Erin Crowell

Features Erin Crowell Wild Side of Petoskey:“Jungle” Jack Hanna featured at 2010 North Central Michigan College Lecture Series
By Erin Crowell
Jack Hanna has been making late night talk show hosts nervous with his
exotic animals since 1985. Hanna has even been in the wildlife industry
longer than Earth Day has existed, which is currently celebrating its 40th
year.

Features Erin Crowell Mud, Sweat & Beers: Get your mountain bike on at Mt. Holiday
By Erin Crowell
Mountain biking and beer.
Together, they have become practically synonymous for a good time in Northern Michigan. Cross the finish line at a mountain bike race and chances are, you’ll see a beer tent near the timing clock. It’s the reward for hard work: hammering up hills, fixing flat tires, avoiding flattening squirrels... it’s what mountain biking is about and it’s the idea behind Mud, Sweat & Beers – Fat Tire Fest 2010.
On Saturday, May 1, Mt. Holiday in Traverse City will host a 20 mile and 10 mile mountain bike loop along the variable terrain of Traverse City’s east side ski hill. Mt. Holiday is the only non-profit 501c3 ski, mountain biking, and Frisbee golf area in the Midwest. All proceeds from the race will support Mt. Holiday Ski & Recreation Area.

Features Erin Crowell Before the Boardman River Nature Center opened its doors two years ago, there wasn’t an education facility dedicated to conservation efforts in the Grand Traverse region.
“It’s kind of shocking for this kind of community,” says Colleen Masterson-Bzdok, education director of the Boardman Center.
Located on Cass Road, just south of Traverse City in the Boardman River Valley, the center opened in 2008 as the gateway to seven miles of trails running through 500 acres of forest, fields, marshes and wildlife habitat along the river. In addition to being the starting point for a trail system along the Boardman River, the center has provoked a positive response from the community with the multitude of programs and events. It is also at the center of activity with the Grand Traverse Conservation District.

Features Erin Crowell When it comes to living green, it’s about getting the most bang for your
buck without leaving a considerable carbon footprint in your wake. The
U.S. Green Building Council has developed a standard that allows
homeowners to do just that through its LEED program (Leadership in Energy
and Environmental Design).

Features Erin Crowell “We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.” ~Native American Proverb
On April 24, Northern Michigan residents will take to the streets of Traverse City for the Earth Day Parade. The route begins at Central Grade School at 1 p.m. and will continue on Seventh Street to Eighth, then on to State Street, ending at Park Street.
The Earth Day Parade is coordinated by Penny Krebiehl, founder of Little Artshram – a non-profit community of artists, musicians and environmentalists committed to learning, celebrating and co-creating with area youth and their families in the Grand Traverse region.

Features Erin Crowell Grinding the Rails at North Coast Freeride
By Erin Crowell
Several months ago, Levi Kyser took his mountain bike to Ray’s
Mountain Bike Park, an indoor skate and bike park in Cincinnati, Ohio.
It was an inspirational trip for the Traverse City native, who has
traveled to places such as New Jersey, West Virginia and New York as a
semi-professional downhill mountain biker.

Features Erin Crowell Horizon Books: “The Third Place”
By Erin Crowell
Horizon Books sits on prime realty. Somewhere between the tourist
artery of Front Street, the neighboring State Theatre, the gentle flow
of the Boardman River, and the aqua blue of West Bay at her backside,
the 49-year-old bookstore has become its own local landmark – an
invariable symbol of prosperity.

Books Erin Crowell A Mennonite Memoir
By Erin Crowell
On the heels of its first comedy festival, Northern Michigan will get
another dose of humor when the National Writers Series presents “An
Evening with Rhoda Janzen,” on March 5, at the City Opera House, in
downtown Traverse City.

Features Erin Crowell Go Now, Be Free:Duo goes international with microlending
By Erin Crowell
Jody Treter got involved in the global fair trade movement through a coffee connection.
Fair trade is a social movement that promotes sustainability in lesser-developed countries by providing fair pay to producers of exports such as clothing, tea, cocoa and coffee. As one of the original minds behind Higher Grounds, the fair trade coffee company based in Traverse City, Treter has taken on a new project called GoBe, a microlending program that connects locals with entrepreneurs in other countries -- often, the same who benefit from the fair trade movement.
We spoke with Treter by phone just before she and GoBe business partner Juliette Shultz were about to board a flight to Ecuador.

Features Erin Crowell Small planet, Big Hearts
By Erin Crowell
In Northern Michigan, you get kudos for shopping local – and are
encouraged to do so. After all, by supporting local businesses, you
support your neighbors, community and, in turn, yourself. Everybody
wins.

Features Erin Crowell Renewable Energy Degrees
Northwestern Michigan College of Traverse City is now offering two degrees
and certificates in renewable energy technology. Recently available for
the
first time this spring semester, students have the opportunity to pursue
an Associate of Applied Science degree in the following areas:

Features Erin Crowell Living Off-Grid
Devon O’Shea brings his alternative energy know-how home
By Erin Crowell
Around the age of 10, Devon O’Shea had a blueprint for an underground
house. He showed me while I was over at his parent’s farmhouse to play one
day. It was the year 1990 something, when the alternative energy boom was
in hibernation – the solar craze of the 1970s had passed and Al Gore was
just starting the legwork on “An Inconvenient Truth.”

Features Erin Crowell A Comic Affair:Gettin’ crazy with TJ &Dave and Whitney Cummings
By Erin Crowell

Laughter. The best way to unfreeze your face – and TJ Jagodowski and
Dave Pasquesi are a couple of guys that will help you do it. The
Second City veterans are among several comedians scheduled to perform
at the first-ever Traverse City Comedy Arts Festival, Feb. 19-21.

Features Erin Crowell “Shoe and Snacks” for Backpacks
By Erin Crowell
“Every student needs a backpack.”
It’s the reason why the Traverse Bay Sunrise Rotary Club has donated over 7,700 backpacks to area elementary and high school students.
Since 2004, the Backpacks for Kids program has become the signature event for Rotary members, providing area students with vital school supplies and the means to carry them.

Features Erin Crowell Write On!The Advice Goddess brings her wit & wisdom to Northern Michigan
By Erin Crowell
Amy Alkon, syndicated columnist, humorist and author, will tell youhow it is – and she’ll do it with ferocity and flare. Her “Advice
Goddess” column has appeared in over 100 newspapers, including the
Northern Express, where her sharp wit and candid humor has earned her
dedicated readers – along with a few critics.