This coming weekend is among the busiest of the summer, rivaling 4th of July festivities.
Here’s what’s happening:
• Over 75 artists from across Michigan and throughout the Midwest will converge on Glen Arbor Friday and Saturday for the 15th annual Plein Air Weekend. The Glen Arbor Art Center (GAAC) hosts the event, which includes two outdoor painting competitions and exhibitions of original work at the Glen Arbor Township Hall each night.
The weekend begins with the popular Quick Draw Friday. This year’s theme is “Country Roads, Take Me Home” and artists will have a three-hour window of time to paint in the Glen Arbor area. The artists return to the town hall in the late afternoon to enter their work in the judged exhibit. The public is invited to view and purchase the Quick Draw artwork at the hall, from 5 to 6:30 p.m.
For the day-long Paint Out Saturday, artists may paint anywhere in the area, including the villages of Glen Arbor and Empire, the beautiful blues of Glen Lake, and the National Park.
The Paint Out exhibit and sale is Saturday from 5:30 to 7 p.m. GAAC will award first, second and third prizes, along with two honorable mentions.
• The 12th annual Port Oneida Run will take place on Saturday, August 3rd, 2023, an event of the nonprofit park partner Preserve Historic Sleeping Bear. The run starts and ends at the big red barn and lawn area at the Olsen Farm/Port Oneida Farms Heritage Center just 4 miles north of Glen Arbor.
It is the only race that winds through the beautiful scenery of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore’s Port Oneida Rural HistoricDistrict. Registrants can choose from four courses this year. The Half Marathon loops through hilly trails, dirt/ gravel roads, and pavement. The 10K is also a loop combination of trail running, gravel back roads, and pavement. The cost is $60 through August 1st and $75 on race day. The popular Flat and Fast 5K route is out and back on the Heritage Trail and Basch Road in Port Oneida. Strollers and leashed dogs are welcome on the 5K. The cost is $35 through August 1st and $45 on race day.
For kids aged 9 and under, the Kids Schoolhouse Dash is a 1/4 mile round trip to the historic Port Oneida schoolhouse and back. Registration is $10 through Aug. 3, $15 on race day.
All races have a wave start with professional chip timing. Post-race celebrations include race awards and food. Afterwards, participants can take a swim on the beautiful Lake Michigan beaches down the road in Port Oneida. Spectators can bring a blanket and enjoy the festivities.
To register, go to https://phsb. org/port-oneida-run/#.
Preserve Historic Sleeping Bear (PHSB) is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofi t community organization that partners with the park to preserve, maintain, and interpret historic structures and landscapes to ensure that Great Lakes history is protected and accessible to the public. Preserve Historic Sleeping Bear is celebrating its 25th year.
• The Northport Lions Club Pancake Fly-In & Drive-in Breakfast is Saturday, from 8 a.m. to noon at Woolsey Memorial Airport.
The Fly-In was introduced by the Northport Pilots Association in 1988 and has been sustained by the Lions’ Club since 2008.
Participants can enjoy a pancake breakfast while sharing a festive morning show of planes and special vehicles coming and going.
The Northport Community Band will play.
Tickets are $10 for adults; $5 for children aged 5 to 12 and free for kids 4 and under.
• The 44th annual Suttons Bay Art Festival will take place Saturday and Sunday, and highlight around 100 visiting artists from across the country. The juried art fair which includes paintings, ceramicists, food vendors, and sculptors, makes the Suttons Bay Art Festival a diverse display of talent, all inspired by the scenic towns of the Leelanau Peninsula.
The fair takes place next to Suttons Bay Marina Park from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.
One hundred artists along with community groups, a community library book sale, food vendors and a children’s area make this the perfect place to spend an art-filled weekend at the beach. New this year, the Art Fair will host a breakfast from 8:30 to 11 a.m. with proceeds benefi ting funds for scholarships for students attending Suttons Bay School.
The Friends of the Suttons Bay-Bingham District Library will also hold a used book sale Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• The Old Settler’s Picnic (OSP) Association will host its 131st annual Old Settler’s Picnic Sunday at the OSP grounds on the shore of big Glen Lake.
The event begins with a chapel service at 10:30 a.m. Lunch will be served by the Empire Masonic Lodge from noon to 3 p.m. The annual meeting of the OSP Association will take place at 1:30 p.m. where officers are selected and cash prizes awarded to the oldest man and woman; youngest child; longest married and most recently married couples. There will also be music and children’s games.
