Tag: Northern Michigan

The Big Wild: Jimmy Carter in Michigan’s Pigeon River Country

Adventure, Northern Michigan, Outdoors, Pigeon River, Presentation, Uncategorized

Pigeon River Discovery Center Hosts a Presentation About President Carter’s 1986 Grouse Hunting Trip to Northern Michigan with retired PRC Unit Manager Ned Caveney

Thursday, August 14 – 7-9 pm – Pigeon River Discovery Center, Vanderbilt

As part of its 2025 Community Event Series, the Pigeon River Discovery Center is proud to welcome retired PRC Unit Manager Ned Caveny, who will share his story about the autumn 1986 grouse hunting trip with Jimmy Carter, the 39th President of the United States. The free presentation will take place from 7:00-9:00 p.m. on Thursday, August 14, at the Pigeon River Discovery Center, 9984 Twin Lakes Rd, Vanderbilt.

Caveney began working for the Michigan DNR in 1966 and was hired in 1974 as the first area forester of the Pigeon River Country State Forest. He had been grouse hunting in the area since his years as a forestry student at Michigan State University. Ned’s extensive knowledge of the local landscape made him the perfect person to lead Carter and fellow hunters, including Michigan-born MSU alumnus Jack Crockford, who was a friend of Ned’s who also worked for the Georgia Game and Fish Commission during Carter’s time as president.

It was a common interest in hunting that brought these men (and a handful of others, including the Secret Service) to the Pigeon River Country in search of the elusive ruffed grouse.

During this visual presentation, attendees will hear first-hand from Ned about the experience and the chain of events that led the President to northern Michigan where he bagged his first grouse.

This presentation is FREE (donations are accepted) and registration is required: https://pigeonriverdiscoverycenter.org/event/president-carter-in-the-pigeon-river-country/

Walloon Lake: Celebrating 90th Anniversary of 17-Square Meter Sailboats

Boating, Lake Michigan, Northern Michigan, Sailing, Uncategorized, Walloon Lake, Yachting

17s the focus of community events throughout the summer

WALLOON LAKE, MICH—In celebration of this summer’s 90th anniversary of the 17-square-meter sailboats — which were first made in Walloon Lake in 1934 — the Walloon 17 Foundation are organizing a series of public events, including:

  • Wednesday, July 17 (starting at 2pm) – a sail around the Village to Michigania; the public can view the activities from Melrose Beach.
  • Saturday, August 3 (starting at 2pm) – a 17 Regatta during the annual Walloon Woodies at The Foot of Walloon Lake
  • Saturday, August 17 (starting at 2pm) – a Media Race around The Foot of Walloon Lake.*

The Crooked Tree District Library (Walloon Lake branch) also has an exhibit on the 17s on display throughout the summer.

About the 17s

The first boat, 17 , was built on Walloon over the winter of 1933-34 by Bill Loughlin & Henry (Jordan) Cawthra and she again sails on Walloon Lake after a recent renovation. A total of 42 17s have been built over their 90-year history, first in wood and later in fiberglass. These boats still actively race 17s on Walloon Lake, the only fleet in existence, thanks to the Walloon Yacht Club and its members.

The 17 Square Meter is a one-design sailing yacht with a sloop rig and spinnaker with a fixed keel with 850 pounds of cast iron or lead and a 1620-pound sailing displacement. It is 24.9 inches in Length, 5’ 1 ½” in Beam with 17 square meters (183 square feet) of sail area, originally. The Class ensign, a red 17 in a Square indicates the vessels are a Square meter boat versus the 12 Meter Class which has a line under the 12 indicating a linear rule. The 12 Meter class raced for the Americas Cup from 1958-87 and other classes are also designed to the linear International Rule, like the 6 Meter Class. There were other popular Square Meter boats such as the 22 Square Meter.    

About the Walloon 17 Foundation

The Walloon 17 Foundation was formed to protect, preserve, and perpetuate the 17 Square Meter Class. This includes the design, the boats, and the history of the 17s. The Foundation sponsors training, races and other events to promote 17s and administers the 17 Class. Members have written several articles on the 17s and in 2017 the Foundation published a coffee table book called Seventeens of Walloon Lake written by Frank Grossi and Bill Bray. The 87-page book includes stunning pictures of the boats in action over the years along with histories of the families who owned the classic sloop sailboats. It is available through the WYC website for $59, with proceeds benefitting the Walloon 17 Foundation. 

The Foundation invites sailors and Wallooners who appreciate 17s to contribute their knowledge and stories as the group continues finding new techniques to share the history and legacy.

www.WalloonLakeMi.com  |  www.Facebook.com/WalloonLakeMi

Images courtesy of Walloon Lake Foundation, Walloon Lake Yacht Club, and The Village of Walloon Lake.

