May 2023 Marquette Monthly

May 2023

No. 409

Publishers

Jane Hutchens

James Larsen II

Managing editor

Michael Murray

Calendar editor

Carrie Usher

graPhiC design

Jennifer Bell

Proofreader

Laura Kagy

Marquette Monthly, published by Model Town Publishing, LLC, located at PO Box 109, Gwinn, MI, 49841, is locally and independently owned. Entire contents Copyright 2023 by Model Town Publishing. All rights reserved. Permission or use of editorial material in any manner must be obtained in writing from the publishers. Marquette Monthly is published 12 times a year. Subscriptions are $65 per year. Freelance material can be submitted for consideration to editor@marquettemonthly.com. Events can be submitted to calendar@marquettemonthly.com. Ad inquiries can be sent to jane@marquettemonthly. com or james@marquettemonthly.com.

About the Cover Artist

Sandi Mager made her living as a nurse, but art has always been her passion. More than 25 years ago, she got together with friends to learn oil painting, which turned into weekly classes to help pass the long winter months, and now her work is in galleries. Find her on Facebook and Instagram under sandimagerart or email her at sandileamager@aol.com.

4 City notes

HigHligHts of important Happenings in tHe area

12 on CaMPus news from U.p Universities & colleges

16 New York Times Crossword Puzzle if tHe clUe fits (solUtions on page 67)

17 then & now Superior View tHe HoUse of lUdington in escanaba

18 feature John SmolenS discover yoUr inner boatnerd

22 lookout Point erin elliott Bryan IshpemIng’s mather Inn experIences new lIfe

24 loCals pam ChriStenSen volUnteers are key to beaUtification efforts

26 in the outdoors alex lehto-Clark al QUaal recreation area blends adventUre and History

29 in the outdoors andie Balenger clUb presents opportUnities to learn rowing

32 in the outdoors katie miChelS getting kids oUtside

62

65 Coloring Page

66 hoMe CineMa leonard g. heldreth the BanSheeS oF iniSherin was a top film of 2022

69 out & about Carrie uSher may events and mUsic, art and mUseUm gUides

U.P. Rowing schedules Youth Learn to Row meeting

U.P. Rowing will hold its 2023 Youth Learn to Row informational meeting from 6 to 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, May 2. The gathering will take place in the community room on the lower level of the Peter White Public Library in Marquette. Youth ages 13 to 18 with their parents or guardians are invited to join U.P. Rowing to learn about its summer program. Call 906-250-4486 or visit uprowing.com for information.

League of Women Voters will meet on May 3 at PWPL

The monthly meeting of the League of Women Voters of Marquette County will be held Wednesday, May 3, from 6:45 to 8:15 p.m. at the Peter White Public Library, lower level, Studio 1. Social time will begin at 6:30 p.m. All interested community members are invited to attend. For further information, email lwvmqtco@gmail.com. Information is also available at lwvmqt.org.

The LWV is a nonpartisan political organization that encourages informed and active participation in government, works to increase understanding of major policy issues and influences public policy through education and advocacy.

Trail association sets spring meeting for May 3

The Marquette Area Chapter of the North Country Trail Association will hold its spring general membership meeting on May 3. The group will gather from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Heritage Room of the Peter White Public Library. Guest speaker Terry Cathcart will share stories and information about his hike across the U.P. on the North Country Trail. The organization’s trail crew will also give an update on plans for trail work in the 2023 season.

Registration is open for Gus Macker in Ishpeming

Basketball teams are now able to register for the Gus Macker 3on3 Basketball Tournament scheduled for May 19 to 21 in Ishpeming. Proceeds from the tournament will benefit the NICE Community Schools. Events will include a Battle of the Badges (police versus firefighters) and a slam dunk contest. The deadline to register online is May 1. The entry fee for each team is $180. Find details at gusmackerish.com.

city notes

NMU art and design presents senior exhibition

Northern Michigan University’s school of art and design is presenting works by graduating seniors through May 5. The exhibition, taking place in the DeVos Art Museum on campus, features students concentrating in ceramics, computer art, digital cinema, drawing/painting, graphic design, human-centered design, illustration, metalsmithing/sculpture, photography and woodworking. The museum is open from noon to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday, with extended hours (until 8 p.m.) on Thursdays. Admission is free, and the exhibition is open to the public.

Trail network announces programs, events, work bees

TheNoquemanon Trail Network’s Adopt-A-Trail, Adopt-A-Trailhead and Trail Ambassador applications are now available. Each of these unique programs gives volunteers the opportunity to do more for the trails and the community they love. From being a smiling face on your regular outings, to putting in the hours doing

the dirty work, and everywhere in between, there’s something for everyone who wants to help with the trails. For more details and to submit an application, visit noquetrails.org/volunteer or email sarah@noquetrails.org. Applications are accepted year-round, and the first training is scheduled for 9 a.m. on May 6.

Dirtball, NTN’s annual celebration of trails, is scheduled for May 13. Celebrations will begin in the morning with work bee groups starting at the South Trails Trailhead and continuing in the afternoon with group rides, hikes and runs. The evening at Blackrocks Brewery in Marquette will feature a silent auction, music and fun. To participate in the work bee or the silent auction, please email sarah@ noquetrails.org. For more details, visit the group’s Facebook page or send an email.

For those volunteers who love to spend time working on projects but don’t always have an open schedule to do so, consider joining some work bees. Work bees are scheduled for the second Saturday and the fourth Wednesday of each month, May

Bradford Veley is a freelance cartoonist, illustrator and farmer in the U.P. Follow him on Facebook, Instagram and at www.bradveley.com.

through September, except for Aug. 12. Each location will be determined by the project that needs to be done, so keep an eye on NTN’s social media or contact sarah@noquetrails.org for more details on upcoming work bees.

Innovation Week comes to NMU May 8-10

Tickets are now available for Innovation Week, a three-day professional development festival bringing together leaders, innovators and creative minds in Marquette. The event, presented by Sisu at Northern Michigan University and Innovate Marquette, is scheduled for May 8 to 10 at NMU’s Forest Roberts Theatre. Organizers hope to inspire, enlighten and spark curiosity through keynote speakers, innovation quests, interactive workshops and networking opportunities. Visit nmu.edu/sisu/innovation-week for details.

MSU Extension offers mindfulness workshops

Michigan State University Extension will offer free one-hour workshops called Brief Practices in Mindfulness. The goal of these workshops is to give participants an opportunity to experience a variety of mindfulness practices to use every day. Participants will also be able to establish an understanding of mindfulness. The types of experiences include several mindful practices such as mindful breathing, grounding, ways to quiet your mind, brief body scan, mindful walking and forest-guided meditation and a seated meditation. Each workshop will culminate in an opportunity to help participants plan for their own personal practice. Join in this mindful experience in your community or online.

The online session is scheduled for 5 p.m. on May 10. It will be available on Zoom. Visit events.anr.msu.edu/ onlinebriefpractices.

The local in-person workshop is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on June 2 at the Ishpeming Multi-Purpose Senior Center, 121 Greenwood St. Visit events.anr.msu.edu/mindfulnessishpeming.

Zonta of Marquette presents Honor a Woman event

Zonta of Marquette presents Honor a Woman 2023. The event is scheduled for Thursday, May 11, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Barrel + Beam, 260 Northwoods Rd. in Marquette. The cost is $75 for one ticket or $140 for two tickets, with the proceeds from all ticket sales going to the Community Foundation of Marquette County to assist with grants and scholarships in

our area.

This fundraiser includes light dinner fare, dessert, door prize drawing and basket raffles. The event commemorates the many contributions made by women through their personal sacrifices, strength, perseverance, wisdom, support, love and grace. Tickets may be purchased through Eventbrite (tinyurl.com/33m978d5) or by emailing zontamqtevents@ gmail.com.

Zonta International is a global service organization of executives in business and the professions working together to advance the status of women.

League of Women Voters schedules two-day sale

The League of Women Voters is organizing a two-location, twoday yard/garage/rummage sale from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Friday, May 12, and from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, May 13. The sale locations are 2021 Woodland Ave. and 2022 Cherry St. Proceeds will support the organization’s nonpartisan voter services, including the online and print Vote411 Voter Guide, candidate forums, voter registration, educational activities and other events.

Bay College to host EMS conference May 12-13 Bay College Workforce Training

announced that registration is now open for the 2023 Emergency Medical Services conference. The event, scheduled for May 12 and 13 in Escanaba, offers continuing education credits to EMS professionals. The cost to attend is $149. The conference fees include continental breakfast and lunch on both days. Visit baycollege. edu or call 906-217-4200 for more information.

Amy Anderson, Bay College EMT/paramedic program director, said “staying up to date with the latest medical knowledge and technology allows EMS professionals to treat their patients more effectively and efficiently. The EMS conference is a great opportunity for EMS professionals to receive high-quality continuing education from qualified national, state and local speakers.”

In addition to more than 30 breakout sessions, this year’s conference features Dr. Bill Young, associate professor of paramedic science at Eastern Kentucky University, and Dr. Jon Krohmer, adjunct associate professor at Michigan State University’s College of Human Medicine. Young’s Friday keynote presentation focuses on traumatic shock, and Krohmer will speak on Saturday with his 2050 vi-

Mustangs capture state championship

sion for the nation’s EMS system. The conference is made possible with support from OSF St. Francis Hospital and Guardian Flight and will take place in the Joseph Heirman Center on the campus of Bay College in Escanaba.

MRHC schedules workshop on cyanotype photography

The Marquette Regional History Center will hold a photography workshop in conjunction with the current special exhibit, Exposing Photography. The Cyanotype Photography Workshop is set for 1 to 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 17. The workshop will be led by instructor and interdisciplinary artist Maddie Pederson. Participants will learn a brief history of the cyanotype technique and how the sun can create beautiful works of art. Register by calling or stopping in to the history center. The $25 per person fee includes all supplies. The workshop, for ages 18 and up and open to beginners, will be held at the Marquette Regional History Center, 145 W. Spring St. in Marquette. For details, visit marquettehistory.org or call 906-226-3571.

Registration opens for Ride the Keweenaw

Registration is now open for Ride the Keweenaw. This season-opening Midwest mountain biking event has something to offer experienced

riders as well as novices and families. The event, which will take place on some of the Keweenaw’s most rugged and unique mountain bike trails, is set for May 26 to 28. The weekend will include a number of group rides as well as races. Visit copperharbortrails. org for more information.

Festival coincides with Ride the Keweenaw

The Houghton From the Ground Festival is scheduled for May 27, to coincide with Ride the Keweenaw. Activities will be held throughout the day, centered around the pier in Houghton. The event will include local food and art vendors and live music from local musicians. The music lineup will run from noon to 6 p.m., featuring Adam Meckler and Jana Nyberg (noon to 1:15 p.m.), Kevin Blackstone (1:35 to 2:50 p.m.), Hannah Rundman, Bruce Rundman and Bling Crosby (3:10 to 4:25 p.m.) and Ani & Kora (4:45 to 6 p.m.).

Yoga club participates in and supports farmers market

The Pinecone Yoga Institute’s Pinecone Club announces that beginning May 20 through the end of October, it will be bringing donation-based yoga to the Downtown Marquette Farmers Market. The sessions will be held every Saturday from 9:45 to 10:45 a.m. inside the Marquette Commons building. All levels are wel-

come, and mats will be available for use. No one will be turned away because of a lack of funds, ensuring that everyone in the community can participate. But that’s not all. The Pinecone Club is also committed to supporting local food systems by giving proceeds from all donations received from the yoga classes directly back to the farmers market. Participants in these yoga classes can benefit their wellness and contribute to the sustainability and growth of the local food economy. To learn more, visit www.pinecone.yoga.

Auditions for Hamlet scheduled for May 23

The Upper Peninsula Shakespeare Festival is preparing for its presentation of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, due to open Aug. 4 at the Marquette Regional History Center. The play is set to be a collaborative fundraiser for both the MRHC and UPShakes and will take place thruststyle in the rotunda of the history center with audiences on risers looking down upon the action in true Globe Theatre fashion.

The production will not only feature beloved local professionals but also classically trained actors brought into the U.P. from around the country. “The talent we have in this town is incredible,” said the festival’s artistic director, Jamie Weeder. “We have an amazing company of actors — some of which have been with us since the

The Munising High School boys basketball team captured the first state championship in program history with a 39-37 victory over Wyoming Tri-Unity Christian in the Division 4 title game on March 25 in East Lansing. The Mustangs finished the season with a 27-1 record. Team members are Kane Nebel, number 0; Jay Curtis, 1; Carson Kienitz, 2; Nolan Connaughton, 3; Quentin McNally, 4; Trevor Nolan, 5; Tyler Nelson, 10; Zach Lindquist, 12; Cully Trceciak, 14; Jack Dusseault, 22; Danny Goss, 23; Logan Walsh, 24; Hayden Rockhill, 33; Ashton Wymer, 34; and Riley Murk, 44. Head coach Terry Kienitz was assisted by Chris Prunick and Josh Cole. Braylin Calhoun served as team manager. (Photo courtesy of Munising High School)

Urban headlines Escanaba festival

very beginning.”

Auditions for this production are set for 5:30 p.m. on May 23 at the Marquette Regional History Center. Write to jamie@upshakes.org with any questions. Dates for Hamlet are Aug. 4, 5, 10, 11 and 12 at the MRHC. Tickets will be available mid-summer at marquettehistory.org.

Forest Service sets sale of Grand Island boat stickers

In anticipation of the summer recreation season, Hiawatha National Forest announced that the 2023 Grand Island boat stickers are now available for purchase at the Munising Ranger District office.

The $40 annual boat sticker covers the day-use fee for up to 10 people per boat for the entire year. With a valid sticker, a boat and its passengers can visit Grand Island National Recreation Area day-use areas an unlimited number of times throughout the calendar year. The cost per person per day without the sticker is $5, which can be deposited at fee collection stations on Grand Island. With a valid boat sticker or day-use fee, visitors can use the amenities — including picnic table, fire ring, grill, toilet and garbage service — available at Williams Landing, Murray Bay, Trout West and Trout Bay East day-use areas.

To purchase your Grand Island boat sticker for 2023, please visit the Munising Ranger District office on Tuesdays between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. through May 16; after that date, please call ahead to schedule an appointment. Please be prepared to provide your name, phone number, type of vessel (length, color, brand) and full address. For up-to-date office

hours, please call the office at 906387-2512 or visit the Hiawatha National Forest website at www.fs.usda. gov/main/hiawatha.

AAUW announces scholarship application

The Marquette Branch of the American Association of University Women announced its annual scholarship application window is open until June 1 for the 2023-24 academic year. This scholarship, based on financial need, is open to nontraditional undergraduates currently enrolled at Northern Michigan University. The chosen student or students will qualify for a minimum of $1,500 per semester in tuition support for a maximum of two sequential semesters.

This scholarship is designed to assist any nontraditional student who self-identifies as a woman with financial need pursuing an undergraduate degree at NMU. The university defines nontraditional students as those who may not fit the typical age or life circumstances of traditional students. Such circumstances include but are not limited to being a veteran, a parent (married, divorced, widowed), caring for an elderly parent, returning to college after working, starting college after a gap from high school graduation and/or being a first-generation college student.

To qualify for this scholarship, the applicant must be enrolled in an academic program at NMU with a minimum of 12 credits per semester, including baccalaureate degree, associate degree or certificate programs. Applicants must have a minimum GPA of 2.5 to be eligible for consideration.

Grammy-winning artist Keith Urban is the featured headliner for Visit Escanaba’s new Northern Lights Music Fest. The two-day festival, scheduled for July 21 and 22 at the U.P. State Fairgrounds in Escanaba, will feature rock and country performances, food vendors and on-site camping. Other acts slated to perform include Steelheart, Sebastian Bach of Skid Row and Pop Evil. For more details, go to visitescanaba.com. (Photo courtesy of Visit Escanaba)

Students complete Birchview mural

Artists in Excellence — a cross-district arts-based extracurricular program for students from Marquette, Negaunee and Ishpeming high schools — recently completed its inaugural community art project: a mural at Birchview Elementary in Ishpeming. AIE is administered by the City of Marquette Office of Arts and Culture in partnership with local art teachers. Under the guidance of local muralist Hannah Milkie (featured on page 42 of this issue of Marquette Monthly), students from local high schools united to design and implement a project they felt would make a difference in empowering the youth of their community and visualize the power of creative collaboration. The mural was unveiled on April 21. (Photo courtesy of Artists in Excellence)

The AAUW does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, religion or sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation and gender identity).

The application package includes: a completed application (available at marquette-mi.aauw.net); a copy of a current transcript, including the most recent semester; a letter expressing one’s reasons for applying, including an explanation of financial need (maximum 1,000 words); and optional letters of support.

Questions about this scholarship opportunity can be directed to Andrea Ingmire at aing@pwpl.info or 906226-4303.

Soo Film Festival calls for entries

Celebrating its 10th anniversary, Soo Film Festival returns to downtown Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, Sept. 13 to 17. Films will once again screen at the historic Soo Theatre and Bayliss Public Library. Soo Film Festival 2023 is supported by the Michigan Arts and Culture Council, administered by Eastern Upper Peninsula Planning Commission.

Festival president Jason Markstrom said, “We have seen a lot of films and met a lot of people in 10 years, and

we’re looking forward to even more in the years to come. To still be putting on this program is a great feeling.”

Documentary and all genres of fiction, feature and shorts, will be accepted online exclusively through FilmFreeway. The regular deadline is May 14 and requires a $20 entry fee. Late entries must be submitted by June 5 with an entry fee of $25. The selected films will be announced the week of July 21. Filmmakers will find complete details at FilmFreeway.com/ SooFilmFestival.

Soo Film Festival 2023 is open to filmmakers worldwide but will continue to emphasize and showcase work from the Great Lakes region. Soo Film Festival Inc. is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote and host film and allied arts festivals in the City of Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. Soo Film Festival Inc. seeks to showcase the work of independent and emerging filmmakers, especially from the Great Lakes of North America.

Dancing with Our Stars takes place May 24-25

The Dancing with Our Stars event to benefit the U.P. Hospice Foundation is scheduled for May 24 and 25 at Forest Roberts Theatre on the

campus of Northern Michigan University. Participating couples are Jolene Kunde and Josh Thatcher; Meagen Morrison and Andrew Lacombe; Kasey and John Scheibe; Kaylee and Taylor Birmann; Eliisa and Alex Herman; Alyssa and Pat Digneit; Lindsay Bean and Mark Hall; and Sabrina and Grant Langdon. Visit dwos.uphomehealth.org for details.

support items, like a weighted blanket, noise-canceling headphones, fidget toys and nonverbal communication cards. The young person can keep whatever item they use from the kit, thanks to the free replacement program offered by Carter Kits.

bers attend a monthly work group meeting focused on specific tasks and help with things like outreach, event planning and fundraising.

about Carter Kits is available at www. carterkits.org.

Pictured Rocks Days, Yoopers Ride Free June 10-11

Coalitions

across the

U.P. support youth with autism

Upper Peninsula Communities

That Care is a group of eight Communities That Care coalitions — or CTCs — working to reduce youth substance use, depression and more in the U.P. The CTCs collaborate to distribute a variety of resources in their communities, such as prescription drug lock boxes, Narcan and suicide prevention training. With funding from the Superior Health Foundation, their newest project is bringing Carter Kits to nine counties in the U.P.

Carter Kits were developed downstate, in response to a request from an EMT who wanted to increase options to calm youth who have autism, who may find a visit from first responders frightening. They are also useful for youth who have experienced trauma. The kits contain a variety of sensory

“I’m so proud of the impact that we can make with Carter Kits, and extremely grateful to the Superior Health Foundation for their on-going support of our coalitions,” said Ashly Gleason, Marquette County Cares coordinator. “Our goal is always to create healthier, safer communities where youth can thrive. This project allows us to foster a trusting, safe relationship with first responders and open the door for more options when treating children in crisis, wherever they are.”

UPCTC will be distributing around 20 kits in each participating county. They plan to potentially bring in additional kits, depending on the need and interest in their area. The coordinators for each CTC can also provide a letter of support to any local organizations interested in writing their own grants for Carter Kits.

The coalitions are always seeking volunteers to help in prevention efforts. Joining your local CTC takes only a few hours each month. Mem-

Parents, youth and other concerned citizens are welcome at the CTC table, as well as professionals from media, law enforcement, government, human service agencies, tribal leadership and more.

UPCTC is funded by NorthCare Network, Prevention Network and Superior Health Foundation. Individual coalitions may have additional funders. Learn more about UPCTC and youth-focused prevention at www.upctc.com. More information

Mark your calendars for Munising’s summer kick-off events, Pictured Rocks Days and Yoopers Ride Free, scheduled for June 10 and 11.

“We are wholeheartedly looking forward to … having Pictured Rocks Days as our yearly kickoff for the summer season here in downtown Munising. This event is not only enjoyed by thousands of visitors that come to our area, but also our com-

DiD You Know...

What Hiawatha Village was?

As labor was struggling to gain rights, a group of people in Schoolcraft County developed the Hiawatha Village Association in 1893. It was a socialist cooperative developed by Walter T. Mills and Abraham “Uncle Abe” Byers based on the time-credit labor system for work and community exchange of goods. During its short life, it attracted 200 villagers who developed a community on 1,080 acres. When Mills resigned in 1895, the project disintegrated.

Submitted by Dr. Russell M. Magnaghi, history professor emeritus of NMU and a U.P. author and historian.

Grants aid lighthouse preservation

Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson announced recently that two historic Michigan lighthouses will make progress on long-term preservation efforts with the help of $106,000 in Michigan Lighthouse Assistance Program grants from the Michigan State Historic Preservation Office. The lighthouses receiving grants are the Rock of Ages Lighthouse, above, near Windigo in Isle Royale National Park, and the Eagle Harbor Lighthouse. Rock of Ages Lighthouse Preservation Society will receive $46,000, while the Keweenaw County Historical Society’s grant is for $60,000. “The historic lighthouses lining our freshwater shoreline — the longest in the world — are part of the splendor of Pure Michigan,” Whitmer said. “I am proud that we are making an investment today to preserve these structures, reminding us of our past and encouraging us to move towards the light.” Funding for this program comes solely from the sale of specialty Save Our Lights license plates available from the Michigan Secretary of State. (Photos courtesy of the Michigan Executive Office of the Governor)

munity,” said Kathy Reynolds, CEO of the Alger County Chamber of Commerce. “I think one of the big reasons we have done so well over the years is because we offer something for everyone of every age. Whether that is a variety of music for the two days and having 100-plus vendors or also having the ability to do other activities in our area before and after coming to the festival.”

Organized by the Alger County Chamber of Commerce, Pictured

Rocks Days is a much-anticipated festival that spans two days and attracts thousands of people. The event, which started in 2013, initially began as a collaboration between the chamber and Pictured Rocks Cruises. The success of Yoopers Ride Free in 2012 facilitated this partnership, which resulted in a weekend filled with excitement and amusement.

“Pictured Rocks Cruises is excited to be part of this community event,” said John Madigan, general manager

of Pictured Rocks Cruises. “It’s hard to believe Yoopers Ride Free has been going on over 10 years.”

Tickets for a free Pictured Rocks tour will be distributed on a firstcome, first-served basis on June 10 and 11, with a limit of 1,000 free tickets per day, weather permitting. To claim your free tickets, you must show photo ID with an Upper Peninsula address in person at the Pictured Rocks Cruises box office, 100 City Park Drive, Munising.

The festival is held in Binsfeld Bayshore Park — adjacent to the Cruises offices and Munising City Dock — and will have live music from Troy Graham, DayDreamers, Whiskey Ryan and Catfish Kennedy, Jim and Ray and The Make-Believe Spurs; various food trucks and vendors; a petting zoo; bounce houses; and other fun throughout the weekend.

For more information about the event or to be a vendor, contact the Alger County Chamber of Commerce at 906-387-2138 or visit www.picturedrocksdays.com.

Ishpeming High School approved for CTE program

Building on the success of its Farm to School youth program, Partridge Creek Farm in Ishpeming announced that its partnership with Ishpeming High School, the Marquette-Alger Regional Educational Service Agency and Northern Michigan University has resulted in state approval for a new agriculture career technical education program that will begin this fall. It will be the first hor-

ticulture-focused agriculture CTE program in the U.P. Juniors or seniors from any school in Marquette or Alger counties will be able to learn about growing and harvesting fresh food while working toward credit at NMU.

Bonifas, Escanaba announce lineup for Music Mondays

The Bonifas Arts Center, in conjunction with the City of Escanaba, has announced the 2023 lineup for Music Mondays, a free concert series that will run throughout the summer. The concerts are held from 7 to 9 p.m. on the following Mondays at Ludington Park in Escanaba: June 12, Jam Band; June 19, Cosmic Exposure; June 26, Wingin’ It; July 10, Tohubohu; July 17, Three Wheel Drive; July 24, Stonewall; July 31, Grand Design; and Aug. 7, Sit Down Francis.

Prison ministry seeks volunteers to adopt inmates

In Your Cell — a jail/prison ministry based in Delta County — is seeking couples, singles or families to “adopt” a Michigan prison inmate. Adoption involves corresponding monthly with the inmate via U.S. Mail. No money or phone calls are involved. All inmates are vetted and given directions on how to engage with those outside in a productive manner. Adopters communicate concern, support, encouragement and ideally some inspiration to men whose lives often lack considerable support, care and respect. The ministry asks that volunteers be compatible with the Christian faith. Those interested in adopting can have mail

sent through the ministry rather than their home address.

In Your Cell asks adopters to make an initial one-year commitment. The work involved takes about 45 minutes per month. Currently, 13 adopters are in contact with 17 inmates. Contact Mike at 906-241-7731 or wyolaramie@yahoo.com for more information.

Business news … in brief

• Rosmin Jos, M.D., has joined the team of family medicine providers at Upper Great Lakes Hancock Family Health Center Family Practice. Dr. Jos earned her doctor of medicine degree from Pleven Medical University in Pleven, Bulgaria, in 2003, then received her master of public health degree from Michigan State University in 2016. She completed her residency in family medicine at Pontiac General Hospital in Pontiac in 2021.

• UP Health System–Marquette announced it has acquired the latest innovation in robotic technology for minimally invasive lung biopsy. Robotic surgery allows providers to insert surgical instruments through one small incision, improving surgical outcomes by providing more reach, more stability and more precision — allowing faster patient recovery. This advance is made possible by an investment of more than $600,000 from Lifepoint Health.

• Four U.P. businesses recently received $25,000 grants from the state Economic Development Corporation aimed at strengthening downtowns. The U.P. recipients are: Bird’s Eye Outfitters, Sault Ste. Marie, for a year-

round outdoor dining area; Cibo Inc., Houghton, for an outdoor dining area; Velodrome Coffee Company, Marquette, for equipment, interior building improvements and a composting area; and Nisu Bakery and Cafe, Hancock, for an outdoor dining area.

• The Nature Conservancy in Michigan, a global conservation organization, has hired Julia Petersen as project manager for the Keweenaw Peninsula. In her role, Petersen will direct community engagement and project management for the Keweenaw Heartlands Project. Petersen and her family live in Atlantic Mine. Prior to joining TNC, she has been everything from a planning specialist for the U.S. Army to a strategic planner for a large school district and, most recently, director of conservation and education programs for the Zoological Society of Milwaukee.

• UP Health System–Bell announced the addition of Elaine Schuhmacher, FNP, to its occupational medicine team. A board-certified family nurse practitioner, Schuhmacher specializes in commercial driver medical exams, drug testing, immunizations, respirator medical clearance and infectious disease testing.

How to submit to City Notes

The deadline for event and press release submissions for City Notes is the 10th day of the month prior to publication. Email your press release to editor@marquettemonthly.com.

on campus

NMU achieves STARS Silver

Northern Michigan University has earned a STARS Silver Rating — only 4.8 points shy of Gold — from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education. The AASHE’s Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System, or STARS program, measures and encourages sustainability in all aspects of higher education. Participating institutions report achievements through an audit of five overall areas: academics, engagement, operations, planning and administration and innovation and leadership.

“The real game-changer that brought us so close to Gold this year was developing an interim strategic plan for the university that includes a focus area of building a culture of sustainability on campus,” said Jes Thompson, NMU public relations professor and director of the Sustainability Hub for Innovation and Environment, SHINE. “Having an action plan attached to that provided evidence that we were taking tangible, large and measurable steps toward improving sustainability in operations and organizational culture. Only three public universities our size have achieved a STARS Gold Rating. My mission is to get us there, hopefully by resubmitting next year rather than on the three-year auditing cycle we’ve been on.”

Thompson said NMU has achieved nearly the maximum point potential in academics by launching three new programs since the last STARS audit: a master’s degree in administration of outdoor recreation and nature-based tourism; an M.A. in English concentration in literature and the environment; and a bachelor’s degree in sustainable business and enterprise creation.

“The fact three different colleges contributed points to our rating reinforces the interdisciplinary approach to sustainability at Northern,” she said. “It also shows that students from all fields are seeking related content in their courses.”

Of all university courses, 19 percent include a sustainability component, and 80 percent of NMU’s academic departments offer sustainability courses. Thompson said 25 percent of

students graduate from a program that requires some knowledge of the topic.

The Green Fund, a $5 opt-out fee for NMU students implemented at the recommendation of the EcoReps student organization, also made a difference in 2022 by supporting the following projects: a demonstration solar array at a SHINE location on campus, clover lawn, beekeeping education, parking lot rain gardens and composting transport.

“This week, students are working with the Northern Lights dining facility to sort waste and weigh how much is compostable, how much is recyclable and how much goes to the landfill,” Thompson said. “With that data, the university will be able to develop a larger-scale composting plan with Dining Services. Dining has already transitioned to compostable paper and plastic ware, and the next step is to figure out how to transport the compost to Partridge Creek Farm.”

NMU partnered with Michigan Tech University to do reciprocal carbon footprint analyses to get a sense of baseline emissions. Other notable achievements in university operations include: 15 percent of NMU’s lighting is LED, with a multi-year plan to increase that percentage; greenhouse gas emissions and water use dropped by 31 percent and 37 percent, respectively, since 2010; 100 percent of ice melt used on sidewalks is certified eco/green; and 35 percent of food purchased is plant-based, including excess produce grown in the campus Hoop House and via the indoor agriculture program.

NMU previously earned a STARS Bronze Rating in 2017 and a Silver in 2020.

MTU runner sets Guinness World Record

Guinness World Record holder is not a title that Michigan Tech cross country and track and field student-athlete Ella Merklein thought she would claim — especially just a few months after a season-ending injury early in her first collegiate outdoor track season.

“The injury happened at this time last year. It was my second race and after the steeplechase,” Merklein said. “I wasn’t really able to run quite right after that without experiencing pain.”

After getting an MRI, the biomedical engineering major was put in a boot for a short period of time before crutches were prescribed to help relieve irritation to her heel.

“I was walking around campus on crutches, and my friends and I had decided to go on a hike prior to me breaking my foot and I didn’t want to back out of the hike,” she said. “We went hiking at night ... and then we started to make jokes about running and seeing how fast I could go on the crutches.”

Returning home for the summer break, Merklein started to seriously consider running on crutches. “I had just kind of been thinking, ‘What if I did start running on crutches?’ I ended up joining a team workout and doing 800-meter repeats to see how it would work. I did three of them and it was a little difficult,” she said.

Merklein, of Hartford, Wisconsin, poured more investment into running with crutches. She researched the most effective form for crutch running and how fast people have previously run with crutches.

