The people of Leelanau County generally seem to understand the virtues of charity, and Kelly Slater of Suttons Bay is a good example of this regional characteristic. Slater said that she has her fingers “in many pies,” and among them are the Traverse City Track Club, Green Suttons Bay, and the Friends of Suttons Bay-Bingham District Library.
Slater was born in Syracuse, New York, and has lived in seven other states besides New York and Michigan before settling down in Suttons Bay. Slater’s path had crossed the Great Lakes state several times before, and her in-laws always owned a summer home in Omena, but she started living in Leelanau County permanently in November 2014.
“I lived in Michigan three different times, so this is maybe the place I keep coming back to,” Slater said. “How can you beat it? It’s gorgeous up here, regardless of the fact that I don’t love winter – I travel a lot to get away from the winter – but I just love it. I love the people of a rural community.”
