A giant pumpkin, a winery hitting record numbers nearly 50 years after opening its doors, and the most expensive home purchases in all of northwest Lower Michigan: These are a few of the eye-popping numbers that help tell the story of Leelanau County in 2023. Read on for a numerical breakdown of just a few of the things that make this place fascinating.

Local business

1,893.5: The final weight, in pounds, of “Skrump,” the giant state-championship-winning pumpkin grown here in Leelanau by Nic Welty of 9 Bean Rows. That particular story was one of the favorites of local Leelanau residents this year, who showed a lot of pride on social media when the news broke that Welty and Skrump had clinched a state title at Dundee’s Pumpkin Palooza in October. For comparison’s sake, the pumpkins you buy at Halloween for carving jack-o'-lanterns typically weigh around 12-18 pounds, which means that, even on the high end of that spectrum, Skrump weighed as much as 105 typical Halloween pumpkins. Other things that weigh in around 1,900 pounds: a U-Haul trailer and an adult female walrus. Skrump did weigh a bit less than the Liberty Bell, which clocks in at about 2,080 pounds.

1,600: The approximate number of visitors to MAWBY Vineyards during the weekend of October 22. According to MAWBY partner Michael Laing, that number “was both a fall record and an all-time record for peeps through the door over the course of a weekend.” The record comes as MAWBY approaches its 50th anniversary next year. The fact that MAWBY, which has grown its profile substantially in recent years, is hitting new high water mark nearly half a century in is perhaps less surprising than the record coming in the fall months rather than during northern Michigan’s prime summer tourism season. But a banner year for fall color in the county might help explain the phenomenon, as might a simple growth in local tourism. “There seem to be more people visiting our area, which is great,” Laing says. “And we would like to see more of these people choose the Leelanau Peninsula for their wine tasting experiences.”

The midterm election

71.84: The percentage of registered voters in Leelanau County who turned up to vote or sent in absentee ballots for November’s midterm election. Per county records, there were 21,685 registered voters living in Leelanau County at the time of the election, and 15,578 of them cast ballots. On a township-by-township or village-by-village basis, the Village of Empire had the best voter turnout of any Leelanau district, with 971 of the township’s 1,254 registered voters casting ballots (77.43 percent). The lowest turnout was in Suttons Bay Township, which saw 1,779 ballots for its 2,730 registered voters (or 65.15 percent).

Real estate 

27: The number of properties sold in Leelanau County this year at a price point of $2 million or higher. Per Marty Stevenson, a commercial realtor with EXIT Realty Paramount, the Northern Great Lakes Realtors Multiple Listing Service shows that just 57 properties sold at or above $2 million this year, across the whole five-county region (which includes Antrim, Benzie, Grand Traverse, Leelanau, and Kalkaska counties) and spanning all types of real estate (including residential, commercial, and vacant land). While Grand Traverse County is often thought to be the most expensive place to live or do business in northern Michigan, Leelanau’s 47.4 percent share of the list outstrips any other county. In comparison, Grand Traverse has 24 appearances on the list, Antrim has four, and Antrim and Benzie have one apiece.

$5,057,500: The purchase price of the most expensive house sold in the five-county region this year. While Grand Traverse County had the biggest overall real estate transaction of 2022 – thanks to the $6.8 million sale of an office plaza on West Front Street – Leelanau snagged the rest of the top five with big-ticket residential sales. This particular $5 million home is a 5,600-square-foot residence in Suttons Bay. The other three residences in the top five ranged in purchase price from $3.91 million to $4.475 million and included a waterfront mansion in Northport, a farmhouse in Suttons Bay, and a beach house in Empire, located “just a stone’s throw from Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.”

230: The number of properties sold in the five-county region this year that exceeded a purchase price of $1 million.

Leelanau Christian Neighbors 

It was a year full of activity and upheaval for Leelanau Christian Neighbors (LCN). The following statistics were shared with the Leelanau Ticker by LCN Director Mary Stanton.

45: This year’s percentage increase in “neighbor visits” to the LCN food pantry, compared to 2021. Stanton says the increased level of need has been a challenge for the organization due to the fact that food costs have been up for the food pantry – and for everybody else – for much of this year.

200: Percentage increase LCN is facing in local rent costs as it attempts to help local residents in need of housing assistance. “Our Neighborhood Assistance Ministry program (NAM) is staying within budget, but we are seeing an increase in the amount of financial assistance that neighbors need,” Stanton says. “What used to be a $400 or $500 ask for rent is now a $1,000 to $1,500 ask for rent.” 

Over 30: Percentage increase in donations that LCN has seen to its Samaritans’ Closet resale store this year. As Stanton tells the Leelanau Ticker, all proceeds from the resale store help fun LCN’s other programs, and many items donated to the store are in turn given “to those in dire need,” free of charge. 

230: Kids in Leelanau County who receive assistance each week by way of LCN’s Blessings in a Backpack program. The program, Stanton says, is intended to help kids in the county who are food insecure. “We send bags of food each week to area elementary schools along with snack and hygiene boxes to our middle and high schools,” she explains. 

400: Children served in in 2022 through LCN’s Leelanau Holiday program, the organization’s distribution program for Toys for Tots. 

20,000: Diapers distributed throughout the calendar year by LCN’s “Baby Pantry.” Stanton says the pantry also distributed “over 3,000 articles of clothing.” 

Other local orgs 

6,000: Participants reached by the Suttons Bay-based Inland Seas Education Association (ISEA) with its programming this year. The organization, which works to inspire Great Lakes stewardship through shipboard and on-shore experiences, held 136 Schoolship programs over the course of 2022, along with 16 shoreside Watershed Exploration programs and 33 ROV Engineer programs. Those numbers are the biggest the organization has ever seen, up even from its record-setting 2019 season.

500: The number of individual volunteers fielded by Friends of Sleeping Bear Dunes this year to assist the approximately 150 National Park Service (NPS) employees and 100 NPS volunteers who work to keep the park running. Friends of Sleeping Bear raises funds and provides volunteers “for a wide variety of projects with the park.” According to the organization, 2022 marked the first time that Friends of Sleeping Bear has exceeded 500 volunteers.

Pictured: A group of students participates in an Inland Seas program (courtesy of ISEA).