Michigan was founded on January 26, 1837 as the 26th state of the United States of America. Currently home to nearly 10 million people, spread out throughout two peninsulas, Michigan is the Great Lakes State – the Mitten of Plenty – the Wolverine State. Michigan’s early business history is centered in industries that benefited from its proximity to the Great Lakes: fishing, lumbering, mining, fur trapping and agriculture.
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Each holiday season, we are inundated with hour after hour of movies about Christmas airing on television and now streaming services. A handful have ties to Michigan, like Prancer (1989) and The Polar Express (2004). But did you know the beloved 1954 classic White Christmas is believed to have actually been written right here in the Great Lakes State?
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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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Celery is an integral part of the Thanksgiving feast…as one of the main ingredients in homemade stuffing (or dressing, if you prefer). Did you know that Kalamazoo, Michigan is known as “Celery City” because it was the first place in the United States where this vegetable was commercially grown?
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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.
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Saturday was spent traipsing around the snow-covered landscape at Treetops Resort in Gaylord, celebrating Michigan Winter Trails Day with the find folks at Great Lakes Winter Trails Council. After a snowshoe hike and a winter rafting trip, I was ready to warm my mind, body and soul with a relaxing massage at the Spa inside Treetops main lodge.
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The Michigan Hemingway Society (MHS) is once again hosting its annual literary and history conference, October 18-20 at The Terrace Inn in the Northern Michigan Chautauqua community of Bay View. It was here, and in the surrounding countryside and lakeshore communities that the Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winning author, Ernest Hemingway, discovered his love of nature and the quite solace that can be found “Up North in Michigan.
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Michigan storyteller, historian and author Dianna Stampfler will present a lively and upbeat historical program on Wednesday, July 17 at 6:30pm at the Alice and Jack Wirt Public Library in downtown Bay City – drawing stories from her newly released best-selling book “Michigan’s Haunted Lighthouses” (which includes the Saginaw River Rear Range Light in Bay City on the cover). The program is free and open to the public as the community rallies to welcome the 2019 Tall Ship Celebration.
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Imagine hiking wooded island trails and paddling the open waters of northern Lake Huron where America’s “father of wildlife ecology” and “founder of the conservation movement” explored as inquisitive youth. That’s what conservationists and nature lovers are planning May 30 through June 2 when they attend the third annual Aldo Leopold Festival in the Les Cheneaux Islands, including the communities of Cedarville and Hessel.
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Michigan is home to more lighthouses than any other state and some 30 of those are rumored to be haunted
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It’s finally happening. My book is getting closer to publication every single day and it has recently appeared for pre-order on The History Press website and Amazon.com (AMAZON….OMG). Autographed copies will also be sold on this website in March. It’s also listed with the popular book review site, GoodReads.com. It’s surreal…to say the least.
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For nearly 20 years, Dianna Stampfler has been speaking about Michigan’s lighthouses, their keepers and their ghosts. This fall, she will present a series of free programs called “Michigan’s Ghostly Beacons” at libraries around the state.
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I’ve been writing professionally (meaning getting paid) since I was in high school. From news articles to magazine features stories, I have hundreds of pieces with my byline. In 2019, I’ll add a book–titled “Michigan’s Haunted Lighthouses”–to my portfolio. Research and writing continues, and I want to hear YOUR stories if you have any to share about your ghostly encounters at any of Michigan’s historic beacons.
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