During the course of her research she found a record holder with a foot injury similar to hers. Andreas Fruhmann set the record in the “Fastest mile on crutches (one leg) — male” category in Parsberg, Germany, on Jan. 2, 2021. “And I’m like, ‘Huh, all right, somebody has already done this. I wonder if I can do it better or see what I could do in comparison,’” Merklein said.

Kayaking and swimming were Merklein’s only opportunities to cross-train while recovering from her foot injury. Neither option was very accessible — or nearly as enjoyable as her favorite hobbies: hiking and running. “So I decided to officially start working toward a world record,” she said.

The injury had brought some uncertainty with it. But within a few weeks of being on crutches and finding a new goal to focus on, Merklein’s worries started to fade away. “I think

it was a lot of my frustration at what had happened and the fact that there wasn’t much that I felt like I could do, and all of a sudden I realized: I can do this. I can change my mindset about this — and it doesn’t have to be something bad, it can be something good,” she said.

A month into summer break, Merklein began her journey to a Guinness World Record in the category of “Fastest mile on crutches (one leg) — female.” The next step in the process was a big one: crutch-running around her neighborhood. “I went out for a mile to gauge what I had, because I figured after a little bit of training it’ll get faster,” she said. “But just to give myself a baseline, I think it was a 12:30 mile that I ran at that point.”

Merklein brought her goal to her coaches. “My first reaction was, ‘She wants to do what?’” assistant head coach Robert Young said.

“I remember we were concerned,” head coach Kristina Owen said. “But it was great — she set a goal, she did her research and trained hard for it.”

When Merklein returned to the U.P. later in the summer, she began to consider setting a day to go for the Guinness World Record. “My coaches were pretty supportive when I came back to campus, and we talked about actually doing the crutches world record. At this point, I wasn’t sure if I was going to go for the recording,” she said, referring to one of the many validation requirements that go into verifying a Guinness World Record.

Since Young had set his own competitive goal around the same time

— to break the five-minute-mile barrier for the 22nd consecutive year — Owen decided to make a track meet out of the events. “The fact that people were there to cheer me on and having Coach Young’s race go before got me into the whole race mentality,” Merklein said. “But it was a little bit nerve-racking because it was about a week to a week and a half since I’d stopped using the crutches as often.”

On a July morning in Houghton, following Young’s successful subfive-minute mile, Merklein lined up for her record attempt. “I finished up, and my first thought was that it was really fun but really difficult,” she said. The previous record was 12:30. “So I realized that I hit it, and I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh, I did it. It’s there.’ And then it was just a matter of getting all the information in to Guinness.”

On March 23, it became official. Merklein is the Guinness World Record holder in the “Fastest mile on crutches (one leg) — female” category, with a time of 11:16.

The coaching staff was pleased with the veteran move that Merklein made: to not get discouraged by her injury, but instead find a way to channel her drive and motivation into something special. “It’s finding a way to make something really awesome out of what is an otherwise challenging situation, and it’s something to be proud of,” Young said.

This article was written by Matt Taylor, assistant director of athletic communications at Michigan Tech.

Michigan Tech student-athlete Ella Merklein, right, and her brother pause while taking a walk in La Crosse, Wisconsin. (Photo courtesy of MTU)

Salamander stewards at NMU

When the spring thaw begins at Marquette’s Presque Isle Park and there are a couple of rainy nights with temperatures in the 30s and 40s, blue-spotted salamanders suddenly emerge from their underground winter burrows.

They migrate across the remaining snow and the park’s road to lay their eggs in a wetlands area behind the Moosewood Nature Center, then return to the other side. An NMU alumnus who saw too many squished to death by vehicle traffic convinced the city to close the park road in the evenings while the salamanders are moving. Now, more than 40 NMU students are trained for duty in salamander conservation, data collection and public education efforts associated with the migration.

“Marquette really loves its salamanders and wants to see them thrive,” said Anna Hill, a Freshman Fellow from Port Sanilac and a biology major with a concentration in ecology. “It’s amazing how residents have fallen in love with something that’s only out and viewable for about two weeks and want to ask all sorts of questions. Adorable kids come up to me, sharing what they’ve learned about the animals or telling salamander jokes. I guess you could say

we’re tackling the conservation aspect ahead of time.”

“There has been an astronomical number of people showing up at the park already compared with last year, and we’re not even at the peak of the run yet,” said Luke Childs, a senior fisheries and wildlife management major from Lapeer. “I’m leading the Salamander Stewards team, which patrols the road to ensure that salamanders aren’t being harmed, picked up or otherwise disrupted on their journey. The team also educates community members on what’s happening, why and characteristics of the animals. It’s great to have community interest and involvement, provided it’s in a way that allows for a safe migration.”

Hill is leading Team Sallie, which is focused on collecting data that is scientifically sound in order to augment and validate the observations of participants in the department’s Citizen Science program. She trained students to record the number of salamanders they see, the timing of their movements, whether they’re traversing through remaining snow — there is barely any left after the recent warmup — general weather conditions and species identifications.

“There are actually two types of salamanders at Presque Isle,” Hill

said. “The blue-spotted male and female salamanders are typically smaller and have darker bodies with brighter spots that are more distinguishable. Then there’s a unisexual female hybrid variant. They’re usually bigger and their spots are muddled together and less bright, with some gray in them. But you can’t really tell the difference without genetic testing. There’s been a lot of literature on the genetics of these salamanders, but not on their migration or ecology.”

Hill is in Northern’s Freshman Fellowship program, which allows academically talented students to earn money as an assistant to a faculty member in a research project. Hill expressed thanks to the program’s team for pairing her with Jill Leonard, head of the biology department.

“It’s nice to have a direct way to

communicate with someone who has such a large knowledge base,” Hill said of Leonard. “It may not be a traditional Freshman Fellowship to be out in the field from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. like this. It’s tiring, but very rewarding.”

In addition to serving as a steward, Childs has also engaged in research. One future project involves studying the eggs and their life cycle for hatching, as well as when the freshly hatched salamanders cross the road to join the adults. He said the overall experience related to this conservation effort is good preparation for his future career goal of becoming a fish and game officer with the DNR.

The conservation effort is a collaboration involving NMU’s biology department, the Superior Watershed Partnership and the City of Marquette. MM

Luke Childs and Anna Hill protect and study salamanders at Presque Isle Park. (Photo courtesy of NMU)

Answer

To check your answers, see Page 67.

IF THE CLUE FITS ...

REpRInTEd FRom THE New York Times

By John EwBank / EditEd By will Shortz

75 Male turkey

6 What makes creamer creamier?

7 What Beethoven did in his 30s and 40s

8 Use as a rendezvous point

9 Essen exclamation

10 What an ‘‘@’’ might signify

11 Word with ear or peace

12 Confuse

13 Like swimming and surfing

14 It’s worth one point in cricket

15 With Desmond Tutu, co-author of the 2016 best seller ‘‘The Book of Joy’’

16 Complete, as a .pdf contract

17 Au naturel

18 Canopy makeup

64 Carnival dance

66 Glamping option named for its shape

68 ‘‘No bid’’

69 Gave, as nourishment

70 Male swan

71 Shipshape

72 Bottom of the barrel

73 Knee-slapper

79 Like many suitcase handles

81 Club relative

82 Canon offering, in brief

84 Spotted nocturnal mammal

85 Play thing?

86 Bit of redacted info, for short 89 Indubitably 90 ‘‘Ben-____’’ 91 A little light combat?

110 Tammy who sang ‘‘Stand by Your Man’’

112 Occupied

113 Greek word meaning ‘‘character’’

114 See 111-Down

115 Where there’s smoke

119 Gather, as volunteers

121 ‘‘Etc., etc.’’ … or a statement about answers to this puzzle’s starred clues?

125 Commonly contracted twoword phrase

126 Why you might run out

127 Makes gassy

128 Get goose bumps, say

129 ‘‘Ciao!’’

130 Popular papal name

DOWN

1 Nickname that drops -ces

2 Very formal, or very informal, garment

3 Royal title

4 The time machine on ‘‘Doctor Who’’

5 ‘‘Toy Story’’ antagonist

20 British draft horse

23 English dos

28 Four to five spaces, typically

31 Police operation requiring patience

32 Rose gold, e.g.

34 ‘‘It’s . . OK’’

35 Family member that’s also a letter in the NATO alphabet

36 One charged with climate policy

38 Go-ahead

40 Sorta

42 Deck treatment

44 ‘‘Who’s That Girl?’’ rapper 45 It’s nothing

47 Where a grilled cheese can be found at McDonald’s 48 Suffix for a fad 49 Was out 51 Choir voice 52 Smart 53 Have a life 54 Sends high into the sky 59 ‘‘I don’t think so’’

62 Its largest islands are Savai’i and Upolu

63 The Jazz, on scoreboards

93 ____ Lilly & Co.

94 Breakfast nook

99 ‘‘Have you heard about batik? It’s a dyeing ____’’ (groaner)

101 Childish plea

102 ‘‘Holy smokes!’’

104 Do some maintenance on, as a PC’s disk

105 Resource in the game Catan

106 French name that is an anagram of a German river 107 Pompeo of ‘‘Grey’s Anatomy’’

108 ‘‘Now I remember!’’ 109 Poet Marianne

111 With 114-Across, crystal collector, perhaps 116 Mother of Apollo and Artemis

117 Account holder, e.g.

118 Popular online marketplace

120 Day on Mars

122 Either of two lead characters in ‘‘Kiss Me, Kate’’

123 Homophone of 90-Down

124 Poetic palindrome

then & now

The House of Ludington in Escanaba was already 47 years old in this photograph from 1911. It was built in 1864 by a lumber baron named Nelson Gaynor, who named it the Gaynor House.

The House of Ludington, pictured in 2022, has provided hospitality to many famous people through the years, including the Henry Ford family, Thomas Edison, John Philip Sousa and Johnny Cash.

Photos provided by Superior View Studios, located in Art of Framing, 149 W. Washington Street Marquette www.viewsofthepast.com

Find your inner boatnerd

By John Smolens

How can you not love an ore boat?

A ship espied on the horizon is a majestic floating enigma. These steel behemoths of the Great Lakes inspire rare longings: dreams of the voyage, the intrepid passage to distant shores. It’s easy to love the ore boats, but for some it becomes an obsession. They call themselves boatnerds. The image of ships, coming and going from our two harbors, is an integral part of Marquette’s identity, so

much so that the dominant image on the city’s seal is an ore boat. Perhaps you have dear friends and neighbors who are avowed boatnerds. Though their behavior may be curious, they are not to be pitied. You see them at dawn as their car pulls out of the driveway and heads toward the lake. It’s a safe bet they’re going to Presque Isle. Online, they have followed the passage of an ore boat as it crosses Lake Superior and plan to watch the ship slowly, ever so slowly, enter the Upper Harbor and tie up alongside the ore dock.

Boatnerds are a tight-knit group, joyously unrepentant in their fanaticism. Most likely, other boatnerds will be at the ore dock, drawn by the desire to witness this not-so-small miracle of human enterprise and ingenuity. They share no covert signals, no esoteric signs or passwords; however, they might acknowledge each other with a slight nod and a raised mug of coffee or tea in silent salute.

Lee Rowe, who resides in Gwinn, has been “stalking ships” for decades. It started in college in the ’60s, when she and her mother observed ships

passing through the Soo Locks. The year after Lee graduated, she married and honeymooned in the Soo. Since then, she has befriended a veritable fleet of boat devotees, who frequently call her “The Admiral,” and indeed she’s often seen on the lakeshore sporting an admiral’s cap.

Lee will tell you that food plays a large part in the life of boatnerds. They have organized picnics and dinners in the Soo, Duluth and the Welland Canal, the series of locks that connects Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. They have banded together for freight-

The Great Lakes shipping fleet has inspired generations of joyously unrepentant devotees

The Kaye E. Barker of the Interlake Steamship Company visits Marquette’s Upper Harbor Ore Dock. (Photo by John Smolens)

er-chasing cruises on the St. Mary’s River and arranged a tour of the Lee A. Tregurtha, which makes frequent stops in Marquette. One Canadian confrere, a former ship’s cook, had a reputation for his carrot cake. Lee says, “We ‘traded’ Trenary Toast for his carrot cake, ostensibly smuggling them across the [St. Mary’s] river.”

The “nerd” designation is well deserved, as boatnerds rely on the latest technology to track ships’ movements on the lakes, and they often communicate via email, cell phone and social media. They routinely consult websites such as boatnerd.com and knowyourships.com, both of which provide a wealth of information about the shipping traffic on the Great Lakes: boat statistics, photographs, videos and “live” tracking feeds on automated information systems, or AIS, which chart the movements of the ships about the lakes.

The boatnerd’s bible, Know Your Ships (affectionately known as KYS), provides information about the lakes’ shipping fleet. The book has been published annually since 1959, and for the past 28 years it has been edited and published by Roger LeLievre, a retired journalist LeLievre divides his time between Ann Arbor and his cabin on the St. Mary’s River, which has been in the family for generations (his grandfather and great-grandfather worked on the coal docks). As a boy LeLievre marveled at the ships plying the St. Mary’s, and as a young man in the ’70s he worked as a passenger porter on the Ernest R. Breech — a ship owned by the Ford Motor Company that had four luxurious cabins which could accommodate up to eight passengers. The term “boatnerd” was coined by LeLievre in the 1995 edition

of KYS; earlier, shipping enthusiasts were often referred to as “boat buffs,” which somehow doesn’t quite plumb the depths of their passion. Though shipping information is now available online, approximately 8,000 copies of the book still sell each year. Ore boat mania, according to LeLievre, “is like NASCAR in slow motion.”

Compiling information for KYS is a daunting task, and LeLievre is assisted by a small crew of committed boatnerds, such as Sam Hankinson and Joshua Hebeisen. Hankinson, who grew up observing ships in Grand Haven and now works for the Port of Monroe, likens KYS to a “gateway drug.” Boatnerds, he suggests, are a rare species that can be identified by certain distinguishing markings, predilections and habits: lingering by the

The American Courage was originally named the Fred R. White Jr. — information that is readily available at boatnerd.com. (Photo by John Smolens)

Lee Rowe, aka “The Admiral,” has been stalking ships for decades. (Photo courtesy of Lee Rowe)

lake at all hours to watch ships maneuver; scuffed camera equipment and broken tripods; cuts and bruises from climbing rocks and embankments along the shore; and an “intense appreciation for craft beer from all corners of the Great Lakes.” Hebeisen, who lives in the Twin Cities and got hooked watching the ships from the hills of Duluth, adds that “we drool over getting our ears blasted out by the coveted ‘salute’ — a friendly series of blasts from a ship’s whistle to boat watchers ashore.”

Boatnerds are gluttons for statistics and particulars about the ships working the lakes: history, captains and crews, specifications, modifications, cargo, ports of call, storms endured — all are sought after and shared primarily on websites and social media. They will happily regale you with discussions about long tons, short tons, displacement, holding capacity, draft, knot speed — every conceivable statistic that relates to a ship’s function and design. Crowds frequently gather on the observation platform alongside the Soo Locks, where you are so close to the ships it seems as though you can reach out and touch their hulls. If on a

summer’s day the wind is right, you can stand on the beach at McCarty’s Cove and hear the pulsing throb of a ship’s engines come across the water from miles away.

At the heart of the boatnerds’ obsession is the simple fact that these iron mammoths actually float. To understand why this is so, one must consider Archimedes’ principle, the foundation of the law of buoyancy. While taking a bath in Syracuse on the Isle of Sicily, Archimedes (c. 246 B.C.) noticed that the water level rose as he immersed himself in his tub, causing him to run into the streets shouting the Greek equivalent of “Eureka!” Once he calmed down and toweled off, Archimedes elaborated upon the principle of displacement in a text titled On Floating Bodies.

Ore boat specifications seem to defy comprehension. They can run more than 1,000 feet in length, and they can hold up to 70,000 tons of bulk cargo, in most cases iron ore, coal or limestone — and yet, despite their massive presence when viewed in harbor, from a distance they can seem diminutive flecks of rusting metal on the vast expanse of Lake Superior. For decades,

they have worked the lakes, enduring the elements, plowing through ice, horrific gales, battering seas. Ships that are lost to the depths of the lakes are never recovered, but they remain intact, preserved in cold water. We all know that haunting Gordon Lightfoot song, which tells the story of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

Ore boats are neither sleek nor pretty in any classical nautical sense, but their long, low design is a masterpiece of functionality and utility. The enormous scale and power of these vessels nearly defies belief, and yet they inspire a rare, overarching faith. There’s something defiantly proud about an ore boat; that they survive in their harsh, watery environment is reassuring. During a raging squall on a black December night, who doesn’t pause at the sight of a ship anchored safely in the lee of Presque Isle, festooned with Christmas lights? Perhaps there’s a bit of the boatnerd in us all.

John Smolens, NMU professor emeritus, has published 12 books. His latest novel, A Cold, Hard Prayer, will be released this fall.

About 10,000 ships pass through the Soo Locks each year. (Photo by John Smolens)

BOATNERDS ... CAN BE IDENTIFIED BY CERTAIN DISTINGUISHING MARKINGS, PREDILECTIONS AND HABITS.

Mather

Inn experiences a rebirth

New life for an old treasure

By Erin Elliott Bryan

Blest be that spot where cheerful guests retire

To pause from toil and trim their evening fire; Blest that abode, where want and pain repair, And every stranger finds a ready chair.

— Oliver Goldsmith,

This stanza from Irish writer Oliver Goldsmith accompanied a 14-page section in The Daily Mining Journal on Jan. 15, 1932, to commemorate the opening of Ishpeming’s Mather Inn. Headlines on multiple stories throughout the section noted the new hotel’s “stately Georgian architecture” and its “modern facilities and real comfort.” Ishpeming advertisers welcomed the new hotel to town.

The next day, Jan. 16, was the formal opening of the Mather Inn, and The Daily Mining Journal reported that Marquette congratulated Ishpeming “in a half-hour [radio] program broadcast from the Marquette and Ishpeming studios of WBEO, The Mining Journal station.”

“The Traveller”

(1764)

“The City of Marquette, in fact all of Marquette County, feels a glow of honest pride that we all are neighbors of a community that has made this hotel project such a glowing success,” F.H. Heath, secretary of the Marquette Chamber of Commerce, said during the program. “The stimulus of this fine new building will mean much for our sister city. We foresee the Mather Inn as a community center, a gathering place of the Ishpeming folks. It means more than that to you folks over in Ishpeming. It means the bringing to Ishpeming of more people, people of a discriminating nature who will revel in the service that such a hotel as the inn will offer them.”

Now, some 90 years later, the Ma-

The cast and crew of Anatomy of a Murder, including, from left, director Otto Preminger, Lee Remick and James Stewart, stayed at the Mather Inn while filming on location in Marquette County. (Photo courtesy of Superior View)

ther Inn is preparing for a new beginning, opening its doors once again to welcome visitors and locals alike. Under new owners Bill Anderson and Liisa Petersen, who purchased the building in July 2022, The Mather (as it will now be known) has undergone extensive renovations led by general contractor G.E. Builders Inc. of Negaunee to bring it back to life, continuing its tradition of hospitality in accordance with Heath’s original vision.

“We want to put the shine back on it, so that it’s bustling and vibrant again,” Petersen said. Anderson and Petersen also own the Union Station Depot in Negaunee. Petersen said they have an interest in preserving the rich history of buildings that need some extra attention. “I have always, always, always loved the Mather Inn,” said Petersen, who grew up in Negaunee. “We saw so much potential.”

Anderson is a self-described Air Force brat and said he fell in love with old buildings as he was growing up in different parts of the country. He’s lived in Negaunee for about 30 years.

The partners’ plan for the 39,000-square-foot building includes a main-floor ballroom that can be used for special events, 16 long- and short-term rental units on the upper floors (some with high-end finishes and Petersen’s hope of an antique chandelier in each unit) and space for commercial businesses, including a tasting room for the Marquette-based Honorable Distillery and The Art of Massage with Taylor Knetter. The Mather will also continue to house Cognition Brewing Company, which began operating at the site in 2015.

The Mather is on the site of a previous hotel, the Nelson House, which was destroyed by fire in 1928. At that time, William G. Mather, president of the Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Company, led a drive to construct a new hotel that would be fine enough to house company executives who came to town.

Mather saw a need for a hotel that could also serve the community and proposed that Ishpeming residents raise a portion of the money through the purchase of stocks. Some 354 Ishpeming residents and businesses purchased stock at the cost of $50 per share. CCI, as well as other mining companies in the area, also contributed financing and Mather made a significant investment of his own.

Karen Kasper, vice president of the Ishpeming Area Historical Society, volunteers at the Northern Michigan University Archives, where she is working to digitize documents related to the Mather Inn. Her grandfather, a baker in Ishpeming, owned a single share of stock in the hotel. “There

weren’t a lot of rich people in town,” Kasper said. “CCI knew it would have to spend a lot of money.”

Mather was the driving force behind the construction and chose architect James H. Ritchie and landscape architect Warren H. Manning, both of whom were based in the Boston area. Planning started in 1930, and construction began in 1931 with Mather having the final say on most building decisions. “He didn’t want it too citified,” Kasper said. “It was an inn; he wanted it more countrified.”

The Mather Inn was built of red brick and sits on a sloping property that faces south overlooking the city and was within walking distance of the railroad depot. Ritchie’s style was Georgian Revival architecture, and he utilized varying window shapes and styles, detailed doorway frames and a variety of gables and bays. The front of the building includes a two-story portico and an extension, where the ballroom is located, featuring dramatic Palladian windows on three sides.

Manning’s landscape design included a manicured front lawn and curved boulder wall that contains pieces of hematite, which is still part of the grounds. There once was a 49-foot-high spruce tree that had been transplanted from Mather’s private estate that served as the city’s municipal Christmas tree.

Several famous guests enjoyed the Mather Inn’s hospitality, including entertainers who traveled to Ishpeming to perform in a series of yearly concerts produced by George Quaal beginning in the 1940s. Among the performers were singers Marian Anderson and Paul Robeson as well as world-renowned violinist Isaac Stern.

Most notably, of course, the Mather Inn provided the accommodations for

the cast and crew of Anatomy of a Murder, which was filmed on location in Ishpeming in 1959. These guests included James Stewart, Lee Remick, Ben Gazzara, George C. Scott and Eve Arden, among others. Musician Duke Ellington, who played Pie Eye, composed some of the music for the film in the Mather Inn’s lounge.

By the 1960s and 1970s, however, Kasper acknowledged that the Mather Inn “had seen better days,” and CCI sold its shares in the hotel in 1967. Kasper recalled her IHS senior class of 1976 being treated to lunch there by one of the local civic groups. “It was such a nice space,” she said. “But by the time I was old enough to appreciate the Mather Inn, it was a fading gem.”

The Mather Inn was entered into the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places in 1978.

Sadly, the Mather Inn eventually closed its doors in 1987. Ted Baird purchased the building in 2004 and renovated some of the upper floors into rental units, but it wasn’t until Cognition Brewing Company opened in the Mather Inn’s basement that the public could once again come inside.

“There’s a whole generation that missed the building,” Petersen said. “They have absolutely no idea what it was.” Anderson and Petersen are embracing The Mather’s unique and storied history and using it to move forward.

Looking to the past, Petersen is curating historical photos — many from Ishpeming’s Child’s Art Gallery that are now part of Jack Deo’s Superior View collection — that will be prominently displayed throughout the main floor. They also preserved much of the original woodwork and are using some of the original furniture.

Looking to the future, the Ishpem-

ing City Council on April 5 voted unanimously to adopt the partners’ Brownfield plan to renovate portions of The Mather and construct a $1.4 million parking structure with an elevator. The structure would provide covered parking for residents as well as public parking for the area, including for the Carnegie Public Library across the street.

Anderson and Petersen have also donated use of The Mather’s ballroom for Ishpeming High School’s prom on May 13. “The kids are really excited,” Petersen said. “The senior class used to have their tea in the building as well as the junior prom and dinner dances. We felt it was a tradition that should continue on.”

The Ishpeming Area Historical Society will host a tour of The Mather as part of its Places and Spaces fundraiser, which will include the opportunity to see behind-the-scenes areas, on Sunday, June 25, from noon to 4 p.m. Guests can take the tour at any time and enjoy refreshments at Bethel Lutheran Church. Advance tickets will be available about a week prior at the Main Street Antique Mall, 121 S. Main St. in Ishpeming, or the day of the event at The Mather. Each ticket is a $10 donation to the historical society.

“We’re proud that the building is going to be used again,” Anderson said. “Everything we’re doing is to bring people into town. We want to get as many people in to enjoy it.”

For information about The Mather, write to thematherevents@gmail.com or contact Anderson at 906-250-1352. MM

Erin Elliott Bryan grew up in Ishpeming and was the MM calendar editor from 2001 to 2005. She is now a freelance writer.

The Mather Inn played a key role in Ishpeming’s civic life in the middle of the 20th century. (Photo courtesy of Superior View)

locals Rite of spring

Volunteers are instrumental in annual beautification efforts

By Pam Christensen

“Horticulture is not a subject,” Linda Andriacchi said. “It is a movement.” She should know, as horticulture has blossomed into a passion and seasonal business for the Ishpeming resident.

A visit to Andriacchi at the office she and her attorney husband share in Ishpeming looks less like a staid legal bureau than a living and breathing center dedicated to beautifying Ishpeming and the homes and businesses in this historic town. Shipping boxes containing planters and other equipment are delivered in preparation for the upcoming gardening season. One of her desks is dedicated to plant grow lights and a new variety of lavender that is more cold hardy than those most commonly found.

Andriacchi started gardening in 1992 after she and her husband completed their new home. She began small with a few shrubs and containers. “My mom was great with containers,” she said, “so I had her help me with a few of those to brighten up our yard and add color.” She has taken advantage of the MSU Cooperative Extension Master Gardener and Advanced Master Gardener programs and any other class, workshop, seminar or gardening event she can attend to further her knowledge. The yard of her home is one of her palettes and serves as a testing ground for various plants.

Andriacchi’s reputation as Ishpeming’s mover and shaker in beautification efforts proves the adage that if you want something done right, do it yourself. Early city beautification efforts started with hanging baskets located along Main Street. When Andriacchi asked why the baskets were not spread throughout the commercial areas of Ishpeming, she was told, “If you want more baskets, take on this project. You can put baskets wherever you want.”

What began as a small project with 13 hanging baskets has grown into a colorful collection of 95 baskets distributed from one end to the other of downtown Ishpeming. The beautification efforts are sponsored by dona-

tions from individuals and businesses. The City of Ishpeming and Ishpeming DDA also help with monetary support.

Like beautification efforts in Marquette and Hancock, the care of plantings and gardens located in public areas is dependent on volunteers. Unfortunately, Andriacchi said, volunteers are her biggest challenge. She is reluctant to expand beyond what has been done, because volunteers dropped off during the pandemic and have not returned.

“Many of our volunteers just can’t do what they could in the past as they get older,” she said. “I had a strong corps of volunteers when we started, but they have been reduced for a variety of reasons. I am always getting requests for additional plantings, but just don’t want to add them if we don’t have volunteers to maintain those areas.”

One common theme that comes

out when speaking to beautification committee leaders is the benefits they receive from these projects. Susan Miko of Hancock is responsible for coordinating the sidewalk planters and hanging baskets found in that city. She moved to the area six years ago and volunteered to help as a way to meet people and make friends in her new community. Miko, like Andriacchi, is a master gardener. She found the project to be fun and a way to meet like-minded people.

As with other projects located in the U.P., planning is important and gets started long before the snow has even left the ground. Miko works with Tony Sleeman of Flowers by Sleeman in Houghton to determine which plants will be used each year. Miko selects seeds in October, and Sleeman starts the plants and baskets so they will be ready to place the first week of June, weather permitting.

“We used to complete the planting offsite before the planters were placed by city workers at their street locations, but now we plant them after the planters are put at each location,” Miko said. “This helps people realize that volunteers play an important part in the process. Volunteers are always needed and appreciated. We are lucky that many of our volunteers have a specific location they want to plant and maintain.”

During the summer months, the planters and baskets must be maintained and watered. The City of Hancock provides staff to water. From June to September, a core group of eight to 10 volunteers meet on a designated morning for planter maintenance and then follow their work with lunch at a local restaurant.

Once the season is over in the fall, the group also cleans out the containers and adds soil and amendments as

Ishpeming’s beautification project includes Lake Bancroft Park in the shadow of the Cliffs Shaft Mine Museum. (Photo courtesy of Linda Andriacchi)

needed. “We have been lucky with this process because it falls during Make a Difference Day, and we get students from MTU and Finlandia who help us with this,” Miko said. “Pulling out the roots and dying plant material can be a hard job after a good growing season. It is nice to have some strong helpers when we get to this stage.”

Miko is quick to point out that beautification efforts in Hancock do not only include what her group does. She proudly states the beautification efforts are undertaken by a variety of individuals and businesses throughout the community.

She also said that organizations like the Keweenaw Chapter of Wild Ones have helped educate people about native plants and their benefits. “There is a real interest in native plants in our area due to organizations like Wild Ones,” she said. “They offer frequent workshops and programs for members, so they can make the best use of natives. It is becoming more common to see people using native species in their own landscapes and those they plant in public spaces.”

The Marquette Beautification and Restoration Committee is celebrating its 45th year in 2023. The group was founded in 1978 and has grown from an informal collection of friends gathered by Barb Kelly to create a more attractive entry to the City of Marquette into an organization with more than 100 members and a diverse schedule of events during the year.

Jill LaMere has served as the organization’s president for several terms. She is quick to dismiss the inaccurate perception that the beautification committee is a garden club. “We are not a garden club, and members don’t have to be gardeners,” she said. “I think that is the impression many people have. Membership is not restricted to women who love to garden. In fact, our focus is historic preservation, making our community safe and enhancing the way it looks. Our members are both men and women, and they have a wide variety of interests and talents. And as with many organizations, volunteers are what makes us successful.”

LaMere talks with pride of the 45 years the organization has sponsored the city clean-up each spring. The event is implemented with the help of 45 organizations that volunteer for clean-up efforts along the highway, streets and parks in Marquette. The MBRC has adopted a section of highway and designates the month of April for the Citywide Spring Clean-Up. “I think the clean-up has helped make the city look better once the snow disappears. It also encourages people not to litter or to pick up any litter they see.”

The MBRC is also responsible for the Petunia Pandemonium beds planted along the entry to the city on South Front Street. This massive project has grown over the years to include a variety of plants and an irrigation system. The beloved project took a hiatus in 2022 because of construction along South Front Street. LaMere assures residents and visitors alike that the plantings will return this year. Petunias are not the only plants used in the project, and each year Kelly selects flowers to use. The plants are purchased locally from Nagelkirk Gardens, and volunteers are critical to the success of the project. This will be Petunia Pandemonium’s 34th year, with planting taking place June 2 and 3.

Members of the MBRC eagerly await spring to see the results of the planting of more than 1,000 daffodil bulbs at the South Front Street and U.S. 41 roundabout. “We had a donation toward 1,000 bulbs from someone who asked if we would plant them in that location,” LaMere said. “It will be fun to see how they bloom and brighten that area.”

Another annual event sponsored by the committee is the garden tour. This ever-popular event raises funds from ticket sales for the viewing of selected private and public gardens. Tickets are sold before and during the event for the self-guided tour. Each year committee members select a variety of gardens demonstrating the many types of gardens found locally. The tour is a wonderful way to see how gardeners have designed and planted their gardens and how they use various plants, landscape features and gardening elements. The 2023 garden tour is scheduled for July 27.

