The Cherry-Roubaix: TC Does Cycle Racing with European Style

Cyclists race down Seventh Street in the August Cherry-Roubaix Old Town Crtierium.

By MIKE NORTON

I love riding my bike.

I won’t call what I do “cycling,” because that would make it sound much more serious and obsessive than it is. I don’t race, and I’ll never wear Spandex — for which the world owes me a large debt of gratitude. I just like riding that bike. I keep it in my office for lunch rides and quick errands across town, and when I’m feeling adventurous I’ll ride it home to Old Mission in the evening and back again in the morning.

But it doesn’t matter if you’re a hard-core cyclist or a dawdler like me; the Traverse City area is a paradise for people who like bicycles. There’s great road riding, wonderful paved trails (including the TART Trail, the Leelanau Trail, the Boardman Trail – which I just got done riding – and the new Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail) and some very respectable mountain biking areas.

To my mind, this place has just the right blend of challenging and easygoing terrain, with lots of amazing views of lakes, vineyards, forests and meadows to keeop things interesting. (Boredom is the enemy of exercise!)

That’s why Bicycling Magazine listed Traverse City last summer as one of the world’s “Six Best Cities for a Bike Vacation.”  It’s also why this is the home of two great cycling events: the November Iceman Cometh Challenge (the largest single-day mountain bike race in North America) and the Cherry-Roubaix, held each August. This year’s Cherry- Roubaix (the fifth) will be held Aug. 10-12, and even if you’re a distinctly non-competitive type like me, it’s a very impressive event to watch. In fact, it’s the official event of the Michigan Road Race Championship for the second year in a row.

Roubaix is a small city in northern France, best known as the endpoint for the annual Paris-Roubaix bicycle race, which includes almost 50k of bone-jarring cobblestoned streets.  Traverse City is probably better known for its cherry cobblers than its cobblestones, but many streets in its historic Central Neighborhood district are paved with massive bricks that were brought as ballast in the holds of 19^th century lumber schooners. To the average white-knuckled cyclist, they give a fair impression of cobbles, which is how the race got its name.

The three-day event begins on Friday with a set of time trails on the Old Mission Peninsula (great spectator stuff). Saturday starts off with a morning Cherry-Roubaix Charity Ride – open to cyclists of all skill and age levels — to benefit Munson Healthcare’s Women’s Cancer Fund. In the afternoon, it’s the main event: the Cherry-Roubaix Old Town Criterium, where racers careen at high speed on a one mile course through the streets of Traverse City. (There’s also a Kids’ Ride and a fun, free-for-all Cruiser Classic.)

Finally, on Sunday, it’s road race time, when cyclists head out to the beautiful Leelanau Peninsula for what’s known as “the most rigorous road race in the state.”  This year, race organizers have gone back to the route used by cyclists in the 1980s, beginning and ending the course at Sugar Loaf Mountain north of Cedar.

Seriously, if you’ve never watched a bicycle race, this is the one to watch.

Not So Crazy After All These Years: Success at the Asylum

The Village at Grand Traverse Commons, seen across the Munson Arboretum Lawn

TRAVERSE CITY, MI– When Ray Minervini  agreed to take over the redevelopment of Traverse City’s 117-year-old mental asylum , more than a few people thought the idea was, well… crazy.

The job was to transform a campus of abandoned, decaying buildings into a thriving “village” of shops, restaurants, homes and offices – the largest such project in the country – without destroying the site’s distinctive historical and architectural features. It had already proven too big a task for several other companies, and the people in this northern Michigan resort town were reluctantly beginning to talk about tearing the stately old structures down.

Ten years later, the project is still far from finished – but nobody is questioning the sanity of the idea anymore. In fact, the Village at Grand Traverse Commons is already one of the city’s star attractions.  Set in a 500-acre expanse of forest and meadow on the city’s western edge, the tall castle-like buildings of the former asylum are now a bustling residential and commercial center that’s wildly popular with local residents and visitors alike.

“It’s been quite an adventure,” says the developer, who can often be found wandering through the project’s many active construction areas, hardhat on his head and measuring tape in his hand. “And it’s not over yet.”

In 1885, when the state of Michigan was looking for a place to locate a new asylum, they chose Traverse City because they believed that fresh air and beautiful surroundings could ease the sufferings of the mentally ill. The hospital became a huge park,filled with Victorian-Italianate buildings of golden brick and planted with exotic trees collected from around the world. It was also a small, self-sufficient city in its own right, with a population that reached as high as 3,500 – larger than that of the city itself.

