we’re older—and at least somewhat wiser—we’ve found an equally delicious yet not so potent party snack via Leelanau Cellars. The family-owned winery recently suggested splitting a watermelon in half lengthwise and scooping out half of that half’s fruit (with a melon-baller, if you want to be fancy about it). Then, deposit that fruit—plus some berries of your choice—into the emptied section. Into the remaining whole section of that half watermelon, you press an opened bottle of Leelanau Cellars’ sweet Watermelon Chill wine, bottle mouth down, and let it saturate all the fruit. Served chilled, this is our latest go-to dish (and drink) to pass at summer potlucks. Do it while the fruit—and the winery’s 25-percent-off wine deal, good through the end of August with website promo code—is ripe. Find Leelanau Cellars’ tasting room at 5019 North West Bay Shore Dr., Omena, and the promo code (and other sellers) at lwc.wine. Northern Express Weekly • aug 08, 2022 • 5