In 2018, the organization turned its attention to Father Marquette Park,

the home of the Father Marquette statue honoring the Jesuit priest Jacques Marquette, namesake of Marquette County and its largest city. Artist Ryan Brayak created an arched gateway, stone benches and signage to welcome visitors to this garden. Included in the park are two areas dedicated to longtime supporters of the MBRC. Tami’s Garden has been planted in tribute to Tami Dawidowski, a past president of the organization who provided leadership for the Marquette Park project. Another area of the park recognizes Karl Zueger, longtime assistant city manager in Marquette who worked selflessly to improve the city’s parks and recreation facilities.

The organization’s newest endeavor, Project Sparkle, was created to remove graffiti defacing the City of Marquette. Working with the Marquette Police Department and Department of Public Works, the group removes unauthorized signage defacing public spaces. They also try to raise awareness about the problem of graffiti and educate the public on ways to discourage this practice.

The MBRC meets on the second Thursday of each month at the Mariucci Family Beacon House. Members and guests are welcome. Details can be found at mqtbeautification.org.

As winter fades, it is comforting to know that communities will blossom under the direction of volunteers led by Andriacchi, Miko and the Marquette Beautification and Restoration Committee.

MM

Pam Christensen moved to Marquette 30 years ago when she accepted the position of library director at Peter White Public Library. She served in that post for more than 24 years.

Beautification efforts in Hancock are undertaken by a variety of individuals and businesses. (Photo courtesy of Susan Miko)

in the outdoors

gem of the city’

Al Quaal Recreation Area blends outdoor adventure and a rich history

By Alex Lehto-Clark

“It’s different every time you go out.” That’s how Paul Olson, a longtime Ishpeming resident and outdoors enthusiast, described one of Marquette County’s most rugged public parks. Located behind Ishpeming’s Eighth Addition neighborhood less than a half-mile north of U.S. 41, Al Quaal Recreation Area offers three lakes, endless hiking and fabulous sledding and cross-country ski trails that are not for the faint of heart.

The park itself is 280 acres, much of it peppered with the rocky iron ore and quartz outcroppings that define so much of western Marquette County’s landscape, with plenty of birch, oak and maple to make any fall walk a lesson in color.

Like many of Ishpeming’s treasures — the projects, community gardens, memorial statues and historical experiences — the park’s overarching narrative is one of community intertwined with history. A community member pushed for the park to be fully lit. Community volunteers work to maintain the many ski trails. And the community gathers there for the Noquemanon Ski Marathon, the Crusher Gravel Race, Fourth of July picnics and Italian Fest. The Marji Gesick ultra endurance races run through it.

The history behind how Al Quaal Recreation Area came to be tells a story of people dedicated to their winter fun, their town and their neighbors.

Many who drive past the park’s sign wonder about the name, with its unusual spelling. In truth, the park was named after one man with a cando attitude who spent much of his life giving his energy and time back to his hometown.

“Albert E. Quaal was an Ishpeming native who was prominent in developing the Winter Sports Complex in Ishpeming, beginning in the 1930s,” said John Pepin, a local history and nature enthusiast who has written extensively about the U.P. “His obituary said he gained the nickname ‘Mr. Winter Sports of Upper Michigan.’”

Pepin said that Quaal, with a group of other area business and community

leaders, was able to harness the power of local commerce to create infrastructure within the park, including lights, downhill ski equipment, two ski jumping hills and a lodge.

Bob Marietti, Ishpeming’s first public recreation director, remembered the Quaal family as active members of community life. “I never knew Al Quaal, but I knew the family,” Marietti said. “His brother George Quaal brought entertainment to Ishpeming for many years.” Their other brother, Ward Quaal, moved to Chicago after his graduation from the University of

Michigan and eventually became the general manager of WGN’s radio and television stations.

Al Quaal worked so hard to develop the recreation area that the City of Ishpeming created a paid position for him. When Marietti walked into the role of recreation director, he said he found many of Quaal’s paychecks in a drawer. “He never cashed them,” Marietti said. Quaal stayed in that position until his retirement in the 1950s.

The name of the Ishpeming Winter Sports Complex was changed in 1960, honoring the man who made it

happen. Quaal died shortly after that, in 1964. A portrait of him hung for many years above the fireplace of the original lodge, which is located near the park’s entrance.

Venture out to Al Quaal’s trails any day, and no matter the weather, there is someone taking in the beauty: Sledders young and old delightfully screech as they make their way over the hilly terrain. Cross-country skiers, in meditative mode, gracefully push through a winter wonderland.

In the summer, mountain bikers brave the rooted terrain on the Range Area Mountain Biking Trails, known as RAMBA. Last year, the park’s disc golf course was revamped, spreading out farther into the cliffs bordering Teal Lake — another development in outdoor recreation that no one in the 1930s could have foreseen. Young families play on the playground equipment, painted Hematite white and blue.

But in Ishpeming specifically, one sport has been the backbone of the city’s narrative. “Skiing is definitely part of Ishpeming’s history, and Al Quaal is a part of that,” said Don Ryan, a local media personality and longtime resident of Marquette County.

In fact, Ishpeming is the nation’s birthplace of organized skiing and houses the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame on U.S. 41. The original National Ski Hall of Fame was nearer to Al Quaal, on Poplar Street.

Ryan remembered Al Quaal as the place to be on winter weekends. In fact, the Winter Sports Complex offered several city-run opportunities for outdoor recreation. At one point, the park had two ski jumps, a toboggan run and three ski runs with two tows to get people up the hill.

According to John Quaal, Al’s great-nephew, Al designed and built the complex’s first rope-tow system. The tow lasted for decades, a product of Quaal’s problem-solving and troubleshooting skills. Up until Marietti’s time in the 1970s, the tows were run off of Ford motors. “I had a lot of connections, so I was able to get the mining company to put in electric tows,” Marietti said.

“When you compare it to the ski

Al Quaal Recreation Area occupies a rugged 280-acre tract in Ishpeming at the west end of Teal Lake. (Photo by Danielle Pemble)

‘The

hills available today, it doesn’t look like much,” Ryan said. “But it was hugely popular with kids and adults.”

Marietti said that during his time as recreation director, the tows were so popular that they often had lines going all the way out to Teal Lake. Marietti organized ski schools and kept a dedicated ski patrol. Eventually, he said they had to add a double run. During his time on the job, the first pavilion was constructed in the area near Birchview Elementary School. Public restrooms were also added.

Marietti said that part of the magic of those years was the people he got to work with, making this all happen for the bustling community. “The crew we had was unimaginable,” he said. Prior to the opening of what is now Marquette Mountain, Ishpeming’s hills were the place where most residents learned to ski. In earlier years, he said, the Peninsula 400 express passenger train would bring Chicago residents in on the weekends to enjoy the slopes.

Though Marietti never tried the park’s larger ski jump — which could send a rider flying over 100 feet into the air — he did take the smaller one.

“Flying through the air — it certainly gives your stomach a tickle,” he said. “It was exciting.”

Pepin recalled the park being the place to bring folks from out of town, to showcase the area’s natural beauty. “We used to go there for pasty and cudighi picnics when relatives came to visit,” he said. “My parents would take us there to play on the swings, teeter totters and monkey bars. We used to love to go there.”

Ryan remembered many summer and winter days spent at Al Quaal with his family. The place would be full of families like his, taking advantage of the activities the park had to offer. Today, visitors will see some remnants of this time. The old pillars for the tow rope stand stoic on the hill by Teal Lake. A sign on the Teal Lake Lodge reads “Ski passes required.” There’s evidence of the Winter Sports Complex everywhere.

“It’s fun to remember the old rope tow; it took a certain amount of technique to use it,” Ryan said. “If you grabbed it too hard, you would get pulled out of your skis. You had to grab it just so that it would pull you up on the hill.”

Marquette native Dan Pemble remembered riding down the toboggan run as a child, particularly how dangerous it could be. “There was a platform they’d put you on, and they’d load 10 or 12 kids on these huge sleds. The bottoms were razor sharp, and you’d ride down this set path. I remember many kids getting their fingers caught and hurt.” But the danger, he acknowledged, was always part of the fun. The learn-at-your-own-risk attitude is part of what makes U.P. life special, according to Pemble.

Pepin also enjoyed the thrills. “During my middle school years,” he said, “I especially used to love the toboggan ride along the shoreline of the lake.”

Though the toboggan run has been relegated to history, there is a tube slide run on site. Pepin said that while it has not been in operation in recent years because of the pandemic and then contractual issues concerning staffing, city officials are optimistic about getting it open next year. The tube slide also has the elements that young thrill seekers crave — and it’s just another example of what Ishpeming has to offer.

Today, the park features groomed cross-country and snowshoe trails. Donations are recommended and help keep the trails in tip-top shape. Marietti said Northern Michigan University still hosts ski invitationals there, and the park serves as the beginning site of the annual Noquemanon Ski

The park has been a winter playground for generations. (Photo by Danielle Pemble)

Marathon.

Olson said the area offers excellent bird watching from the early summer through fall. “There’s swampy areas with hemlocks and tamaracks,” he said. “There’s hardwoods and oaks and maples; there’s taller spruces. You’ve got a lot of variety in trees and

a fascinating variety of wildflowers.”

Another bonus is the way the park is divided between wild nature and a maintained public space. The front of the park offers a baseball field, playground equipment and picnic tables, while the back features pristine hiking trails.

Olson said that even though it may feel like hikers are in the middle of nowhere, most cell phones have reception even in the back regions of the park, making it a safe place to get reacquainted with nature. “I love hiking back there,” he said. “I never get tired of it. Usually, when I go hiking, I have

The park features abundant opportunities for skiing, snowshoeing, mountain biking and hiking. (Photo by Danielle Pemble)

my book of Michigan wildflowers in my cargo shorts.”

From the 1930s to the present day, Al Quaal Recreation Area continues to evolve. From the heyday of cityrun winter recreation to a different era — when folks are riding bikes yearround and engaging in more individualized sports like cross-country skiing — the park continues to offer exactly what residents need: a place to gather, reflect and recreate in a world that is often fast-paced and busy.

For Olson, it’s one of the reasons Ishpeming is the best place to call home. “I think that Al Quaal is the gem of the city,” he said. “It’s a prize for the city. It’s a hidden gem. It’s always so beautiful and so accessible, and it’s got so much diversity in it that it’s endlessly fascinating.”

Alex Lehto-Clark is a poet and essayist who lives in Ishpeming. He has called the Upper Peninsula home for 12 years and graduated from Northern Michigan University with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English.

One with the water Club provides opportunities to learn the sport of rowing

By Andie Balenger

Gail Brayden was in her early 50s in 2004 when she discovered a Learn to Row program sponsored by the Northern Michigan University rowing club. Soon after hopping into a rowing shell for the first time and gliding along the surface of Lake Superior, Brayden teamed up with a handful of area rowers who were passionate about the sport and established U.P. Rowing, a nonprofit, all-volunteer club.

Rowing is an on-water sport that requires participants to move a boat — which can vary in size — using oars. The boats used in rowing, which are called shells, differ from other recreational watercraft in that they are typically long, narrow and set close to the water’s surface.

“If you have never tried it, it is almost hard to describe the full feeling of it,” Brayden said. “I don’t mean to sound sappy, but you are kind of one with the water.”

Boats can hold anywhere from one to eight people. In addition to the crew of rowers, each boat has an individual acting as the coxswain, or cox. While not necessarily rowing, the cox is the person steering the boat — shouting out directions for launching and landing, navigation or speed.

While the community club boasted only 11 members during its freshman year, with Brayden as the first president, interest and participation in the sport have grown since the group’s inception. Just before Covid 19 struck in early 2020, U.P. Rowing had nearly 60 adult members and 30 youth members who consistently rowed throughout the week.

At first glance, rowing might seem to be a niche sport that requires exceptional upper-body strength and years of training. According to Brayden, however, the opposite is true.

“This is actually a leg and glute workout,” she said. “You are really pushing with your legs, then pulling with your back muscles and then just finishing up with the arms. So the arms are 15 to 25 percent of the whole thing.”

U.P. Rowing often works with rowers who have little to no rowing experience. As long as an individual has some physical flexibility, U.P. Rowing’s coaches — all of whom are Level II certified with USRowing, the sport’s governing body — work to ensure participants have the proper form and technique before even carrying the boats into the water.

Tensi Parsons, a certified Level II rowing coach, has been leading U.P. Rowing’s Adult Learn to Row program. Although rowing has a sharp learning curve, Parsons said the sport can never be perfected. “You learn a lot at the beginning, and then we keep reinforcing everything we have told you day after day,” Parsons said. “But, no matter how old you are or how long you’ve been doing it, there’s always something that you can learn, which is great for people who don’t want to get bored with the sport.”

While the sport is still physical, it is low-impact and friendlier on joints when compared to popular sports like tennis, basketball and running. This fact means that members of U.P. Rowing vary dramatically in age, with the youngest being 18 and the oldest

being around 70.

U.P. Rowing currently operates out of Marquette’s Lower Harbor, with crews setting out from the Founder’s Landing beach from around Memorial Day until the middle of October. The club’s shells rest on the beach throughout the summer, which is near its clubhouse on Lakeshore Boulevard. In addition to housing social events, the clubhouse also serves as a storage unit for oars and other equipment.

Lynn Vanwelsenaers, U.P. Rowing president, asks those who may be on the fence about trying the sport to give it a shot. “We just want to encourage people to try our sport and enjoy what we do,” Vanwelsenaers said. “Be on the water and enjoy the time with others.”

Lake Superior can be a dangerous entity, but Vanwelsenaers and other members of U.P. Rowing list safety as their number one priority before embarking on any rowing experience. All crew members must have a personal flotation device before entering the shell. Additionally, all outings are supervised by a safety launch (motor boat) that rests 100 feet out from the

shell. In addition to holding safety equipment, the launch also protects the shell from possible interactions with other boaters.

“Most clubs across the country do not wear life vests,” Brayden said. “We feel because of the temperature of the water, we need that extra level of safety, and we have very nice inflatable life vests that really do not impede our ability to row well.”

While proper equipment is essential, monitoring the weather is equally critical to ensuring a successful row. Brayden said the water temperature plus the air temperature must equal 100 degrees before rowers can head out, as that is considered by USRowing to be a safe condition. Fog, lightning, white caps and the threat of a bad storm will also keep rowers off the water. Yet, the weather can be unpredictable.

“Sometimes we are out there in sleet going sideways putting our equipment away,” Brayden said. “Actually, I have been out there a few times where it is like that.”

U.P. Rowing will host a meet-andgreet event from 6 to 8 p.m. on May 8 at Ore Dock Brewing Company

A member of U.P. Rowing sits on the safety launch and watches as a crew of rowers takes off. Safety is a top priority of the group. (Photo courtesy of U.P. Rowing)

for adults (18 and older) who are interested in Adult Learn to Row. The program is required of those who are looking to join the club but also doubles as an introductory course that stresses the fundamentals — and accompanying camaraderie — of the sport. More information about the event can be found at www.uprowing. com.

“After people do Learn to Row, a lot of them come back year after year after year,” Parsons said. “There have been people who have been with the club for 10 years or more after trying it one time.”

Additionally, U.P. Rowing’s Youth Learn to Row will be making its comeback after a hiatus during the pandemic. Youths age 13 to 18 are invited to try rowing in a fun yet monitored environment. The program has been successful in the past, producing several collegiate and Olympic-level athletes. The program runs from June 26 through Aug. 30 on Monday and Wednesday evenings. More details are listed on the club’s website.

“It’s really about inclusivity, both as an adult and as a kid,” said Betsy Dank, a club board member who has been working to re-establish the youth program. “It can be a competitive thing, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be. It can be about getting outside. It can be about looking at the leaves

changing colors in September. There is more to it than just winning or losing.”

The rowing season concludes for club members and learn-to-rowers alike with an end-of-year exhibition on Teal Lake in Negaunee. The exhibition is a relay-style competition among teams made up of club members. While the competition is friendly, bragging rights are in store for those who take home the crown.

Yet it is not the exercise or fresh air that keeps members returning to the water year after year. Instead, it is the camaraderie that develops among the rowers as they coast atop the flat water, looking at the city outline from a distance as the sun sets or rises.

“I have had the experience of a really great row with three other people, and at the end of it, I feel like I love these people,” Brayden said. “It is hard to maybe understand that, but it really is a feeling like that because you have worked so well together, and you are so in sync together. It is a very spiritual feeling.”

Andie Balenger, a native of Gladstone, studies political science and journalism at Northern Michigan University. Balenger is the opinion editor at The North Wind, NMU’s independent student publication, and is also a columnist for the Daily Press in Escanaba.

Members of U.P. Rowing conduct an on-shore demonstration involving a large rowing shell. (Photo courtesy of U.P. Rowing)

in the outdoors

The kids of summer

By Katie Michels

Kids have a way of reminding us what summer is all about: exploration, adventure and freedom. A young boy spends an hour perfecting a sand castle. Two sisters squeal when they find a slimy worm in the garden. A toddler screeches as he splashes in the icy waters of Lake Superior.

Summer gives parents plenty of opportunities to see their kids thrive. Not only is playing outside fun, it also stimulates children’s brains in a positive direction. One scientific study has found that “exposure to natural environments improves working memory, cognitive flexibility and attentional control.”

Melissa Copenhaver, a mental health therapy provider at Suunta Integrative Health in Marquette, advocates for children to be active outdoors. “In a world where it is easy to get caught up in technology and media,” she said,

“getting outdoors can help ground us in what is real.”

Copenhaver, who is also a mother, provides therapy to children of all ages. She is on the front lines of the rise in mental health issues among kids. According to the World Health Organization, there has been a 25 percent increase in depression and anxiety in children since the onset of Covid 19. One factor in this mental health crisis is the increase in screen time for children during the pandemic.

It has become more difficult to unplug from technology. Even in the summer, while it’s easier to go outside in the U.P., kids are spending a good deal of time indoors. The busy schedules of the adults in their lives don’t always take a “summer vacation.” The screen can become a babysitter for adults with a big to-do list and children out of school.

When the outdoors — rather than screens — become the entertainment source for an unoccupied child, every-

Lakenenland Sculpture Park offers many features that appeal to kids: whimsical sculptures, a playground and ponds. (Photo by Michael Murray)

Abundant options in nature provide numerous benefits

one wins. Dr. Jennifer Dehlin is passionate about kids being outside. She is a founding physician at Singletrack Health in Marquette, alongside her husband, Dr. Chris Dehlin.

Jennifer Dehlin tells her patients that when it comes to outdoor activities, “an ounce of prevention is a pound of cure. … Some of the biggest problems we see our teens and young adults battling are obesity, substance use, anxiety and depression. Developing a connectedness to the natural world, and to the people around you, can help prevent or treat some of these issues.”

Dehlin suggests keeping outings into nature short and flexible with young kids. It’s also important to pack the proper gear and have lots of snacks and water.

She practices what she preaches with her own kids. “I’ve always been an outdoor person,” Dehlin said, “so when I had time with my kids when they were babies and toddlers, we were outdoors a ton. We put more miles on our Chariot bike trailer than we did on our cars.” The fruits of those toddler outings are visible today, as the Dehlin children (ages 13 and 16) are ambitious outdoor adventurers who enjoy skiing, climbing, surfing, biking and more.

Getting kids outside as infants and toddlers helps create a family culture. It’s like an enormous sensory box for kids to learn about their world. And the habit can stick, helping them become healthier adults.

Another idea many local parents agree upon is the snack factor. No one has fun when they’re hungry. Several parents interviewed for this story mentioned this key asset to adventuring outside. Whether it’s a granola bar on the trail, a bike ride to an ice cream shop or blueberry picking, kids love to eat.

Some families also create rules concerning outdoor habits. “Our family has a strict ‘no screen time when it’s nice out’ rule, so we spend a lot of time outside,” said Kevin Clegg, a father of two. Sometimes the rule brings the family to an all-day adventure, like paddling down a river. Sometimes the rule helps them relax and read in hammocks in the backyard. Either way,

their home has a clear norm.

Clegg also gets his family outside by coaching with the 906 Adventure Team during the summers. The team brings kids from 5 to 17 onto the mountain bike trails in the area. Clegg works with 5- to 9-year-olds. He said they “are almost universally excited about riding.”

Clegg loves that the “Adventure Team is a noncompetitive sport for the individual and the team. No one sits on the bench. There are no benches, only logs. We stop and identify plants; we pick and eat wild blueberries; we ride our bikes to the ice cream shop and get sticky fingers from melting ice cream like it’s 1955.”

Using the outdoors to get places is another great way to be outside. Hanna Duckwall, a mother of two, said,

“During the week, we walk to school … and we try to get around our neighborhood on foot or by bike as much as possible.”

Her family has developed a love for canoeing. “The kids like to chill in the middle of the canoe, fish, paddle, hunt for snails and explore little islands,” Duckwall said.

Take a moment this summer to appreciate the joy that children exhibit outdoors. In a canoe, on a trail or walking around the neighborhood, the exuberance is contagious. Whether you have children of your own or want to foster your inner child, the outdoors is a great place to be.

Outdoor inspiration

Local parents offer a number of suggestions to inspire a summer of

exploration, adventure and freedom: Weekly outdoor events with other families: The Great Start Collaborative hosts a weekly outside play date in various locations around the area. Kids love the pack mentality and parents love the camaraderie. Contact Shilpa Jhobalia at sjhobalia@greatstartma.org for more information.

Lakenenland: This sculpture park on M-28 east of Marquette is a real jewel of our area. The sculptures are a great incentive for young hikers, and the playground and ponds add extra terrain for adventure.

906 Adventure Team: This group takes kids mountain biking with a mission to “empower youth to become the best version of themselves through outdoor adventure.” The program runs from June through August with a total of 10 rides. Registration is May 6 and costs $135.

Sugarloaf: Kids love this hike for its candy-reminiscent name as well as the accomplishment of a mountain summit.

Morgan Falls: You can bike or hike the dirt road, or the trail, to this gorgeous cascade. Start at the Noquemanon Trail Network South Trailhead and cross County Road 553.

Learn to Fish Day: During this free yearly event hosted at Lakenenland by South Shore Fishing Association, kids get a taste of this beloved sport.

“The beach”: While this may be obvious in our community, it’s worth mentioning because the beach is so stimulating. The sand, the water and the people-watching provide countless opportunities for kids. Plus it’s a great place for grownups to get work done, read a book or visit with friends.

Discovery Central Adventure Clubs: During June, July and August, Discovery Central hosts a weeklong summer adventure camp in the area. Kids will “play, explore nature and hone-in on a connection to this awesome place we call home, Marquette.”

Katie Michels lives in Marquette. She loves being outside, especially with her two adventurous sons and husband. Katie splits her professional hours between teaching and freelance writing.

Many local children are discovering a love of outdoor activities through the 906 Adventure Team. (Photo courtesy of Todd Poquette)

DEVELOPING A CONNECTEDNESS TO THE NATURAL WORLD, AND TO THE PEOPLE AROUND YOU, CAN HELP PREVENT SOME OF THE BIGGEST PROBLEMS WE SEE.

the arts

By Eleni Robertson

Music is everywhere. It’s around us every day, in our homes, our places of business and during our commutes. It provides us with comfort when we need it most, and it helps us celebrate when life is good. It makes us dance, and it makes us cry. It’s a powerful thing.

So it’s only natural that at some point in our lives, many of us want to learn an instrument. But where to start? Some of us are inclined to learn in the comfort of our own homes, which is possible now more than ever thanks to limitless online resources. Others prefer in-person instruction from more seasoned players. That’s how Krista Fuller, 32, is starting her journey learning drums.

Fuller was at a party last October, talking with friends about how she had always wanted to learn how to play drums, when someone mentioned there was a drum set in the basement. “Of course I asked if I could go check it out,” Fuller said. “So I was down there banging on the drums and just thought, I have to do this.” Before long, she was enrolled in lessons at Jim’s Music in Marquette. Today, just a few months later, she’s still as enthusiastic as ever.

“Music is a big part of my life,” Fuller said. “My dad is very into music. He’s really formed some of my music tastes and was always sending me songs to listen to.” She likes classic rock such as Led Zeppelin, The Eagles and Queen, as well as bands like Pearl Jam and Nirvana, and is looking forward to learning how to play some of her favorite songs.

Before drums, Fuller played the oboe in middle school. While the oboe is a very different instrument, she said that experience has definitely

helped her in these early stages of learning drums, since she has some familiarity with the basics of reading music and keeping time. But as for the hardest part? “Definitely the physical coordination,” she said. Learning a new instrument requires learning a whole new set of muscle memories, and it can feel quite awkward in the beginning.

Fuller’s teacher, Declan Stratford of Jim’s Music, agreed that physical coordination is often the hardest part for new students. He teaches both drums and guitar at Jim’s. While

‘Just give it a shot’

Learning a new instrument can be a pastime for all ages

MUSIC IS A BIG PART OF MY LIFE. ... PLAYING MUSIC MAKES ME FEEL ALIVE. IT TICKLES MY BRAIN IN JUST THE RIGHT WAY.

talking to him, it’s clear that he loves music. “It gives me a creative outlet,” he said. “And it’s so satisfying when hard work finally comes together.” When asked about his teaching style, he said, “I encourage students to come up with songs that they actually like and want to learn, and we work on those.” It keeps his students more interested and inspired by what they’re learning.

But who has time to practice? Fuller works as a nurse and has a busy schedule, so it can be tricky to find the time. This is something that Jake Kuhlman of Yooptone Music in Marquette said might be one of the biggest challenges of learning a new instrument. Kuhlman has been a musician all of his life, originally playing in a family band with his grandparents, parents and brother. Today, he teaches banjo and mandolin at Yooptone. “Finding a routine can be tough for a lot of people, and that consistency can be so important,” he said. “But like learning anything, it’s really different for everyone.”

It’s up to each person to discover how they learn best, and what fits best within their life. For example, as Fuller said, “I’m always listening to music in my truck, thinking about how to play what I’m hearing.” She finds her-

self “air-drumming” during spare moments and is usually only able to sit down and truly practice about once a week. Still, she always looks forward to her lessons. “Playing music makes me feel alive,” she said. “It tickles my brain in just the right way.” She said it is so good for her mental health, and it feels good to simply keep involved with something.

Kuhlman also commented on the benefits of playing music, mentioning that some of his students consider their time playing music to be therapeutic. “It’s just relaxing,” he said. “It’s something to look forward to, a way to unwind.” He teaches students of all ages and said, “It really varies widely, from adults who have had learning an instrument on their bucket list for many years, to younger kids whose parents thought it would be a good idea.” No matter how old you are or what stage of life you’re in, playing music can have a positive impact.

Fuller, as a 32-year-old working nurse, is proof that it’s never too late and you’re never too busy to learn an instrument. When asked about any other music goals she may have, Fuller responded immediately, laughing, “Oh, I want to learn bass. I kind of want to see if I can squeeze in some

bass time after my drum lessons.”

Fuller plans to continue taking lessons even after she becomes comfortable enough to learn drums on her own, since lessons hold her accountable and she enjoys going to the shop and talking with everyone. When asked if she has any advice for someone considering whether or not to try out an instrument, she said, “Just go for it. … Yeah, it can be scary and intimidating, but just be easy on yourself.” It’s supposed to be fun, after all.

Or, in the words of her teacher: “If you’re on the fence about taking lessons, or think you’re going to walk into a lesson and be judged, just give it a shot,” Stratford said. “It may be the best decision of your life.”

And remember: Every piece of music you’ve ever heard exists only because at some point, somewhere, someone decided to pick up an instrument for the very first time. Every great musician you hear today was once an eager new student of music, fumbling over chords and keys, trying to put it all together, one step at a time.

Bob Buchkoe, who has taught piano for more than 40 years, works with first-year student Harriet Nyberg, age 7. (Photo by Tom Buchkoe)

Eleni Robertson lives in the heart of the Hiawatha National Forest and spends her time gardening, reading, writing and playing music.

at the table

Professor promotes the virtues of edible insects

Adventures in good eating

By Katherine Larson

The first piece was irregular, not quite spherical, about the size of a thumbnail. I bit into it. With texture reminiscent of a Nestle’s Crunch bar, it tasted chocolatey, with undertones of sweetness and an earthy umami. Delicious.

The second piece was a glossy bar from which I broke a corner. This chocolate was even better, smooth and dark and velvety, with an undefinable hint of tartness — not really fruity, more like a wild fruit. Cranberry? Lingonberry? Crabapple? Anyway, utterly delicious.

I took a second bite, then a third. Leftovers came home with me, and my family was just as pleased as I was.

Marquette resident Julie Lesnik had brought these taste treats to accompany our conversation on edible insects. The first item was Don Bugito’s Dark Chocolate Crickets with Amaranth Seeds; the second, Alchemy’s Amazonian Ants. On my own, I would never have picked either up from a grocery store shelf. Now I’m going back for more.

Lesnik, associate professor of biological anthropology at Wayne State University, is the author of Edible Insects and Human Evolution, tracing evidence that humans and their hominin ancestors consumed insects throughout the entire course of human evolution. Combining primatology, anthropology and physiology, Lesnik shows that “insects were a reliable food source that mothers used to feed their families over the past 5 million years” — and still do.

Her work has earned international recognition, including grants from the American Association of University Women and the Leakey Foundation. Most recently, she was invited to speak at Gustavus Adolphus College’s 59th annual Nobel Conference later this year. The theme is “Insects: Little Body, Big Impact,” and Lesnik, speaking from the perspective of human evolution and culture, will be one of two experts on edible insects. She will be joined by a nutritional and insect farming specialist from the Inter-

national Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology in Kenya.

Lesnik emphasizes that entomophagy — eating insects — remains a routine part of daily life all over the world. For good reason, she said: “Insects are the most efficient way Mother Nature packages nutrients for living

things to eat.” Beyond that, insects offer a fascinating variety of flavors that have pleased people for millennia and continue to do so. As a social scientist, Lesnik said, the real question is why many people in Western culture avoid these nutritional powerhouses. She started as an archaeologist,

sifting through remains of the past. The ancient objects that have survived are often tools, which were almost always used to procure or process food. Humans’ closest relatives, apes, use tools too — most notably, tools with which to eat termites — and so Lesnik’s research took her to Africa to observe chimpanzees working with them. The comparisons with early hominins were inescapable and led first to her Ph.D. dissertation and then to her book.

In the meantime, however, in 2013 the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization issued a report stating that eating insects could help boost nutrition and reduce pollution. An informal summary, Lesnik said, is that “we should all eat bugs to save the world.”

She added: “I hadn’t tied my work to modern human populations, but I heard the call: Why on earth do some of us refuse to eat insects now?”

From her own perspective, the answer was simple: the ick factor. A self-described picky eater, she found the idea of entomophagy disgusting. As a good social scientist, though, she then wondered about the source of that disgust.

She found it in geography and history. Neanderthals, based on the cold continent of early Europe, had to survive somehow. “Humans can’t eat tree bark or dead grass, but they can eat the deer that eat those things,” she said. “Being a skilled Neanderthal hunter can get you through a winter on game, so except in summer you don’t build your society on insects, which were and are more of a tropical resource.”

And so habits were formed and ossified, until the age of exploration brought a radical change. European explorers traveled across wide spans of latitude and, in these new-to-them warm climates, saw radically different environments and resources. They managed to handle spices and sugar but “did not know how to handle the indigenous consumption of insects.”