The centerpiece of the Commons is Building 50, a massive structure of golden Victorian brick topped with ornate scarlet-tipped turrets. Three stories tall and a quarter of a mile from end to end, it is undergoing a gradual makeover that is nearly 60 percent complete. Its garrets and  lofts are condominiums and apartments; its lower floors hold offices and businesses, while its former cellar is now The Mercato, a subterranean shopping mall of trendy galleries, boutiques and restaurants, including the trendy Trattoria Stella.

Other buildings in the huge redevelopment area have also been reborn to other uses. The asylum’s former fire station is now an organic brick oven bakery; another old brick building is the home of the Underground Cheesecake Co., while the former laundry houses a winery and tasting room known as Left Foot Charley. Meanwhile, the property’s wide tree-shaded lawns have become a prime space for public events, including the Traverse City Wine and Art Festivaland the Traverse City Microbrew & Music Festival.

And the pace of development shows no sign of slowing down, especially now that a new system of roads and sidewalks now links the once isolated asylum campus to the rest of the town. The Mercato continues to extend itself northward, while  the 13,000-square-foot former chapel at the center of Building 50 is undergoing a $3 million facelift and will emerge as a multi-purpose event area. There is talk of a microbrewery/brewpub, and of a boutique hotel and conference center in several “cottage” buildings on the periphery of the campus.

Meanwhile, a set of huge “cathedral barns” that once belonged the the asylum’s self-sufficient farm are being readied for a $1.5 million renewal that will make them into indoor spaces for concerts, farm markets and weddings  — and the headquarters of the 26-acre Botanic Garden of Northwest Michigan.

Just 10 years — but they’ve gotten a lot done!

Hot Weather in TC — but Not Too Hot for Jumping Horses!

Toasting in the sun on West Bay.

By MIKE NORTON

You know it’s going to be a hot day when it’s 11 a.m. and the sand at the beach is already too hot for bare feet. That’s how it’s been around here lately, but the Bay has been blessedly warm and wonderful for swimming, snorkeling, or just wading around with the water up to your chin like a modern-day diplodocus.

Watching the temperatures climb all around the country lately, I feel triply blessed to be here in Traverse City, where you’re never more than a few minutes away from all the cool, clean fresh water a person could want. Every time I’m tempted to whine about the heat, I think about how it must be to live in some sweltering urban area or out on the Plains, where there’s no relief at all from the sun’s heat.

Hmmm. Now I’m starting to feel guilty….

Well, to my parched and sticky friends in other parts of the country – I wish you cool rains and sweet breezes. And know that you’re welcome to come and visit us here in TC whenever you feel like getting away.

Summer heat, by the way, is one of the big reasons for the success of Horse Shows By the Bay, Traverse City’s month-long equestrian festival, which features thousands of the best-trained horses from the U.S., Canada and Mexico competing in a series of show jumping competitions. The show goes into its final weekend this week.

Founded just eight years ago, the event has quickly become hugely popular with the horse-jumping crowd.

At first glance, Traverse City might seem an unlikely location for such an event; we’ve never been famous as an equestrian center. But when Florida horsewoman Alexandra Rheinheimer was investigating possible sites for a new United States Equestrian Federation event, she found TC’s relaxed atmosphere, plentiful tourist amenities and cool offshore breezes an irresistible combination.

“We travel a great deal in this business, and it’s really unusual for us to find such a lovely area for a competition,” she said. “So many other places are just too hot and humid for the horses during the summer months.

Apparently, the rest of the equestrian community agreed. When Horse Shows By the Bay held its debut competition in 2004, hundreds of horses made the journey to northern Michigan – compete with teams of riders, handlers and grooms. So did plenty of spectators, including many who had never attended a horse jumping event before.

Shane Sweetnam and Little Emir, $30,000 Grand Prix Winner for 2012
(Photo Courtesy of Horse Sports By the Bay)

There’s something thrilling about watching a well-trained horse leap over a fence. Maybe it’s the deep thunder of the approaching hooves, or the contrast between the massive, powerful animal and its tiny, vulnerable rider. The sudden gathering of those mighty muscles and sinews, and that split-second of silence as the pair of them sail through the air like some great flying beast and land safe on the other side.

It’s not surprising, then, that show jumping has become one of the most popular of equestrian sports. Competitors drive hundreds of miles to participate in sanctioned jumping events, and crowds of fans and curious spectators turn out to watch them go through their paces.

“It’s a fascinating thing to watch, even for those who don’t think of themselves as horse people,” says Alex. “There’s just something so graceful and stirring about these events.”

The show began on an open field along the side of US 31 near Chums Corners, but in 2007 it moved to a beautiful site of its own – Flintfields Horse Park – on Bates Road in Williamsburg, just northeast of town, with five all-weather arenas and space to stable 1,078 horses at a time. It’s been so successful that it’s now spawned two “spin-off” shows – Dressage By the Bay in late June and Reiners by the Bay in August.  (Dressage is an Olympic discipline that tests the ability of horse and rider to undergo a series of complicated maneuvers, while Reining is a similar discipline with a Western flair.)

