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At Michigan Technological University, innovation and adventure go hand-in-hand.

Tomorrow needs bold solutions. It needs adventurous spirits who have the courage to try new things—and the skills to be successful. At Michigan’s flagship technological university, Huskies fulfill their sense of adventure in the lab and the great outdoors. Whether they’re studying fruit fly genetics to pave the way for new human cancer treatments or hitting the unpaved trails with self-designed mountain bike components, students at Michigan Tech learn how to wield the power of a premier STEM education in the pristine Keweenaw Peninsula.

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Building and Renovating Northern Michigan’s Finest Residences

52

YOUR SUMMER MIXTAPE

What ties an eclectic NoMi mixtape together: From the biggest Northern-born bands to touring singer-songwriters on the rise, they all claim this one-of-a-kind part of Michigan as their siren song

BY JOE BEYER, ROSS BOISSONEAU & LYNDA TWARDOWSKI WHEATLEY

30 RED HOT BEST 2023

More than 230,000 nominations and votes were cast. Now, we’re revealing the winners and celebrating the people, places and experiences that make our region OURS.

BY THE EDITORS / VOTED ON BY YOU!

46 LONG LIVE ALTHEA

Born 60 years ago in the Netherlands and raised by one of the most notable sailors of all time, this storied racing queen has once again found her home port in the Great Lakes. Come aboard.

BY KIM SCHNEIDER / PHOTOS BY KATE HEADLEY

World Famous Smoked Pork Loin, Bacon, Ham, Hot Dogs, Bratwurst, and Smoked Fish.

Nationwide Shipping Available at Plathsmeats.com 2200 East Mitchell Rd.

of Mitchell & Division Roads PETOSKEY 231-348-8100 116 South 3rd Street ROGERS CITY 989-734-2232

13

Departments

9 | EDITOR'S NOTE

13 | UP NORTH

Cuddle cows at this quaint Kalkaska farm and creamery; “M is for Mackinac: A Nature Alphabet” is your kids’ new favorite bedtime read; plus, a preview of Ludington’s sesquicentennial celebration.

23 | TRAVEL

Your primer for the season’s biggest music events—from Interlochen’s summer concerts to the region’s many folk-inspired festivals.

27 | OUTDOORS

Want to take your littles camping? Leelanau State Park makes for a wild (at heart) weekend escape.

65 | CULINARY NORTH

We fell hook, line and sinker for the smoked whitefish Benedict at Sam’s Graces Café; plus, grab a burrito and a beer at Traverse City’s newest brewery: Loco Boys.

77 | LAST CALL

Snip a few sprigs from the garden for this herbaceous summer sipper.

80 | LOVE OF THE LAND

A luscious sea of lavender is calling. Don’t miss U-Pick season.

We’re on Lake Michigan inside Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. Crystal clear water, sandy beaches, pools, tennis, inviting restaurant and fun bar on the shore. Family fun and lively entertainment at Mountain Village. With choices...a resort hotel, Inn, lodge, or privately-owned vacation home. All with membership privileges at our waterfront club.

Discover delightful, delightfully free of crowds. For reservations, 231-334-5100.

It’s a simple but effective way of helping people reach their financial goals - and it’s a way of doing business that Raymond James has pioneered for more than 50 years. Make your voice count. Partner with one of our financial advisors and get guidance that’s in tune with your life. LIFE WELL PLANNED.

Jeff K. Pasche, CFA® Senior Vice President, Investments Traverse City Complex Manager

Susan G. Carlyon, WMS Senior Vice President, Investments Wealth Management Specialist®

James Spencer, ChFC®, AAMS® Financial Advisor

Jim Stoops, AWMA®, CRPC® First Vice President, Investments

Jennifer Youker, CFP®, CRPC® Financial Advisor

Maggie Beeler, AAMS®, CRPC® Investment Portfolio Associate

Shelley A. Stefanits Complex Administrator Manager West Michigan Complex

Courtney C. Jackson Complex Business Coordinator

Barbara S. Shellman, MBA, APMA™ Accredited Portfolio Management Advisor™ Financial Advisor

Susan Stepka Client Service Associate requirements.

Of all the things that have shaped my musical sensibilities, perhaps nothing has been as powerful as the mixtape.

My older sister, Patrice, went away to college, got cool and became a campus DJ; she mailed her younger sisters mixtapes of her sho. We listened to them until they garbled and wore out or broke. To this day, I can’t hear Duran Duran’s “Union of the Snake” without imagining it segueing into “Original Sin” by INXS; The Pet Shop Boy’s “Suburbia” merging into New Order’s “Bizarre Love Triangle.”

Her tapes were like a Godiva sampler box—meant for experimenting, finding favorites, sharing. With them, my sister was shaping a new identity for herself and offering us a glimpse into her world. Those pink-and-yellow Sony 90-minute cassettes whet our appetites for more and different music of similar and complementary flavors, and our sensibilities were transformed.

I became a mixtape master myself, sometimes copying from those original Sonys to create totally new experiences and forms of self-expression. Chill mixes, dance mixes, road-trip mixes, teen ennui mixes layered thick with Depeche Mode.

When I went to college and fell for another student who was a legit, beyond-campus DJ on Cincinnati’s alt/ indie station 97X, I’d tape his show and listen with an ear for unlocking his sensibilities—and his heart. We became friends but I was terribly shy, dazzled by his ease and charisma. The only way I could reach him was a mixtape of my own. The carefully selected, melodramatic run of Sinéad O’Connor and The The and XTC was the perfect medium to say what my words couldn’t, wrapped in coded lyrics, carefully chosen order and the element of surprise: I get you. I see you. Please see me.

It worked, even if our subsequent relationship didn’t; what real-life college connection could surpass the perfection of those perfectly curated musical maps of our souls?

Although the format may have morphed, from plastic cassettes to burned CDs and Spotify playlists, the essence of the mixtape remains the same: the mixtape is, as writer Andee Tagle quipped in and article in The Atlantic on the