Lesnik observed that European explorers’ notes and letters mention indigenous peoples with words like “beast” and “animal-like.” These la-

Sloan Dorr, left, and Julie Lesnik share an appreciation for edible insects. Below: Don Bugito’s Dark Chocolate Crickets with Amaranth Seeds. (Photos by Katherine Larson)

bels were “a key early step towards genocide. Explorers who thought of themselves as civilized did not want to associate with what they perceived as savage.” Fast-forward to today’s parents in societies with European, or European-colonized, roots: When a toddler reaches for a tasty and healthful cricket, a watching parent likely makes a face expressing disgust.

Disgust is a learned emotion, not intrinsic. “We’re all products of our culture,” Lesnik said. “You don’t need to eat bugs. But if you’re not performative about disgust, there’s the opportunity for the next generation to take advantage of this great source of nutrition. At tasting events, I see families come by. Mom and Dad are grossed out and move on, but the kid sneaks back, tries the bug and likes it.”

I see her point. Indeed, being very much a product of my own culture, I had to overcome a qualm or two. Once I tried those chocolates, though, I was converted.

And not just me. Lesnik and I were talking at Dead River Coffee while owner Sloan Dorr was painting a mural in the background. She heard our conversation and chimed in: “When I was in Thailand, I stayed in a hostel and they gave me a bowl of cicadas, saying, ‘Here, your job is to pull off the wings.’ So I did, and they fried them up with some salt. I totally get the mental part you have to get past. But I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked them, like potato chips.”

Dorr added, “I bet it becomes one of those bougie things for fancy restaurants.” Lesnik isn’t sure. “The bougie restaurants are always looking for things with really fancy flavor profiles. And there are supply issues.”

Lesnik also deplores the tendency of cable cooking programs to relegate insect cookery to “spooky” or “scary” shows. “I was watching ‘Final Table,’ this Netflix show where chefs from all over the world make regional dishes from all over the world. The first round was tacos, and Charles Michel, a chef from Argentina, was making tacos like everyone else. But his were grasshopper tacos. I was so excited: There was no ick factor, no sensationalism; he was just taking a good nutritious tasty ingredient and using it. He’s doing it right.”

Indeed, Michel is one of the partners in the Alchemy brand of chocolate, made with ethically produced cacao, that I enjoyed so much (the Amazonian Ants). The other yummy brand, Don Bugito, calls itself a “prehispanic snackeria,” a name that delights Lesnik with its rejection of colonialism.

In terms of insects available to us

Cricket cookie recipe

Here is Julie Lesnik’s favorite cricket cookie recipe, which delicately balances several pungent flavors in this delicious and addictive sugar cookie. Her preferred source for cricket powder is Don Bugito (www.donbugito.com/collections/all/products/cricket-protein-powder-flour).

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose baking flour

1/2 cup cricket powder (100 percent ground-up crickets)

2 tsp. baking powder

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. ground cloves

1 Tbs. fresh coffee grounds

1/4 tsp. salt

1 cup butter at room temperature

1 1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 de-

for consumption in the U.P. today, packaged cricket powder is the staple. It’s easy to use; Lesnik recommends including it in a smoothie. She has also devised a sugar cookie using cricket powder which is likely to knock your socks off.

She said, “They sell something called ‘chocolate chirp cookies,’ with cricket powder and parts. The problem is that I know what a good chocolate chip cookie tastes like, and that’s not it. So I developed this cookie recipe, flavored with aromatics like clove and cinnamon, and they’re really good. In fact, I don’t make them too often because I can’t stop eating them. If Starbucks sold them, every American would be eating them with our coffee.” Since Starbucks has not yet adopted the recipe, Lesnik is sharing it with Marquette Monthly’s readers (above).

The Peter White Public Library also carries Daniella Martin’s Edible: An Adventure into the World of Eating Insects and the Last Great Hope to Save the Planet, which includes a chapter of recipes.

U.S.- and Canada-sourced culinary insects have been the subject of efforts at insect farming since the 2013 United Nations statement. Lesnik said, “Their focus has been on crickets and mealworms, building on technological knowledge derived through the pet food industry. Crickets and mealworms were picked for pets be-

grees. Line large cookie sheets with parchment or grease well. Set aside. (Lesnik uses four cookie sheets and bakes in two batches in order to avoid cookies spreading into each other.)

2. In a large bowl, mix flour, cricket powder, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves, coffee and salt together and set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar until well blended and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing until fully incorporated, then add the vanilla extract.

3. Slowly add the dry ingredients and mix just until combined. Form dough into one-inch balls and place them about two inches apart on the prepared cookie sheets.

4. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until lightly browned on the edges but soft in the middle. Cool for a few minutes on the cookie sheet before moving to a wire rack to fully cool.

cause their flavor is mild and their nutritional value is high. There may be better insects for humans to farm and eat, but this is where we’ve started.”

And at least the crickets — like cicadas and grasshoppers — are kosher, too. As the Book of Leviticus says, “Yet these you may eat among all the winged insects: those which have above their feet jointed legs with which to jump on the earth. These of them you may eat: the locust in its kinds, and the cricket in its kinds, and the grasshopper in its kinds.”

In Southeast Asia, grasshopper farms provide significant economic benefit: “These farms sustain families,” Lesnik said. But for many people worldwide, the main source of culinary insects remains foraging.

Could we forage in the U.P.?

Munch the grasshopper in the garden?

“If you know where it’s been,” Lesnik said. “Was it exposed to our human byproducts — pesticides, chemicals, the oil spill on the driveway? If you’re in a place where you’d be comfortable foraging mushrooms or berries and you know what insects you can eat, go ahead and forage.” And how do you know what insects you can eat? “Survival guides can offer good information.”

People in warm regions forage for cicadas, termites and beetle grubs. Grubs, which are often found in large quantities, are a particularly valued find: “They have a high fat content, so

you can just put them in a hot pan and they fry themselves in their own oil,” like a strip of bacon.

Palm beetle larvae are probably the most commonly eaten worldwide, because palm trees are found in warm climates on almost every continent. These larvae can also be semi-cultivated, because the beetle lays its eggs in fallen palm fronds. “If people just leave palm fronds where they fall and then show up a couple of months later, they can collect a nice batch of larvae,” Lesnik said. “It’s an instance of human interaction providing more to eat.”

Lesnik is impatient with marketing strategies that focus on things like the optimal color for packaging. “I’m interested in the human side. We have literally countless insects in this world — there are more than we can count — and we don’t even know which are the most delicious.” She is eager, going forward, to see “people playing with flavor profiles in profound artisanal ways. Each insect has its own unique flavor, and the way forward is to celebrate that flavor, not hide it. It can be so exciting, like a taste you encounter rarely but, when paired perfectly, it really sings.”

She deprecates the United Nations statement’s focus on eating insects to prevent climate disaster: “When people are urged to eat insects because otherwise the planet will die, that doesn’t work; people are not incentivized enough, and they won’t do it. That approach wins over activists but not ordinary people. No, the way forward is flavor. It has to come from a place, not of fear, but of love.”

Love is what brought Lesnik and her husband, Charlie Klecha, to Marquette. They met in Ann Arbor, where she earned her doctorate, and then lived and worked in Chicago and Detroit. But the hustle and bustle of these big cities wore them down, and they began considering alternatives. Then, in August 2021, they came to Marquette for a vacation.

It was as if they were struck by lightning: This was the place. This was where they had to live. This was worth setting aside everything else for the sake of life here. By May 2022, they had fully relocated, Klecha curating cheese and chocolate at Everyday Wines’ new cheese counter and Lesnik continuing her anthropological work at Wayne State through the magic of the internet. And here in Marquette, to their astonishment and deep delight, they have found home.

Katherine Larson never thought she’d enjoy eating insects as much as she did, but now she’s eager for more.

Excursions in thrifting lookout point

Resale and thrift shops offer bargains and the thrill of the hunt

By Elizabeth Fust

The weekend comes, and you’re looking for adventure — but also you need something unique to wear to that wedding next week. And you can’t forget to grab some nuts and bolts for your latest DIY — and you just finished your last puzzle and could use a replacement.

You can find all these items and the adventure you seek at a Marquette County thrift store — along with the warm glow that comes from supporting your community.

There are a little over a dozen thrift and resale shops around the county and a handful of antique stores on top of that. Why do we need all these thrift stores? Listing the reasons, you could start with all the deals on amazing goods and work your way to the subject of sustainability.

There’s also the thrill of the chase and the thrill of the find. Maybe it’s a tool you’ve needed forever. Or it could be a book or a teacup to complete a set, which you’ve researched and been patient to acquire. Then, suddenly, there it is on the shelf in some thrift shop. Every store in Marquette County has its niche, offering variety to the casual or trendy thrifter and adding to the repertoire of the seasoned, lifelong practitioner of the art of thrifting.

Growing up, Greta Hillstrom, owner of Fancy-Free (131 E. Michigan St., Marquette), would thrift on behalf of her sisters and friends. She transitioned from thrifter to thriftee, however, because of a romper. “I have always, always, always been a thrifter,” she said. “But the moment that my life changed, I was in Connecticut and there was a Tory Burch romper, and I would never wear it. … But it was a $150 romper for $6 at the thrift store. I thought it was ugly, but I was like, ‘I’m not going to pass this up for $6.’ So I buy it, and I listed it on Poshmark, and it sold the same day for $50 and I heard angels singing.”

Hillstrom opened Fancy-Free in 2021. The store is now a home for local art and pop-up shops; a space to host music and movement for toddlers on Tuesdays; open jam for adults on Thursdays; and live music and sales

every Saturday. “I was thrifting every day,” she said, “and then I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I can provide service to people and get them good deals and make money and support myself and do what I love.’”

She said it reminds her of the song “Be Our Guest” in the Disney animated film Beauty and the Beast, where all the furniture and cutlery come to life. “The candlesticks say that we only live to serve,” she said. “I think of that all the time. All this stuff just wants to see love.”

That’s not where the magic ends for Hillstrom; it’s only the beginning. “It’s something magical about it,” she said. “Everybody wants the thrift store because you’re giving them a service … and then I’m getting a little bit of money to support myself, and then the buyer, they get a good deal.”

Like Hillstrom, Cassandra Sturos has been thrifting her whole life. For

her, it was a necessity as the oldest in a family of 10. “My mom had to stretch it all,” she said. “So we thrifted because it’s affordable and you can get a lot of nice stuff, and I feel like you get more bang for your buck. But also my mom is just a lover of beauty and could put together nice things.” Sturos and her mom would thrift on the weekends and would say they were thrifting before thrifting was cool.

Now you can see beautiful displays of so many nice things that Sturos has curated at her antique shop, The Better Half (1313 S. Front St., Marquette), as well as in her booths at Lowenstein’s Antique Market and Irontown Antiques, both in Negaunee.

Sturos’ beautifully curated displays started at home (which she said is 99.9 percent thrifted), and she’s still finding treasures to add to her personal collection. “I’m obsessed with France, and I just love all things Parisian,” she

said. “I’ve always wanted to stay at the Ritz, and I found this thrifting the other day [see photo on the next page]. … I think it’s a soap dish from the Ritz. It says, ‘Made in France,’ and I was like shaking when I [saw that].’”

Just because you may find these items for sale in Marquette, Negaunee, Eben Junction, Gwinn — and the list goes on — that doesn’t mean it’s all from here. Hillstrom and Sturos source their items from across the country, and those items may be from across the globe. It all makes its way to Marquette for a local to find a bit of someplace else to take home with them.

Sara Patton also makes a point of taking trips across the country and bringing unique finds back to her store, 906 Restyle (1907 Presque Isle Ave., Marquette). She said, “That’s the thrill for me, to go out and to find it and to travel and find these pieces that really, really speak to me, because

From left, Greta Hillstrom, Cassandra Sturos and Sara Patton enjoy thrifting — and they also make it a priority to find items that will bring joy to their customers. (Photos by Elizabeth Fust)

I know they’ll speak to somebody else too.”

In 906 Restyle you’ll see plenty of 1950s and ’60s kitchen decor, which is what speaks to Patton. “For me, it’s like saving pieces and saving stories, saving older pieces that you wouldn’t normally find,” she said. “So I think it’s a great opportunity for people to find what really suits them and what makes them feel whole and on fire.”

When items are donated, consigned or sold, they are given the potential for a second useful life. In an era of mass production and fast fashion, finding a decades-old cast iron stew pot or a Woolrich sweater at the thrift store not only keeps something out of the dump and saves the buyer a penny, but it may save the purchaser from an item that wouldn’t last as long as needed.

Granted, maybe that cast iron needs a good cleaning and seasoning and that Woolrich flannel has a tear. A good find may be a diamond in the rough that needs a little elbow grease — or be an outright thrift-flip into something new and useful. As for that ripped flannel, there’s help for that, too. If you stop in at Fancy-Free, you might run into Jacklyn and Jane of Jacklyn and Jane’s Modern Mends, who will “bring new life to your old clothes with visible and invisible mends,” according to their Instagram @jjsmodernmends.

With a wealth of thrift stores in Marquette County, there’s a lot of ground to cover. Never fear, the experts have some tips for you.

Hillstrom said, “I use the hand-overhand method where you’re standing in front of this rack of dresses and it’s overwhelming because it’s just jampacked. … I just use both hands and I flip, flip, flip, flip, flip, flip. I get my eyes on every single dress, and I look at basically every tag. I can get through a rack of dresses pretty quickly.”

Sturos added, “You have to dig. … You have to look high, look low. So don’t just look where your eye-line is. I think that’s a natural thing. We just look where our eye-line is, [and] we’re not going to really get down low or really go up high. So be very thorough.”

Patton said, “I usually do the perimeter of the store and then go inward. … It’s a little secret, but I will say I always go for bigger items first.”

They all agree: Put in the time to look diligently around the store, return soon to see what new things have been set out before someone else snags them — and be patient.

Thrift stores and resale shops provide an important service to our community. Many thrift stores are charities that support food banks and programs for those in need around the county. By donating the no-longer-needed

items from your home and your closet, you not only support your community members, but you support a more sustainable cycle for manufactured goods. Not to mention that the independently run thrift, resale and antique stores are small businesses run by people from our community.

Need to make a few bucks? Then you can take your finer items to resale shops, such as 906 Restyle. Need to save a few dollars? Hit up a bag sale at Silver Creek Thrift in Harvey. Need a perfect white elephant present for the office Christmas party? Try the St. Vincent de Paul Society; there are many across the U.P. Do you need one screw of a particular length and also a new knob for a kitchen drawer? The Habitat for Humanity ReStore has those.

Marquette, Negaunee, Ishpeming, Harvey, Gwinn and Eben Junction all are home to thrift, resale and antique stores. These outlets provide a place to collect and consign items from the Upper Peninsula and across the globe. So grab your wallet and maybe a friend, and go for an adventure at a Marquette County thrift store.

Elizabeth Fust has a bachelor’s in writing from NMU. Although not a native Yooper, she refuses to leave the place. She is a self-published children’s book author and frequent short story contributor to the U.P. Reader. Follow her writing on Facebook and Instagram at Elizabeth Fust Books.

Cassandra Sturos believes she has discovered a soap dish from the Ritz in Paris. (Photo by Elizabeth Fust)

back then

A way with words

Dixie Franklin’s writing talent took her around the world

By Larry Chabot

When my brother Jim lived at the Jacobetti Veterans Home in Marquette, I spent many an hour there. After he passed, I returned to interview veterans who had stories to tell. Because of this activity, I was asked to share pointers with a small group of writers who were participating in a Library of Congress veterans history project.

I met with a few volunteers around a table. Among them, pen poised and pad ready, was the incomparable Dixie Franklin, whose work was widely known and much admired. I was surprised to see her there; she should have been in my spot.

“Dixie!” I said. “What are you doing here? Teaching you how to interview people is like me teaching Muhammad Ali how to box!”

She was there to learn, she said, which was a measure of her modesty about her own considerable gifts and desire to keep learning about the craft of writing.

So, how did she earn her sterling reputation? “I knew growing up I was a writer, but I didn’t know how to become one,” she said at her Michigan Women’s Hall of Fame induction. “I wasn’t afraid. I just did it.”

Franklin started life in San Augustine, Texas, where she is in her high school’s hall of fame. Later, as a military wife, she lived in other states and other lands before arriving in Marquette County at K.I. Sawyer Air Force Base with her husband and two daughters. She fell in love with the Upper Peninsula and eventually became a permanent resident. When people heard her Texas accent and asked where she was from, she would say, “South Marquette.”

While working in a dental office in Marquette, she scored her first writing success, selling an article to a trade magazine. She then began a weekly newspaper column profiling local residents, followed by pieces for the Milwaukee Journal. This brought even more work and world travel to Ireland, Thailand, Ecuador, Canada and France. Her byline began appearing over travel and outdoor stories in

all kinds of media.

Dixie’s daughter Cyndi Cini said, “Because my father was in the military, we lived in places like Greece and Germany, and she and I traveled to France and Germany. I don’t know if she made it to every U.S. state, but she came close both as a military wife and travel writer. It was a teasing point of pride that I made it to Alaska before she did.”

Spreading her talents

Asan established writer, Franklin contributed travel articles to markets such as the Chicago Tribune, Midwest Living Magazine and even National Geographic. People in Detroit, Milwaukee and Green Bay began seeing her byline in their daily papers. She also wrote seven books on Michigan and Midwest places, events and personalities, with illustrations by her other daughter, Carol Haggard. Cini said Franklin “interviewed and became a close friend of novelist John Voelker, fished with him and had coffee with him and his wife.”

Bay Cliff Health Camp was a place “near and dear to her heart,” Cini recalled, “and that fondness continued after she wrote a book on it.”

As if writing and fishing were not enough, Franklin was an active member of the Society of American Travel Writers, one-time president of the Midwest Travel Writers Association and the first woman chair of the Michigan Outdoor Writers. In 2016, she was inducted into the Michigan

Journalism Hall of Fame.

A most interesting assignment was a lengthy tenure as media consultant to the historic and magnificent Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island. One of her island promotional pieces was published in the Chicago Tribune

Franklin’s writing extended beyond the world of travel, however, and even covered the story of hospice. The introduction of hospice to the Upper Peninsula offered quality end-oflife care for terminal patients and their families. After extensive consulting with the founder of the hospice movement in England, local nurse Cindy Nyquist initiated the practice in the U.P. in 1973 by opening what is now U.P. Home Health and Hospice in Marquette, now in its 50th year.

Who better to chronicle the hospice story than Dixie Franklin? Her book Another Way was a success in shining a light on this critically important movement through personal stories from 19 area physicians, nurses, social

workers, volunteers and other hospice team members. She detailed the challenges of terminal illnesses and the heroics of those who respond to them. It’s less about dying and more about living every day to its fullest.

Influencing others

Amovingtribute by writer Patti Samar on the Superior Woman website (superiorwoman.net) illustrates Franklin’s influence on students. In the winter of 1981, Samar’s graduation from Marquette Senior High School was less than six months away when Franklin walked into a broadcasting class. After Franklin finished, Samar followed her into the hallway and asked about a career in journalism. Franklin talked to her and told her that writing was a very nice way to make a living. She also encouraged Samar, who didn’t consider herself a brilliant student, to go to college.

Samar, who studied journalism at Northern Michigan University, now lives in Port Huron. She has worked in newspapers, public relations, marketing and communications ever since. She serves as publisher of two regional magazines in Port Huron.

“That one brief conversation changed my life forever,” Samar told Marquette Monthly. “I thank you, Dixie Franklin, for helping me find my way.”

Franklin died on Sept. 7, 2020, at her home in Gwinn at the age of 93. WLUC-TV’s Steve Asplund acknowledged her passing with this tribute: “When you read about Upper Michigan, the outdoors, traveling the world, you could tell it was by Dixie. No need to check the byline. Dixie had a way with words. Her descriptions painted pictures as vivid as photographs.”

Her daughter Cyndi noted, “I kept her with me until she passed away. To others she was an award-winning writer and photographer, but to me she was just Mom. My mother was one of a kind, and we miss her very much.”

Larry Chabot is a freelance writer who has written for several publications, including more than 180 articles for Marquette Monthly.

Several of Dixie Franklin’s books are available in the Michigan nonfiction section of the Peter White Public Library in Marquette. (Photo by Michael Murray)

the arts

Local muralist’s creations enliven businesses

Painting the town

By Brad Gischia

Marquette is home to several art galleries. There is a museum on Northern Michigan University’s campus. Art on the Rocks and the OutBack Art Fair take place every summer. You could say that the community features a vibrant art scene.

That art is spreading to the very buildings in the area, and Marquette native Hannah Milkie is one of the artists doing her part to paint the town. Milkie graduated from NMU in 2020 with a double major in art and design and political science, and she started painting murals that year.

Local connections provided Milkie with her first mural opportunity at a Marquette business, Rose’s Dugout.

“My wife and I met here way back when,” said Marty Rose, who coowns the bar on Ontario Avenue with his wife, Sandy. “We bonded over this place and softball, and our son went to school with Hannah. That’s

how we found out about her. She was awesome. Any concerns we may have had about giving her the front of our building to paint were put to rest after meeting her and seeing her ideas. We knew she was going to do a great job.”

Milkie went with a stadium theme for Rose’s Dugout, which fits the establishment’s motif. She said working on murals is different from painting on a canvas, particularly considering the requirements of each locale. “I really like to think about the location, specifically,” she said. “I’ve only done murals for businesses so far, and they usually have something in mind when I get there.”

Another of her murals is at the Trenary Toast Cafe at Third and Washington in downtown Marquette. “They wanted a remake of the mural that’s [at their other location] in Trenary already,” she said. “For Blackrocks [Brewery on Third Street], I pitched them a couple different ideas. The Sasquatch surfing was the one they chose, but I also pitched a grizzly bear

fat-tire biking. They went with the water-oriented one.”

The Blackrocks mural took her nearly a year to complete. “I planned really far ahead,” she said. “The painting itself took about a full week of work time, though it was two weeks because of rain delays.”

The theme of water is evident in most of Milkie’s work in Marquette. “A lot of my stuff is inspired by Lake Superior; it’s the lifeblood of this town,” she said. “I think people really have latched on to the wave idea, and I’ve gotten several wave-oriented requests from owners.”

When approaching something large such as a wall, an artist has to take several factors into consideration, Milkie said. “I get the dimensions of the surface and sketch it all out on my iPad,” she said. “Then I mock it up on the wall so that the customer can see what it will look like.”

Once the design is finalized, Milkie gets down to the dirty work. She said that prepping the wall is a criti-

Northern Michigan University hired artist Hannah Milkie of Marquette, an NMU alumna, to paint a mural on the exterior of Temaki on Presque Isle Avenue. (Photo by Tom Buchkoe)

cal part of the process. “I make sure that the wall is clean and primed,” she said. The surface material makes a big difference in the way the paint lays down.

Paint quality is the key to success in making these paintings last a long time in the elements, Milkie said. She uses high-quality water-based acrylic for murals: “Better paint keeps the colors vibrant longer, and it covers better, so you need less of it.”

The surface type is important to take into consideration as well. “Brick walls are super rough with deep divots, and spiders,” she said. “It’s the same concept, though: Fill in all of these big areas and make them look like one solid block of color, so that when you step back you just see the shape.”

When laying out the mural, Milkie said the work is about 70 percent preplanned on a grid with the exact dimensions. The other 30 percent, she added, is “winging it on the fly with how I think it will look on the wall while I’m up there. … Sometimes I use a projector, but a grid system helps a lot to keep the basic image markers in place.”

The challenges connected with mural work, she said, can also make the project more rewarding. “I do a lot of it on my own time, which can be pretty taxing,” she said. “The larger the mural, the more work it is. It’s interesting because it’s so different from drawing a picture right in front of you. You really have to trust your plan more than your eyes. You’re painting these larger-than-life shapes,

and it can look wrong in the moment. When you step back, you see that it looks how it’s supposed to. Trust the process.”

Milkie’s eagerness to work comes out at the onset of each project. “My clients are usually like, ‘Whoa, we have to get permits and sort a few things out first,’” she said. “I’m really fired up at the beginning. The real lag comes about halfway or three-quarters of the way through. I kind of hit the wall right before it starts to look really good. That can feel like torture.”

That’s when she pushes through, however. “It starts to come around and people get excited,” she said. “When I can see the finish line, I really get excited.”

Milkie’s favorite mural so far is the one she did for Temaki, NMU’s Asian

restaurant on Presque Isle Avenue. She especially likes the color scheme.

“We were looking for a creative way to make the building stand out that showcased who we are,” said Paul Schoonveld, director of dining services at NMU. “Hannah’s amazing design captured the taste of what Temaki offers, showcases the uniqueness of the restaurant and has driven new guests to the operation. Once

we saw her proposal, we knew that we had to hire her for the job. We are proud to have an NMU alum complete this work for us, and it definitely exceeded our expectations.”

In between murals, Milkie has been working with the Artists in Excellence program, or AIE. Run by the Marquette Office of Arts & Culture, this program strives to offer extracurricular art opportunities for students in the Negaunee, Ishpeming and Marquette school districts. Milkie has been working with students on a mural at Birchview Elementary School in Ishpeming.

“It’s a passion project,” she said. “I’m working with youth from the high school, leading them in a mural project. The students meet each month. I really enjoy this part of the arts.”

Tiina Morin, director of the AIE project, asked Milkie to become involved in the project after she spoke to the students.

Milkie appreciates the opportunity to be involved with the youth program. “I hope to be doing this kind of work in the future,” she said. “Marquette is my home, but I’d like to expand elsewhere in the coming years.”

To contact Milkie, or to see more of her work, visit www.hmilkiedesign. com.

Brad Gischia is a writer and artist native to Upper Michigan. He has published two children’s books and done illustrations for both comic books and novels.

Hannah Milkie painted murals inside the Trenary Toast Cafe, above, and outside Rose’s Dugout. (Photos by Tom Buchkoe)

sporting life Land of opportunity

Student-athletes come to Upper Peninsula schools from nations around the world

By Jennifer Trudeau

For decades, athletes who compete at the highest levels have come to Upper Michigan to hone their abilities. Since the establishment of the Olympic Training Center at Northern Michigan University in 1985, more than 70 competitors have gone on to win Olympic medals.

But the U.P. isn’t just for the world-class. Area colleges and universities are also training destinations for athletes from across the country and around the world. At Northern, students from more than 14 nations compete on various Wildcat athletic teams. Michigan Tech, Lake Superior State and Bay College also have international student-athlete populations.

What draws so many, er, superior athletes from across the globe to U.P. schools?

Competition without borders

Sports are a huge part of American popular culture from elementary school on, a trend that our educational system reinforces straight up through the ranks to the pros. It’s nearly as much a part of the cultural fabric as school itself, one we value so highly that universities offer valuable financial-aid packages so promising athletes will represent them in competition with other schools.

In contrast, many countries around the world do not have college sports programs. If young adults wish to compete in athletics, most do so as part of clubs that are not affiliated with schools. Some, however, attract the attention of U.S. colleges that offer the winning combination: a roster spot along with grants and scholarships.

Meritxell Font Cantarero, from Girona, Spain, came to NMU to compete on the swimming and diving team and work on a double major in business management and French. “There aren’t as many opportunities [in my home country] as there are in the United States,” she said. “That is

countries.

why I came here. The opportunity that NMU provided me is one that no university in Spain could have provided. … It is extremely difficult to balance

studies and sports, and in Spain, assistance is limited; they only assist pro athletes.”

The same is true in Hungary.

Beni Halasz, a native of Budapest, Hungary, came to Northern Michigan University to play for the Wildcat hockey team, which is made up of players from five

(Photos courtesy of NMU)

“Student-athlete life does not exist [there],” said Beni Halasz, an NMU hockey player from Budapest majoring in psychology. “You cannot do both at the same time, and that is one of the biggest differences in approaching sports all over Europe, in my experience. You either go to school, or you become a professional athlete and start focusing on your path at a very early age.”

Dominika Bobik, a tennis player at Michigan Tech who is majoring in computer engineering, said her native Poland also lacks similar programs: “The term student-athlete is [non-existent] in Poland. There is no high school sports nor collegiate competition at the semi-pro professional level. Sometimes one can join clubs that compete, but it is not a big deal. If one wants to pursue [a] sports career, it is up to them and their parents.”

Even with family support, some sports, like Bobik’s, demand a serious financial commitment that can be cost-prohibitive. For example, Michigan Tech charges $300 per semester for unlimited tennis-court time, while the same access in Poland costs $600 per week. “School rarely expresses interest in athletes, and [the] only support one can get is being excused from classes when competing,” Bobik said. “Some schools are more [lenient] than others, and I know people who changed schools just to pursue their athletic careers.”

Crystal Walker, a sophomore on NMU’s track and field team, said the situation in her native Jamaica is similar to that in Europe: “Opportu-

nities are limited, especially athletic scholarships for student-athletes at the college level back home. There are only a few universities there, and of that small number only a portion participate in track and field. This is why most student-athletes like myself leave to pursue higher learning and a college career in track and field here.”

The fortunate ones Sports are big business in the United States, and universities try to cash in on that popular attraction in their

communities. The collegiate niche of the industry possesses the power to confer on student-athletes mantles of mystique and favor from faculty, fellow students and the community alike. International student-athletes at U.P. institutions — from the more prominent Division I hockey programs at NMU, MTU and LSSU to the less visible teams — recognize that Americans’ sports obsession affords them a level of status that might not be possible at home.

“People in America are more inter-

ested in sports, and they respect you as an athlete,” Font Cantarero said. “People in Spain are not big fans of other sports unless you play soccer, basketball or tennis.”

“In America, everyone is involved in sports — watching games, having fun supporting teams,” said Marina Fernandez Gutierrez, a Michigan Tech tennis player from Spain. “I feel in Spain, there is not that much of an involvement and people are only fans of the professional teams that you can see through the TV.”

Meritxell Font Cantarero of Girona, Spain, has found a home on the NMU swimming and diving team, a squad that has a long history of recruiting international athletes. (Photo courtesy of NMU)

Halasz agrees: “America is just top-notch. I don’t have to describe what hockey means to Americans. … In college, there [are] thousands of fans everywhere I have played so far, in every rink. In Hungary, the average number of fans for a regular-season game is between 500 and 700. However, the national team has thousands of fans for every game they play. Fans go crazy for those games.”

Citizens of the world

The international students featured in this article came to the United States primarily to participate in their respective sports, but they all relish the opportunity to experience life in a country that is sometimes drastically different from their own.

There’s some culture shock from extreme differences — particularly settling in from tropical Jamaica, as might be expected. Meals, infrastructure (especially the lack of public transportation and widespread car ownership), differences of lifestyle and the unpredictable weather present challenges, but all of the athletes enjoy the U.P.’s relaxed pace, the personalized attention available at their schools, close ties with their teammates and Upper Michigan’s incredible beauty.

Since arriving, some have jumped into Lake Superior, viewed the North-

ern Lights and fed bear cubs in Newberry. Halasz slid off the road during a snowstorm (kind of a rite of passage), only to be pushed to safety and set back on his way by local residents (a U.P. standard), who wished him luck in the weekend’s upcoming game (a hockey fan standard).

They all celebrate their decision to come to the United States. Some plan to stay permanently and already have jobs at American companies like Microsoft waiting for them at graduation. Others plan to pursue graduate degrees. Halasz plans to stay in North America to pursue hockey professionally. All encourage other foreign student-athletes considering study abroad to come to America.

“Do it! It’s an incredible experience,” Font Cantarero said. “I am overjoyed with my decision to come here four years ago.”