Although competition is closed to the public on weekdays, spectators are welcome on weekends from 8 am to 5 pm. Tickets are $10 per day, which includes on-site parking and access to all five competition rings, vendors, and concession area. It’s definitely worth going to watch!

New Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail Opens Dunes to Cyclists, Strollers, Skaters and Wheelchairs

Walking on the new Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail near the Dune Climb

By MIKE NORTON

That was a great Cherry Festival week! Perfect weather, great events and really smooth coordination. But now I’m ready for some peaceful time alone with Mother Nature and away from other human beings.

If you’re feeling the same way, here’s a tip: try the new Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail. It’s splendid!

More than a million people visit the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore each year – and that number has been rising since last year, when viewers of “Good Morning America” voted it the Most Beautiful Place in America.

But almost all those visitors arrive by automobile and must do all their traveling within the park by car. Even hikers and cyclists have to drive at times, because even though Sleeping Bear boasts over 100 miles of unpaved hiking trails, the trailheads are widely separated. The park’s main points of interest are linked by roads, but park planners created no alternatives for visitors who’d prefer to leave their cars behind.

Until now.

This summer, the National Park Service and a handful of local citizen groups unveiled the first  four-mile stretch of the Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail, a 27-mile surfaced multi-use trail that will give walkers, runners, wheelchair users, cyclists, cross-country skiers, baby strollers, and rollerbladers a safe, enjoyable, and car-free way to explore the park. The inaugural link in the trail, which opened in June, runs from the much-photographed “dune climb” area through the ghost port of Glen Haven to the nearby village of Glen Arbor.

“So many people only see the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore through their windshield,” says deputy park superintendent Tom Ulrich. “This Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail will give people an incentive to get out of their cars, because it provides an excellent new recreational opportunity and a meaningful way to get around the park.”

Cycling the trail at Glen Haven

Since its June 20 opening, the Heritage Trail has become a busy thoroughfare for cyclists, walkers and stroller-pushing families, he says.

“If you’re out there in uniform, people actually stop what they’re doing to shake your hand and thank you,” he adds. “That doesn’t happen very often.”

The new pathway has been several years in the making. It first surfaced as an idea in 2001– ironically, as part of a plan to preserve the scenic and historic character of the park’s existing roads and highways. Rather than widen roads to make them safer for cyclists and pedestrians, park officials and local residents suggested building a 10-foot path for the exclusive use of non-motorized travel.

Construction of the new trail will reduce potential conflicts between motorists and cyclists, who won’t have to ride on the shoulder of the highway — and youngsters with bikes won’t be stuck “doing circles” in park campgrounds. And since it will be open to wheelchairs, it will provide a higher level of accessibility to visitors who haven’t been able to reach many areas of the park.

For most of its length, the Heritage Trail will use old rail beds, roadways, trails and existing road rights-of-way as a way to minimize environmental damage. Interpretive exhibits are being planned along the route to help visitors understand and appreciate the park’s natural and historic resources.

The trail will run from the park’s northern boundary to a point south of the village of Empire, and park officials say it will be similar to trails in other national parks.

In some areas it will be completely paved, while other stretches will be surfaced with hard-packed gravel or raised boardwalk.

Rollerblading the trail at its southern end.

The next phase of construction will be a six-mile stretch that will link the newly-opened trail segment with the village of Empire to the south. If all goes well, says, Ulrich work could begin in the spring of 2013.

Construction of the entire trail will take an estimated 10 years and cost some $10 million – half from state and federal grants and half from private contributions. Half of that $5 million private match has already been raised; Traverse Area Recreation and Transportation Trails (TART), the nonprofit group that created the extensive trail system around nearby Traverse City, is handling the fundraising effort, and has developed a campaign called “Pathways to Sleeping Bear.”

Thanks to another volunteer group, the Friends of Sleeping Bear, yet another trail is in the works. The Bay to Bay Backpack and Kayak Trail will stretch from Platte Bay to Good Harbor Bay, linked by primitive campgrounds close to the water’s edge, paralleled by a “water trail” for paddlers. Work on it should begin in late 2012.

It’s National Cherry Festival time again — and there are Cherries!

A view from the midway ferris wheel at the national Cherry Festival, with the festival grounds and West Bay in the background.

By MIKE NORTON

My ears are ringing with the memory of jet engines. The air is filled with the delicate scent of bratwurst and elephant ears, and several thousand people seem to have appeared overnight outside my window.

