Jellyfish Stormfront by Tom Parrent
Tom shot this terrifying image of the August 2, 2015 superstorm from Traverse City’s Old Mission Peninsula. See more on his Facebook.
Check out a full retrospective on one of the strongest storms in Michigan’s modern history on Leelanau.com.
Chicago to Mac Sailing Race at Mackinac Island by Stephen R. Cloutier
The Chicago Yacht Club Race To Mackinac starts Friday morning (July 18). The Chicago to Mac is the longest annual freshwater sailing race in the world, spanning 333 statute miles from the start at the Chicago Yacht Club, up the western shore of Lake Michigan, passing under the Mackinac Bridge to finish at Mackinac Island. They explain that:
…the race’s unpredictable weather and shifting winds on Lake Michigan make it a supreme test of sailing skill, rivaling many offshore ocean races. What first began in 1898 with just five boats has now evolved into a world-class sporting event. The origins of the Race to Mackinac date back to 1898, when Joseph Myers designed two fin-keel sloops, Siren and Vanenna. These vessels sparked a competition between their owners, George Peate of Siren and W.R. Crawford of Vanenna, and after three races in June of 1898, Vanenna remained undefeated. This prompted the idea of a unique, challenging race – one that would forever change the history of sailing.
Lots more on the Race to Mackinac website. If you click the pic above, you can see more of Stephen’s photos. For sure follow him on Instagram for his latest! Also more about Round Island lighthouse on Michigan in Pictures!
Chicago to Mac at Mackinac Bridge by Stephen R. Cloutier
Might Mac Rainbow by the Riviera Motel of Mackinac City
One of my favorite recent finds is the 24-hour live Mackinac Bridge Camera presented by Mackinac City’s Riviera Motel. Enjoy!!
Grand Haven Traffic by Scott Ward Photography
mLive shares that a record 2.6 million people are expected to travel for the Fourth of July in Michigan, up 3% from 2024.
AAA projects nearly 2.4 million Michigan residents will take a road trip, up 2.5% from the same holiday period last year. Another 96,000 residents are expected to fly domestically, and more than 160,000 to travel by bus, train or cruise.
No word on how many will be traveling by personal watercraft, but probably a lot more than usual!! They say that the busiest days on the road will likely be Wednesday, July 2, and Sunday, July 6. with afternoon hours as the most congested.
See more in Scott’s Planes, Trains & Automobiles…Boats too gallery on Flickr. For sure view & purchase his work on his website and follow Scott Ward Photography on Facebook for his latest!
View from the top of Frankfort Lighthouse by SueFi Photography
Longtime Michigan in Pictures contributor SueFi Photography shared a bunch of photos related to the recent restoration & preservation of the Frankfort Lighthouse after repeated vandalism incidents:
Erin Griebe, the chairperson of the Frankfort Lighthouse Restoration Project, says volunteers first noticed bullet holes in the lamp room last fall. “That’s very expensive glass to replace. It’s all custom because this is a very old historic building, and once the integrity of the glass is disrupted with bullet holes, you have to make those repairs,” Griebe told News 8 affiliate UpNorthLive.
“It’s just years and years of build up and paint and, you know, if we’re going to spend all this money, donated money to entirely clean this down to the bare metal and then restore it to pristine condition, is this just going to happen again?” Ketz said.
The restoration project was estimated to cost $1.1 million in 2022. Griebe already knows the costs will surpass that estimate and wants to avoid any other unnecessary work. “We are hopeful that by raising awareness, people will become less likely to tag the lighthouse, and for the individuals taking shots at it will also think twice now that the community at large is more aware,” she told News 8.
Get more information and donate to the Frankfort Lighthouse Restoration Project on their website!
Here’s a bunch more photos from Sue and you can see a whole lot more views of the lighthouse, Frankfort & everywhere at SueFi Photography on Facebook!
Sunrise at St James Harbor by Andy Farmer
I confess that when I started today’s post I had no idea that June 16, 1856 was the date when assassins mortally wounded Michigan’s only king. To be clear, this is a post about kings being a deeply stupid & un-American thing, not a post about killing them.
Michigan religious leader & politician James Jesse Strang was a major contender for leadership of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints after the death of founder Joseph Smith. Here are some excerpts of the wild ride of a Wikipedia that is the James Jesse Strang entry & chronicles his life as a lawyer, minister, prophet & politician who ultimately became something of a king. Please feel welcome to add your favorite tidbits in the comments!
Strang rested his claim to leadership on an ordination by an angel at the very moment Joseph Smith died (similar to the ordination of Smith), requirements that he claimed were set forth in the Doctrine and Covenants that the President had to be appointed by revelation and ordained by angels, and a “Letter of Appointment” from Smith, carrying a legitimate Nauvoo postmark. This letter was dated June 18, 1844, just nine days before Smith’s death. (he also claimed to have divine plates a la Smith that he discovered in Voree, Wisconsin)
…About 12,000 Latter Day Saints ultimately accepted Strang’s claims.[30] A second “Stake of Zion” was established on Beaver Island in Lake Michigan, where Strang moved his church headquarters in 1848. Strang’s church had a high turnover rate … Many defections were due to Strang’s seemingly abrupt “about-face” on the turbulent subject of polygamy. Vehemently opposed to the practice at first, Strang reversed course in 1849 and became one of its strongest advocates, marrying five wives (including his original spouse, Mary) and fathering fourteen children. Strang defended his new tenet by claiming that, far from enslaving or demeaning women, polygamy would liberate and “elevate” them by allowing them to choose the best possible mate based upon any factors which were deemed important by them.
