Holiday Open Houses this weekend in Petoskey and Harbor Springs!

'Tis the season for community cheer and merriment! The towns of Petoskey and Harbor Springs will host their annual Holiday Open Houses this weekend, with merchants offering samples and specials, live music, tree lightings, Santa sightings and fun for everyone.

Downtown Petoskey Holiday Open House & Tree Lighting details

This year's event will be held on Friday, Dec. 6, from 6 to 9 p.m. The evening begins with an appearance by Santa Claus, who flies in to town to light the giant Christmas tree in Pennsylvania Park. Merchants open their doors to offer warm holiday greetings. The streets are filled with merry entertainment by carolers and the Petoskey High School Steel Drum Band. And don't forget to visit the bean pots and enjoy a cup of soup made by the Petoskey Snowmobile Club.

Come downtown and enjoy the smiling faces and Christmas fun with your family with this evening that is a holiday tradition on the first Friday in December every year.

Downtown Harbor Springs Holiday Open House information

The "Home for the Holidays" program concludes with the most anticipated event of the year: The Annual Downtown Merchant Holiday Open House. The event takes place from 6 to p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 7, along the downtown streets.

Enjoy a fun-filled day of shopping and an unforgettable evening of special music, sleigh rides, hot and cold refreshments, and yummy holiday treats and hors d’oevres.

This weekend is also Christmas in Mackinaw. Details are below in the item about McGulpin Point Lighthouse Holiday Open House Dec. 7-8.

Next weekend ... Bay Harbor gets in on the holiday fun with a new event, the Holidazzle Parade down Main Street! The parade will take place on Saturday, Dec. 14, from 7 to 8 p.m. in the Village at Bay Harbor. Main Street in the Village will come alive with a festive lighted parade during the Holidazzle. Lots of great activities will be planned to make this a very fun new tradition; more details at www.villageatbayharbor.com

THIS WEEKEND: Special holiday open house hours at McGulpin Point Lighthouse

McGulpin Point, dressed for the holidays!

The holiday season is upon us, and McGulpin Point Lighthouse in Mackinaw City will take part in the festivities by opening for two special weekends in December.

The Emmet County-owned and operated lighthouse will be decorated for the holidays and open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday Dec. 7 and 8, and Dec. 14 and 15. There is no charge to tour the lighthouse or to climb the tower (for a remarkable view of the Mackinac Bridge!).

The lighthouse closed for the season on Nov. 3. The holiday open hours will be the last hours to visit the lighthouse until it reopens in May 2014. Next season's hours will be announced on the McGulpin Point page, www.emmetcounty.org/mcgulpin/, when they become available.

The Dec. 7-8 hours coincide with Mackinaw City's annual holiday open house, which takes place Dec. 6-8 in the Village this year. Tree lighting, parade and other special events are planned. Click here for more details about Christmas in Mackinaw City.

Pounding Hooves 4-H Club donates toy horses to Women's Resource Center

Pounding Hooves 4-H Club members donate their Achievement Day projects to children utilizing services at the Women’s Resource Center of Northern Michigan Safe Home. Pictured displaying the handcrafted stick horses are (front row, from left) Kylie Swiger; Marly Swiger; Addison Glezman; (back row, from left) WRCNM Chief Operating Officer, Gail Kloss; Pounding Hooves 4-H club leader, Becky Swiger; Shannon Brown; Mary Louise Mooradian; Carrie Coy; Hannah Hammond; Makayla Smith; and WRCNM Executive Director, Jan Mancinelli.

Just in time for the Christmas and holiday season, members of the Pounding Hooves 4-H Club donated handcrafted toy stick horses to the Women’s Resource Center of Northern Michigan. The stick horses were part of club members’ exhibits at the Emmet-Charlevoix Fair, which represent their Achievement Day projects.

After completing their projects each club member was interviewed about how they created the project and what they learned in the process. The club’s leader, Becky Swiger, said they decided to donate this year’s projects as a community service. She explained that a significant aspect of 4-H is helping people in the community and creating a sense of service beyond self.

The stick horses, created from woolen socks, yarn and buttons are being donated to the WRCNM’s Safe Home to be shared with the children of domestic abuse survivors utilizing Safe Home services. WRCNM Executive Director, Jan Mancinelli, explained to members of the club that the Safe Home typically provides shelter for more than 100 survivors and their children every year and that some of the donated toys will be given to children at Christmas, others will be given as birthday presents.She emphasized that their generous donation will help bring joy to another child who is experiencing a difficult time in their lives.

The Pounding Hooves 4-H Club is composed of 21 members ranging in age from 5 to 17 that share a love and appreciation for horses and ponies. 

Next Dark Sky Park program: 'Women in the Stars' and Ursid meteors Dec. 20

The Ursid Meteor Shower will peak on the evening of Dec. 20, 2013. This diagram indicates the radiant of where the shower will originate.

Upcoming Program at the International Dark Sky Park at the Headlands takes place during the Ursid Meteor Showers

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 20, 2013
Location: Guest House
Time: 6-8 p.m. (sunset is 4:57 p.m.; moonrise 8:27 p.m.)

The eve of Winter Solstice 2013, Dec. 20, edges us into the darkest time of year, known in some traditions as the entrance into the womb of the Great Mother, Earth. In honor of this season, this evening's program will consider women in the world of stars: mythological, celestial and historical. Among the evenings considerations will be the bright planet Venus, which makes its first retrograde motion since the June 2012 transit and is visible in the evening sky at this time; the Ursid Meteor Showers, which peak on this night; and Solstice, known in Northern Europe as a Goddess escorted to Earth by the Great Bears, Ursas Major and Minor, also known as Callisto, the she-bear and her son, Arcas.

"We will also look into the history of women in astronomy during this gathering, which is scheduled to take place during the sacred time between sunset and starshine. The waning gibbous Moon greets us at 8:27 p.m., after our event," said Dark Sky Park Program Director Mary Stewart Adams.

The event is free and open to the public and takes place rain, snow or shine! No reservations are necessary.

For the 2014 program schedule, click here!

 Imagine magazine 2013

Click here to view the online digital magazine and videos
 

Emmet County's annual promotional magazine, Imagine, is available online and in print. The 2013-14 issue includes features on the people, places, organizations and communities that make Emmet County a one-of-a-kind place to live, work and play. Here, quality of life is everything.

This year's magazine, published by Harbor House Publishers in Boyne City, also includes a number of enhancements, including numerous videos throughout that further showcase the unparalleled natural beauty and the residents who are invested in making Northwest Michigan a place like no other.

We hope you enjoy the magazine! Contact its editor/writer, Beth Anne Piehl, with any comments: bpiehl@emmetcounty.org, or (231) 348-1704. To have a complimentary copy of the print version mailed to you, contact Piehl at the email or phone number above.