It must be Cherry Festival Week! Which means I won’t be getting much work done.

Here at Ground Zero, right across the street from the main festival grounds, I get a ringside seat at the whole improbable spectacle: the bayside stage, the games and competitions, the midway with its lights and noises, that annual display of airborne acrobatics. And somewhere during the week, of course, I get to sneak out for a guilt-free order of chili fries.

For over 80 years, Traverse City has been celebrating its relationship with the tasty cherry with a lollapalooza collection of concerts, games, competitions and parades. And if you thought that the disastrous failure of the 2012 tart cherry crop might be putting a crimp in the festivities, you’d be wrong – if anything, this year’s festival seems more tenaciously cheerful than ever. The cherry industry has dealt with bad harvests before.

Still, it’s a timely reminder to the rest of us that fruit-growing remains tremendously important to Traverse City – not simply because it’s a major component of our economy, but because it’s woven more deeply than we usually acknowledge into our landscape, our  folklore, our very sense of who we are. We may not all spend a lot of time thinking about those orchards and vineyards, but if they disappeared we would immediately feel the loss.

That’s why it’s always been important that among the car shows, dock-jumping dog contests, country-western concerts, volleyball tournaments, talent shows and parades, there are still events and demonstrations that remind everybody why there’s a Cherry Festival in the first place. Some are playful and even a little silly – but who doesn’t love a cherry-pit spitting contest or a pie-eating contest?  And some are really pretty impressive.

This year’s small harvest notwithstanding, you can still buy cherries at the Cherry Festival.

Take, for instance, one of the festival’s week-long events, the Cherry Connection, which takes visitors out to a working 10-acre research farm in the hill country of the Leelanau Peninsula – the heart of Cherry Country. At the Northwest Michigan Horticultural Research Station, operated by Michigan State University Extension, you can learn how cherries and other fruits are grown and processed, and sample some of the newest cherry products. The Cherry Connection also features all sorts of “cherry” fun for kids, including a petting zoo, hands-on experiments, and a kids’ poster coloring contest.

You can drive out to the station yourself, but an even better way to get there is to take the free shuttle that runs from Garland Street on the west side of the Traverse City Visitor’s Center, which leaves every 30 minutes between 9:30 a.m. and noon.

Another major “cherry” feature at the Festival has long been the Cherries Grand Buffet, a massive culinary experience where cherries take center stage in appetizers, entrees, desserts and drinks – an effective way to demonstrate our signature fruit’s versatility and adaptability. This year’s buffet  — held at noon on Friday at the Park Place Hotel Dome — is especially appropriate, since it’s built around a “farm to fork” theme emphasizing cherry-based recipes developed by local farm and orchard families. The food will be prepared by the Park Place culinary team, including “entrée dishes with a selection of beef, chicken, and even a Cherry Mediterranean Tuna Salad; sautéed veggies with a cherry twist; a dried cherry pine nut rice pilaf; and an array of salads, all complemented with creative seasonings and cherries.

Even though it doesn’t have a lot to do with cherries, I’m really glad to see the return of an event that many of us have missed for several years – the Cherryland Band Classic, which brings some of the best high school marching bands in the U.S. and Canada to Traverse City’s Thirlby Field each summer, is back! On Friday at 6 p.m., the Mid-America Band Directors Association Championship will host its grand finale show at part of the competition.

(If you can’t wait for the Friday main event, there’s also a preliminary show Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at the Suttons Bay High School Football Field.)

And here’s something else that warms my heart. Thursday night’s Junior Royale Parade has always been one of my favorite events. (I always enjoy seeing locals kids from all the area  schools riding in the floats that the school parents have designed and built for them – a different theme each year.) But lots of kids in the parade won’t be riding this year. They’ll be running.

Old Mission Peninsula native Carter Oosterhouse, who became Traverse City’s own “celebrity TV handyman,” when he was picked for the TLC series “Trading Spaces,” will run a one-mile race with kids of all ages along the route before the start of the parade. Carter and his wife, Amy Smart, have started a non-profit group called Carter’s Kids to promote fitness and increase self-esteem among American youngsters. (Two summers back, they led the effort to create a children’s playground near the Elmwood Township marina.)

Ever Thought about a Short-Term Summer Camp Experience?

Youngsters discover tiny wildlife in a session at the Boardman River Nature Center.

By MIKE NORTON

When I was a kid, summer camp was a major undertaking that lasted several weeks. It gave many of us our first experience of being away from home for an extended period of time — and I’m sure it gave our parents a welcome break from listening to us whine about how bored we were. Once the homesickness receded, camp was a wonderful opportunity to make new friends, learn new skills and see ourselves in a slightly new light.