Gutierrez feels the same: “Going to study and play your sport in another country is life changing. … I would choose this opportunity again.”

Halasz sums it up pretty much exactly as you’d expect from a hockey player in the U.P.: “It’s the best time of my life.”

Jennifer Trudeau is a writer from the Rock area.

Crystal Walker of Jamaica has competed at the NCAA Championships for the NMU Wildcats. (Photo courtesy of NMU)

Seven miles and a muffin

Running club combines healthy lifestyle and camaraderie

By Jamie Glenn

If it’s Wednesday morning, you can find a group of local runners gearing up for their weekly seven-mile trek that starts and ends at the Marquette Commons building.

Longtime runner and club cofounder Bill Sved reflected on the origin of the group, who call themselves the Muffin Runners. It started when a friend of his, Ron, retired in 2008. “He started coming into Marquette once a week to run the multiuse path,” Sved said. “He’d start and end at the Commons, and he’d go up to Babycakes for a coffee and muffin afterward. … I told Ron that I wanted in. So the following week, we made plans to run together.”

Shortly after the two started making the meet-up a weekly occurrence, another of their friends, Barb, joined the group. By word of mouth, they

continued to welcome new runners of all abilities and skill levels.

As the group continued to grow, Wednesday mornings became the official meeting day and time for the club.

“Originally, we ran whatever day of the week that we had available,” Sved said. “As the group got bigger, we decided on Wednesday morning. The run is always 9 a.m. starting at the Marquette Commons building. … There’s a lot of days when the weather isn’t great. If it wasn’t for the group, a lot of people say they wouldn’t be out running in the morning. Part of it is the camaraderie. When you know there’s going to be other people there, [it provides motivation]. It’s a good feeling to get out and run with other people. Generally, part of the group will stay after [the run] and socialize.”

When the Muffin Runners started running together, Marquette and

even the Upper Peninsula as a whole did not have as many running events as there are today. “There are so many races now,” said Sved, who has completed more than 300 marathons in his running career. “When I first started running, there may have been one race per weekend throughout the Upper Peninsula. Now, there might be three or four races in the same weekend.”

Some of the Muffin Runners use the weekly seven-mile loop to train for upcoming races, but the social aspect of the group is just as important.

“So many friendships have occurred or have been strengthened,” Sved said. “A lot of us may have known each other through running, but you never know what the topics are going to be on the run or afterward. There’s always something to learn. I think people just look forward to being together.”

The group takes pride not only in its name but also in how much everyone has evolved and changed over the years. The Muffin Runners want to be a welcoming and supportive group for all runners. “That’s what’s gotten

The hardy individuals who make up the Muffin Runners are known to complete their weekly run in any weather condition. (Photo courtesy of the Muffin Runners)

a lot of people hooked originally,” Sved said. “Being with other people and healthy lifestyles is what’s really important.”

The Muffin Runners start at the Commons, head west along the multiuse path toward the Washington-McClellan intersection, then turn north and eventually pass the medical center on West Fair. The path continues north to Wright Street before turning northeast toward the lake. The runners then turn south at Hawley Street and Lakeshore Boulevard and make their way along the lake back to the Commons.

“Whoever shows up is a part of the group,” Sved said. “We start together but immediately break up into smaller groups according to pace. We don’t all run together. We run in groups of twos and threes. … Everybody can come. If there’s people who aren’t up to running seven miles, they can run part of it and still be part of the group.”

You won’t find a generational gap when joining the Muffin Runners; some members are 6 weeks old (pushed in a jogging stroller), and some are 70 years old. All members, regardless of age or ability, have the same goal: Put one foot in front of the other.

“We’ve had people in their teens to 70s running,” Sved said. “Some parents have brought their kids, and their kids have ridden their bikes alongside the group. … For us older runners, we get to see the younger runners improving and completing races, and that keeps us going.”

Group member Carissa Freeland, who joined the Muffin Runners in the fall of 2021, shared what drew her to the group and what motivated her to keep showing up for weekly runs after moving to the area from Minneapolis.

She said, “I moved here … and was searching for running groups, and I saw a Marquette Monthly article about the Muffin Runners doing a Santa run, where a lot of people dressed up in Santa suits for their weekly run before Christmas. … The group is very welcoming and humble. They make all different types of runners feel welcome, whether they’re new or more experienced. I’ve really enjoyed talking with people while I’m running. It keeps me excited to come back.”

Rain or shine, if it’s Wednesday, the Muffin Runners will be out running and encouraging each other to beat their personal records. “It’s cool that the Muffin Runners meet whether the weather is good or bad,” Freeland said. “Even if it’s really cold and windy, there will still be a group of people out there. It gives me the moti-

vation to keep showing up and trying my best.”

For many athletes, it’s not so much about the sport they participate in but rather the group they share it with. Both Sved and Freeland reflected on what it means to encourage others to complete the seven miles around Marquette each week.

“We’ve had a lot of people that didn’t think they could make seven miles, but they found out they could,” Sved said. “And the more they did it, the easier it was.”

Freeland added: “The first few times, I didn’t finish it. It took me some practice before I could do the whole loop, especially because I just had a baby. So I was really proud to do the whole thing, and from there, it was exciting to beat my personal record.”

Freeland and a few other Muffin Runners also gather on Thursdays in the summer to enjoy trail running. They call themselves the Marquette Trail Runners group. “I love the north and south trails,” she said. “I love the seven-mile loop that the Muffin Runners do by the water. I like to see the waves while I’m running.”

Jamie Glenn is a U.P. native who graduated from NMU in 2018 with a degree in creative writing and journalism. When she isn’t writing, she enjoys advocating for disability rights, playing sled hockey and listening to live music.

THEY MAKE ALL DIFFERENT TYPES OF RUNNERS FEEL WELCOME, WHETHER THEY’RE NEW OR MORE EXPERIENCED.

in the outdoors

The secret lives of mushrooms

This story is about fungi. It includes information about mushrooms but should not be considered a field guide to mushroom species. Extreme care and knowledge should be used when picking and eating wild mushrooms, as many can be deadly poisonous.

“Fungi constitute the most poorly understood and under-appreciated kingdom of life on Earth.”

—Michael Pollan

Fungi, mushrooms, truffles, magic mushrooms, toadstools, morels. Start talking about the group of living organisms that include mushrooms, mildews and yeast, and the reactions are about as far apart as a subject can have. Add to that bread, beer, nitrogen fixing in the soil, the mold in the fridge, athlete’s foot and the mildew in the bathroom, and heads will spin. And then spin some more.

Fungi include an incredible variety of life forms, from single-celled yeasts to networks of fungi spanning nearly 2,000 acres. Specific numbers are definitely a problem when it comes to fungi. The number of main groups ranges from four to six depending on who you ask. The actual number of individual species ranges from around 120,000 to 144,000 named by science, to 0.8 to 3.8 million estimated by the UN Decade on Restoration, to 6.28 million (or so) thought to exist according to the Institute of Microbiology of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic.

Part of the problem in studying, identifying and counting them is the difficulty in finding them in the first place. Many lay hiding in the soil,

dead trees and other places where the systems of roots of the fungi, called mycelium, absorb nutrients. It isn’t until fungi produce fruiting bodies like mushrooms or cause harm or damage to a living organism, like ringworm or spoiled foods, that it becomes more apparent.

“I’ve always thought fairies are like mushrooms. You trip over them when you’re not thinking about them, but they’re hard to spot when you’re searching for them.”

—Jo Walton

Fungi belong to a separate group of organisms — not animal, bacteria or plant. They are in a kingdom all their own. They cannot make their own food, so they rely on a variety of sources to find their nourishment. As a result — along with the familiarity with some, like molds and mildews — they have frequently occupied a lowly place in the natural world.

More than 30 years ago, though, respect for them began to rise, as a result of research done right here in the Upper Peninsula. Original research was conducted in the area to examine the effects of extremely low frequency

radio waves from several installations created by the Department of Defense to provide improved communications with Navy submarines during the Cold War.

Initially hardwoods attacked by a fungus were cut and cleared. Red pines planted to reforest the area were also killed. A honey mushroom was identified as the culprit. Researchers from the University of Toronto began studying the local fungus, the honey mushroom, Armillaria gallica, and began wondering about its biological identity and the extent of the range of the mycelium in the nearby forest. The genetic advances made it possible to examine more than 240 samples collected from an area near Crystal Falls in Iron County and determined they were all from the same individual. The area covered by this mushroom’s mycelium was eventually measured to be around 91 acres, by a mass of mycelia estimated to be 440 tons. Based on its size and growth rate, it was thought to be 2,500 years old.

Just a few years later, a second, even larger honey mushroom, Armillaria ostoyae, was found in Oregon. It is thought to cover three square miles and be around 8,000 years old.

Story and photos by Scot Stewart

The white morel, left, is a local favorite. The shaggy mane, above, typically appears in fall. (Photos by Scot Stewart)

Fungi represent incredible variety in the natural world

Biologists often wish the soil could be stripped away to reveal the actual mycelium network. It has been revealed that it can be luminescent, and fluorescent if exposed to ultraviolet light. Some mushrooms are themselves bioluminescent — they glow in the dark. Because these types can grow in tree hollows, they may contribute to the belief in ghosts hovering in dark cavities in the forest at night. There are basically four main groups of fungi. The most primitive is Chytridiomycota, a mostly aquatic fungi that feeds on both living (by parasitic fungi) and non-living (by saprobic fungi) material. This group or phylum has now been divided into four groups, with the primary one keeping the name as it reproduces by sending out single-celled zoospores with whip-like tails called flagella. This group attacks amphibians and is believed to be responsible for the huge drop in frog numbers around the world.

The next group, Zygomycota, includes the common bread molds. It also includes aquatic species and some that attach themselves to animals and plants.

Next is Ascomycota, a much more varied group. It includes some bread

molds and yeasts — the organisms responsible for making bread, beer and wine. Some plant diseases are also caused by fungi from this group including Dutch elm disease, one that killed many of the American elms in the U.P. The term mildew refers to a variety of molds, including black mold and many bathroom varieties. Ascomycota does include some keep-

ers — beautiful green wood cups, scarlet cups, eyelash fungi and morels.

The last firmly recognized group of fungi is Basidiomycota. It contains most all the mushrooms — gilled and boletes. Gilled mushrooms have slotted undersides to release spores. Boletes have pores on their undersides to release spores.

A final group, Deuteromycota, is not a formally recognized taxonomic group. These 25,000 organisms are referred to as the imperfect fungi and include some that are very important to medicine, like the penicillin mold. Athlete’s foot and ringworm are also imperfect fungi. They are currently in limbo when it comes to sorting them out because of their reproductive strategies, which are unknown. Since fungi are separated by their reproductive processes and anatomy, the Deuteromycota are not formally classified — yet.

“Mushrooms grow in damp places. That’s why they are shaped like an umbrella.”

—Alphonse Allais

Fungi sure do play an important role in the natural world, though. Together with bacteria, they are crucial in the recycling of elements through the soils, the atmosphere and lives of the organisms around them. They help break down organic chemicals of plants, animals and even other fungi and return elemental phosphorus, carbon, nitrogen, potassium and other important building blocks like fats, starches, proteins, enzymes and

The red-capped scaber stalk is found in the forests of North America and Eurasia. (Photo by Scot Stewart)

acids to the soil. These chemicals then become available as needed by plants and provide food for animals, other fungi and bacteria. Without them, the world would move at a much slower pace and be full of past lives waiting to be returned to new ones.

It is in the rain forest where the true power of fungi can really be seen. Take a walk under the cecropia, strangler fig and kapok trees, and it becomes apparent the soil is different. There is no bounce underfoot, no rich aroma of aging maple and oak leaves. The continual heat and humidity encourage and entice the soil fungi to do their thing. Their mycelia reach out from the trees to quickly entangle anything that has fallen to the ground — dead or alive — and quickly embrace and absorb all there is of value.

In other soils, bacteria find a place in the cytoplasm or hyphae, or tiny rootlet structures of fungi. This relationship helps the bacteria to produce usable nitrogen. Because nitrogen is an important nutrient that plants re-

quire to make proteins and other important compounds, this process is incredibly important to plant life in many places.

Many of these fungi have a close relationship with the nearby trees and can capture nutrients from decomposing organisms more quickly than the trees themselves can. The capture of phosphorus and nitrogen compounds before constant rains wash them away is crucial to plants and helps make the rain forest the lush environment it is despite the thin, poor soil.

Some fungi have less favorable relationships with plants. American chestnut blight, beech bark blight and Dutch elm disease are all diseases that through history have had huge impacts on American forests and are caused by different types of fungi.

“From dead plant matter to nematodes to bacteria, never underestimate the cleverness of mushrooms to find new food!”

—Paul Stamets

The earth star, above, is a member of the Basidiomycota group. Mycelium, below, is a root-like structure. (Photos by Scot Stewart)

Acloser study of the rain forest reveals it is home to other, more mysterious and insidious fungi. They live within animals, especially insects, and eventually kill them. What makes them stand out is the blooming of the fruiting bodies from the corpses of their victims. As gruesome as that sounds, it actually leads to one of the most remarkable stories and uses for mushrooms.

The most expensive edible mushroom is probably the yartsa gunbu, Cordyceps sinensis, found in mountainous regions of Tibet and Nepal. Known locally as “summer grass, winter worm,” it is a true wonder. The fungus parasitizes the caterpillar of the ghost moth living in the higher elevations of these mountainous countries. When the caterpillars die, the mushrooms sprout from the dead insects. What makes this mushroom so expensive is two-fold. It is quite rare, and it is also thought to be an aphrodisiac.

Mushroom hunters are a growing group in the Upper Peninsula. A true local favorite, one of the most expensive in the United States, is the morel. As the final drifts of snow melt away in the woods, some begin to watch their favorite areas and new potential spots for these mushrooms. Places with recent disturbances, like wildfires, are

good locations to search. The State of Michigan even posts a map online showing recent wildfire locations and managed areas in the state where morel picking might be good (search for “Michigan DNR morel map”).

Places with moderate drainage close to apple, ash, aspen, elm and oak trees, especially those dying or recently dead, are good spots too. If a morel or patch of them turns up, it

is good to continue searching the immediate area for more. Places right in town can be good too. In an area in south Marquette, in different years they have been found under both quaking aspens and a dead green ash tree in close proximity.

“All fungi are edible. Some fungi are only edible once.”

—Terry Pratchett

“On the subject of wild mushrooms, it is easy to tell who is an expert and who is not: The expert is the one who is still alive.”

—Donal Henahan

There are two species of morels found in the area, black and white. Both have conical caps, with a network of pockets in them, and hollow stalks. False morels are somewhat similar in appearance but tend to be more reddish, with wrinkly caps and solid stalks. As is the case with all mushrooms, if there is any question, they should be left for the slugs and squirrels to eat.

Another edible mushroom easily recognized in the Upper Peninsula is the giant puff ball. They can grow to an impressive size — able to fill a dinner plate — but some have grown even larger. One found in the Thunder Bay area across Lake Superior in Ontario in the fall of 2016 weighed 52.2 pounds and had an 81-inch diameter. If picked early enough, they can be sliced and prepared like steak. Most are bright white when young, but if left they begin turning a darker color. They eventually dry out, leaving them full of powdery, greenish-brown spores and are inedible. Young true puffballs are edible but can resemble

A spring peeper sits atop a waxy cap. (Photo by Scot Stewart)

two other mushrooms, common earthballs and deathcaps, types of Amanita that are both poisonous. Great puffballs are usually found in autumn.

Chanterelles, black trumpets, chicken of the woods, those honey mushrooms and oyster mushrooms are other commonly collected mushrooms in the area that are becoming more popular as more people learn to recognize them and begin harvesting. Chanterelles and black trumpets are smaller mushrooms, resembling narrow-based mushrooms that can look like the bell-shaped ends of a bugle or trumpet. Oysters grow in clumps on dead and dying trees and are often light-colored and very delicate looking. Chicken of the woods nearly always grows in layered clumps and can be bright yellow with an orange-red outer rim. Many found in the area in the past few years have clear signs of being harvested, including one near

the breakwater at Presque Isle.

In fall, on into November, another recognizable mushroom, the shaggy mane, can appear, especially in areas with rich soil and decomposing wood. Tall, conical whitish mushrooms, they often appear in clusters. Some clusters can number 30 or 40. They are named for their caps with their shaggy appearance due to long dangling scales. White when they emerge from the ground, they quickly take on a buffy color, and the bottom edges of the caps begin to turn black, often within a day or so after popping out of the ground. They should only be eaten while still bright white, as their aging produces chemicals that may cause gastronomic distress. Usually within a day of starting to turn black they are dripping inky liquids and literally decompose.

Shaggy manes belong to the Coprinus mushroom group, the inky caps,

The black morel is one of two morel species that is found in the area. (Photo by Scot Stewart)

that contain mycotoxin coprine, a chemical that does not mix well with alcohol. When eaten with alcoholic beverages, the mix can cause nausea, extreme perspiration and vomiting. While shaggy manes themselves do not actually contain the toxin, eating them with alcohol is not recommended.

Years ago, Ingrid Bartelli, author of Mushrooms from the Forest Floor and numerous other publications, taught mushroom identification classes through the Michigan State Extension Service. She was always very clear in her presentations to help students understand the importance of the careful and accurate identification of mushrooms being picked to eat. Harvesters should note if they have gills or pores. Color, smell, size and habitat should be noted. Rings on the stalk are often visible and can result from the separation of a veil that appears on the underside of the caps of some mushrooms that protect the gills and the spore-making structures until they are mature. The attachment of the caps, proximity of other mushrooms in groups or clusters and age of the mushrooms are all important for identification. Spore color can also help with identification. By taking off the cap and placing it on a sheet of paper in a location with no air movement, the dropped spores over a couple of hours can be viewed to determine their color and help with some IDs.

Bartelli also related the story of an individual from the western part of Marquette County who was an accomplished mushroom collector. They took some freshly collected mushrooms home one afternoon and

cooked them up for dinner. Their spouse was not interested in having any that night, so the cook alone dined on them. The mushrooms turned out to be a poisonous species. As the cook’s liver attempted to neutralize the toxins, it was severely damaged. Three days later, the liver failed and the individual died.

Many mushrooms can vary con-

siderably in color, and some families — the waxy caps and Russula species — can vary just slightly in colors that seemingly overlap. When mushrooms are young and have not fully opened, they can be incredibly similar and difficult to identify. Some really should be fully open so the shape of the cap is clearly noticeable and spores can be examined. Some mushrooms, like

Amanitas, that include several very poisonous species, have distinguishing scales on the top of their caps that help with identification. They also contain a good number of similar species varying slightly in color, size and scaling. Some mushrooms also have a cup-like structure at the base of the stalk called a volva to help with identification.

Green bottle flies dine on a red stinkhorn. (Photo by Scot Stewart)

“Mushrooms are miniature pharmaceutical factories, and of the thousands of mushroom species in nature, our ancestors and modern scientists have identified several dozen that have a unique combination of talents that improve our health.”

—Paul Stamets

Other uses and benefits have also been identified for mushrooms and other fungi. Chaga, a parasitic fungus found in birch trees in the U.P., looks like sections of burned wood on dead or dying trees. A tea can be made from the hard fungus that is believed to reduce blood sugar levels, improve the immune system and serve as an antioxidant.

Enoki mushrooms, long-stemmed white mushrooms originally from Japan, are being studied for their antioxidant properties and their ability to reduce the growth of cancer cells. Lion’s mane, another edible mushroom of the north woods, has shown in some early studies to have some positive results in treating brain inflammation and some symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease.

Psilocybin mushrooms have made the news a bit more frequently too, showing some positive results in treating depression and other mental conditions. This group of mushrooms, also known as magic mushrooms, has a long history of use dating back to around 4,000 B.C. in the Americas, but has been classified as a controlled substance in the United States. They have long been a critical part of religious ceremonies and for medicinal purposes by indigenous peoples in North, Central and South American tribes. Efforts are under way to decriminalize them in this country as more research is being conducted to test their effects in dealing with a va-

riety of medical issues. The psychoactive chemicals do not appear to be addictive or lead to overdoses but can cause gastrointestinal issues and other effects lasting up to eight hours.

“September is different from all other months. It is more magical. I feel the strange chemical change in the earth which produces mushrooms is the cause, too, of the extra ‘life’ in the air — a resilience, a sparkle.”

—Katherine Mansfield

Mushrooms begin appearing in mid-spring in the U.P., a period that might last only a few days some years because of lingering snow and the rapid onset of warm temperatures. The best diversity showing of mushrooms, though, occurs in later summer and on into the fall, especially in years with average or above-average rainfall. A hike along any of the rivers or creeks in the area, especially ones with fallen trees like aspens, poplars and maples, can reveal a wide array of mushrooms and their close neighbors, slime molds.

Woodland fungi are often aligned with specific hosts, so the trees overhead can provide good clues about what might be growing on the forest floor or on a fallen log. Sometimes several different types of mushrooms can be found on the same log. The sound of a V of geese overhead, the smell of wet fallen golden and bright red leaves and the first tingle of cold in the north wind are great accompanying signs of a season of great mushroom watching.

“I look at trees, hunt mushrooms and watch animals. Fishing is what gets me out into the woods so I can notice these things.”

—John D. Voelker

Lentaria is a genus of fungus that contains 17 species. (Photo by Scot Stewart)

John Voelker was a legendary trout fisherman in the Upper Peninsula. He was also a Michigan Supreme Court judge, an attorney and a renowned author of Anatomy of a Murder, Danny and the Boys, Trout Madness, nine other books and an untold number of stories, mostly about fishing. Because of all his time outdoors, often at the edge of the Middle Branch of the Escanaba River, he was attuned to the beauty the woods had to offer. He and a marvelous group of fly fishermen that included Ted Bogdan — who ran the Crow’s Nest restaurant in Marquette — did much to spotlight the romance of a life in the woods and the union of brook trout, fern fronds and wild mushrooms on the dinner plate.

Fungi do provide more to the Upper Peninsula experience than food, though. What can begin as a single-minded endeavor can lead to many unexpected discoveries. Fungi bring a stunning array of color to the forest, nearly every possible color, and in an amazing array of shapes.

Bird watchers often start watching butterflies and dragonflies zipping

past them to add to more quiet times when birds are not present. Deer hunters begin studying the behavior of birds and small mammals as they wait in their blinds for a buck to wander past. Hikers out on the trails start finding all sorts of flowers they never saw before and realize the vast changes that come with hiking the same routes with the changing seasons.

To start finding mushrooms, take a small child and have them help look for different colors in the woods and on logs. Those eyes located close to the ground will find an amazingly larger variety of mushrooms, especially small ones, that may go undetected by adult eyes five or more feet higher. It can be an amazing realization to see all that awaits those who go looking for nature’s best.

Scot Stewart has lived in Marquette long enough to be considered a true Yooper even though he was born in Illinois. He is a teacher and loves to be outdoors photographing and enjoying nature.

Waxy cap species, like the one above, have slotted undersides. The scarlet elfcup, bottom, is in the Ascomycota group. (Photos by Scot Stewart)

Local agencies seek to solve wide-ranging problem lookout point Facing the child care crisis

By Pam Christensen

“Those of us involved with early childhood education and child care have been predicting a child care crisis for the past 10 years,” said Deb Dupras, director of the Great Start to Quality Upper Peninsula Resource Center and a 30-year veteran of programs for early childhood education. Unfortunately, this prediction has become an all-too-devastating reality for families in the Upper Peninsula and the state as a whole.

“Michigan Works surveyed child care offerings in the 15 counties of the U.P. and found that infant and toddler care and child care for the summer months were the biggest need throughout the region,” Dupras said. “Of the 23 licensed home day care providers, half of them had been offering service for over 20 years and were considering retirement. Unfortunately, we do not have providers stepping up to fill the vacancies.”

Great Start to Quality is one resource for families looking for child

care. The agency is also a resource for child care and early care professionals. The statistics Dupras shared about U.P. child care options are startling. There are currently 33 licensed center-based child care programs, and only 15 of these are not part of the Great Start Readiness Program or Head Start. Both of these programs limit enrollment by specific qualifications, so they cannot serve all children.

Dupras’ firsthand knowledge of the struggle of parents to find child care leads her to look at new programs to alleviate the shortage. She said Michigan’s Our Strong Start grant program is one way to encourage new providers hoping to become licensed to meet the licensing and regulatory requirements. One of her roles is to support and share information with new providers applying for this grant developed by the state Department of Education. Our Strong Start offers a pre-licensure grant for providers working on becoming licensed and other grants available to defray costs related to facility improvements, training and center start-up.

“These grants can provide funding to help create a facility and staff that are able to meet requirements for licensing,” Dupras said. “Grants of up to $150,000 can be obtained to provide day care facilities. We have several facilities taking advantage of these grants, and grant funding will be critical to their success.”

What was already a building crisis has been exacerbated by the Covid 19 pandemic, the aging out of providers and closure of some child care facilities. Currently, a lack of child care openings throughout the U.P. is keeping many parents from fully participating in employment. This has a domino effect of causing employee turnover and difficulty in recruiting and retaining employees. Many entry-level employees do not earn family-sustaining wages and can’t afford to continue to work because day care takes such a big chunk out of their earnings. Parents can’t find child care, and if they find care, the cost is prohibitive and they just can’t afford to work.

Many of the day care facilities that closed during the Covid 19 pandemic

The Marquette-Alger Regional Educational Service Agency is one of several local organizations working to address the child care shortage. (Photo by Michael Murray)

have not reopened or have reopened with fewer open spaces for children. Child care centers and in-home day cares are having problems staffing their programs, and this limits the number of children and families they can serve. In-home providers have been an important option, but many of them have been in the child care business for 20 years or longer and are looking toward retirement. There are few or no providers ready to take their place.

Early childhood education programs that were once robust are no longer attracting students as in the past. This is the result of a lack of demand for programs from students, the reduction in salaries and benefits given to employees and a general reduction in the number of students entering the education field. For those who want to develop their skills and enter a program, local options may not be available. Some are unable to find a locally offered program, or the cost of such programs is prohibitive. The lack of child care programs also affects those who are certified; they are unable to find a job in the field or advance.

Another professional who is deeply immersed in the child care crisis is Lyndsay Carey, director of early childhood education at the Marquette-Alger Regional Education Services Agency. Carey said the status of early childhood workers needs to change for young people to gravitate to these programs.

“When asked, many students say that employees in early childhood programs suffer from low pay, a perception that they are not valued or are just glorified babysitters,” she said. “We want quality people working to provide quality child care programs for youth. This field is critical for the success of working parents, employee recruitment and retention and setting up a child for future success. The early years from age 0 to 5 set the foundation for a child’s life.”

Carey said the fact that this situation is garnering attention on state, regional and local levels has helped people realize the severe need for early childhood education programs. Grant support from the Community Foundation of Marquette County allowed a Child Development Associate cohort program last summer to operate at little cost to the participants. As a result, 11 people completed the coursework to gain their credentials. Bay Mills Community College has online programs in early childhood education. Students can attain a B.A. or A.A. in early childhood education. The Certificate of Completion prepares students for the CDA competency exam.

To attract more students to early childhood programs, Marquette-Al-

ger RESA is offering a program for their Career and Technical Education students. Participating students are dual-enrolled in the Bay Mills CDA program, resulting in potential certification upon completing high school. Information about the Bay Mills Community College programs is available at bmcc.edu.

“College is not an option for all students, so expanding early childhood programs gives high school graduates another option for training in a field in which they have an interest,” Carey said. “They not only develop the skills needed for their own employment, but they are also helping the community where they live. In addition, we find that some students pursue early childhood training not only for a job but as a way to develop their own parenting skills for when they become parents.”

While parents often report a lack of child care options or long waiting lists, some action has been taken on the child care issue in the Upper Peninsula. The MI Tri-Share Child Care pilot program has been expanded to seven new hubs. One hub serves the 15 counties in the U.P.: Marquette-Alger RESA is the designated hub for the program. Carey is the program coordinator for the project, which shares the cost of child care for U.P. parents and employers with a match from the State of Michigan.

MI Tri-Share divides the cost of licensed child care into thirds, with the parent, the employer and the program paying equal shares. For parents who qualify, this program reduces the cost of child care by 66 percent. Eligibility is determined by family income, which can range from 201 percent to 325 percent of the federal poverty guidelines, according to Carey.

There was reluctance by parents and employers to take part in Tri-Share initially because it was a pilot program. Due to the success of the pilot, the program has now become a part of the Michigan Women’s Commission and is a permanent line item in Michigan’s annual budget. The program was implemented in June 2022 in the U.P. From June 2022 to January 2023, 10 families with 13 children have taken advantage of the program with five employers. During that time, $30,000 in child care costs have been saved by the families. The average savings per family is $1,300 per month.

Additional information about the program can be found at maresa.org or by contacting Carey at lcarey@maresa.org or 906-226-5136.

Carey and Dupras are used to working with education professionals and agencies. They both are encouraged to see that awareness of the child care crisis has brought new partners to the

table. Not only has Michigan Works studied this issue, but the agency now offers programs and services to help job seekers, employers and employees who are affected by the overall lack of child care statewide. Other new partners have also stepped up to support the need for more child care options.

Zosia Eppensteiner, CEO of the Community Foundation of Marquette County; Scott Erbisch, Marquette County administrator; and Christopher Germain, CEO of the Lake Superior Community Partnership, have banded together to make use of American Rescue Plan Act funds, distributed to local governments during the pandemic, to address the issue of child care.

Eppensteiner led the charge to advocate for two issues that have an impact on the county — the need for child care and a solution to homelessness. Both issues arose during development of the

county’s master plan but have changed post-pandemic. The Community Foundation and United Way advocated for a survey to be conducted to study how the pandemic affected the homelessness situation and the need for child care. They received grant funding for the study from the Council of Michigan Foundations Statewide Equity Fund. The study was conducted by Grow and Lead and demonstrated how both issues were affected by the pandemic. The hard data helped set into motion the next step for addressing the child care crisis — Childcare Spark.

Childcare Spark is an innovative program that has been developed to help entrepreneurs launch new child care businesses in Marquette County. This three-month program uses weekly classes designed to help develop and operate a new home-based child care business. The program will use

experts from early childhood agencies, business development and current child care providers in an accelerated program for homeowners who plan to open a child care business in their home. Subjects that will be covered are business development, child development, financing, licensing and regulations, social and emotional development and positive guidance. Each participant will be paired with a mentor who is experienced at operating an in-home day care business.

Childcare Spark applications were accepted in March and April. Classes will begin in May with an August graduation. All participants will be expected to provide updates to the program for up to three years. Following completion of the program, funding for costs for licensing, permits and inspections can be provided. The program may be able to offer funding for home modifi-

cations to meet state requirements. The program is funded by the Statewide Equity Fund and an ARPA allocation from Marquette County. For more information on forthcoming Childcare Spark programs or to explore the program, visit childcarespark.com.

The child care crisis not only affects parents but the community as a whole. U.P. leaders are working together to take advantage of programs offered by the State of Michigan and developing regional and local programs to improve child care access.

Pam Christensen moved to Marquette 30 years ago when she accepted the position of library director at Peter White Public Library. She served in that post for more than 24 years. Most recently, she was foundation manager for the West End Health Foundation.

