A county traditional for about 100 years, the Sunday Night Sing, at the Leland Country Club, began in the early 1900s with "young people gathering in canoes … and tuning up," according to a history of the sings compiled by MaryEllen Hadjisky of Leland.

“My family first came to Leelanau in 1902,” said Hadjisky, whose history appeared in the hardcover song books. She compiled the history in 1978 in member of her aunt, Eleanor Gould, who attended “sings” all her life. “(The sing) hasn’t changed since I wrote (the history).”

Hadjisky consulted an oral history recording made by the late Alden Smith in preparing the chronicle.

“Eleanor Atkins had a beautiful voice and one night she was singing solo while the boats drifted … All of the sudden, from the shore came an obbligato — it was Matzenaur!”

Atkins was the reigning quest of the Metropolitan Opera at the time and a residence of Warden’s Point (on north Lake Leelanau).

By 1921, the community sings had moved ashore, occupying “one cottage or another” in East Leland. However, by the early 30s, the number of singers had grown to the point that they could no longer be contained in cottages with pianos.

It was Hadjisky’s family that initiated moving the sing to the country club.

Since then, the “Sunday Night Sing” has become a “must” for those having only a short break “up north”.

“It’s very special,” said Kit Davis, who is lifelong sing enthusiast. “If you’re only in town for a couple days, you make it to the sing. My brother-in-law used to call it BOD (Babies on Display).

“It was a great opportunity to see everyone in one place,” Davis said. “There are few places in the country where a group has come together each Sunday for eight consecutive weeks to sing for 100 years.”

Contrary to popular belief, the sing wasn’t exclusive to locals.

Judy Egeler of Leland attended the Sunday night sings as a young woman.

“I enjoyed it,” said Egeler, who grew up as daughter of then Enterprise publisher Dino Ziebell. “I wouldn’t say (locals) were welcomed with open arms, but no one threw us out.

“It was singing just for fun,” she said.

Sunday Night Sings still are held at 8 p.m. during the summer months, and are very open to the public.