There are still a lot of those traditional camps around the Traverse City area – from the scout operations at Camp Greilick and Camp Sakakawea, the YMCA’s camps Hayo-Went-Ha and Arbutus, church camps like Lake Ann and, of course, the national Music Camp at Interlochen. But that traditional overnight camp style doesn’t always work for families (especially visitors to the area) who want their youngsters to have a taste of the “camp experience.” Fortunately, there are lot of other options – actually, I was surprised how many!

First off, there’s the  Boardman River Nature Center on Cass Road, just south of town, which has a wonderful Nature Day Camp of  week-long nature-themed programs that runs until the end of August. The sessions are age appropriate, with separate groups for kids 4-10, 6-8, 8-10 and 10-14 that teach youngsters about the natural world through lots of fun indoor & outdoor activities. Space is limited; to register or learn more, call 231-941-0960 or check out their website at www.natureiscalling.org

The Great Lakes Children’s Museum, on West Bay Shore Drive in Greilickville, has a series of one and two-day camps for toddlers during July and August, as well as a full slate of afternoon “mad science Mondays” where older youngsters can learn about rocks, water, robots and other scientific stuff.  Want to learn more? Call 231-932-4526 or go to www.GreatlakesKids.org

Just a mile or two farther up the road  is another day camp that’s been around for years, operated by The Pathfinder School. Pathfinder’s day camp also features brief sessions – usually five days – organized by age (as young as three for children accompanied by parents) and grouped around art and nature themes. To learn more or to register, you can call 231-995-3800 or go to www.thepathfinderschool.org

Speaking of art, the Traverse City has several day camps for young artists. Blackbird Arts on Barlow Street has “drop-in camps” for kids 5-11, afternoon programs for teens, adults & families, Family Art Nights, open studio sessions, and adult programs in everything from drawing, clay modeling and metalsmithing to filmmaking and dance. For more information, you can call 231-421-8085 or go to www.blackbirdartstc.com

Also the KidzArt Studio at 129 E. State St. has a series of morning art/adventure camps during the summer – from a preschool camp (age 4-6) and an elementary art camp (grades 1-5) to a Teenz Art Camp (grade 6 and older). To learn more, call 231-421-1222 or go to www.kidzartmi.com

Camp should be about getting outdoors, and one of the area’s best-known day camps is theTraverse Area Community Sailing Camp held each summer in Hull Park at the north end of Boardman Lake, where kids from 8 to 17 – and adults, too – can learn how to handle sailboats confidently during a series of sessions that meet three times a week for a couple of weeks. To fuind howe more, go to www.tacsailing.com

A new entry in the water-baby category of outdoor camps is the first-ever SBX Waterman Camp that’ll be held July 23-27 on the public beach in the village of Empire by the folks from Sleeping Bear Surf & Kayak. A unique camp designed & taught by water enthusiasts to create water enthusiasts, it’s recommended for youngsters 13 and up and features a new skill each day: surfing, skimming, stand-up paddling, snorkeling and kayaking. For more info, call 231-326-9283 or go towww.sbsurfandkayak.com

And if you ever wanted to take advantage of vacation to learn tennis, the Traverse City Central High School Tennis Center runs a series of two-week Grand Traverse Tennis Camps during July, ranging from a “quick start program for boys and girls age 4-6, a beginner/intermediate program for ages 7-16, and four adult camps (separate for men and women). To learn more, call 231-218-9608 or go towww.gttenniscamp.com

The National Writers Series brings literary superstars to TC

Writers Jodie Picoult and Paula McClain onstage during the 2011 NWS Season

Doug Stanton remembers the first time he stood up in front of an audience in Traverse City’s opulent 19^th century Opera House to talk about writing.

It felt surprisingly good.

“We talked, we had food, we had a few drinks,’” says Stanton, a Traverse City resident whose two nonfiction books (Horse Soldiers, In Harm’s Way) were New York Times best-sellers. “I think I said, ‘Let’s do this again sometime” — and a month later we were back again with Elmore Leonard.”

That evening in the spring of 2009 was the beginning of the National Writers Series, which brings a steady stream of celebrity authors to this tiny Michigan resort town for “up close and personal” readings and discussions. At least once each month, a prominent writer is brought to Traverse City to present and discuss his or her work in an intimate and relaxed setting with plenty of audience interaction.

“The aim is to have people lean in around the fire of a great narrative, to connect with them,” says Stanton. “And that means having conversation.”

