great lakes – Promote Michigan

Dianna Stampfler January 19, 2024January 19, 2024 cinematography, Film Festival, films, fresh water, great lakes, oceans, pure michigan, Thunder Bay, Water

12th Annual Thunder Bay International Film Festival Focuses on the Global Importance of Protecting Water Resources

Each January, the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary brings the world of cinema to northeast Michigan with some of the most impressive ocean and Great Lakes films from around the world. This year’s event kicks off Wednesday, January 24 and runs through Sunday, January 28 and encompasses three cities—Alpena, Rogers City and Harrisville—along Michigan’s sunrise coast. Film screenings are complemented by social events, educational activities, and opportunities to meet filmmakers. The complete film schedule is attached.

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Dianna Stampfler December 22, 2023December 22, 2023 Alpena, documentary, Film Festival, films, great lakes, maritime, pure michigan, Shipwreck, Sunrise Side, Thunder Bay, Water

12th Annual Thunder Bay International Film Festival – Celebrating Our Ocean & Great Lakes

For five days each January, the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary brings the world of cinema to northeast Michigan with some of the most impressive ocean and Great Lakes films from around the world. Film screenings are complemented by social events, educational activities, and opportunities to meet filmmakers.

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Dianna Stampfler November 1, 2023 beer, great lakes, hops, mdard, michigan agriculture, michigan hops, pure michigan, usda

Hop Growers of Michigan Awarded USDA Marketing Grant to Enhance Sales Competitiveness within the Great Lakes Region

Hop Growers of Michigan (HGM), the non-profit organization representing the hop industry in the Great Lakes State, has recently been awarded a $105,549 U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Specialty Crop Block Grant. This funding will allow HGM to launch a 2-year marketing, sales and product awareness campaign within the Midwest—specifically targeting Michigan, Indiana, Ohio and Wisconsin.

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Dianna Stampfler October 24, 2023October 24, 2023 agriculture, breweries, farm market, farm visits, farms, great lakes, michigan agritourism, pure michigan, summit, tourism, traverse city, wineries

Inaugural Michigan AgriTourism Summit Scheduled for May 2024 in Traverse City

Recognizing the importance and value of agritourism to the state of Michigan, we are excited to announce the inaugural Michigan Agritourism Summit will be held on Wednesday, May 8 at the Hagerty Center in Traverse City.

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Dianna Stampfler June 8, 2023June 8, 2023 great lakes, hops, michigan agriculture, michigan beer, michigan hops

Hop Growers of Michigan Expands Board

Hop Growers of Michigan (HGM), the non-profit organization representing the hop industry in the Great Lakes State, has recently expanded its volunteer board from five to nine members.

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Dianna Stampfler June 21, 2022June 21, 2022 authors, grand traverse bay, great lakes, haunted, lighthouse, manitou, pure michigan, sailing, tall ship, traverse city, windjammer, writing

Great Lakes Lighthouses & Keepers the Focus of September 13-17 Manitou Windjammer Cruise

One of the most unique hands-on Pure Michigan experiences is to spend several days sailing the freshwaters aboard a dual-masted tall ship. You’re invited to board one of the largest sailing vessels in the Great Lakes during one of these autumn windjammer cruises aboard the Tall Ship Manitou with the Traverse Tall Ship Company. Coming up September 13-17 is a four-day excursion focused on the hundreds of historic lighthouses throughout the Great Lakes region with best-selling author and freelance travel writer, Dianna Stampfler.

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Dianna Stampfler May 23, 2022January 7, 2023 canada, circle tour, great lakes, illinois, indiana, lake erie, lake huron, lake michigan, lake ontario, lake superior, michigan, minnesota, ohio, ontario, wisconsin

35 Years of Looping Lake Michigan

Four out of five Great Lakes (all those touching Michigan) have an official “Circle Tour” route that were each established to encourage travel to the unique small towns and larger urban centers found along the way.

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Dianna Stampfler January 16, 2022February 27, 2022 death, great lakes, lake erie, lake huron, lake michigan, lake ontario, lake superior, lighthouse, maritime, murder, suicide, true crime

Murder & Suicide of Lighthouse Keepers the Focus of New Book by Author Dianna Higgs Stampfler

Blending her long-time interest in maritime history and true crime, Death & Lighthouses on the Great Lakes is the latest title by Michigan author Dianna Higgs Stampfler and published by the History Press as part of its Murder & Mayhem series.

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Dianna Stampfler May 6, 2021May 4, 2023 female, great lakes, keeper, lighthouse, maritime history, michigan, michigan history, mothers day

Mothers of Michigan’s Lights

Michigan’s many historic lighthouses were home to dozens of women who served as keepers while also raising their families in often remote locations. This Mother’s Day, we pay tribute to these “Mothers of the Lights” here in the Great Lakes State!

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Dianna Stampfler March 15, 2021 great lakes, lake michigan, michigan lighthouse, sheridan, sleeping bear dunes, south manitou island

Tragedy on South Manitou Island

Lighthouse keeper Aaron Sheridan was a Civil War soldier who lost the use of his arm in battle and as such, he was able to get his wife — Julia — appointed his assistant keeper oft his important beacon in the norther part of Lake Michigan. Given his injuries, when he needed to make the trip across the waters to the mainland, Aaron would often hire a local fisherman named Christ Ancharson to man the 25-foot Mackinaw sailboat. During such a trip, on Friday, March 15, 1878, high waves and bad weather overturned the boat just as it was approaching the harbor on South Manitou Island. Sadly, the Sheridans — including their infant son, Robert — died that day.

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Dianna Stampfler December 16, 2020January 26, 2022 great lakes, lighthouse, michigan, michigan sports alliance, michigan sports commission, pure michigan, run, virtual walk, walk

Michigan Sports Alliance Launches Virtual Michigan Lighthouse Tour for 2021

The Michigan Sports Alliance will host the 2021 Michigan Lighthouse Tour starting March 1 – May 3, 2021. The tour is a virtual team-based challenge for groups of 6-24 people to collectively run or walk 2,021 miles over the course of two months while visiting 28 of the featured Michigan lighthouses.

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Dianna Stampfler November 9, 2020January 15, 2021 carl d. bradley, christmas tree ship, diving, edmund fitzgerald, Francisco Morazan, freshwater, gales of november, great lakes, inland seas, islands, lake erie, lake huron, lake michigan, lake ontario, lake superior, pure michigan, rouse simmons, shipwrecks, storms, underwater preserve, upper peninsula, whitefish point

The Power of the Gales of November

While tropical storms and hurricanes continue to attack the region in and around the Gulf of Mexico, the “Gales of November” are stirring up the Great Lakes region just as they have for centuries. This unique weather phenomenon is created when cold, dry air from northern Canada converges with moist air from the Gulf of Mexico, over the still warm summer waters of the Great Lakes.

Dianna Stampfler - Michigan's Haunted Lighthouses

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Dianna Stampfler October 16, 2020January 26, 2022 ghost stories, great lakes, haunted, lighthouse, michigan, paranormal, spirits

Illuminating “Michigan’s Haunted Lighthouses” Just in Time for Halloween

Every fall, a growing interest in the paranormal means that people around Michigan (and beyond) begin talking about the state’s many spirited sites…most notably, it’s historic lighthouses. Of the more than 125 lighthouses in the state, 30 or so are also rumored to be haunted…and 13 of those are included in the pages of the best-selling book “Michigan’s Haunted Lighthouses” by Dianna Stampfler.