THIS FIELD IS CRITICAL FOR THE SUCCESS OF WORKING PARENTS, EMPLOYEE RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION AND SETTING UP A CHILD FOR FUTURE SUCCESS.

superior reads

Adrenaline-fueled ride down the slopes

Review by Victor R. Volkman

Ski Bum is the debut novel from Michigan-born author Colin Clancy that is about some 20-something friends navigating a single winter season in a fictional Colorado ski resort. The protagonists are a mix of ski bum dilettantes, just in it for a lark, and a few that are seemingly “going pro,” which is to say doing a circuit of ski resorts from Colorado to Argentina and on to the Alps to stay on top of the snow season year-round.

My father, now deceased, told me on at least one occasion that he was in fact a “ski bum” and had met my mother at some resort in Michigan in the late 1950s. The concept itself was never explained to me as a child except for some arcane references to recipes for making tomato soup out of purloined ketchup. The Dictionary of American Slang (fourth edition) offers up this concise definition that sums it up nicely: “A person who frequents ski resorts habitually, often doing casual jobs, for the sake of skiing.”

The story unfolds in the first-person narrative of Jimmy as he dodges his upcoming academic probation at Western Michigan University following a calamitous fall semester. Jimmy does what any self-respecting sophomore would dream of — chucking it all and driving west, just like the lyrics of an old Bob Seger tune would dictate. He arrives at the fictional Silver Mountain as a greenhorn ski bum but is quickly assimilated into the resort’s junior ski teaching crew. The experience is loosely based on the author’s own tenure at the Copper Mountain resort 25 miles out of Denver. These “teachers” are basically babysitters for kids aged 3 to 13 as they struggle to even stand up, much less ride a towrope. In fact, poopy pants are a more likely outcome than a sprained ankle.

In true rom-com style, Jimmy falls in love with Kylie, the very first girl he meets at the Silver Mountain ski school. Kylie is just a few semesters short of an art degree in New Hampshire while Jimmy has not completely committed to graduating, as you

might surmise. This becomes the background conflict for the inevitable struggle when two young lovers split by geography try to decide whether they have a future or not.

Although the love story runs its course throughout the madcap antics of the ski school crew over this season, I might argue that the bigger narrative is closer to a “bromance.” Young men on their own for the first time in their lives are naturally seeking a tribe of belonging, and Jimmy is no exception. Whether it is a stint of military service, or as told in this book, a mix of crappy service jobs, the bonding takes place between alcohol-fueled misadventures one after another. If you enjoyed last year’s tourist-service novel, The Dock Porter by McVeigh and Bolone, which follows this formula to the letter, including prodigious profanity, then you will adore Ski Bum. My textual analysis uncovered 95 “F-bombs” and 110 “S-bombs,” so if salty language offends, this book is not for you.

The other members of the crew, nearly all men, include Bill, the diehard dropout snowboarding ski bum who will follow the snow season to South America in the spring; Ryan, a spoiled rich kid from Seattle who is expected to follow his daddy into business; Derek, a.k.a. Muppet, is a good-time guy who got his business degree from the University of Michigan and lasted only a couple of months in the corporate world; and Paul, a barrel-chested adult ski instructor who was promoted to head of the kids ski school and has been miserable ever since. Bill’s paramour, Aurelia, who has come for the season from Argentina, rounds out the crew but is just a foil for her guy in the plot.

The best thing about Ski Bum is the pure poetry of delight surrounding the ski scenes. It is the closest thing you’ll ever see in prose comparable to a classic late-20th-century Warren Miller film like Steep and Deep or Ski People, which were staples at high school and collegiate ski clubs. Clancy puts you on the mountain as you experience with all your senses the amazing rides, from the burn in your thighs to the joyful feeling of your friend’s

snow wake hitting you in the face — it’s all there. Like the apocryphal Eskimo, Clancy really does know two dozen ways of describing snow, from the thrill of fresh “pow” (powder) to the dregs of a slushy spring ski; it’s all on paper now. It would be hard to pick out my favorite passages, but I’ll share just a couple. In many cases, the ski lingo was so deep it was impenetrable to my alpine ski experiences — but the sheer poetry rises above the need to know each word for me. Our hero is often skiing to clear his mind of troubles, a situation that any dedicated amateur athlete can relate to, whether you’re a runner or a skier. Here’s Jimmy’s first run on the slope:

“The bump run dumped onto a cat track where Bill slowed for a second, making sure I was with him before pushing off onto a cruiser. I hit the smooth snow and opened it up, my turns changing from tight weaves into long flowing carves. I made wide arcing turns on the gentle slope then picked up speed as the trail steepened. I felt the edges of my skis digging into the hardpack underneath the fluff and I got low, my inside leg bent on each turn so that my hand and the handle of my pole skimmed the top of the snow. I passed Bill and then dumped speed as I remembered I didn’t know where I was going.”

Clancy’s appreciation of the ski experience reminded me most closely of the prose-poetry in John Highlen’s Touching the Wild U.P. as he describes the joys of canoeing therein. I’ll leave you with one last passage from Ski Bum:

“Find a steep and let it take you — play on the slope’s every undula-

tion — don’t just carve into the butter snow with your inside edge, but bury the outside edge of your inside ski so that even your pinky toe generates immense power. Get lost in the speed; embrace it. Let the carve take you so deep that your skis are completely on edge, perpendicular to the snow so that your boot buckles and knee skim the corduroy surface, followed by a thigh — maybe even your ribcage, forearm, hand, and pole. Fly along the top of the snow, inches off the surface without touching it. That’s when it’s time to come back the other way.”

Let Colin Clancy’s Ski Bum take you on an adrenaline- and alcohol-fueled ride through early adulthood as this group of fun-loving kids pursue their love of skiing and brotherhood in equal measures. As Jimmy says, “In the bumps I found my Zen,” and even if you don’t know a “soft corduroy” from a “cruiser,” Clancy will be your tour guide and warm your heart on any given winter’s day.

Victor R. Volkman is a graduate of Michigan Tech (Class of ’86) and is current president of the U.P. Publishers and Authors Association. He is senior editor at Modern History Press and publisher of the U.P. Reader.

Spring on Lake Michigan

By Lisa Fosmo

I would like to say to you, dear bringer of new, the one holding a pinecone in the cold early newness of spring. There bundled in awkwardness from the corner of the earth’s room.

Though I never told you, you are my favorite season. My favorite smell as I breathe in the birth of new, listen to birds arriving, shooting like stars across the night sky on a feathered whim.

The ice seems to be riding a floor jack, rising till it will break. There must be a crack somewhere, where the rivers thaw has entered spilling beneath the crust like a secret. Waiting to break out onto hurried waters, but I can see no breaks.

Only in the night I hear the war of winter losing its battle to spring. The sound like gunfire. The loud thunder of ice popping.

And I’m taking sides. I’m rooting for spring. Praying this new ruler won’t turn. Praying she won’t spill waters in her hurry.

Praying she heeds her time knowing, no one has loved her better or more. Until winter comes again, with all the elegance of a new bride and we will love her all the more all over again.

But as for today, I wait for that moment. Where once again; I will hear the roar of rushing waters into the thaw of waves crashing. The very sound that rattles heaven’s door.

Lisa Fosmo is a poet and writer who resides in Escanaba and is a native of the Upper Peninsula. She enjoys spending time at her cabin in Marquette County. Lisa combines her great love of nature with her love of writing and photography. She is a member of the Marquette poet circle and of The Poetry Society of Michigan. She has been published in Walloon Writers Review as well as anthologies and other publications. Native bee conservation and habitat are a passion near to her heart.

Banshees was a top film of ’22

Reviews by Leonard G. Heldreth

The films this month include two Irish narratives and a Poe mishmash.

The Banshees of Inisherin Editor’s note: The review of this film includes plot details that some viewers might not want to read about in advance. Those who wish to avoid spoilers are encouraged to skip to the next review.

At the tail end of the Irish Civil War in 1923, on the fictional Irish isle of Inisherin, folk musician Colm Doherty (Brendan Gleeson) abruptly begins ignoring his lifelong friend and drinking buddy, Pádraic Súilleabháin (Colin Farrell). Pádraic, though “nice” and well liked by the islanders, is too dull for Colm, who wishes to spend the remainder of his life composing music and doing things for which he will be remembered. Pádraic’s life is upset by the loss of one of his few friends; as Pádraic grows increasingly distressed at the rejection, Colm becomes more resistant to his old friend’s attempts to speak to him. Colm eventually gives Pádraic an ultimatum: Every time Pádraic bothers him or tries to talk with him, Colm will cut off one of his own left fingers

with a pair of sheep shears.

The local Garda, Peadar, beats his troubled son Dominic (Barry Keoghan) severely, and Pádraic and his sister Siobhán (Kerry Condon) take Dominic in for a short time. While delivering milk to the market, Peadar insults Pádraic, who retaliates by making public the fact that he beats his son. Peadar hits him so hard he knocks him to the ground nearly unconscious. Having witnessed this, Colm puts Pádraic back in his wagon and drives him home; the two do not speak.

The following morning Pádraic attempts to apologize to Colm, but it

doesn’t work, and Colm cuts off a finger and throws it at Pádraic’s door. As the conflict worsens, local elder Mrs. McCormick (one of the banshees referred to in the title?) prophesies that death is coming to the island.

Pádraic visits Colm to reprimand him for behaving so badly, and Colm reveals that he has finished composing his song, “The Banshees of Inisherin.” The two appear to be close to reconciliation and to returning to the pub together when Pádraic confesses that he has lied to Colm about a local fiddler to get him off the island. Instead of meeting Pádraic at the pub, Colm cuts off his remaining left fin-

Director Martin McDonagh, above left, and Colin Farrell talk on the set of The Banshees of Inisherin. Farrell stars opposite Brendan Gleeson, below left. (Photos courtesy of 20th Century Studios)

gers and throws them at Pádraic’s door. Pádraic comes home to find his pet donkey Jenny has choked on one of Colm’s fingers and died. He warns Colm that he will burn his house down the next day at 2 p.m., regardless of whether Colm is in it. The next day Pádraic sets fire to Colm’s house as promised, but not before taking Colm’s dog Sammy outside the house with him. Pádraic looks in a window and sees Colm calmly sitting inside the burning building. Peadar goes to Pádraic’s house, planning to beat him. He is diverted away by Mrs. McCormick, who leads him to Dominic’s corpse floating in the nearby lake.

The next morning, Pádraic, with Sammy, finds Colm standing on the beach beside his burnt-out house.

Colm apologizes for the donkey’s death and suggests destroying the house has ended their feud, but Pádraic informs him that it only would have ended if he had stayed inside the house. When Colm wonders if the Civil War has ended, Pádraic replies that he believes some things cannot be moved on from, and that is a good situation. As Pádraic turns to leave, Colm thanks him for looking after his dog Sammy. “Any time,” Pádraic responds. Unbeknownst to them, Mrs. McCormick is watching them from a distance by Colm’s burned cottage. And with that shot, this odd and compelling film ends.

At the film’s world premiere at the 79th Venice International Film Festival, Farrell won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor, and Martin McDonagh won the Golden Osella for Best Screenplay. The Banshees of Inisherin received nine nominations at the 95th Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director (McDonagh), Best Actor (Farrell), Best Supporting Actor (Gleeson and Keoghan), Best Supporting Actress (Condon) and Best Original Screenplay. At the 80th Golden Globe Awards, it achieved three wins from eight nominations, and at the 29th Screen Actors Guild Awards, the film received five nominations. It also won four BAFTA Awards and was named one of the Top Ten Films of 2022 by the National Board of Review and other organizations.

The Wonder

In1862, Elizabeth “Lib” Wright (Florence Pugh), an English nurse who served in the Crimean War, is sent to a rural village in Ireland where she is tasked with closely watching Anna O’Donnell (Kíla Lord Cassidy), a fasting girl who according to her family has not eaten for four months. She is to be assisted by a nun, Sister Michael (Josie Walker), and the

two are to report their findings independently to a council of local dignitaries. The trauma of the Great Famine still looms over the community, and many locals are wary of the English nurse. Lib meets Anna’s deeply religious family: her mother, Rosaleen (Elaine Cassidy), her father, Malachy (Caolán Byrne), and her elder sister, Kitty (Niamh Algar). At dinner, Lib learns that Anna’s elder brother died of an unknown illness. Anna herself appears in good health and says she has been kept alive by consuming “manna from heaven.”

At her lodgings, Lib encounters William Byrne (Tom Burke), a man who grew up locally and whose family perished in the Great Famine while he was away at boarding school. Now a journalist for the Daily Telegraph, William believes Anna’s story to be a hoax. Lib and William become intimately involved. Noticing that her mother kisses Anna goodnight on her mouth while cupping her face, Lib realizes that chewed food is being covertly passed to Anna. She forbids the family from touching her. Separated from her family’s touch, Anna’s condition worsens.

Lib informs the council of her findings, but they refuse to believe her. Sister Michael states that she had found no evidence of Rosaleen feeding Anna. Members of the council question Anna, but she repeats that she is sustained solely by “manna from

heaven.” Knowing that Anna will inevitably die unless she eats soon, Lib pleads for the family to take action, or at least for her mother to resume the kisses, but they refuse. Lib figures out a unique way of saving Anna, and then she sets the family house on fire. Sister Michael convinces Lib to swear she saw Anna and an angel leaving the area on horseback. Anna (now known as Nan), Lib and William flee to Dublin and escape on a ship to Sydney.

Florence Pugh’s performance was highly praised, and the film was referred to as an “illuminating study of dark prejudices.” The film was also compared to folk horror, with its “rural setting, religious foreboding and general sense of dread.” Another critic called it “famine trauma meets folk horror,” a “gripping film … full of buried secrets and festering evil.”

The Pale Blue Eye

The Pale Blue Eye raises two initial questions. First, why is it titled The Pale Blue Eye, when the only connection to Poe is to the image in his story

The Tell-Tale Heart, a different story entirely? Second, how can a director use so many excellent actors and yet come out with only a mediocre result?

Christian Bale, Gillian Anderson, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Timothy Spall and Robert Duvall have all proven themselves as actors, some by winning Oscars. Yet the mixture of Poe, West Point and sexual crimes some-

Answers for the New York Times crossword puzzle, located on Page 16.

how fails to work.

Directed by Scott Cooper and adapted from the 2003 novel of the same name by Louis Bayard, the film follows the adventures of retired detective Augustus Landor (Bale) in October 1830. Landor is asked by the military to investigate the apparent suicide by hanging of Cadet Leroy Fry at the United States Military Academy. Landor, a widower, lives alone since his daughter, Mattie, ran off a few years previously. In the morgue, examining the corpse, Landor finds evidence of foul play: The heart has been removed from the body, a small fragment of a note is clutched tightly in Fry’s hand and marks on Fry’s neck and fingers suggest that he did not hang himself but was murdered.

Landor secretly enlists the help of Edgar Allan Poe (Harry Melling), a cadet at the academy, who has expressed an interest in the case. After a cow and a sheep are found in the area, butchered and with their hearts removed, it is deduced that the murder could be linked to black magic rituals. Another cadet, Randolph Ballinger, goes missing and is later found hanged, with both his heart and his genitals removed. A third cadet, Stoddard (Joey Brooks), who was a colleague of the two victims, then disappears, and Landor presumes that this man had reason to believe he was next in line to be killed.

Landor and Poe begin to suspect the family of Dr. Daniel Marquis, who was brought into the investigation to perform the autopsy on Fry. Particular suspicion is placed on his son Artemus and his daughter Lea (who suffers from random seizures). Poe is enchanted by Lea and volunteers to do whatever she wants. However, he is drugged and wakes to find that Artemus and Lea are about to cut out his heart, in accordance with the ritual to cure Lea. Landor manages to arrive

in time to rescue Poe, but the building catches fire and Lea and Artemus die. Although the case appears to be solved, Poe confronts the detective with further evidence that it was Landor himself who killed the three cadets because two years earlier, they had raped his daughter. Traumatized by the experience, she killed herself by jumping off a cliff. Landor did not disclose this to anyone but pretended that she had run away. Poe tells Landor he has two notes with handwriting samples that can link Landor directly to the murders, but before leaving, Poe burns them, thus destroying any evidence against Landor and securing his revenge.

The twists of the ending do little to make the solution believable. One critic summed it up nicely: “It’s disappointing to be watching a gothic whodunit and suddenly realize: Who cares?” On the positive side, the West Point locations are appropriately black-and-white bleak winter, and the sets and costumes are nicely handled. A bonus walk-on is the appearance of current U.S. Sen. John Fetterman and his wife, Gisele Barreto Fetterman, as extras in the film. Bale stated, “John’s got this fantastic face, hulking figure. … So I said to Scott, ‘We’ve got to have him in the tavern. … That’s a face that fits in the 1830s.’” Although the film tends to fall apart at the end, its twisted plot and impressive cast raise it to an acceptable entry in Netflix’s collection of mysteries.

Leonard Heldreth became interested in films in high school and worked as a movie projectionist in undergraduate and graduate school. His short “Cinema Comment” aired for some years on WNMU-FM. In 1987, he started writing reviews for Marquette Monthly. He taught English and film studies at NMU for more than 30 years.

Timothy Spall, left, and Christian Bale are part of a talented cast in The Pale Blue Eye. (Photo courtesy of Netflix)

out & about

Out & About is a free listing of Upper Peninsula events. Events included must cost $25 or less (except fundraisers).

All events are free and in Eastern time unless noted. We print information sent to us by a wide variety of people and organizations. It pays to double check the date, time, place and cost before heading out.

E-mail your June events by Wednesday, May 10 to: calendar@marquettemonthly.com

Index

on the town …………………………………………………… 70 art galleries …………………………………………………73-74 museums ……………………………………………………76-77 support groups………………………………………………….82

end of april events

Marquette

• Wiggle Worms STEM Storytime. Stories are intermixed with activities followed by STEM-related activities to stimulate senses. 9:45 a.m. Great Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4323.

• Congregate Meals for Seniors–Dine in or Curbside Pickup. Meals available to those age 60 and older. Call to reserve a meal. $3.50 suggested

donation. Noon to 1 p.m. Marquette Senior Center, 300 W. Spring St. (906) 228-0456.

• Writing Your Grief Workshop Part One. Poet Jonathan Johnson will lead a poetry workshop. 1:30 p.m. Shiras Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4323.

• Funeral Planning. Jeremy Hansen of Fassbender-Swanson-Hansen Funeral Home will discuss funeral planning, burials, green burials and cremation. NCLL members, $5; nonmembers, $10. 3 p.m. Heritage Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 458-5408.

• Teens Get Crafty. Students in grades 6 to 12 are invited to make tiny libraries. 4 to 7 p.m. Teen Zone, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906)

UP Pink Power 17-Mile Fundraising Walk | April 29 | Arnold

Javi Indy via freepix

on the town

Calumet

• The L&L Bar.

- Friday, May 19: Chad Borgen and The Collective.

401 5th Street. (906) 337-1813.

Gwinn

• Hideaway Bar.

- Mondays: The Hideaway All-Stars. 7 p.m.

741 M-35. (906) 346-3178.

Escanaba

• The Granada.

- Fridays: Karaoke. 9:30 p.m. 330 S. 10th St. (906) 786-9802.

Houghton

• The Orpheum Theater.

- Friday, May 19: Bruce Rundman, Hannah Rundman and Bling Crosby. $10. 8 p.m.

426 Quincy St. (906) 483-2294.

Houghton

• Bonfire.

- Friday, May 26: Chad Borgen and The Collective.

- Saturday, the 27th: Split Shyft. Music begins at 7:30 p.m. 408 E. Montezuma Ave. (906) 523-5833.

Marquette

• Blackrocks Brewery.

- Mondays: Trivia. 7 p.m.

- Wednesdays: Open Mic. 6 p.m.

- Thursday, April 27: Brett and Bryn with Everything Under the Sun.

- Friday, the 28 and Saturday, the 29: Pajamas.

- Tuesday, May 2: Chris Valenti.

- Friday, the 19th: Iridescence. 7 p.m. Music begins at 6 p.m.

424 N. Third St. (906) 273-1333 or blackrocksbrewery.com

• Drifa Brewing Company.

- Mondays: Musicians’ Open Mic. 6 to 8 p.m.

- Thursdays: Trivia. 7 p.m.

501 S. Lake St. 273-1300.

• Flanigan’s.

- Tuesday through Thursday: Karaoke. 9:30 p.m.

Cover charge on weekends only.

429 W. Washington St. (906) 228-8865.

• Iron Bay Restaurant & Drinkery.

- Wednesday, May 3: Trivia. 7 p.m. 105 E. Washington St. (906) 273-0990.

• Lake Superior Smokehouse.

- Friday, May 19: Chris Valenti. 6 to 9 p.m. 200 W. Main St. (906) 273-0952.

• Ore Dock Brewing Company.

- Wednesday, May 3: Humbird. Advanced tickets, $12; at the door, $15.

- Friday, the 5th: Jeffrey Foucault with Erik Koskinen Band. Advanced tickets, $15; at the door, $18.

- Friday, the 12th: Blanco Suave and Fake Baseball. Advanced tickets, $7; at the door, $10. 21 and older.

- Saturday, the 13th: Blues Society Concert featuring the Flat Broke Blues Band and Jon McDonald.

2 p.m.

- Sunday, the 14th: Westerly Winds. Students, $5; nonstudents, $10. 2p.m.

- Wednesday, the 17th: Hiawatha on Tap. Hiawatha Music Co-op members, $5; nonmembers, $10.

- Saturday, the 20th: Everything Under the Sun. 9 p.m.

- Saturday, the 27th: Highlight Reel. All shows are free and begin at 8

p.m. unless noted.

114 W. Spring St. 228-8888.

• Rippling River Resort.

- Thursdays through Sundays: Fireside music by various musicians. 6 to 9 p.m.

4321 M-553. (906) 273-2259 or ripplingriverresort.com

• Superior Culture.

- Wednesday, May 3: Electric Word and Music. 7 p.m.

- Thursday, the 11th: Chris Valenti. 9 to 11 p.m. 717 Third Street. 273-0927 or superiorculturemqt.com

Negaunee

• Barr’s Bar.

- Wednesday, May 31: Chris Valenti. 7 to 10 p.m. 511 Iron St. (906) 475-5233.

• Pasquali’s Pub.

- Friday, April 28: Brett Mercer and Mike Cronin.

Comedy night,$10. 8 p.m. 100 Cliff St. (906) 475-4466.

Republic

• Pine Grove Bar.

- Friday, April 28: Troy Graham. 7 to 10 p.m.

- Saturday, the 29th: Swampberry Moonshine. 8 pm. to midnight. 286 Front St. (906) 376-2234. MM

Flat Broke Blues Band | Ore Dock Brewing Company, Marquette

226-4321.

• Chemicals and Human Health: Cindy’s Story of Faith and Coping with Severe Chronic Illness. Jim Duehring will discuss his wife Cindy Duehring and her efforts to campaign for the rights of those injured by chemicals 6:30 p.m. Messiah Lutheran Church, 305 W. Magnetic Ave. upwild. org and rightliveihood.org

• The U.P. Food Story. Dr. Russ Magnaghi will discuss his new book Classic Food and Restaurants of the Upper Peninsula. Learn about hunting traditions and cooking heritages from Ojibwa, Finnish, Italian, French and Cornish cultures. $5 suggested donation. 6:30 p.m. Marquette Regional History Center, 145 W. Spring St. marquettehistory.org or (906) 226-3571.

• Beverly Matherne Reading. Poet Beverly Matherne will read from her new book Love Potions, Teas, Incantations. 7 p.m. Community Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 4322.

• NMU Orchestra Concert. 7:30 p.m. Reynolds Recital Hall, NMU.

Negaunee

• Knitting Group. Those interested in crocheting, knitting and other fiber arts are welcome to bring their projects and share with others. Coffee provided.

1:30 p.m. Negaunee Public Library, 319 W. Case St. (906) 475-7700.

• Wings of Fire Interest Group. Youth age eight and older are invited to discuss the series, write fanfiction, make crafts and other activities. 3 p.m. Negaunee Public Library, 319 W. Case St. (906) 475-7700.

27 THURSDAY

Marquette

• Toddler Storytime. Toddlers age 18-months to age 3, with an adult, are invited for stories, songs and sensory-friendly activities. 10:45 a.m. Great Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4323.

• Superiorland Duplicate Bridge Club. Games open to all interested players. $5 for games. 12:30 p.m. Marquette Senior Center, 300 W. Spring St. superiorland_bridge.tripod. com

• Writing Your Grief Workshop Part Two. Poet Jonathan Johnson will lead a poetry workshop. 1:30 p.m. Shiras Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4323.

• Project Publish. School-aged youth are invited to participate in writing, illustrating and publishing their own book. 4:30 p.m. Great Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4323.

Negaunee

• Music, Movement and More. This parent-led story time is for all ages. 10:30 a.m. Negaunee Public Library,

319 W. Case St. (906) 475-7700.

28 FRIDAY

sunrise 6:41 a.m.; sunset 8:53 p.m.

Calumet

• The Calumet Players: The Miracle Worker. The award-winning play will tell the story of Annie Sullivan and her student Helen Keller. Prices vary. 7:30 p.m. Calumet Theatre, 340 Sixth St. (906) 337-2610 or calumettheatre.com

Marquette

• Preschool Storytime. Preschool age children are invited for stories, songs, finger-plays, crafts and other school-readiness activities. 10:45 a.m. Great Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4323.

• Blockbusting Cinema. The film Tar will be shown. Noon. Community Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4322.

• Superiorland Duplicate Bridge Club. Games open to all interested players. $5 for games. 12:30 p.m. Marquette Senior Center, 300 W. Spring St. superiorland_bridge.tripod. com

• LEGO Club. Meet other LEGO enthusiasts and build LEGO projects using the library’s LEGO blocks. Youth age 7 and younger must be accompanied by an adult. 4 p.m. Great Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4323.

• Artist Hours: Tattoos. Explore the world of tattoo, including the history, styles and cultural importance. $10. 6 to 8 p.m. The Art Drop Shop and Studio, lower level, 130 W. Washington St. theartdropshop@gmail.com

Negaunee

• The Next Chapter Book Club. This community-based book program is for adolescents and adults with Down Syndrome, autism, cerebral palsy and other intellectual and developmental disabilities. Reading materials provided. 1:30 p.m. Negaunee Public Library, 319 W. Case St. (906) 475-7700.

29 SATURDAY

sunrise 6:39 a.m.; sunset 8:55 p.m.

Arnold

• UP Pink Power 17-Mile Fundraising Walk. Walk, run or bike during this 17-mile annual event to raise money for UP Pink Power. Support vehicles travel along the route. Donations appreciated. Shuttles leave the Up North Lodge at 7:45 and 8:15 a.m. Walk, 10 a.m. Gary’s Knotty Pine, CR-426.

Calumet

• The Calumet Players: The Miracle Worker. The award-winning play will

tell the story of Annie Sullivan and her student Helen Keller. Prices vary. 7:30 p.m. Calumet Theatre, 340 Sixth St. (906) 337-2610 or calumettheatre.com

Marquette

• Bike and Kayak Swap. Shop for used bikes and kayaks. Proceeds benefit youth ski programs. Drop off: 9 a.m. Superiorland Ski Club Members, 10:45 a.m. General public, 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Lakeview Arena, 401 E. Fair Ave.

• Superiorland Duplicate Bridge Club. Games open to all interested players. $5 for games. Lessons, 10 a.m. Games, 11:30 a.m. Citizens Forum, Lakeview Arena, 401 E. Pine St. superiorland_bridge.tripod.com

• Preschool Prom. Youth age 3 to 7 and their loving adult are invited for dancing, snacks, face painting and deejay fun. 10:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. Community Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4323.

• Teen Reading/Poetry Contest. Listen to the winners and participants from the Great Lakes Teen Poetry Contest. 11:30 a.m. Shiras Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4322.

• Story Time at MooseWood: Frogs. This story time will have an animal themed nature story, a craft or activity and a chance to meet the resident animals. Recommended for ages 3 to 8 but all ages welcome. Adults, $5; families, $10. 3 p.m. MooseWood Nature Center, Peter White Dr. Presque Isle. moosewood.org or (906) 228-6250.

• Marquette Choral Society Concert.

Youth 17 and younger, $5; adults, $15.

7:30 p.m. Kaufman Auditorium, 611 N. Front St. nmu.edu/tickets

Negaunee

• Courage Incorporated Fundraiser. The fundraiser will include a pizza buffet, raffles, 50/50 drawing, door prizes and more. Proceeds help provide free all-inclusive outdoor excursions for physically disabled individuals and those living with chronic or terminal illnesses. Youth age 6 and younger, free; age 7 and older, $10. 5 to 9 p.m. Pasquali’s Pizza and Pub, 100 Rail St. courageincorporated.org

30 SUNDAY

sunrise 6:38 a.m.; sunset 8:56 p.m.

Marquette

• Marquette Choral Society Concert.

Youth 17 and younger, $5; adults, $15. 3 p.m. Kaufman Auditorium, 611 N. Front St. nmu.edu/tickets

Marquette

• Marquette Playgroup. This weekly playgroup is led by an early childhood educator and geared toward newborns to age 5. Activities include free play, story time, a snack and other activities to promote social-emotional development. 9:30 to 11 a.m. Lake Superior Village Youth and Family Center, 1901 Longyear Ave. sjhobalia@greatstartma.org

• Your Mind Matters: Teen Self-Care Kits. Youth in grades 6 to 12 can drop in to create a self-care kit with journals, fidgets and other items. 2 to 4 p.m. Teen Zone, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4321.

• Your Mind Matters: SEL Preschool Storytime. Families with children age 3 to 5 are invited for dinner, stories and activities about emotions and other social emotional learning topics. Registration required. 5:30 to 7 p.m. Community Zone, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4323.

• Joy of Sound Meditation. Enjoy a relaxing meditation with sounds produced by bronze singing bowls and metallic gongs. 7 p.m. St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 201 E. Ridge St. (906) 362-9934.

Negaunee

• All-Ages Online Storytime. Enjoy stories, songs and rhymes from the comfort of your own home. 11a.m. via Facebook Live. facebook.com/ NegauneePublicLibrary

02 TUESDAY

sunrise 6:35 a.m.; sunset 8:59 p.m.

Ishpeming

• U.P. Poet Laureate Reading and Book Signing. U.P. Poet Laureate Beverly Matherne will read from her latest bilingual book Love Poems, Teas, Incantations. 7 p.m. Bethany Lutheran Church, 715 Mather Ave. (906) 486-4351.

K.I. Sawyer

• Gwinn Area Community Playgroup. This weekly playgroup is led by an early childhood educator and geared toward newborns to age 5. Activities include free play, story time, a snack and other activities to promote social-emotional development. 10 to 11:30 a.m. Room 13, K.I. Sawyer Elementary School, 411 Scorpion St. sjhobalia@greatstartma.org

Marquette

• Tech Coaching for Seniors. Learn to customize your electronic devices with the help of Christine Ault. Bring your charged device and passwords. Sign up for a 15-minute timeslot. 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Heritage Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4311.

• Superiorland Duplicate Bridge Club. Games open to all interested

art galleries

Hancock • Finlandia University Gallery.

- My Heroes and Monsters Walk Hand in Hand, featuring works by Camilla Vuorenmaa, will be on display through June 15. Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Saturdays, noon to 4 p.m. 435 Quincy St. (906) 487-7500.

• Kerredge Gallery.

- Portraits and abstract paintings in mixed mediums by Lynn Mazzoleni will be on display through April 29.

Calumet

• Calumet Art Center. Works by local and regional artists. Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., 57055 Fifth St. (906) 934-2228.

