RUDY OLSON, who was born in Suttons Bay in 1908, will celebrate his 100th birthday on May 8. He’s lived his entire life in Suttons Bay, and has been a resident of the Toy House Retirement Home since 2002. He owned a Sinclair service station in Suttons Bay in the early 1930s until 1941, and then was employed at the Leelanau Auto Company in Suttons Bay, delivering Texaco heating fuel in Leelanau County, before retiring in 1973. Birthday cards can be sent to Rudy Olson, c/o Toy House Retirement Home, 1990 Setterbo Road, Suttons Bay, MI 49682.
CASSANDRA BUFFUM of Suttons Bay will travel to Europe this summer as part of the Blue Lake International Choral Ensemble. Buffum, a junior at Suttons Bay High School who recently played the female lead in the all-school production of The King and I, will spend three weeks in Europe during a four-country tour. Upon returning, the ensemble will perform a Blue Lake Benefit Concert in Hill Auditorium on the campus of the University of Michigan. She is the daughter of David Buffum of Suttons Bay and Gwen Groesser of Interlochen.
EMMA COOK and Kyle Klumpp won the inaugural “Laker Idol” competition earlier this month at Glen Lake School. Cook and Klumpp performed Ain’t No Mountain High Enough in the first round of competition, held in mid-March while juniors were involved in Michigan Merit Exam testing. In the second round of competition, the senior performed a remixed version of Mary Had a Little Lamb. Second place went to Rowan Niemisto, who performed a self-written piece in the first round and Play That Funky Music in round two. Freshman Matt O’Brien, the third-place winner, sang Come Sail Away by Styx in the first round, and Hey There Delilah in the finals.
THE COURTHOUSE in Leland was a lonely place Friday when the last of the government offices moved out and into the new Govermnent Center in Suttons Bay Township. Above, Probate Court worker Josephine Lingaur removes a box of supplies in the old courtroom while retired Deputy Sheriff Phil Williams, below, waits in the courthouse lobby during the very last “Sheriff’s Sale” to be conducted in the old building. (Nobody showed up to make a purchase offer on a foreclosed Elmwood Township property.)
Above, a vault formerly filled with “vital records” maintained by the county clerk, treasurer and register of deeds stands empty, while a hallway in the facility, below, appears deserted. County officials expect to close on the sale of the Leland courthouse property to Varley-Kelly Properties next month. The developers plan to tear down the old buildings and redevelop the property for residential use.
DREW BROCKMAN, right, a 2003 Suttons Bay High School graduate, shakes hands with Gen. David Petraeus, commanding general of the Multi National Force in Iraq.
Now on his second tour of duty in Iraq, Brockman is currently serving on the personal security detail for the Command Sergeant Major of the Multi-National Force, Marvin L. Hill, who serves as Petraeus’s senior enlisted advisor. In his senior year at Suttons Bay High School, Brockman was elected homecoming king.
He is the son of Sharon Brockman and the grandson of Lucille and George Bennett of Suttons Bay.
MORE THAN 150 Leelanau Conservancy supporters got “the blues” Saturday night from the James Armstrong Band at the annual Blues at the Bluebird fundraiser. The event, another sellout, raised $4,000 for the Conservancy’s Land Protection Fund, according to Gayle Egeler, membership and outreach coordinator. Egeler is pictured with Conservancy executive director Brian Price.
February 23, 2008 – 11:34 am
HOOP DANCERS from the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians again performed well during the annual World Hoop Dance Championship in Phoenix, Ariz., earlier this month. A two-time champion, nine year-old Waskwane Stonefish (above, right) won top honors in 2006 as well as 2008. Her 10-year-old sister Beedoskah Stonefish (left) took second place while older sister Cheyenne Petoskey, 17, (center), was awarded third place honors in the Teen Division. Members of the GTB’s Mino Biimaadziwin Hoop Dance Society (below) posed for a group picture during their trip to Phoenix. Participation in the event was made possible by a grant from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Tribal Youth Program.
February 19, 2008 – 1:13 am
LELAND BAND students participated in the MSBOA District 2 Solo and Ensemble Saturday at Harbor Springs. Leland students shared the early-morning bus ride with Suttons Bay High School’s Solo and Ensemble participants. Juliana Lisuk and Luke Speicher, euphonium duet, received a score of I; Ryann Collins on flute, accompanied by Lisuk, received a I; Lisuk, piano solo, received a II; Steffanie Priest and Elise Tarsa, flute duet, received a II, Kyle Helwig, Aaron Helwig, Layton Korson and Justin Mackin, brass quartet, received a II; and percussionists Zachary Weber and Jay Vana received a II on their snare duet. Pictured (from left ) are Collins, Speicher, Lisuk, Mackin, Vana, Weber, Aaron Helwig, Tarsa, Korson, Kyle Helwig and Priest.
February 18, 2008 – 1:59 am
LELAND PUBLIC School’s spelling bee, held Friday, Feb. 8, ran 18 rounds to determine the top sellers in grades 5-8 who will represent their school in the county spelling bee Feb. 26 at Northport. The winner, for the second consecutive year, was Guy Beardslee while Ben Mothershead was the runner-rup. Pictured (from left) are Mothershead, Brennan Deckrow, J.R. Duvall, Ian Duvall, Constanza Synder, Hanna Schaub, Elizabeth Vana, Kati Kattelus and Beardslee.
February 18, 2008 – 1:16 am
MORE THAN 100 snowmobilers met at the Empire Airport Feb. 2 and rode to Maple City in memory of Roy Taghon. The Empire man was killed in a snowmobiling accident last month. Organized by Taghon’s uncles — Mike Taghon and Dave Novak — riders came from all over the area to pay a final tribute to Taghon, who loved the sport of snowmobiling as much as he did playing the organ. The group also shared a buffet meal at BenchWarmers in Maple City. More than $2,250 was donated by participants, which will go to Taghon’s favorite passions — snowmobile trails and music education projects.