Enjoy a Lakeside Chat with the Grandson of Ernest Hemingway

Adventure, Book events, Book signings, Books

 

Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winning author (and Walloon Lake’s most noted summer resident) Ernest Hemingway came from a family of creative types and has since left a legacy of writing that extends for generations. Among those is his grandson, John Patrick Hemingway, author of Strange Tribe (The Lyons Press, 2007) – a memoir that details the turbulent, love/hate relationship between his father, Dr. Gregory Hemingway, and his grandfather, the Nobel Laureate Ernest Hemingway.

As part of a weekend-long Walloon Lake Writer’s Retreat Weekend at Hotel Walloon, the public is invited to a FREE event – A Lakeside Chat with Author John Patrick Hemingway – on Friday, April 14 at the Talcott Event Venue in downtown Walloon Lake. Doors will open at 7pm with a cash bar featuring a Pilar’s Rum Hemingway Daiquiri (see recipe below), along with select wine and beer; the discussion will begin at 7:30pm and a book signing will follow.

Throughout the weekend, the Canadian/American writer and journalist will lead writers in a series of workshops, readings and other creative exercises meant to inspire personal storytelling. Last year’s inaugural Writer’s Retreat was led by Ernest’s great granddaughter (and John’s niece), Cristen Hemingway Jaynes, author of Ernest’s Way.

In addition to his memoir, John Hemingway has published a number of short stories in magazines and literary reviews such at The Saturday Evening Post and Provincetown Arts and has also written for many fishing and hunting magazines such as Showboats International and Ducks Unlimited. His first novel, Bacchanalia: A Pamplona Story (2019), takes place in Spain during the Fiesta de San Fermín, a nine-day event that was made famous in the1920s by the publication of his grandfather’s work The Sun Also Rises.

Ernest Hemingway was just three months old when he made his first trip from his hometown of Oak Park, IL to Walloon Lake where his parents – Clarence and Grace (Hall) – had purchased property along the North Shore. Ernest spent time every summer until 1921 at the family’s beloved Windemere cottage there, the simple cottage still owned by descendants today. The woods and waters in and around Walloon Lake shaped Hemingway’s life in many ways and it was a place he always held dear to his heart. It was here that his 1972 posthumously published book, The Nick Adams Stories, is primarily set.

To inquire about availability for the “Walloon Lake Writer’s Retreat ” please contact Hotel Walloon at 231-535-5000.

HEMINGWAY DAIQUIRI

INGREDIENTS

  • 1.75 oz Papa’s Pilar® Blonde Rum
  • 0.75 oz fresh Lime juice
  • 0.5 oz Ruby Grapefruit juice
  • 1 tsp Maraschino liqueur
  • 1 tsp Sugar (Papa went without)
  • 1 peel of Grapefruit (as little white pith as possible)

Shake all ingredients and pour into a Coupe glass.
Garnish with a dehydrated Grapefruit slice.

*If you want to make it how Papa drank it, double the rum and make it a Papa Doble!

Recipe and photo courtesy of Papa’s Pilar

Spring Break Destination: Mackinaw City

Birds, Family Excursions, Regional & Ethnic, Round Barn Estates

Spring Break, Blossoms & Birds in the Straits of Mackinac Area

Lovely anytime of the year, don’t miss out on springtime in the Mackinaw City region. Call it a springtime fling because that’s when Mackinaw City businesses and hotels offer vacation specials and events such as the 4th Annual Mackinac Meltdown. Here’s some of what’s going on.

April 1-16 — Spring Break Splash at Pirate Cove Waterpark

Things are heating up inside…with $5 fun, April 1-16 at Pirate’s Adventure Waterpark inside the Crown Choice Inn & Suites Lakeview (720 S. Huron Avenue). Mackinaw’s largest indoor waterpark features a pirate head tipping bucket, three waterslides, bubbler jets, crawl tunnels, water guns, climbing nets, an oversized indoor pool and a whirlpool sauna. Call 231-436-5929 for details.

Saturday, April 6 (11am-2pm) — Taste of Mackinaw

Enjoy delicious foods from local restaurants as well as craft beer and wine at the Mackinac Island Brewhouse & Mackinaw Island Winery inside the Mackinac Bay Trading Company downtown on Huron Avenue, across from Conkling Heritage Park. Tickets are $10 per person.

Discover Birds of Prey at Raptor Fest!

Currently birding is the second fastest growing hobby in the United States after gardening, according to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. In Michigan we take our birding seriously with more than 2 million birdwatchers residing in the state. And this area of Michigan is a birdwatching hot spot. Every year thousands of hawks, eagles, vultures, and owls follow the curves of Lakes Michigan and Huron to the Straits of Mackinac. From there, to save energy, they use rising air drafts, rising high in the air and then gliding across the 5-mile expanse of the Straits.

Note that though they’re no longer protected under the Federal Endangered Species Act, the bald eagle remains protected under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act. The Mackinac Straits Raptor Watch conducts scientific studies and takes inventory of hawks, owls and other raptors migrating through this region of northern Michigan, educating the public about the birds and their migratory patterns.

 Raptor Fest, April 3-5, is their largest annual event, a three-day celebration of all things raptor including sightings of migrating birds and educational workshops.

For more information visit Mackinaw City.