• Copper Country Associated Artist. Works by members and workshop participants in watercolor and oil, drawings, photography, sculpture, quilting, wood, textile, clay, glass and other media. Thursday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. 205 Fifth St. (906) 337-1252 or ccaartists.org

• Gallery on 5th. Featuring works by local and regional artists. Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. 109 Fifth St. galleryon5th.com or (906) 299-0118.

Copper Harbor

• EarthWorks Gallery. Featuring Lake Superior-inspired photography by Steve Brimm. Daily, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. 216 First St. (910) 319-1650.

Escanaba

• Besse Gallery.

- Celebrating Student Success, featuring works by Bay College students, will be on display through August 31,

with a public reception at 2 p.m. on May 2.

Days and hours vary. Bay College, 2001 N. Lincoln Rd. baycollege.edu

• East Ludington Art Gallery. Works by local artists. Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. 1007 Ludington St. (906) 786-0300 or eastludingtongallery.com

• Hartwig Gallery. Featuring works by local, regional and national artists. Days and hours vary. 2001 N. Lincoln Rd. baycollege.edu

• William Bonifas Fine Arts Gallery.

- Bonifas Invitational Award Exhibit, featuring works by Dena Bliss, will be on display through May 18.

- Bonifas Membership Show will be on display through May 18.

- Artist Expo, featuring works by local artists, will be on display May 25 through September 7.

- Vitality and Continuity: Art in the Experiences of Anishinaabe, Inuit and Pueblo Women , a traveling exhibit, will be on display May 28 through September 10, with a public reception at 6 p.m. on June 2.

Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Saturday, 10 a.m. to 3p.m. 700 First Avenue South. (906) 7863833 or bonifasarts.org

-Archetypes and Complexes, featuring sculptures, metal-strip drawings and digital painting by Tomas Co, will be on display May 4 through 31, with a public reception at 6 p.m. on the 4th.

Tuesday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Community Arts Center, 126 Quincy St. (906) 482-2333 or coppercountryarts.com

• Youth Gallery. Featuring works by local students. Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Community Arts Center, 126 Quincy St. (906) 4822333 or coppercountryarts.com

Houghton

• The Rozsa Galleries.

- Snowsports, featuring works by MTU faculty and staff, will be on display through April 29.

Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturdays, 1 to 8 p.m. Rozsa Center, 1400 Townsend Dr. mtu.edu/ rozsa

Marquette

• Art—U.P. Style. Art by Carol Papaleo, works by local artists, gifts, classes and more. Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, noon to 4 p.m. 130 W. Washington St. (906) 225-1993.

• DeVos Art Museum.

(continued on page 74)

(continued on page 81)

Camilla Vuorenmaa | Leia by the Pond | Finlandia University Gallery, Hancock

art galleries

(continued from page 73)

- Winter 2023 Senior Exhibition, featuring works by graduating seniors, will be on display through May 5, with a closing reception at 6:30 p.m on the 5th.

- Annual Children’s Exhibition, featuring works by Marquette County elementary students, will be on display May 8 through 26, with a public reception at 5 p.m. on the 12th.

- New Acquisitions, featuring works by Kinngait artists, Leon Lundmark and others, will be on display through June 30.

Monday through Friday, noon to 5 p.m. Corner of Seventh and Tracy streets. NMU. (906) 227-1481 or nmu.edu/devos

• Graci Gallery.

- Works by Stella Larkin will be on display May 1 through June 1 with a public reception at 6 p.m. on the 19th.

Featuring fine craft, contemporary art, and jewelry. Thursday and Friday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.. Sunday through Wednesday, by appointment or chance. 110 N. Third St. gracigallery.com

• Huron Mountain Club Gallery.

- Your Mind Matters, a mixed media exhibit, will be on display May 1 through 31.

Monday through Thursday, 9:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., and Saturday, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 228-0472.

• Lake Superior Photo and Gallery. The studio features landscape photographic art by Shawn Malone, including naturescapes of the Lake Superior region. Monday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. 211 S. Front St. (906) 228-3686 or lakesuperiorphoto.com

• Marquette Arts and Culture Center Deo Gallery.

- High School Art Exhibit, featuring works by local high school students, will be on display May 1 through 31. Monday through Thursday, 9:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., and Saturday, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 228-0472.

• Peter White Public Library Lower Level Reception Gallery.

- Your Mind Matters, a mixed media exhibit, will be on display May 1 through 31.

Monday through Thursday, 9:30

a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., and Saturday, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 228-0472.

• Presque Isle Station. This working pottery studio features pottery

by Michael Horton and Terry Gilfoy, along with works by local artists. Days and times vary. 2901 Lakeshore Blvd. (906) 225-1695.

• The Gallery: A Marquette Artist Collective Project. Works by local and regional artists. Monday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Wednesday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Thursday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday 1 to 4 p.m. Suite U7, 130 W. Washington St. mqtartistcollective.com

• The Studio Gallery at Presque Isle. Works by local and internationally acclaimed artists. Wednesday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday and Friday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday, noon to 4 p.m. 2905 Lakeshore Blvd. (906) 360-4453.

• Wintergreen Hill Gallery and Gifts. Works by local and regional artists.

Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. 810 N. Third St. (906) 273-1374.

• Zero Degrees Gallery.

- Works by student artist Lily Stemkowski will be on display May 1 through 31, with a public reception at 1 p.m. on the 13th.

- Works by Susan Grant will be on display May 1 through 31, with a public reception at 1 p.m. on the 13th.

The gallery features works in oils, watercolors, mixed media, jewelry, photography, metals, woods, recycled and fiber arts and much more. Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. 525 N. Third St. (906) 228-3058 or zerodegreesgallery.org

Munising

• UP˜Scale Art. Featuring works by local and regional artists. Tuesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and by appointment. 109 W. Superior Ave. upscaleart.org or (906) 387-3300.

Rapid River

• The adhocWORKshop. Owner Ritch Branstrom creates sculptures with found objects inspired by the land in which the objects were found. By appointment or chance. 10495 South Main Street. (906) 3991572 or adhocworkshop.com

Sand River

• Aurelia Studio Pottery. Featuring high fire stoneware, along with functional and sculptural pieces inspired by nature, created by potter and owner Paula Neville. Open by appointment or chance. 3050 E. M-28. (906) 343-6592. MM

players. $5 for games. 12:30 p.m. Marquette Senior Center, 300 W. Spring St. superiorland_bridge.tripod. com

• Oil Painting, Pastels and Drawing Classes with Marlene Wood. Bring your own supplies. $20. 1 to 3 p.m. Marquette Arts and Culture Center, lower level, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 225-8655.

• U.P. Rowing Youth Learn to Row Informational Meeting. Youth ages 13 to 18 with a parent or guardian are invited to join members of U.P. Rowing to learn about the summer youth program. 6 p.m. Community Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 250-4486 or uprowing.com

• What’s Up? Astronomy Series. Scott Stobbelaar of the Marquette Astronomical Society will discuss what can be seen in the U.P. skies. 7 p.m. via Zoom. Visit pwpl.info for Zoom link.

Houghton

• Kids Consignment Sale. Shop for gently used items at this pop-up sale. 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Copper Country Mall, 47420 M-26. thekidssale.net

Marquette

• Congregate Meals for Seniors–Dine in or Curbside Pickup. Meals available to those age 60 and older. Call to reserve a meal. $3.50 suggested donation. Noon to 1 p.m. Marquette Senior Center, 300 W. Spring St. (906) 228-0456.

• Senior Visual Art Classes with Diane Kribs-Mays. This drawing class with focus on silk scarf painting. Supplies provided. Marquette residents, free; nonresidents, $5. 1 p.m. Marquette Arts and Culture Center, lower level, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 225-8655.

• Teens Game On. Youth in grades 6 to 12 are invited to play video games, board games and other games. 4 to 7 p.m. Teen Zone, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4321.

• Your Mind Matters: Teen Self-Care Kits. Youth in grades 6 to 12 can drop in to create a self-care kit with journals, fidgets and other items. 4 to 7 p.m. Teen Zone, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4321.

• Junior Graphic Novel Geeks. Youth in grades 1 to 3 will look at graphic novels that feature magical creatures and places and can draw their favorite characters. 4:30 p.m. Great Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4323.

• Your Mind Matters: Teen Movie Night. The movie Perks of Being a Wallflower will be shown. Pizza and snacks available. 6 p.m. Community Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4321.

• Marquette County Quilters

Association Monthly Meeting. All skill levels are invited for socialization, program events and show and tell. Yearly membership fee, $20. 6:30 p.m., lower level, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. marquettequilters.org

• Estate Planning Basics. Learn about estate planning including an overview of probate court, non-probate estate planning, trusts, wills and more. NCLL members, $5; nonmembers, $10. 7 p.m. Room 101B, Superior Dome, NMU. (906) 458-5408.

Negaunee

• Knitting Group. Those interested in crocheting, knitting and other fiber arts are welcome to bring their projects and share with others. Coffee provided. 1:30 p.m. Negaunee Public Library, 319 W. Case St. (906) 475-7700.

• Wings of Fire Interest Group. Youth age eight and older are invited to discuss the series, write fanfiction, make crafts and other activities. 3 p.m. Negaunee Public Library, 319 W. Case St. (906) 475-7700.

04

THURSDAY

sunrise 6:31 a.m.; sunset 9:01 p.m.

Calumet

• The Calumet Players: The Miracle Worker. The award-winning play will tell the story of Annie Sullivan and her student Helen Keller. Students, $12; adults, $15. 7 p.m. Calumet Theatre, 340 Sixth St. (906) 337-2610 or calumettheatre.com

Houghton

• Kids Consignment Sale. Shop for gently used items at this pop-up sale. 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Copper Country Mall, 47420 M-26. thekidssale.net

Ishpeming

• Feeding America Food Distribution Drive-Thru Site. 9 a.m. North Iron Church, 910 Palms Ave. feedwm.org

• Feeding America Food Distribution Walk-up Site. 9 a.m. VFW parking lot, 310 Bank St. feedwm.org

Marquette

• Superiorland Duplicate Bridge Club. Games open to all interested players. $5 for games. 12:30 p.m. Marquette Senior Center, 300 W. Spring St.

• Your Mind Matters: Teen Self-Care Kits. Youth in grades 6 to 12 can drop in to create a self-care kit with journals, fidgets and other items. 2 to 6 p.m. Teen Zone, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4321.

• Wings of Fire. Youth in grades 4 to 6 are invited to play games inspired from the series. 4:30 p.m. Great Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4323.

• Children’s Concert. Join Corrine Rockow and Troy Graham for a night of music. $5 suggested donations. 6

Big Bay

• Big Bay Lighthouse. The grounds of the 1896 lighthouse are open year-round. 3 Lighthouse Rd. (906) 345-9957.

Calumet

• International Frisbee Hall of Fame and Museum. Learn about the history of Guts Frisbee. Days and hours vary. Open when events are held. Second floor ballroom, Calumet Coliseum, Red Jacket Rd. (906) 281-7625.

Caspian

• Iron County Historical Museum. This complex is the U.P.’s largest outdoor museum. Twenty-six buildings represent the industries of lumber, mining and transportation and include a homestead, cultural center and art complex. Youth 5 and younger, free; 6 to 18, $10; adults, $15. Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Off M-189 or two miles off US-2 at Iron River. ironcountymuseum.org or (906) 265-2617.

Copper Harbor

• Fort Wilkins State Park. Built in 1844, this fort is a well-preserved, nineteenth century military post and lighthouse complex. Through museum exhibits, audio-visual programs and costumed interpretation, visitors can explore the daily routine of military service, experience the hardships of frontier isolation and discover another era. Park store, bookstore, concession stand

p.m. The Fold, 1015 N. Third St. (906) 226-8575.

Negaunee

• Music, Movement and More. This parent-led story time is for all ages. 10:30 a.m. Negaunee Public Library, 319 W. Case St. (906) 475-7700.

05 FRIDAY

sunrise 6:30 a.m.; sunset 9:03 p.m.

Calumet

• The Calumet Players: The Miracle Worker. The award-winning play will tell the story of Annie Sullivan and her student Helen Keller. Students, $12; adults, $15. 7 p.m. Calumet Theatre, 340 Sixth St. (906) 337-2610 or calumettheatre.com

Houghton

• Kids Consignment Sale. Shop for gently used items at this pop-up sale. 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Copper Country Mall, 47420 M-26. thekidssale.net

and campsites are on site. Opens May 1. 8:30 a.m. to dusk. $13 per car, per day for Michigan residents, $11 for nonresidents. US-41 (one mile east of Copper Harbor). (906) 289-4215.

Delaware

• Delaware Copper Mine. This authentic copper mine operated from 1847 to 1887. The tour takes visitors to the first level at 110 feet, where they can see veins of copper exposed in the walls of the mine. A deer pen and museum also is on site. Opens in mid-May. Prices vary Daily, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. US-41, 12 miles south of Copper Harbor. (906) 2894688 or keweenawheritagesites.org

Escanaba

• Upper Peninsula Honor Flight Legacy Museum. The museum chronicles the history of the U.P. Honor Flights with the history of the trips. Donations appreciated. Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and by request. Inside the Delta County Chamber of Commerce, 1001 N. Lincoln Rd.

• Upper Peninsula Military Museum. The museum honors Upper Peninsula Veterans, and features exhibits and dioramas portraying the Upper Peninsula’s contribution to U.S. war efforts from the Civil War through the Afghanistan wars. Donations appreciated. Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and by request. Inside the Delta County Chamber of Commerce, 1001 N.

Marquette

• Superiorland Duplicate Bridge Club. Games open to all interested players. $5 for games. 12:30 p.m. Marquette Senior Center, 300 W. Spring St. superiorland_bridge.tripod. com

• Story Time at MooseWood: Crows. This story time will have an animal themed nature story, a craft or activity and a chance to meet the resident animals. Recommended for ages 3 to 8 but all ages welcome. Adults, $5; families, $10. 1 p.m. MooseWood Nature Center, Peter White Dr. Presque Isle. moosewood.org or (906) 228-6250.

• Registration Deadline: MooseWood Workshop: Glass, Beads and Charms. See Sunday the 7th.

Negaunee

• The Next Chapter Book Club. This community-based book program is for adolescents and adults with Down Syndrome, autism, cerebral palsy and other intellectual and developmental disabilities. Reading materials

Lincoln Rd.

Garden

• Fayette Historic Townsite. This site was once one of the Upper Peninsula’s most productive iron-smelting operations. A town of nearly 500 residents grew up around two blast furnaces, a large dock and several charcoal kilns. It now includes a visitor center, museum exhibits, a twenty-six station walking tour and a scale model of the original townsite. Opens in mid-May. $13 per car, per day for Michigan residents, $11 for nonresidents. Daily, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. 13700 13.25 Lane. (906) 644-2603.

Greenland

• Adventure Mining Company. The Adventure Copper Mine opened in 1850 and remains one of the best-preserved sites of its time. Although the mine closed in 1920, many of the shafts are still open for touring. Tours range from surface walking tours to underground rappelling down a mine shaft. Opens May 20. Prices vary. Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. 200 Adventure Ave. adventuremine.com or (906) 883-3371.

Hancock

• Quincy Mine Hoist and Underground Mine. There are two options for touring the site. On both the surface tour and the full tour, visitors will see the museum, inside the No. 2 Shaft House and the Nordberg Steam Hoist and ride the cog rail

provided. 1:30 p.m. Negaunee Public Library, 319 W. Case St. (906) 475-7700.

06 SATURDAY

sunrise 6:29 a.m.; sunset 9:04 p.m.

Calumet

• Winter Markets. 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Calumet Art Center, 57055 Fifth St. (906) 934-2228.

• The Calumet Players: The Miracle Worker. The award-winning play will tell the story of Annie Sullivan and her student Helen Keller. Students, $12; adults, $15. 2 p.m. Calumet Theatre, 340 Sixth St. (906) 337-2610 or calumettheatre.com

Escanaba

• Ink Society Writers’ Group. 10:30 a.m. Escanaba Public Library, 400 Ludington St. (906) 789-7323.

• Story Hour. Children age 5 and younger with an adult are invited for stories and socializing. 1 p.m. Escanaba

tram car to the mine entrance. On the full tour, visitors will take a tractor-pulled wagon into the mine, seven levels underground. Prices, days and hours vary. quincymine.com or (906) 482-3101.

Houghton

• A.E. Seaman Mineral Museum. View the largest collection of minerals from the Great Lakes region and the world’s finest collection of Michigan minerals. Exhibits educate visitors on how minerals are formed, fluorescent minerals and minerals from around the world. Prices vary. Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. 1404 E. Sharon Ave. museum. mtu.edu or (906) 487-2572.

• Carnegie Museum. Features rotating displays of local history, natural science and culture. The Science Center is dedicated to interactive exhibits about science for kids. Tuesday and Thursday, noon to 5 p.m. Saturday, noon to 4 p.m. 105 Huron St. (906) 482-7140 or carnegiekeweenaw.org

• MTU Archives and Copper Country Historical Collections. Features a variety of historical memorabilia, highlighting life in the Copper Country. Open by appointment. Lower level of the J.R. Van Pelt Library, MTU. (906) 487-3209.

Iron Mountain

• World War II Glider and Military Museum. During World War II, the Ford Motor Company’s Kingsford plant built the CG-4A Gliders for

(continued on page 77)

Public Library, 400 Ludington St. (906) 789-7323.

• Derby Days. This fundraiser will include entertainment, food, a silent auction, games and a Derby hat contest. Proceeds benefit the Bonifas Arts Center. $25. 6 to 9 p.m. Bonifas Arts Center, 700 First Ave. S. Bonifas.org or (906) 786-3833.

Gwinn

• The Soil Workshop. Learn about different soil blends, necessary ingredients for good soil, soil maintenance, compost, watering and other soil-related topics. 10:30 a.m. to noon. Gwinn United Methodist Church, 341 W. Jasper St. gwinnseedlibrary@gmail. com

Houghton

• Kids Consignment Sale. Shop for gently used items at this pop-up sale. 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Copper Country Mall, 47420 M-26. thekidssale.net

Ishpeming

• Seed Starting Workshop. All

community members are invited to attend despite ability to pay. $15 fee if you are able to pay; $25 fee to pay it forward. 10:30 a.m. to noon. Partridge Creek Farm Office, 112 S. Main St. emily@partridgecreekfarm.org

Marquette

• Superiorland Duplicate Bridge Club. Games open to all interested players. $5 for games. Lessons, 10 a.m. Games, 11:30 a.m. Citizens Forum, Lakeview Arena, 401 E. Pine St. • Your Mind Matters: Family Film. The film Encanto will be shown. Mexican hot chocolate and candy provided. Bring your own snacks. 12:30 p.m. Great Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4323.

• Make Your Own Mother’s Day Card. 1 to 4 p.m. Zero Degrees Art Gallery, 525 N. Third St. (906) 228-6027.

• Digs Derby Day. ViDress in your Southern best to raise money for U.P. Home Health and Hospice. Participant in costume and hat competitions, live auctions, and enjoy mint julips and southern snacks.Age 21 and older. $40. 3 to 8 p.m. Masonic Center, 128 W. Washington St. (906) 360-7385.

07 SUNDAY

sunrise 6:27 a.m.; sunset 9:05 p.m.

museums

the U.S. Army. View one of seven fully restored CG-4A G World War II gliders, military uniforms from the Civil War through the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, memorabilia, restored military vehicles and more. Prices vary. Days and times vary. 302 Kent St. (906) 774-1086.

Ishpeming

• U.S. National Ski & Snowboard Hall of Fame & Museum. The museum features more than 300 Hall of Fame inductees, presented in photographs and biographies, and displays and exhibits of skiing history and equipment, an extensive library, video show, gift shop, special events and more. Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. US-41 and Third St. (906) 485-6323 skihall.com

K.I. Sawyer

• K.I. Sawyer Heritage Air Museum. The museum promotes and preserves the aviation history the air base brought to the area. Air Force-related materials are on display, including photographs, flags, medals and more. Donations appreciated. Wednesday through Sunday, 1 to 5 p.m. 402 Third St. (906) 236-3502 or kishamuseum.org

Crystal Falls

• Dave Sharp World’s Quartet. Enjoy a night of music with the spirit of jazz, world music and dynamic improvisations. Students, $5; adults, $23. 2 p.m. The Crystal Theatre, 304 Superior Avenue. thecrystaltheatre.org or (906) 875-3208.

Ishpeming

• Bingo. Noon. Ishpeming VFW, 310 Bank St. (906) 486-4856.

Marquette

• MooseWood Workshop: Glass, Beads and Charms. Learn how to bend and work with wire while making a hand-made piece of jewelry. All tools and materials provided. Register by the 5th. $10 per jewelry piece. Youth age 14 and younger, 1 p.m. Age 15 and older, 2:30 p.m. MooseWood Nature Center, Peter White Dr. Presque Isle. moosewood.org or (906) 228-6250.

08 MONDAY

sunrise 6:26 a.m.; sunset 9:07 p.m.

Marquette

• Marquette Playgroup. This weekly playgroup is led by an early childhood educator and geared toward newborns to age 5. Activities include free play, story time, a snack and other activities to promote social-emotional

development. 9:30 to 11 a.m. Lake Superior Village Youth and Family Center, 1901 Longyear Ave. sjhobalia@greatstartma.org

• Community Conversations. Author and environmentalist David Allen will read from his new book Paper Valley: The Fight for the Fox River Cleanup. Journalist Susan Campbell will discuss a lawsuit to restore the natural landscape of the Fox River. Noon. Shiras Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4322.

• Senior Theatre Experience: Monthly Workshop and Discussion. This workshop is for those age 55 and older. Register in advance. Marquette city and surrounding township residents, free; nonresidents, $5 donation. 5 p.m. Marquette Arts and Culture Center, lower level, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 225-8655.

Negaunee

• All-Ages Online Storytime. Enjoy stories, songs and rhymes from the comfort of your own home. 11a.m. via Facebook Live. facebook.com/ NegauneePublicLibrary

• Literature at the Lodge. The group will discuss The Golden Couple by Greer Hendricks & Sarah Pekkanen. 7 p.m. Up North Lodge, 215 S. CR-557. (906) 346-3433.

K.I. Sawyer

• Gwinn Area Community Playgroup. This weekly playgroup is led by an early childhood educator and geared toward newborns to age 5. Activities include free play, story time, a snack and other activities to promote social-emotional development. 10 to 11:30 a.m. Room 13, K.I. Sawyer Elementary School, 411 Scorpion St. sjhobalia@greatstartma.org

Marquette

• Tech Coaching for Seniors. Learn to customize your electronic devices with the help of Christine Ault. Bring your charged device and passwords. Sign up for a 15-minute timeslot. 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Heritage Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4311.

• Tasty Reads Book Group. The group will discuss Tummy Trilogy by Calvin Trillin Noon. Shiras Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4303.

• Superiorland Duplicate Bridge Club. Games open to all interested players. $5 for games. 12:30 p.m. Marquette Senior Center, 300 W. Spring St. superiorland_bridge.tripod.

Marquette

• Baraga Educational Center and Museum. View artifacts and tools used by Venerable Bishop Baraga. Donations appreciated. Monday through Friday, noon to 5 p.m. and by appointment. 615 S. Fourth St. (906) 227-9117.

• Beaumier Upper Peninsula Heritage Center.

- Mary Biekkola Wright: a public art retrospective 1986-2011, will be on display through August 26. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, noon to 4 p.m. NMU, corner of Seventh Street and Tracy Avenue. (906) 227-3212 or nmu.edu/ beaumier

• Marquette Maritime Museum. The museum collects, preserves and presents maritime history. Many exhibits and guided tours of the lighthouse grounds are offered. Opens May 16. Prices vary. Tuesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. 300 Lakeshore Blvd. (906) 226-2006 or mqtmaritimemuseum.com

• Marquette Regional History Center.

- Exposing Photography: Anything but a Small Business, the exhibit will feature the works of U.P.

photographers their studios and equipment, will be on display through January 13, 2024. The museum includes interactive displays as well as regional history exhibits. Youth 12 and younger, $2; students, $3; seniors, $6; adults, $7. Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. 145 W. Spring St. (906) 2263571 or marquettehistory.org

• Upper Peninsula Children’s Museum. A variety of interactive exhibits offer learning through investigation and creativity. Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Prices vary. 123 W. Baraga Ave. (906) 226-3911 or upchildrensmuseum.org

Menominee

• West Shore Fishing Museum. Experience the life of an early 20th century pioneer fishing family at this stop on the Great Lakes Fisheries Heritage Trail. Tour the restored home and surrounding gardens. View exhibits of boats, equipment, and practices of commercial fishermen and Native Americans who lived on the west shore of Green Bay. Opens May 27. Saturdays and Sundays, 1 to 4 p.m. 15 miles north of Menominee or 8 miles south of Cedar River on M-35. Turn at Bailey Park entrance.

$5 park fee per vehicle. (715) 923-9756.

Munising

• Alger County Historical Society Heritage Center. Exhibits include the Grand Island Recreation Area, Munising Woodenware Company, barn building, homemaking, sauna and more. Tuesday through Saturday, noon to 4 p.m. 1496 Washington St. (906) 387-4308.

Negaunee

• Michigan Iron Industry Museum. In the forested ravines of the Marquette Iron Range, the museum overlooks the Carp River and the site of the first iron forge in the Lake Superior region. Museum exhibits, audio-visual programs and outdoor interpretive paths depict the largescale capital and human investment that made Michigan an industrial leader. The museum is one of 10 museums and historic sites administered by the Michigan Historical Center. Michigan Recreation Passport required for parking. Wednesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4p.m. 73 Forge Rd. (906) 475-7857.

Gwinn

(continued from page 76)

• Lake Superior Knitters at the Marquette Regional History Center. Knitters age 10 and older are invited to share knitting experiences and knowledge. $1 to $5 donation. 1 to 2:30 p.m. Marquette Regional History Center, 145 W. Spring St. beedhive47@yahoo. com

• Oil Painting, Pastels and Drawing Classes with Marlene Wood. Bring your own supplies. $20. 1 to 3 p.m. Marquette Arts and Culture Center, lower level, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 225-8655.

• Young Authors. Author Jerry Palotta will discuss his book Who Would Win and sign copies of his book. 5:30 p.m. Community Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4323.

• Superiorland Woodturners Meeting. 6 p.m. Lower level, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. jmarchimes@charter.net

• The Wellness Way Approach to Inflammation. Learn about inflammation and steps to improve your health. 6:15 p.m. The Wellness Way, Suite 125, 307 W. Front St. (906) 235-5127.

• The Nobility of Man. Share short stories, poems, songs or prayers on the nobility of man. 6:30 p.m. Shiras Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-3252.

10 WEDNESDAY sunrise 6:23 a.m.; sunset 9:09 p.m.

Crystal Falls

• Virtual Q&A with U.P. Author Ian Schoenherr. Author Ian Schoenherr will discuss his book The Big Island: A Story of Isle Royale. 7 p.m. Call or email to register and receive the Zoom link. (906) 875-3344 or egathu@uproc. lib.mi.us

Marquette

• Congregate Meals for Seniors–Dine in or Curbside Pickup. Meals available to those age 60 and older. Call to reserve a meal. $3.50 suggested donation. Noon to 1 p.m. Marquette Senior Center, 300 W. Spring St. (906) 228-0456.

• Junior Teen Advisory Board. Students in grades 5 to 8 are invited to meet new people, plan events and gain volunteer experience. 4:15 p.m. Great Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4321.

• Alley Kat’s Knit and Crochet Club.

5:30 p.m. Alley Kat’s Quilt Shop, 1010 W. Washington St. (906) 315-0050.

• Your Mind Matters: Dr. Kia Richmond. Dr. Kia Jane Richmond of NMU’s English department will read from her book Mental Illness in Young Adult Literature: Exploring Real Struggles through Fictional Characters. 7 p.m. Community Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4322.

• Drink & Draw. Those age 21 and

older are invited for an evening of drawing while enjoying adult beverages or your drink of choice. Bring you own drawing supplies and drinks. 8 p.m. The Art Drop Shop and Studio, lower level, 130 W. Washington St. theartdropshop@gmail.com

Negaunee

• Knitting Group. Those interested in crocheting, knitting and other fiber arts are welcome to bring their projects and share with others. Coffee provided.

1:30 p.m. Negaunee Public Library, 319 W. Case St. (906) 475-7700.

• Wings of Fire Interest Group. Youth age eight and older are invited to discuss the series, write fanfiction, make crafts and other activities. 3 p.m. Negaunee Public Library, 319 W. Case St. (906) 475-7700.

11

THURSDAY

sunrise 6:22 a.m.; sunset 9:10 p.m.

Ishpeming

• Author Visit: Mikel B. Classen. Author Mikel B. Classen will discuss the historical images and stories in his new book Faces, Places, and Days Gone By: A Pictorial History of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. 5:30 p.m. Ishpeming Carnegie Public Library, 317 N. Main St. (906) 486-4381.

Marquette

• Superiorland Duplicate Bridge Club. Games open to all interested players. $5 for games. 12:30 p.m. Marquette Senior Center, 300 W. Spring St. superiorland_bridge.tripod. com

• Second Thursday Creativity Series:

Blooming Great. Youth are invited for hands-on activities, snacks, music, and free Culver’s frozen custard. 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. U.P. Children’s Museum, 123 W. Baraga Ave. (906) 226-3911 or upchildrensmuseum.org

• Zonta of Marquette Honor a Woman 2023. The fundraiser will include light dinner fare, dessert, door prize drawing and basket raffles. Proceeds benefit the Community Foundation of Marquette County. Single tickets, $75; Two tickets, $140. 5:30 p.m. Barrel + Beam, 260 Northwoods Rd. zontamqtevents@ gmail.com

• Marquette Poet Circle. Join other poets, writers and listeners for an evening of poetry. 6:30 p.m. Shiras Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4322.

• Native Americans of the Upper Peninsula. Russ Magnaghi will discuss the history and customs of Native Americans in the U.P. NCLL members, $5; nonmembers, $10. 6:30 p.m. Community Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 361-5370.

Negaunee

• Music, Movement and More. This parent-led story time is for all ages. 10:30 a.m. Negaunee Public Library, 319 W. Case St. (906) 475-7700.

Calumet

• CHS/WMS Drama Club: High School Musical, Jr. Students of Calumet High School and Washington

Middle School will perform. Prices vary. 7 p.m. Calumet Theatre, 340 Sixth St. (906) 337-2610 or calumettheatre. com

Houghton

• Mom Prom. Women age 21 and older are invited for drinks, appetizers, music and dancing. Proceeds benefit local Keweenaw families and their adoption journeys. $60. 7:30 p.m. Rozsa Center, MTU. events.mtu.edu

Marquette

• Docu Cinema Matinee. The documentary film That Way Madness Lies will be shown. Noon. Community Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4322.

• Superiorland Duplicate Bridge Club. Games open to all interested players. $5 for games. 12:30 p.m. Marquette Senior Center, 300 W. Spring St.

• Story Time at MooseWood: Wolves. This story time will have an animal themed nature story, a craft or activity and a chance to meet the resident animals. Recommended for ages 3 to 8 but all ages welcome. Adults, $5; families, $10. 1 p.m. MooseWood Nature Center, Peter White Dr. Presque Isle. moosewood.org or (906) 228-6250.

• TV6 Mother’s Day Craft Show. Age 12 and younger, free; age 13 and older, $3. 5 to 9 p.m. Superior Dome, NMU.

• There’s No Tune Like a Show Tune. The Marquette Male Chorus will perform songs from Into the Woods, Mary Poppins: The Musical and other tunes from Broadway. $10 suggested donation. 7:30 p.m. Messiah Lutheran Church, 305 W. Magnetic St. (906) 249-9867.