Over the three years since it began, the series has featured more than 50 writers like Mario Batali, Roy Blount Jr., Tom Brokaw, Philip Caputo, Peter Mathiessen, Vince Gilligan, Jodi Picoult, Anna Quindlen, James Bradley, Geraldine Brooks and Natalie Bakopoulos. And it has boosted Traverse City’s reputation as an unusually bookish town: Livability.com has listed it among its Top 10 Cities for Book Lovers, and Publishers Weekly ran a full-page feature entitled “Traverse City is For Book Lovers.”

Doug Stanton (at left) and Tom Brokaw chat during an early NWS session.

Such salon-style encounters are expected at venues like New York’s 92^nd Street Y, but the publishing industry is fascinated by the success of the Traverse City venture. During the past year, the National Writers Series has been featured in stories in several leading industry publications, including a piece in Publishers Weekly entitled “Traverse City is for Book Lovers,” and a Publishing Perspectives article that called it “one of the nation’s leading literary series.”

“When you put together a community that cares deeply about reading and a staff that cares deeply about writers, magic happens, said Picoult, author of My Sister’s Keeper. “The National Writers Series was one of the highlights of my last book tour.”

The NWS organization provides scholarships to area high school students, and has just inaugurated a program called Front Street Writers, that provides a full year of advanced creative writing workshops (for credit) to qualified students.

It doesn’t hurt, of course, that the Series translates directly into bigger book sales, so the supply of available authors doesn’t seem to be slowing down. Neither is the supply of audience members; most events are sold out fairly quickly, and it’s usually a good idea to reserve tickets four weeks ahead of a scheduled appearance.

Susan Casey (left) and Anna Quindlen at a session of the 2012 NWS series.

Tickets for the monthly events are $15 in advance or $20 at the door, but  Stanton and his crew haven’t jacked ticket prices through the roof to take advantage of their success. They offer discounts for book clubs and students (who get in for only $5) – and there’s a great program called “Whatta Book Deal,” where patrons can get a premium seat, a signed book copy and admission to a pre-show author reception for $38.

Announcements of coming writer appearances are made twice a year, in June and in February, and the most recent slate is already causing excitement. The big event of the 2012 summer season will be a July 9 benefit appearance by Janet Evanovich, author of the New York Times best-selling Stephanie Plum and Lizzy and Diesel series, including her most recent book, Wicked Business. The program, offered during Traverse City’s annual National Cherry Festival, is a fundraiser for the NWS’s annual summer scholarship program.

Other writers for the rest of 2012 include thriller writer Lee Child (Sept. 18), young adult fiction author Maggie Stiefvater of Shiver, Linger and Forever (Sept. 27), Somalian human-rights memoirist Ayaan Hirsi Ali (Oct. 11), actor-author Benjamin Busch (Nov. 8), and mystery novelist Michael Connelly (Nov. 29).

To learn more about the National Writer Series, and for ticket information, check out the group’s website at http://nationalwritersseries.org/.

This Weekend: Vintage Cars, Majestic Raptors and Beautiful Horses

Photo courtesy of  The Great Race

A 1914 Overland on display during the 2011 Great Race, which went from Chattanooga, Tennessee to Bennington, Vermont.

By MIKE NORTON

Summer is here in earnest, it seems – and in Traverse City the pace of all the various festivals and events is beginning to pick up. Here are three great opportunities for the coming weekend:

On Saturday, downtown Traverse City will be the starting line for the 2012 Great Race.  At 11:30 a.m. as many as 120 classic automobiles will drive past the starting flag on Front Street to begin this nine-day 2,300-mile road rally that will take them through Ontario, New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio before ending back in Michigan — in Henry Ford’s hometown of Dearborn — on July 1.

The cars and their drivers will begin lining up at 6:30 in the morning, and from 8:30 until the race’s official start time they’ll be available for public viewing and photos.  There’ll be some amazing old beauties on display, from a 1916 Hudson and a 1934 Ford Speedster to a 19512 Packard and a 1969 Jaguar.

The Great Race was started in 1983 when 69 motorists made the first trip from Los Angeles to Indianapolis. (It takes its name from a 1965 film starring Natalie Wood, Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis.) The rally gained a huge following from late night showings on ESPN, as subsequent rallies went from Disneyland to Disney World, Norfolk to Seattle, Ottawa to Mexico City and other routes, always following scenic local highways rather than high-speed interstates. After a brief hiatus, the race  was revived under new leadership last year with a successful run from Chattanooga to Bennington, VT.

From Traverse City, the race will make its way north into Canada by the start of the second day, where it travels east toward the Canadian capital city of Ottawa before turning south to re-enter the United States at Thousand Islands, NY. From there, the event will make its way west through Pennsylvania and Ohio before finishing on July 1 at The Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn.