…Strang was crowned in 1850 by his counselor and Prime Minister, George J. Adams. About 300 people witnessed his coronation, for which he wore a bright red flannel robe which was topped by a white collar with black speckles. His crown was made of tin, rather than gold, and it is described in one account as being “a shiny metal ring with a cluster of glass stars in the front.
On Monday, June 16, 1856, Strang was waylaid on the dock at the harbor of St. James, the chief city on Beaver Island by former disciples who shot him in the back.
Andy shared these pics back in August of 2016 in his Beaver Island, MI gallery on Flickr, and I’ve included a couple images from Wikipedia as well.
Happy Father’s Day by Terry Zweering
Wishing all of the dads out there a Happy Father’s Day!
Terry took this on Pyramid Point overlooking Lake Michigan back in 2013. See more in her Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park gallery on Flickr!
Surprised by Joy by Mark Smith
“Ross Lang was known by many as a fisherman’s fisherman, respected by everyone who knew him for his efficiency, determination, and ingenuity. The shock experienced by all when he died in a fishing accident on a beautiful calm April day in 1998 is still felt today.” –Fishtown Preservation
Once upon a time, Joy Lang Anderson & her husband Ross were my across the street neighbors in the village of Leland. Back in 2017, I sat down with her in Leland’s Fishtown to talk about how she & Ross (both UP natives) ended up integral parts of the village of Leland and its fishing history. I hope you enjoy it!
The photos of the Joy were taken by Mark Smith (I took the pic of Ross’s marker). See more in Mark’s Leland album on Flickr and for sure view & purchase Mark’s work at Leelanau Landscapes.
Donate to support Fishtown’s preservation right here!
EDITOR’S NOTE ON THE EDITOR’S NOTE: I am the editor of Leelanau.com. I wrote the Editor’s Note below and fully endorse the position of the letter writer. Honestly, if you don’t I really wonder why you follow this blog and for sure don’t care if you go away for good.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the first message that I am going to share from a National Forest Service employee who is neck deep in the horrors being perpetrated against the National Park Service and the National Forest Service. Sadly, I don’t think it will be the last. Also, at the end, the author says mean things about the Department of Government Efficiency aka DOGE aka the unelected & unaccountable organization taking a wrecking ball to the federal government which I fully endorse. This is an ill-fated & poorly planned action that will cause untold & in some cases irreparable damage to public resources that you and I own. We should not allow this.
I am also going to encourage you to read this letter to the Glen Arbor Sun about the issue by seasonal Park worker Jess Piskor. OK here’s the letter
I have things to say.
1. I still have a job, meaning I somehow cleared level one. RIF (reduction in force) is the Boss Level, and that’s still a ways off (days? Weeks? We don’t know). I am not in any way hopeful that I will still be employed with the National Forests in four months, or that there will be National Forests in four years.
2. People at work are packing, printing our performance docs, waiting for the call. Some of us (like me) have targets on our backs, but nobody is safe. Nobody sleeps. A co-worker thought he was having a heart attack. We compare what meds we’re taking for anxiety. The wait is torture. I had to process termination paperwork for a very close friend who kicks ass at her job. It sucks every day. And work used to be my happy place.
3. The termination letters site performance issues. THIS IS A LIE and they know it. That’s why they fired (and were forced by a federal judge to rehire) the head of the Merit Systems Protection Board, a board whose main job is to say, “Whoa whoa wait a sec. You can’t fire federal employees without just cause!” This is why people are signing termination docs “signed under duress.” My friend has excellent performance evaluations. Most of the fired people do. Because…
4. Probation does NOT mean we did something wrong. It means we just got hired (or promoted) and it came with a probationary period. These are recent graduates who went to school for natural resource management, wildlife conservation, forestry, and did so with the SOLE INTENT of protecting our public lands. These are the MOST devoted, passionate, educated, efficient people. With the least pay. We don’t work public lands for the pay; it is so much less than private sector wages, you guys. Look up the federal pay scale. It’s public information. Compare GS level jobs to what they’d make at a private company. In NPS we joked that we got paid in sunsets. We join because we believe in preserving public land for future generations. But it’s starting to look like our public lands will be cannibalized for parts. So
5. Please! If you go to public lands this summer, or in the next four years, know that we are doing the best we can with the staff and budget we’ve been given. There’s a district north of Yellowstone of over a million acres that has been left with THREE employees. Recreation and Trails departments across the nation have been gutted. There are NO PEOPLE LEFT ON THE GROUND TO CLEAN YOUR SHIT. If you have a complaint about your lands this summer, do NOT get hostile with the federal workers on the ground. Take that complaint, dip it in hot tar, and shove it as far up the DOGEs ass as you can reach.
Thoughts? Head over the the Leelanau.com Facebook to share them.
FYI, I took the photo above. You can click the Patreon to support me & Michigan in Pictures and stay tuned for more!
Above Lake Michigan by Bill Dolak
With full honor & respect to the absolutely brutal temps across Michigan this morning, here are some sweet photos from a series that Bill took on February 1st at Fennville’s Pier Cove Park. There’s even a shot of a sundog in one of the photos!
See more in his Droneography – Autel EVO Lite+ gallery on Flickr!
Michigan in Pictures 