OMP News & Photos: Art Fair, 7 Hills Project, Bluff Road Update & More

Here’s a roundup of recent news and photos around the Old Mission Peninsula…

Litter Picker-Uppers Wanted! Mission Point Lighthouse Manager Ginger Schultz is looking for a team of two to three volunteers to help collect litter in the Lighthouse area (parking lot, beach, roadsides) about once a month, April through October. You would alternate with an existing team, and all supplies needed for the task will be provided. You’ll also receive a nifty “Litter Getter” T-shirt, along with a yellow vest to use while volunteering. If interested, email Ginger, [email protected].

Art Fair at the Library. A Community Art Fair is coming up at the library. Lots of local artists will be offering their work for sale, including photography, glass, woodworking, quilting, wool mittens, jewelry, natural fiber toys, block printing, printed textiles and more.

The event will take place at Peninsula Community Library, 2893 Island View Road, on Saturday, Sept. 24, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. What a great way to support our local artists and purchase gifts for yourself or others.

These pics are Ed Farnham’s beautiful photography at a recent Tinker Studio event – I don’t know if he’s one of the art fair vendors or not.

Life Jacket Library at Haserot. If you’re in need of a life jacket for your kids at Haserot Beach, the good folks at “Mission Blues” have you covered. They attended a Township meeting earlier in the year and asked permission to install a “Life Jacket Library” at the beach.

The non-profit group hosts a variety of programs involving our Great Lakes and water safety, including classroom programs, summer camps, open water certifications, and the installation of sustainable and safe underwater art for families to learn about what is below the waterline. Check out their website here.

Hope for Bluff Road? According to this story in the Traverse City Record-Eagle this week, there might be hope for re-opening the north end of Bluff Road. “That’s assuming Peninsula Township and the Grand Traverse County Road Commission get a green light to participate in a new loan opportunity from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA),” notes the story by William T. Perkins.

“‘The money, to be paid back over a 20-year span, could potentially allow local officials to build the shoreline back up stronger than it was before, allowing it to withstand the increasingly harsh effects of climate change,’ said Sen. Gary Peters, D-MI, in a press conference at the site Monday.”

Bluff Road was his second stop in a motorcycle tour across the state. It’s a good thought, but we OMPers won’t hold our breath, right? We’ll believe it when we see it.

Seven Hills Project Eyes Opening. Over at The Ticker, Craig Manning posted an update on the Seven Hills project helmed by locals Troy Daily, Jay Milliken, Jordan Valdmanis, and Brian Peace. Craig writes, “A new distillery, restaurant, coffee shop, and community gathering space could open its doors on Old Mission Peninsula as early as this fall. The project, a redevelopment of the Seven Hills commercial complex just north of Devil’s Dive Road, has been in the works now for two years.”

The foursome will own the anchor tenant, a coffee shop and distillery tasting room hybrid (coffee shop during the day; cocktail lounge by night). No distilling or bottling will take place at the Seven Hills location; the group is partnering with Mammoth Distilling to produce a line of spirits under the Old Mission Distilling label.