The rally is not really a speed race. Instead, each vehicle is provided with a driver and navigator who are given precise instructions each day. Following specific course instructions, teams navigate through 4 to 7 timed checkpoints each day. Their arrival time at each checkpoint is recorded and compared against the perfectly driven route, with each second off the perfect time, (either early or late) counted as penalty points. The winning team is the one with the lowest overall score (the most accurately driven route) at the end of the event.

Participating autos must have been built between 1911 and 1969, and most are prewar vintage. The 2011 winner was the first 100-year-old car to enter the race – a 1911 Velie owned by Howard Sharp of Fairport, NY. This year’s oldest entrant to date is a 1907 Renault driven by Alan and Mary Travis, followed by three 1916 Hudsons: a four-passenger speedster, an Indy racer and a Hillclimber.

The age of the cars is part of the rally’s appeal. Contestants like the fact that the older vehicles benefit from a scoring handicap that reduces the advantages of more recent models. And spectators enjoy seeing elderly automobiles out on the road and not just in parades and museums.

But contestants don’t simply compete to have a good time – there are some fair purses up for grabs in this race. A total of  $118,500 will be awarded to winners – including a guaranteed minimum of $25,000 for this year’s Grand Champion.

Local car aficionados and officials of Hagerty Insurance (the world’s largest insurer of collector cars and boats) are preparing a wide array of events and celebrations to mark the start of the rally. Hagerty is a major sponsor of the event, and the reason race organizers chose Traverse City as the starting point for the 2012 event.

The Holiday Inn West Bay is serving as race headquarters for meetings and technical inspections. On Friday  the cars will participate in an annual Trophy Run to Empire and the Sleeping Bear Dunes that will give drivers, navigators, crews and staff some practice before the official start on Saturday.

Family fun of a less automotive kind can also be enjoyed Saturday at the Boardman River Nature Center on Cass Road, which is holding its sixth annual Boardman River Nature Fest from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. It’s an all-day event dedicated to getting everybody out to enjoy the natural beauty and diversity of the Grand Traverse Natural Eduication Reserve, right on Traverse City’s doorstep, and thanks to some  generous sponsorships by Cherry Capital Subaru and other partners, most programs at the event are free.

What kind of programs? Well, you can learn to kayak on the tranquil Sabin Pond, get up close (but not too close!) with Rebecca Lessard and her ambassador raptors from Wings of Wonder, hang out with some tame farm critters with the local 4H club, take guided hikes through the Natural Education Reserve, learn to cast a fly rod, look at the sun through a specialized hydrogen-alpha telescope, and work on nature-themed arts and crafts.

Want more information? Call (231) 941-0960!

Finally, fans of elegant horsemanship will want to head for Flintfields Horse Park near Williamsburg for Dressage by the Bay, which will be held Friday through Sunday.  Dressage has been called the “figure skating of the equestrian world,” a discipline in which horses are trained to move with grace, beauty and skill by following a complex routine of movements at the subtle – and almost invisible – commands of its rider. Horse and rider combinations compete in a 20 x 60 meter arena, with 12 lettered markers placed at specific points along the rails.

Dressage by the Bay is a precursor to the month-long Horse Shows by the Bay, an international show jumping event held July 4-29 at Flintfields.

Making Golf More Attractive to a New Generation

Playing the Cedar River course at Shanty Creek

By MIKE NORTON

I’m not a golfer. Just never could figure out the appeal of the game. On the other hand, I’ve always loved golf courses.

Ever since I was a kid, I’ve enjoyed wandering around on them (no doubt to the disgust of people who are trying to play) and I’ve learned to appreciate the different schools of course design. I think it’s because a well-planned golf course they represent a sort of Arcadian ideal: a quiet, ordered and rational partnership between Nature and Humanity. More civilized than Yosemite, but less artificial than Versailles.

Unfortunately, the game of golf is in a demographic danger zone these days. It’s not nearly as popular among young adults as it was with their parents’ generation, partly because of the high cost, partly because it’s a demanding pastime, and partly because it’s seen as “grandpa’s game.” And after years of hand-wringing, the industry is beginning to respond to the crisis. That includes many of the resorts and courses here on Michigan’s “Golf Coast.”

One leader in this effort is Shanty Creek Resorts over in Bellaire, which has taken several steps to make the game easier and more approachable for beginners, youngsters and less experienced players. This year, for example, the resort has added 8-inch cups to each hole on the Schuss Mountain course (normal cups are 4.25 inches across) and a new set of forward tees (ranging from 95 yards to 125 yards) at the Summit Golf Club to make the game easier and faster.

“Our goal is to grow the game’s appeal and make playing more enjoyable for everyone,” said PGA Pro Brian Kautz, Shanty’s director of golf.

