Magnum plans European bistro at One Water Street

From the Petoskey News-Review: Traverse City-based Magnum Hospitality has signed an agreement with Gaylord-based Catt Development to locate a new restaurant in Catt’s under-construction One Water Street project in Boyne City. In a joint news-release issued Tuesday, Catt Development president Glen Catt and Magnum Hospitality co-owner Mary Palmer said lease documents for the new restaurant were finalized last week. Palmer said the owners haven’t settled on a name yet, but they are planning European bistro theme for the new restaurant. Palmer and co-owner Fred Moore recently completed a “dining tour” of Paris and Rome researching the concept. Palmer said they are planning to offer cuisine from all over Europe at an affordable price. She said one of the restaurant’s featured items will be dishes cooked in a wood-fired oven, especially pizza. In September, Catt began construction on the first of two phases for the $12 million One Water Street project. Construction is on pace to allow the new, 4,100 square-foot restaurant to open in June.

Food and Friends at Lake Street Market

From the Northern Express, by Krisi Kates: As Liz Glass was being interviewed for this article, a woman was standing outside of Glass’ Lake Street Market - which she co-owns with Chris Meyer - taking a photograph of the store. “That happens a lot,” Glass chuckles. “People walk in the door and say, ‘wow, what a neat place.’” Housed in a 105-year-old building on the edge of Boyne City’s business district, Lake Street Market holds on to an old-school appeal with its beadboard shelving, crooked wooden fl oors, Persian carpets, local art, a retired (but still working) streetlamp, and antique equipment and tools. “It’s extremely relaxed,” Glass agrees, “let’s just say that it’s ambiance has evolved organically.” “There’s always something interesting to look at or buy in most nooks and crannies,” Chris Meyer explains. “We don’t have elaborate displays of goods targeted to appeal to consumers, but, yes, an almost organic accumulation of interesting items in a state of meticulous disarray.”

Both Glass and Meyer, originally from Michigan, met in South Carolina at a time when they were both ready to return to their home state. Meyer had a “few decades” experience in food and beverage, and Glass had worked extensively with wine; Meyer is said to be good with the big picture, while Glass’ skills often focus on marketing. So the duo proved to be a great team. They founded Lake Street Market over five years ago, and haven’t looked back since, Meyer says. 

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Boyne City wood pellets business plan approved

From the Charlevoix County News, By B. J. Conley-Hetler: A business that manufactures wood pellets for home and commercial heating use, received final site plan approval from the Boyne City Planning Commission on Nov. 16. Kirtland Products, LLC, located in the Air Industrial Park, is owned by Mike Lange and Tom Monley, both from the Boyne area, and by businessman Leon Tupper of Arete Industries in Southfield. Arete Industries has an office in the industrial park. All three are former automotive industry employees. Wood pellets are a local resource, renewable and sustainable, Monley said. Other positives are that it is a clean energy and that local jobs will be created. The estimate for job creation is approximately 20 people in the office and 30 to 40 workers to harvest and transport wood. The planning commissions’ approval requires Kirtland’s final landscaping plan to be approved by staff, that a landscaping bond be obtained and the business obtains approval from the FAA and Michigan Department of Environmental Quality for updated permits. 
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Michigan Municipal League: Team Boyne brings together big players

From the Michigan Municipal League "Review," November/December, 2009, by Jennifer Eberbach: In Boyne City, leaders in the community have teamed up to form Team Boyne in order to “create an environment to foster and nurture the entrepreneurial spirit of Boyne City,” according to the group’s statement of purpose. Team Boyne’s activities center around regular meetings, which bring together city officials, downtown organization directors, business owners, and other community leaders who work towards shared goals.
Current Chairman Jim Baumann, who runs the Boyne City Chamber of Commerce, explains, “What I love about this group is that you have the city manager, the school superintendent, the Chamber director, the Main Street director, and key business people all at the same table virtually every month. It’s a good way to informally make sure everybody is on the same page.”
Boyne City participated in Michigan State University Extension’s “Creating Entrepreneurial Communities” (CEC) training program, after a handful of community members attended the CEC 2006 conference. “That’s where it all got started,” says Hugh Conklin, Boyne City’s Main Street manager. “They were looking at how communities can get involved in addressing the realization that business recruiting is changing. It isn’t going to be recruiting manufacturing anymore,” he explains.  Full story.

