Traverse City Record-Eagle

Leelanau County

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  • Jan-Michael Stump

    LEELANAU BLOSSOM TOUR
May 14, 2009

Annual tour showcases area blossoms

BY SHERI MCWHIRTER

PESHAWBESTOWN -- An annual event is blooming in Leelanau County.

Saturday marks the second annual Leelanau Cherry Blossom Tour, billed as an opportunity for participants to take in spectacular views during the spring bloom and meet the farmers who make it happen.

The free bus tour will begin at 10 a.m. from the Eagles Ridge Conference Center at the Leelanau Sands Casino in Peshawbestown, following an opening ceremony and "blessing of the blossoms" at 9:30 a.m.

Susan Green, a part-time Lake Leelanau resident, went on last year's tour.

"It was more than just beautiful. It was educational," she said. "If you've endured a Leelanau winter, it's something to enjoy."

Last year's inaugural event drew an estimated 600 people who either rode buses or picked up maps and drove themselves along the tour route, said Carolyn Faught, communication director for the Leelanau Conservancy.

"People loved it. They wanted to drive around and see the blossoms, but also wanted to learn about the industry," she said.

Local tour guides will explain the cherry business to those on tour buses as they travel across Leelanau County with stops in Suttons Bay and Omena Point.

Cherry farmers Don and Ann Gregory, of Cherry Bay Orchards near Suttons Bay, were highlighted on last year's tour, and will do an encore this year.

"It was great to meet people and tell them our stories and about our cherries and what we do," Ann Gregory said. "It could be even bigger this year. It's fun and people really enjoy it. Plus, it's so beautiful."

The Gregorys showed last year's tourists different types of blooms -- tart and sweet cherries, peaches, plums and apples -- and showed what frost does to the fruit trees' buds.

"We've been here in the summers for 20 years and we saw things on the tour we'd never seen before," Green said.

The last tour bus will leave Peshawbestown at 2 p.m. and return at 3 p.m. Participants will be fed free cherry bratwurst, cherry cookies and cherry drinks.

Call (231) 256-9665 for more information.

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