The inspiration for changes like these is a campaign called Golf 2.0, which golf legend Jack Nicklaus has been urging fellow PGA members to adopt as a way to make the game more fun (particularly for women and junior players) and bring more players into the game.

“With so many sports and activities fighting for the time and attention of families, we need to think of ways to make our game more attractive and thus more inviting, especially to children and young adults,” Nicklaus said. “The time has come for the golf community to make a fresh start for the benefit of the future of the game, and show new people that the game of golf can be about makeable putts, camaraderie and enjoyable competition played out in a timely manner.”

Tomorrow’s golfers? Playing The Legend at Shanty Creek Resorts

Another new initiative from the PGA and the US Golf Association, called Tee It Forward, encourages golfers to use the tees best suited to their average driving distance. According to Nicklaus, it’s a campaign to persuade players that they’ll enjoy the game a lot more if they don’t “bite off more than they can chew.”

At Shanty Creek, Kautz and his crew are hoping that the new 8-inch cup option, new forward tees, and the Tee it Forward initiative will help the resort persuade more of its guests to try the game and recognize it’s something that women, kids, families, and beginner players can enjoy. And just to add some extra inducement, children under the age of 17 will be able to play for free on their Schuss Mountain and Summit Golf Club courses as long as they’re with a paying adult. (On Sundays after 2 p.m., kids can even play a free round on the high-end courses at The Legend and Cedar River.)

“Our goal is to grow the game’s appeal and make playing more enjoyable for everyone,” said Kautz.

Who knows? Maybe they’ll persuade me to take up golf, too.

Traverse City — Where the Buffalo (er, Bison…) Roam

Bison graze at the Oleson’s farm on US 31 near Kyselka Road.

By MIKE NORTON

Shaggy, majestic and imposing, the American Bison is an iconic figure that evokes images of the endless Western prairie. So visitors are often surprised to see a huge herd of these massive beasts grazing just outside a northern Michigan beach town like Traverse City.

Equally indifferent to passing traffic and the bison-watchers who gather at the roadside armed with cameras and binoculars, they roam the low green hills – eating, frisking, wallowing in the dust and tossing their woolly horned heads – and causing a lot of motorists to do double-takes.

“People are curious about them and want to know if it’s all right for them to be there,” says D.J. Oleson of Oleson Food Stores, which raises the bison for their meat and hides. “We tell them it’s just fine as long as they don’t try to climb over the fence and get in with them.”

The bison is the largest mammal in North America. At one time, the bison population was estimated to be well over 60 million, but they were hunted almost to extinction during the 19^th century and by 1900 only around 800 remained. Thanks to a careful breeding program by conservationists and ranchers, there are now more than 200,000 bison in the United States – mostly in the Dakotas, Montana, Nebraska and Colorado.

Although they’re well adapted to cold winters, bison aren’t native to northern Michigan. The Traverse City herd, which numbers almost 300 animals, got its start in 1958, when Oleson’s grandfather, Jerry, brought three bison to his farm as an experiment. At one time the company owned more than 500 bison — the largest herd east of the Mississippi – and it’s still an impressive sight.

It also proved to be a good investment. Bison meat has less than 26 percent of the fat found in beef, and is low in cholesterol, and the Olesons found a ready market for it in their stores. “Buffalo burgers” donated by the company are also a major feature in one of the community’s spring rituals, the annual Northwestern Michigan College barbecue.

The main Oleson herd is pastured on several hundred acres of range land along US 31, where they were moved after their original home was turned into a shopping mall during the 1990s. (The pull of the old pasture must still be strong -three years ago, an escaped bison wandered back to the mall and ended up in the parking lot at Macy’s.)

A smaller herd can be found even closer to town on the 120-acre grounds of the Great Wolf Lodge, a family resort and waterpark. In 2003, when the Lodge was built on the site of the bisons’ original grazing grounds, the developers thought  it would be interesting to keep a few of them around to enhance the  resort’s “Up North” ambience. In fact, they briefly considered renaming their property the “Great Buffalo Lodge.”

A Lone Bison Takes a Break at Oleson’s.

In the end, branding consistency won out; Great Wolf concentrated its marketing efforts on the resort’s 38,000-square-foot waterpark and other amenities and paid only cursory attention to the big animals grazing out on the lawn. But their guests had other ideas. Most Americans don’t get to see bison from such a close vantage point, and fascinated visitors kept mentioning them to the staff, who began to take a fresh look at the herd’s potential as a draw.

Eventually the resort created a nature walk next to its property where visitors can get a better look at the animals while learning about the ecology of the nearby watershed and the area called Bison Hollow. And yes, bison burgers are on the menu at Great Wolf’s Camp Critter restaurant.  (So far, according to the menu, they’ve sold over 25,000 of them.)