Farmers Market moves indoors for month of November

The Boyne City Farmers Market will move indoors this year for the first time. Vendors will offer the seasonal produce, meats, cheese, baked and canned items, honey, maple syrup, and other goodies you've come to expect from the market for a trial period during the month of November. Starting Nov. 7, the market will be open in the heart of downtown Boyne City Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 126 Water St. (formerly Kiss Carpet). The Farmers Market is leasing the building from Dr. Dennis Kirkby. Although he hopes to fill the vacant space more permanently, Dr. Kirkby is excited about the project. If the market goes well and enough interest is generated among those hungry for local food and the vendors who provide it, there may be the opportunity for the market to continue beyond November. The market hopes to attract shoppers from Boyne City and surrounding communities where markets have ended. The second annual Holiday Farmers Market will also be held in the indoor Water Street location on Wednesday, Nov. 25. The Farmers Market is a project of the Boyne City Main Street Program. For more information about the market or becoming a vendor, call Market Manager Jen Lewis, at 420-0996, or the Main Street office at 582-9009.

Video of first indoor Farmers Market

WCMU Public Radio report: "Boyne Bounces Back"

The following news story by Mary Ellen Geist was broadcast on WCMU Public Radio in October, 2009: Last weekend, Boyne City held its annual Harvest festival downtown and residents, merchants, local farmers and visitors all seemed to agree, Boyne City seems to be bouncing back. "It's created a real buzz in downtown and with the Boyne Country Books converting in with a new owner now at Local Flavors the bookstores back into the swing of things it's also a focal point for ticket sales in downtown. There's just a whole feeling in downtown Boyne City that's just got that vibrant feel and folks are excited". Listen to the full story from WCMU website.

News-Review editor: Check out SOBO in Boyne!

Opinion column by Petoskey News-Review Editor Kendall Stanley, 9-21-09:  Ideas matter, which is why there are successful entrepreneurs in America and we're not just a nation full of navel lint-picking daydreamers. Nurture an idea long enough, move on it and work hard, and who knows what might happen at the other end? Which takes us to that audacious idea that is SOBO. I will grant you that SOBO is not yet a household word, not even in its native Boyne City. But think about how long it took SoHo in New York City to reach a recognizable level of familiarity, and you can see that all is possible. So what's a SOBO, one might ask?

Well, SOBO stands for South Boyne, a moniker developed by four businesses in - where else - South Boyne City. It may have been a whimsical idea at first (and if you know some of the people involved, whimsy is not a scarce commodity), and there may be only four businesses, but the idea is a great one.

On hand at the creation were Cindi Franco's Cool Stuff, Lake Street Market, the Boyne Arts Collective and the latest, the Freshwater Studio, which opened in what had been an abandoned building on Lake Street. Freshwater Studio is the brainchild of Boyne area artists Tony Williams, Robin Lee Berry and Glen and Cindy McCune, who display their work and invite other Northern Michigan artists to showcase their art as well. (SOBO hat photo courtesy of Lake Street Market, which sells these and other hats.)

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Art Scene: Freshwater Studio brings vacant building back to life

By Jennifer Richardson of The Graphic Weekly, 7-23-09

For 31 years, the retail space between Mark Patrick State Farm Insurance and Klevorn & Klevorn Law Offices on Water Street in Boyne City has been vacant. But on July 4, this space came back to life as four local art supporters unveiled their latest project, Freshwater Studio. Freshwater Studio emphasizes an appreciation of nature. Paintings and sculptures of wildlife and natural tones, both in the building itself as well as in the art on display, create an atmosphere of comfort and beauty. Glen and Cindy McCune of East Jordan and Tony Williams and Robin Lee Berry of Boyne City have renovated the retail space with a nod to its history. The brick walls are exposed, the wood floors speak of earlier times, and already the re-opening has sparked a sense of nostalgia in Boyne City residents.
"People stop in and tell us about how they bought their first bike here," Berry said, noting that the space previously housed Gambles Hardware. The gallery is dominated by the artistic woodworking of Williams and Glen McCune. Williams is a rustic builder, whose work is influenced by the natural shapes and characteristics unique to each piece of wood. (Photo courtesy of The Graphic Weekly)
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