Community Calendar

Free, peer-led mental health support: NAMI Connection Group. Held Wednesdays, 5pm Online (see website for zoom link) and at Child & Family Services, 3785 Veterans Dr.

Join the Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy for a presentation followed by Q&A with GTRLC’s Chris Garrock, Brett Fessell of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, Christine Crissman of The Watershed Center Grand Traverse Bay and DJ Shook of Conservation Resource Alliance.

Once featured in National Geographic’s 1996 article “Our Polluted Runoff,” the impaired Mitchell Creek Meadows watershed is experiencing a comeback, thanks to a robust partnership with our community partners: Conservation Resource Alliance, the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians and The Watershed Center.

Come and hear a story about what’s possible when partners bring diverse perspectives, expertise, and resources to a shared conservation goal.

For more information, please click here.

This event is part of our 2026 Priority Landscapes Learning Series.

Please note that food will not be served; we recommend that you plan to grab a bite before or after joining us.

The Mills Community House is looking for performers of all ages to fill roles in this year’s Holiday Homecoming performance, “Stone Soup and Other Stories.” Auditions will be held Wednesday, Sept. 16, from 6:30-8pm on the lower level of the Mills, and the performance will take place Thanksgiving weekend.

Local actors interested in participating should plan to arrive at 6:30pm. The evening will begin with an informal meeting to answer questions and provide more information about the show and rehearsal schedule. Each person will then be asked to read a selection from the script. You may be asked to stay and read an additional piece with a partner. No advance preparation or memorized audition is required.

“Stone Soup” has roles for six youth of any age and gender, though all participants must be able to read and memorize their lines. The “Other Stories” are a selection of holiday classics with roles for six adults of any gender.

Questions about the auditions can be directed to millscommhouse@gmail.com.

Plant It Wild hosts a panel discussion covering lawn regulations in municipalities, Home Owner Associations, and Condo Associations. How can the rules be changed to encourage native plant habitats to expand in our communities. Bring your questions, ideas, and successes!

To join on Zoom, go to Plantitwild.net and join the mailing list.

Venture onto the high seas with the latest from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Frozen River and I Was Anastasia. This sweeping historical adventure was inspired by the life of Grace O’Malley, the legendary Irish folk heroine who risked everything to defend her people.

Keenly observed and fiercely written, Ariel Lawhon’s new action-packed novel channels the untamed beauty and harsh realities of sixteenth-century Ireland, as seen through the eyes of an unforgettable heroine who rightly became “the Pirate Queen of Ireland.”

Lawhon will be joined in conversation with NWS host Audrey Irontree. Lawhon is an award-winning, critically acclaimed, New York Times bestselling author of historical fiction. Her books have been translated into over thirty languages and have been Good Morning America, LibraryReads, and One Book One County selections. She lives in the rolling hills outside Nashville, Tennessee, with her husband and four sons. Ariel splits her time between the grocery store and the baseball field.

For more information, please click here.

The 2^nd annual Long Lake Farmers Market will kick off on June 4^th and run every Thursday through October 1^st from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm. Stop by the market located at Haywood Park, due east of the Long Lake Township Hall at 8870 N Long Lake Rd, Traverse City, Michigan 49685, near the bocce ball courts.

We are excited to create a community-based farmers market that celebrates the historic agricultural traditions of Long Lake Township, while providing opportunities for Long Lake residents and the surrounding community members to buy and sell locally grown and produced products.

We see birds everyday, everywhere, some more often than others, but pollution and the consequences of modern technology, pesticides, and land development as well as the spread of invasive species increasingly impact their natural habitats, threatening their survival. How often do we stop to look and listen, take in their beauty, colors, patterns, behaviors, songs, and marvel at the magic of flight? Songbirds, raptors, shorebirds, arboreal birds and scavengers—each play an essential role in maintaining balance in our ecosystem.

“For the Birds” includes nine artists whose compelling works explore their own attraction to birds as a subject, whether rendered as two-dimensional images or 3D objects in printmaking, pen and ink, fiber, found materials, mixed media or the moving image. Each artist’s distinct approach and vision brings heightened awareness to the act of looking—imperative to both birding and art. “For the Birds” offers an opportunity to meditate on the shapes, colors and details within the broad range of avian species—inviting us to appreciate their diversity as vital to the environment, and our role in protecting the natural habitats we share.

Open during library business hours.

Friends of the library gather at 9:30am for social time, with regular meeting beginning at 10:00am. Topics of discussion will be plans for upcoming programs and activities, as well as volunteer opportunities during the months of October thru December.

Anyone interested in supporting the library is always welcome. Held at Helena Township Community Center, 8751 Helena Rd, Alden. 231-331-4318.

Join us at Maplehurst Natural Area to help install hundreds of flowering plants and grasses grown in GTRLC’s very own greenhouse! Through this event, GTRLC strives to create healthy native habitats, increase species diversity, and revegetate degraded ecosystems. If this sounds like something that interests you, please attend our event and help us get some plants in the ground!

For more information about this event, please click here.

Directions: Please meet us in the parking lot at Maplehurst Natural Area.

Registration is appreciated but is not required. Cancellations due to weather or any other reason will be communicated with registered participants via email.

Thank you for your interest in joining us! If you have any questions, please contact Erica DesJardins at edesjardins@gtrlc.org or 231-929-7911 (ext. 316).

Explore the unique artistic voices of artists Mark Mehaffey, Sandra Ackerman, Logan Hudson, and Les Scruggs in Field of Vision. Each artist brings their own style and thoughtful creativity to the depiction and interpretation of the environments humans interact with. From forest-lined back roads to dramatic cloudscapes to humble vistas, these works bring the striking beauty of our everyday landscapes into sharp focus.

Opening reception August 29th from 5:00 to 7:00 pm. Refreshments will be served, all are welcome.

An Artists’ Talk will be held October 2nd at 2:00 pm.