Last-Minute Leelanau: Gift Local Quickly
The county’s small towns are cloaked in snow, and the shopkeepers and local makers are at your service. Just in the nick of time for the week-before-Christmas shopper, we offer this jam-packed list of gift inspiration from across the peninsula.
At Bay Books in Suttons Bay, owner Tina Greene-Bevington has stocked local authors for those who are homesick for the peninsula — such as Aaron Stander’s Destination Wedding, Scott Craig’s Laughing In Leelanau, and Kathleen Stocking’s From The Place of the Gathering — and has designed $55 bundles, including shipping, curated for “Your Busy Sibling,” or “Your Literary Brother From Another Mother,” etc.
Dennis Gerathy is Leelanau County’s unofficial sign painter — you may recognize his unmistakable “Up North” look in the signage at North Country Grill, the Village Inn, Bahle’s, Cherry Republic, and Molly’s (pictured). He tells the Leelanau Ticker that because art fairs were cancelled in 2020, his workshop — currently with Boston Pops Christmas music playing and every surface overflowing with hand-painted vintage signs — is open for socially-distanced browsing by appointment. Find contact info and examples of his work on his Facebook page.
Gerathy is also one several Glen-Arbor area artists in the Glen Arbor Holiday Marketplace, gone virtual this year, with shopping live through Dec. 18.
Molly Hyde of Molly’s in Leland says the downtown has never been more inviting for the winter stroller and holiday shopper, especially with the addition of the Festival of Lights and 12 Days Of Christmas Trees designed by local artists on the Old Art Building’s front lawn. For those not able or wanting to venture out, Molly’s, which is open daily through Christmas Eve, offers free delivery in Leelanau.
The Polish Art Center in Cedar could possibly be your one-stop-shop this year, as co-owner Kathleen Bittner-Koch offers the tree decor (glass kielbasa ornament, anyone?); stocking stuffers (including her “diehard favorite, Sliwka,” dried plums covered in chocolate); dinner (frozen pierogi and smoked Mangalista hams raised on her 14-acre homestead in Cedar); dessert (traditional gingerbread from the oldest bakery in Poland); and even the hand-painted pottery to serve it on. Here, check out the story our sister publication Northern Express did on Bittner-Koch’s homage to the Old Country.
At L. Saile Designer Jewelry next door, veteran jewelry-maker Liz Saile designs using Petoskey, Leland Blue, Kzoo Blue, Frankfort Green, and the newest kid on the Michigan slag block: Saginaw Sweetstone. The purply-blue stone is the slag left over from sugar beet processing at the Pioneer Sugar plant in Bay City. “It has beautiful color — different shades of blue based in the mineral content of the soil where the beets were grown,” says Saile. Meanwhile, her shop-mate, Sweeties Homemade Baked Goods, is cranking out the cookies: iced Italian cookies, cherry winks, Polish chrusciki and gluten-free options.
Did you know Leelanau has a wine trail within a wine trail? Glen Arbor Village Wine Trail is a micro-trail of three wineries all in walking distance: Cherry Republic’s winery is open for sales only this season and is stocked with several varieties of cherry wines; while both Glen Arbor Wines and M22 Glen Arbor are offering pours, curated wine gifts, and toasty outdoor spots to imbibe.
Last-minute on getting out the Christmas cards out this year, too? Go virtual and snap a few family Facebook or Instagram shots using the vintage station wagon cutouts on the grounds at the Grand Traverse Lighthouse Museum (GTLM) at the tip of the peninsula. Executive director Stef Staley tells the Leelanau Ticker the cutout scenes were made by GTLM volunteers and board member Gloria Cobb. Both the lighthouse and gift shop — housed in the former USCG garage — will be open this weekend (Dec. 18 though Dec. 20) stocked with anything a lighthouse fan might fancy, from puzzles to winter beanies. All gift shop proceeds benefit the lighthouse winter utilities and salaries. Time your route home from the lighthouse to see the giant Christmas tree lit up in the heart of Northport, and to pop into Pennington Collection where you can pick up local farmer Julius Kolarik honey gift boxes and shop for the kids on your list.
And for those wishing to support a local small business and give a few senior neighbors some joy, take up Forget-Me-Not-Florist owner Carly Campbell and team on an offer made on the Suttons Bay shop’s Facebook page this week: “We are offering the opportunity to send flowers to local senior residents at Medilodge of Suttons Bay and Northport Highlands. If you want to spend $50, we will break it into two $25 pieces to send to two random residents. Spend $100, we will send four pieces…while so many cannot be with (or even see) their families this season, we need to spread the love.”
Note that many Leelanau shops, including Bahle’s, require online orders by Friday, Dec. 18 to ship in time for the holiday, while Grocer’s Daughter Chocolate in Empire has reached capacity for online orders, and will reopen its website for curbside orders Dec. 18.
Photos: Bay Books by Lisa Baird; Polish Art Center by John Konkal Photography; Molly’s by Molly Hyde