Features

Welcoming the Winter Solstice: Rituals & Events for the Shortest Day of the Year

Traditions to help us embrace the cold and dark season

By Anna Faller | Dec. 13, 2025

With the winter solstice quickly approaching, it’s hard not to notice how dark each day feels. Astronomically, this is because the North Pole is nearing its farthest point from the sun. Culturally, though, the winter solstice, also known as Yule (a term with roots in Old Norse), is also a time of celebration, marked by storytelling, feasts, and community gatherings throughout the globe. “Yule as we know it comes from the word … Read More >>

Ice-cold Camaraderie

These groups of cold plungers aren’t just in it for the thrill, but for the community

By Art Bukowski | Dec. 13, 2025

One by one, vehicles rolled into a bayside parking lot caught somewhere between a cold fall night and a day that had yet to fully arrive. And one by one the dads got out, yawning, smiling, and shaking hands with others who had arrived at Bryant Park for what’s become a sacred ritual. Many had just dropped their kids off at school, others had deliberately scheduled their morning meetings just a bit … Read More >>

Connecting to the Past and Guiding the Future

Little Traverse Bay Bands on preserving indigenous identity

By Eric Cox | Dec. 13, 2025

The first time Danielle Gibson heard the thump of live powwow drums she felt a calling, a tug that pulled her toward the rhythm and ignited a desire to dance. “Something within my spirit made me feel like I needed to be out there, dancing,” she says. “Later, I had a dream that I was in an arena and was in a jingle dance.” The jingle dance is part of the Ojibwe … Read More >>

O, Christmas Tree!

How the iconic holiday centerpieces are chosen each year

By Rachel Pasche | Dec. 13, 2025

’Tis the season for big, brightly lit trees in downtowns across northern Michigan. Whether you’re driving through town on your way to visit family for the holidays, stopping into your favorite shop to grab gifts for loved ones, or enjoying dinner out, odds are you’ll encounter a stately evergreen situated at the heart of town, bedecked in colorful lights and ornaments. We spoke with the people who make these enormous decorations possible … Read More >>

Menorah in the Square

Dec. 13, 2025

The Chabad Jewish Center is bringing the Festival of Lights to Traverse City on Sunday, Dec. 21, starting at 5pm in Rotary Square (203 S Union St.). This open-to-the-public celebration honors Chanukah, which began at nightfall on Dec. 14 and ends with nightfall on Dec. 22. The Menorah in the Square event will feature festive music, fresh donuts and warm cider, family-friendly fun, and, of course, a menorah lighting. There will also … Read More >>

Alpacas for All This Winter

Stuff We Love

Dec. 13, 2025

Stuck in a gift-giving rut? Think alpaca. We hopped on the Etsy site for Benzonia’s Northern Blessings Alpacas and let our imaginations run wild. For a white elephant gift, consider the useful (and adorable) 2026 wall calendar ($28) that features fuzzy friends from the farm captured by Dave Speckman Photography. For a crafty friend, check out yarn options in a dozen colors and textures. For stocking stuffers, opt for cozy socks, gloves, … Read More >>

Camp Greilick Now Open!

Dec. 13, 2025

It’s been a long road for the century-old Camp Greilick, which, after several dormant years, was acquired by Grand Traverse County in August 2024 and has been a hotbed of restoration activity ever since. In the last year-plus, the county has been working toward numerous reconstruction projects on the trails, disc golf, human foosball court, and more. This fall, they completed a site plan review with East Bay Township, a waterfront cleanup, … Read More >>

Men and Ugly Sweaters

Dec. 13, 2025

Those two things don’t always go together, but on Dec. 19, you’ll see both out and about in Petoskey and Harbor Springs! Petoskey welcomes dudes for their annual Men’s Night Out from 5-8pm with savings, prizes, and light bites at participating businesses, followed by an after party at Malted Vinyl, starting at 8pm and complete with a raffle drawing. See more at petoskeydowntown.com/events/mens-night-out. Just north, the wooly wear will be out in … Read More >>

MRKT HLDY SHPPNG, aka Warehouse MRKT Holiday Shopping!

By Jamie Kauffold | Dec. 13, 2025

Shop the latest from local makers and vendors at the Holiday MRKT Share at Warehouse MRKT in TC, Saturday, Dec. 20, from 10am-3pm. Just a few options include picking up some decorated sugar cookies, hot cocoa, and coffee bombs from Crum Cakes Bake Shop; handcrafted cocktail infusions and gourmet sugars and salts from Tipsy Sips Craft Cocktails; and beach-inspired, bubble glazed pottery from Leelanau Pottery Company. Other vendors include Wild Wanderers Apothecary, … Read More >>

Fighting Harder for Local Women and Children

How dwindling Victims of Crimes Act funds are affecting abuse survivors in northern Michigan

By Jillian Manning | Dec. 6, 2025

Traverse Bay Children’s Advocacy Center (TBCAC) has been navigating a particularly challenging year. Though CEO Lander Bachert is proud that her CAC is “one of the best in the state” with “world-class mental health” care for the kids and teens they serve, she’s still seeing a “pretty intense spike of children coming through our doors.” “When … families don’t have access to food, or when they don’t have access to housing, or … Read More >>