If anyone is ever looking for the definition of a “true local,” they need not look any further than John DePuy.

The former Glen Arbor Fire Chief and past Glen Lake Association board member has called Glen Arbor his home for almost 60 years. He began visiting Glen Lake as a child with his family in 1948. Shortly after, his parents built their house on Little Glen in 1954, he then attended The Leelanau School and has lived on Little Glen with his wife, Pam, since 1971.

With such an extensive history in the area, DePuy finds it hard to pinpoint one specific memory as his favorite.

“This place is too special to list just one memory,” he says. “Meeting Pam at the Narrows Marina, driving dune cars, ice fishing on Little Glen, snowmobiling through Alligator Hill before it was the National Park, square dancing and sailing at the Yacht Club, playing capture the flag at the Dunes, watching our children go through Glen Lake Schools, and now seeing our three grandchildren playing on the beach. are all special to us.”

DePuy reminisces about taking a picnic up to Alligator Hill with his mother, saying, “It was her favorite thing to do. It wasn’t the National Park then, and we just drove right in. While a lot has changed since then, the view hasn’t changed much.”

Good to know some things always stay the same.

Photograph by Frederick Dickinson