Yale Strom and Hot Pstromi | May 17 | Escanaba

Negaunee

• The Next Chapter Book Club. This community-based book program is for adolescents and adults with Down Syndrome, autism, cerebral palsy and other intellectual and developmental disabilities. Reading materials provided. 1:30 p.m. Negaunee Public Library, 319 W. Case St. (906) 475-7700. 13 SATURDAY

sunrise 6:19 a.m.; sunset 9:13 p.m.

Calumet

• Wilderness Walk Family Hike. Join U.P. Wild for a family hike. 1 p.m. Calumet Waterworks Park, 25880 Red Jacket Rd. upwild.org

• CHS/WMS Drama Club: High School Musical, Jr. Students of Calumet High School and Washington Middle School will perform. Prices vary. 2 p.m. Calumet Theatre, 340 Sixth St. (906) 337-2610 or calumettheatre. com

Crystal Falls

• Wilderness Walk Family Hike. Join U.P. Wild for a family hike. 10 a.m. CDT. Fortune Lake Lutheran Camp, 138 Fortune Lake Camp Rd. upwild. org

Escanaba

• LEGO Club. Bring your LEGOs for an afternoon of LEGO fun with others. 1 p.m. Escanaba Public Library, 400 Ludington St. (906) 789-7323.

Gladstone

• Wilderness Walk Family Hike. Join U.P. Wild for a family hike. 1 p.m. Days River Trailhead, 6310 Days River 24.5 Rd. upwild.org

Houghton

• Notes From Home: The Chassell Country Western Show. This musical showcase will benefit the Chassell Band and music program. $15. 6 p.m. Rozsa Center, MTU. events.mtu.edu

Ishpeming

• Wilderness Walk Family Hike. Join U.P. Wild for a family hike. 3 p.m. Al Quaal Lodge, N. Second St. upwild.org

Marquette

• NTN Dirt Ball. Join members of the NTN for a morning work bee session followed by rides, runs, hikes and a silent auction. Work bee, 9 a.m.; South Trails Trailhead, M-553; Silent auction, 6 p.m.; Black Rocks Brewery, 424 N. Third St. noquetrails.org

• Superiorland Duplicate Bridge Club. Games open to all interested players. $5 for games. Lessons, 10 a.m. Games, 11:30 a.m. Citizens Forum, Lakeview Arena, 401 E. Pine St. superiorland_bridge.tripod.com

• TV6 Mother’s Day Craft Show. Age 12 and younger, free; age 13 and older,

$3 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Superior Dome, NMU.

• Onagomingkway Chapter of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution. Members are invited for a potluck luncheon. Questions about genealogy and joining DAR will be answered following the meeting. Noon. 1801 Wright St. (906) 226-7836.

• Michigan Learning Channel Popup: Energy and Friction. Join Emily from MLC Education Engagement for hands-on learning about energy and friction. 1 p.m. Great Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4323.

14 SUNDAY

Marquette

• TV6 Mother’s Day Craft Show. Age 12 and younger, free; age 13 and older, $3 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Superior Dome, NMU.

• Creature Feature. Get up-close animal experience with a featured animal. Learn about their habitat, facts and more. Recommended for ages 6 and older but all ages welcome. Adults, $5; families, $10. 3 p.m. MooseWood Nature Center, Peter White Dr. Presque Isle. moosewood.org or (906) 228-6250.

15 MONDAY

Marquette

• Marquette Playgroup. This weekly playgroup is led by an early childhood educator and geared toward newborns to age 5. Activities include free play, story time, a snack and other activities to promote social-emotional development. 9:30 to 11 a.m. Lake Superior Village Youth and Family Center, 1901 Longyear Ave. sjhobalia@greatstartma.org

• Quick Fics Book Club. The group will discuss The Ghost Line by Andrew Gray. 6 p.m. Dandelion Cottage Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4321.

• Joy of Sound Meditation. Enjoy a relaxing meditation with sounds produced by bronze singing bowls and metallic gongs. 7 p.m. St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 201 E. Ridge St. (906) 362-9934.

• Phil Lynch Concert. Phil Lynch will perform. 7 p.m. Community Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4322.

• Registration Deadline: NCLL Annual Meeting. See Thursday the 18th.

Negaunee

• Friends of the Negaunee Public Library Outdoor Book Sale. All sales will be by donation. 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Negaunee Public Library, 319 W. Case St. (906) 475-7700.

• All-Ages Online Storytime. Enjoy stories, songs and rhymes from the comfort of your own home. 11a.m. via Facebook Live. facebook.com/ NegauneePublicLibrary

16 TUESDAY

sunrise 6:15 a.m.; sunset 9:17 p.m.

Ishpeming

• ICPL Adult Book Club. The group will discuss The Librarian Spy by Madeline Martin. 2 p.m. Ray Leverton Community Room, Ishpeming Carnegie Public Library, 317 N. Main St. (906) 486-4381.

K.I. Sawyer

• Gwinn Area Community Playgroup. This weekly playgroup is led by an early childhood educator and geared toward newborns to age 5. Activities include free play, story time, a snack and other activities to promote social-emotional development. 10 to 11:30 a.m. Room 13, K.I. Sawyer Elementary School, 411 Scorpion St. sjhobalia@greatstartma.org

Marquette

• Tech Coaching for Seniors. Learn to customize your electronic devices with the help of Christine Ault. Bring your charged device and passwords. Sign up for a 15-minute timeslot. 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Heritage Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4311.

• Superiorland Duplicate Bridge Club. Games open to all interested players. $5 for games. 12:30 p.m. Marquette Senior Center, 300 W. Spring St. superiorland_bridge.tripod. com

• Oil Painting, Pastels and Drawing Classes with Marlene Wood. Bring your own supplies. $20. 1 to 3 p.m. Marquette Arts and Culture Center, lower level, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 225-8655.

• Biology of Cougars. Wildlife specialist Cody Norton will explain the differences of the bobcat, Canadian lynx and cougars. Learn about reported cougar sightings in Michigan and how to report a sighting. NCLL members, $5; nonmembers, $10. 1:30 p.m. Community Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 475-4252.

17 WEDNESDAY

sunrise 6:14 a.m.; sunset 9:18 p.m.

Escanaba

• Concert at Bay College. Yale Strom & Hot Pstromi: With a Little Horseradish on the Side. will perform. Students in kindergarten through Bay College students, $10; nonstudents, $20. 7 p.m. Besse Theater, Bay College.

baycollege.tix.com or (906) 217-4045.

Ishpeming

• ICPL Adult Book Club. The group will discuss The Librarian Spy by Madeline Martin. 7 p.m. Ray Leverton Community Room, Ishpeming Carnegie Public Library, 317 N. Main St. (906) 486-4381.

Marquette

• All Booked UP. The group will discuss The Littlest Library by Poppy Alexander. 11:30 a.m. The Courtyards, 1110 Champion St. uppermichigansource.com

• Congregate Meals for Seniors–Dine in or Curbside Pickup. Meals available to those age 60 and older. Call to reserve a meal. $3.50 suggested donation. Noon to 1 p.m. Marquette Senior Center, 300 W. Spring St. (906) 228-0456.

• Adult Non-Fiction Book Club. The group will discuss The Gift of Imperfection by Brene Brown. 1 p.m. Conference Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4311.

• Cyanotype Photography Workshop. Artist Maddie Pederson will discuss the history of the cyanotype technique and how the sun can create works of art. Individuals age 18 and older are invited to create a cyanotype of a historic image. $25. 1 p.m. Marquette Regional History Center, 145 W. Spring St. marquettehistory. org or (906) 226-3571.

• Senior Visual Art Classes with Diane Kribs-Mays. This drawing class will focus on silk scarf painting. Supplies provided. Marquette residents, free; nonresidents, $5. 1 p.m. Marquette Arts and Culture Center, lower level, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 225-8655.

• Outword. LGBTQIA youth and allied students in grades 7 to 12 are invited. 4 p.m. Great Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4321.

• Hiawatha on Tap. Michael Monroe will perform. Youth age 12 and younger, free; Hiawatha Music Co-op members, $5; nonmembers, $10. 6 p.m. Ore Dock Brewing Company, 114 W. Spring St. (906) 226-8575.

Negaunee

• Knitting Group. Those interested in crocheting, knitting and other fiber arts are welcome to bring their projects and share with others. Coffee provided. 1:30 p.m. Negaunee Public Library, 319 W. Case St. (906) 475-7700.

• Wings of Fire Interest Group. Youth age eight and older are invited to discuss the series, write fanfiction, make crafts and other activities. 3 p.m. Negaunee Public Library, 319 W. Case St. (906) 475-7700.

Gwinn

• Modeltown Farmers & Artists Market. 3 to 6 p.m. Pavilion, Peter Nordeen Park, 115 N. Pine St.

Marquette

• Vinyl Record Show. New and used vinyl records, CDs, posters, cassettes, books and t-shirts will be available for purchase. Noon to 11 p.m. Ore Dock Brewing Company, 114 W. Spring St. (906) 373-6183.

• Superiorland Duplicate Bridge Club. Games open to all interested players. $5 for games. 12:30 p.m. Marquette Senior Center, 300 W. Spring St. superiorland_bridge.tripod. com

• NCLL Annual Meeting and Steve Lindberg Photography. Enjoy a catered dinner, elect new officers and a presentation of wildlife and nature photography by Steve Lindberg. Register by the 15th. 6 p.m. Redeemer Lutheran Church, 1700 W. Fair Ave. (906) 361-5370.

19 FRIDAY

sunrise 6:12 a.m.; sunset 9:20p.m.

Calumet

• Dinner and a Movie. Enjoy dinner and a movie or just the movie. The film The African Queen will be shown. Dinner, $25. 6 p.m.; Movie, $5, 7 p.m. Calumet Theatre, 340 Sixth St. (906) 337-2610 or calumettheatre.com

Marquette

• St. Louis the King Catholic Church Spring Rummage Sale. 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. St. Louis the King Catholic Church, 264 Silver Creek Rd. (906) 249-1438.

• Global Cinema. The film Run, Lola, Run will be shown. Noon. Community Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4322.

• Vinyl Record Show. New and used vinyl records, CDs, posters, cassettes, books and t-shirts will be available for purchase. Noon to 11 p.m. Ore Dock Brewing Company, 114 W. Spring St. (906) 373-6183.

• Superiorland Duplicate Bridge Club. Games open to all interested players. $5 for games. 12:30 p.m. Marquette Senior Center, 300 W. Spring St. superiorland_bridge.tripod. com

• Story Time at MooseWood: Bears. This story time will have an animal themed nature story, a craft or activity and a chance to meet the resident animals. Recommended for ages 3 to 8 but all ages welcome. Adults, $5; families, $10. 1 p.m. MooseWood Nature Center, Peter White Dr. Presque Isle. moosewood.org or (906) 228-6250.

Negaunee

• The Next Chapter Book Club. This community-based book program is for adolescents and adults with Down

Syndrome, autism, cerebral palsy and other intellectual and developmental disabilities. Reading materials provided. 1:30 p.m. Negaunee Public Library, 319 W. Case St. (906) 475-7700.

20 SATURDAY

sunrise 6:11 a.m.; sunset 9:21 p.m.

Calumet

• Winter Markets. 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Calumet Art Center, 57055 Fifth St. (906) 934-2228.

Ishpeming

• Mushroom Growing Workshop. All community members are invited to attend despite ability to pay. $15 fee if you are able to pay; $25 fee to pay it forward. 10:30 a.m. to noon. Partridge Creek Farm Office, 112 S. Main St. emily@partridgecreekfarm.org

Marquette

• Big Bay Relay. Teams will run from Marquette to Big Bay. Proceeds benefit the Big Bay Pathway. Prices vary. 8 a.m. Kaufman Sports Complex, 846 Hawley St. noquetrails.org

• Saturday Morning Farmers Market. 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Marquette Commons, 112 S. Third St. mqtfarmersmarket.com

• St. Louis the King Catholic Church Spring Rummage Sale. 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. St. Louis the King Catholic Church, 264 Silver Creek Rd. (906) 249-1438.

• Superiorland Duplicate Bridge Club. Games open to all interested players. $5 for games. Lessons, 10 a.m. Games, 11:30 a.m. Citizens Forum, Lakeview Arena, 401 E. Pine St. superiorland_bridge.tripod.com

• Vinyl Record Show. New and used vinyl records, CDs, posters, cassettes, books and t-shirts will be available for purchase. Noon to 11 p.m. Ore Dock Brewing Company, 114 W. Spring St. (906) 373-6183.

21 SUNDAY

sunrise 6:10 a.m.; sunset 9:23 p.m.

Ishpeming

• Bingo. Noon. Ishpeming VFW, 310 Bank St. (906) 486-4856.

K.I. Sawyer

• Dance. Enjoy an afternoon of dancing. 1 to 4 p.m. K.I. Sawyer Air Museum, 402 Third St..

Marquette

• Vinyl Record Show. New and used vinyl records, CDs, posters, cassettes, books and t-shirts will be available for purchase. Noon to 11 p.m. Ore Dock Brewing Company, 114 W. Spring St. (906) 373-6183.

22 MONDAY

sunrise 6:09 a.m.; sunset 9:24 p.m.

Marquette

• Marquette Playgroup. This weekly playgroup is led by an early childhood educator and geared toward newborns to age 5. Activities include free play, story time, a snack and other activities to promote social-emotional development. 9:30 to 11 a.m. Lake Superior Village Youth and Family Center, 1901 Longyear Ave. sjhobalia@greatstartma.org

• Senior Theatre Experience: Monthly Workshop and Discussion. This workshop is for those age 55 and older. Register in advance. Marquette city and surrounding township residents, free; nonresidents, $5 donation. 5 p.m. Marquette Arts and Culture Center, lower level, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 225-8655.

• Singing Bowls. Join licensed therapist Craig Kitchen for an evening of sound meditation with Tibetan singing bowls and gongs. 7 p.m. Community Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4322.

Negaunee

• All-Ages Online Storytime. Enjoy stories, songs and rhymes from the comfort of your own home. 11a.m. via Facebook Live. facebook.com/ NegauneePublicLibrary

23 TUESDAY

sunrise 6:08 a.m.; sunset 9:25 p.m.

Escanaba

• MSU Extension Class: Physical Activity Tips. 4:30 p.m. Escanaba Public Library, 400 Ludington St. (906) 789-7323.

K.I. Sawyer

• Gwinn Area Community Playgroup. This weekly playgroup is led by an early childhood educator and geared toward newborns to age 5. Activities include free play, story time, a snack and other activities to promote social-emotional development. 10 to 11:30 a.m. Room 13, K.I. Sawyer Elementary School, 411 Scorpion St. sjhobalia@greatstartma.org

Marquette

• Tech Coaching for Seniors. Learn to customize your electronic devices with the help of Christine Ault. Bring your charged device and passwords. Sign up for a 15-minute timeslot. 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Heritage Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4311.

• Superiorland Duplicate Bridge Club. Games open to all interested players. $5 for games. 12:30 p.m. Marquette Senior Center, 300 W. Spring St. superiorland_bridge.tripod.

com

• Lake Superior Knitters at the Marquette Regional History Center. Knitters age 10 and older are invited to share knitting experiences and knowledge. $1 to $5 donation. 1 to 2:30 p.m. Marquette Regional History Center, 145 W. Spring St. beedhive47@yahoo. com

• Oil Painting, Pastels and Drawing Classes with Marlene Wood. Bring your own supplies. $20. 1 to 3 p.m. Marquette Arts and Culture Center, lower level, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 225-8655.

• Dungeons and Dragons. Students in grades 6 to 12 are invited for a quest with this role-playing game. Registration required. 4 p.m. Teen Zone, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4321.

• Dungeons and Dragons Junior. Students in grades 4 to 5 are invited for a quest with this role-playing game. Registration required. 4:15 p.m. Great Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4323.

• Hamlet Auditions. Open auditions will be held for the August 2023 performance of Hamlet. Prepare a one to three minute Shakespearean monologue or soliloquy, and be dressed for movement. Video auditions accepted. 5:30 to 9 p.m. Marquette Regional History Center, 145 W. Spring St. jamie@ upshakes.org or (906) 226-3571.

• The Wellness Way Approach to Inflammation. Learn about inflammation and steps to improve your health. 6:15 p.m. The Wellness Way, Suite 125, 307 W. Front St. (906) 235-5127.

• Craft Magic Series: Origami Magic with Lydia Taylor. Join origami artist Lydia Taylor for a beginner origami workshop. Space is limited. 6:30 p.m. Shiras Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4322.

24 WEDNESDAY

sunrise 6:07 a.m.; sunset 9:26 p.m.

Marquette

• Congregate Meals for Seniors–Dine in or Curbside Pickup. Meals available to those age 60 and older. Call to reserve a meal. $3.50 suggested donation. Noon to 1 p.m. Marquette Senior Center, 300 W. Spring St. (906) 228-0456.

• Senior Visual Art Classes with Diane Kribs-Mays. This drawing class will focus on silk scarf painting. Supplies provided. Marquette residents, free; nonresidents, $5. 1 p.m. Marquette Arts and Culture Center, lower level, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 225-8655.

• Hamlet Auditions. Open auditions will be held for the August 2023 performance of Hamlet. Prepare a one to three minute Shakespearean monologue or soliloquy, and be dressed for movement. Video auditions accepted. 5:30

to 9 p.m. Marquette Regional History Center, 145 W. Spring St. jamie@ upshakes.org or (906) 226-3571.

• Dancing with the Stars Opening Night. Local stars compete in this dancing fundraiser. Proceeds benefit U.P. Hospice Foundation. Prices vary from $25 to $45. 7 p.m. Forest Roberts Theater, NMU. dwos.uphomehealth. org

• Your Mind Matters Documentary Film. The documentary film Do It for Daniel will be shown. Jeff Olson will speak and lead a discussion about mental health issues following the film.

6:30 p.m. Community Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4322.

Negaunee

• Knitting Group. Those interested in crocheting, knitting and other fiber arts are welcome to bring their projects and share with others. Coffee provided.

1:30 p.m. Negaunee Public Library, 319 W. Case St. (906) 475-7700.

• Wings of Fire Interest Group. Youth age eight and older are invited to discuss the series, write fanfiction, make crafts and other activities. 3 p.m. Negaunee Public Library, 319 W. Case St. (906) 475-7700.

• Fish Migration. Jill Leonard will discuss local fish migration. 5:30 p.m. Negaunee Public Library, 319 W. Case St. (906) 475-7700.

25 THURSDAY

sunrise 6:06 a.m.; sunset 9:27 p.m.

Escanaba

• Michigan Notable Author Tour. Author Jeff Morrison will discuss his book Guardians of Michigan: Architectural Sculpture of the Pleasant Peninsulas. 4:30 p.m. Escanaba Public Library, 400 Ludington St. (906) 789-7323.

• Marquette Symphony Orchestra: Midsummer Strings Finnish Folk Trio. Students in kindergarten through Bay College students, $7; nonstudents, $15. 7 p.m. Besse Theater, Bay College. baycollege.tix.com or (906) 217-4045.

Gwinn

• Modeltown Farmers & Artists Market. 3 to 6 p.m. Pavilion, Peter Nordeen Park, 115 N. Pine St.

Ishpeming

• Crochet Club. Gather with fellow crafters and bring along a project you are working on. Basic supplies and instruction is available to beginners. 2 p.m. Ray Leverton Community Room, Ishpeming Carnegie Public Library, 317 N. Main St. (906) 486-4381.

Marquette

• Superiorland Duplicate Bridge Club. Games open to all interested players. $5 for games. 12:30 p.m. Marquette Senior Center, 300 W. Spring St. superiorland_bridge.

tripod.com

• Dancing with the Stars Finale. Local stars compete in this dancing fundraiser. Proceeds benefit U.P. Hospice Foundation. Prices vary from $40 to $65. Red Carpet, 5 p.m. Hedgcock Building; Hors d’oeuvres, 5:30 p.m. Hedgcock Builidng; Show, 7 p.m. Forest Roberts Theater, NMU. dwos.uphomehealth.org

• Knowing the Marquette Waters of Lake Superior. Pete Frazier will give an illustrated presentation about Lake Superior. NCLL members, $5; nonmembers, $10. 6 p.m. Community Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 249-1273.

Negaunee

• Music, Movement and More. This parent-led story time is for all ages. 10:30 a.m. Negaunee Public Library, 319 W. Case St. (906) 475-7700.

26 FRIDAY

Copper Harbor

• Ride the Keweenaw. Weekend activities include a variety of group rides, a guided hike, and several enduro races. Proceeds benefit the Copper Harbor Trails Clubs Trail Systems. Prices, times and locations vary. copperharbortrails.org

Marquette

• Blockbusting Cinema. The film The Fablemans will be shown. Noon. Community Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4322.

• Superiorland Duplicate Bridge Club. Games open to all interested players. $5 for games. 12:30 p.m.

Marquette Senior Center, 300 W. Spring St. superiorland_bridge.tripod. com

• Story Time at MooseWood: Moose. This story time will have an animal themed nature story, a craft or activity and a chance to meet the resident animals. Recommended for ages 3 to 8 but all ages welcome. Adults, $5; families, $10. 1 p.m. MooseWood Nature Center, Peter White Dr. Presque Isle. moosewood.org or (906) 228-6250.

• Artist Hours: The Art of Star Wars. Learn about the art of the franchise and complete a project relating to Star Wars $10. 6 to 8 p.m. The Art Drop Shop and Studio, lower level, 130 W. Washington St. theartdropshop@ gmail.com

Negaunee

• The Next Chapter Book Club. This community-based book program is for adolescents and adults with Down Syndrome, autism, cerebral palsy and other intellectual and developmental disabilities. Reading materials provided. 1:30 p.m. Negaunee Public Library, 319 W. Case St. (906) 475-7700.

Copper Harbor

• Ride the Keweenaw. Weekend activities include a variety of group rides, a guided hike, and several enduro races. Proceeds benefit the Copper Harbor Trails Clubs Trail Systems. Prices, times and locations vary. copperharbortrails.org

Crystal Falls

• War Bonds: The Songs and Letters

of World War II. This cabaret is a musical journey through a war that redefined the world. Students, $5; adults, $23. 7 p.m. The Crystal Theatre, 304 Superior Avenue. thecrystaltheatre.org or (906) 875-3208.

Escanaba

• Concert at Bay College. Midsummer Strings: Finnish Folk Trio will perform. Students in kindergarten through Bay College students, $7; nonstudents, $15. 7 p.m. Besse Theater, Bay College. baycollege.tix.com or (906) 217-4045.

Houghton

• From the Ground Festival. Activities include a group bike ride, a family enduro race, bike checks, music, art, food, boat tours and more. Activity times and locations vary. 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Michigan Tech Trails and the Pier. visitkeweenaw.com

Marquette

• Saturday Morning Farmers Market. 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Marquette Commons, 112 S. Third St. mqtfarmersmarket.com

• Superiorland Duplicate Bridge Club. Games open to all interested players. $5 for games. Lessons, 10 a.m. Games, 11:30 a.m. Citizens Forum, Lakeview Arena, 401 E. Pine St. superiorland_bridge.tripod.com

28 SUNDAY

sunrise 6:30 a.m.; sunset 9:30 p.m.

Copper Harbor

• Ride the Keweenaw. Weekend activities include a variety of group rides, a guided hike, and several enduro races. Proceeds benefit the Copper Harbor Trails Clubs Trail Systems. Prices, times and locations vary. copperharbortrails.org

Marquette

• Frog and Toad Family Fun. Learn the difference between a frog and a toad. Explore their amphibian habitats and meet one of the resident amphibians. Adults, $5; families, $10. 2 p.m. MooseWood Nature Center, Peter White Dr. Presque Isle. moosewood. org or (906) 228-6250.

• Superior String Alliance Chamber Players Performance. Danielle Simandl, Brian Wall, Jeremy Brown and Adam Hall will perform Shostakovich Quartet No. 7 in F-Sharp Minor Op. 108 & Borodin Quartet No. 2 in D Major. Donations appreciated. 4 p.m. St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 201 E. Ridge St. superiorstringalliance. com

29 MONDAY

sunrise 6:03 a.m.; sunset 9:31 p.m.

MEMORIAL DAY

Ride the Keweenaw | May 26, 27 and 28 | Copper Harbor

Chris Schmidt

TUESDAY

sunrise 6:02

K.I. Sawyer

• Gwinn Area Community Playgroup. This weekly playgroup is led by an early childhood educator and geared toward newborns to age 5. Activities include free play, story time, a snack and other activities to promote social-emotional development. 10 to 11:30 a.m. Room 13, K.I. Sawyer Elementary School, 411 Scorpion St. sjhobalia@greatstartma.org

Marquette

• Superiorland Duplicate Bridge Club. Games open to all interested players. $5 for games. 12:30 p.m. Marquette Senior Center, 300 W. Spring St. superiorland_bridge. tripod.com

support groups

• Adult Children of Alcoholics and Dysfunctional Families— Marquette. Sundays, 7 p.m., Use the parking lot entrance. Downstairs meeting room, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 201 E. Ridge St. adultchildren.org/meeting

• Alano Club—Marquette. Twelvestep recovery meetings daily. Monday through Saturday, noon and 8 p.m. Sunday, 9 a.m. and 8 p.m. 3020 US-41, Marquette.

• Al-Anon Family Groups. A fellowship offering strength and hope for friends and families of problem drinkers. al-alon.org or (888) 425-2666.

• Alcoholics Anonymous. Meetings throughout Marquette County, open daily, at many locations and times. Twenty-four-hour answering service, aa-marquettecounty.org or (800) 605-5043.

• ALZConnected. This is a free, online community for everyone affected by Alzheimer’s disease and other memory loss diseases. alzconnected.org

• American Legacy Foundation. Smoking quit line for expectant mothers and cessation information for women. (800) 668-8278.

• Blood Pressure, Blood Sugar and Cholesterol Checks. Cholesterol checks are $5. Call for Marquette County schedule. (906) 225-4545.

• Divorce Care—Ishpeming. This non-denominational group is for people who are separated or divorced. New members are welcome. Tuesdays, 6 p.m. Northiron Church, 910 Palms Ave. northiron.church or (906) 475-6032.

• Grief Share—Ishpeming. This non-denominational group is for people dealing with grief and loss. Mondays, 2:30 p.m. Northiron

• Oil Painting, Pastels and Drawing Classes with Marlene Wood. Bring your own supplies. $20. 1 to 3 p.m. Marquette Arts and Culture Center, lower level, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 225-8655.

• Bluesday Tuesday. Enjoy music from Who Dat Brass. 7 p.m. Community Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4322.

31 WEDNESDAY

sunrise 6:01 a.m.; sunset 9:33 p.m.

Ishpeming

• Popcorn and a Movie. The movie Top Gun: Maverick will be shown. This film is rated PG-13. 4:30 p.m. Ray Leverton Community Room, Ishpeming Carnegie Public Library, 317 N. Main St. (906) 486-4381.

Marquette

• Congregate Meals for Seniors–Dine in or Curbside Pickup. Meals available to those age 60 and older. Call to reserve a meal. $3.50 suggested donation. Noon to 1 p.m. Marquette Senior Center, 300 W. Spring St. (906) 228-0456.

• Twenty Years On: The Dead River Flood of ‘03. Look back at the 2003 failure of the Silver Lake Dam that sent 8 to 9 billion gallons of water down the Dead River. Citizens and experts wll discuss the how they were affected. $5.6:30 p.m. Marquette Regional History Center, 145 W. Spring St. (906) 226-3571 or marquettehistory.org

• Meet the Filmmaker. View local documentarian Dan Korhonen’s film Save Our Theatre. A Q&A will follow. 7 p.m. Community Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4322.

• Drink & Draw. Those age 21 and older are invited for an evening of drawing while enjoying adult beverages or your drink of choice. Bring you own drawing supplies and drinks. 8 p.m. The Art Drop Shop and Studio, lower level, 130 W. Washington St. theartdropshop@gmail.com

Negaunee

• Knitting Group. Those interested in crocheting, knitting and other fiber arts are welcome to bring their projects and share with others. Coffee provided. 1:30 p.m. Negaunee Public Library, 319 W. Case St. (906) 475-7700.

• Wings of Fire Interest Group. Youth age eight and older are invited to discuss the series, write fanfiction, make crafts and other activities. 3 p.m. Negaunee Public Library, 319 W. Case St. (906) 475-7700. MM

Church, 910 Palms Ave. northiron. church or (906) 475-6032.

• iCanQuit. Smokers are invited to learn more about quitting with the help of a quitting coach. (800) 480-7848.

• Internet and Technology Addicts Anonymous. Tuesdays, 12:05 p.m. Upstairs, The Crib Coffee House, 401 N. Third St. ITAAMQT@zohomail. com

• Lake Superior Life Care and Hospice Grief Support Group— Gwinn. People dealing with grief and loss are encouraged to attend. Individual grief counseling is available. May 10. 2 p.m. Forsyth Senior Center, 165 Maple St. (906) 225-7760 or lakesuperiorhospice.org

• Lake Superior Life Care and Hospice Grief Support Group— Marquette. People dealing with grief and loss are encouraged to attend. Individual grief counseling is available. May 17. 5:30 p.m. Lake Superior Life Care & Hospice, 914 W. Baraga Ave. (906) 225-7760 or lakesuperiorhospice.org

• Lake Superior Life Care and Hospice Grief Support Group— Negaunee. People dealing with grief and loss are encouraged to attend. Individual grief counseling is available. May 18. 3 p.m. Negaunee Senior Center, 410 Jackson St. lakesuperiorhospice.org or (906) 475-6266.

• Marquette Codependents Anonymous Meeting. Mondays, 7 p.m. LoveMarq Church, 728 W. Kaye Ave. coda.org

• Michigan Tobacco Quit Line. This free quit smoking coaching hotline provides callers with a personal health coach. (800) 784-8669.

• Motherhood Support Group— Marquette. This free group meets the second Thursday of each month. May

11. 6 p.m. Suunta Integrative Health, 1209 N. Third St. (906) 273-0964.

• Nar-Anon Meetings—Ishpeming. Family and friends who have addicted loved ones are invited. Thursdays, 6:30 p.m. Mission Covenant Church, 1001 N. Second St. (906) 361-9524.

• Narcotics Anonymous Meetings— Marquette. Family and friends who have addicted loved ones are invited. Open meetings, Wednesdays and Sundays, 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. Closed meeting, Fridays, 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. Use the Ridge Street entrance. Downstairs Social Room, Marquette Hope First Campus, 111 E. Ridge St.

• National Alliance on Mental Illness—Support Group. Individuals living with mental illness and friends or families living with an individual with mental illness are welcome. May 8 and 18. 7 p.m. Superior Alliance for Independent Living, Suite A, 1200 Wright St. (906) 360-7107 or namimqt.com

• National Alliance on Mental Illness— Zoom Support Group. Individuals living with mental illness and friends or families living with an individual with mental illness are welcome. May 22. 7 p.m. Email ckbertucci58@charter.net or call or text (906) 360-7107 before 6:45 p.m. the day of the meeting to receive the Zoom invitation.

• Nicotine Anonymous. (415) 7500328 or www.nicotine-anonymous.org

• Parkinson’s Support Group— Marquette. May 17. 1 p.m. Marquette Senior Center, 300 W. Spring St. (906) 228-0456.

• Senior Support Group— Marquette. Mark Canale will discuss pre-planning for funeral arrangements. May 18. 2 p.m. Mill Creek Clubhouse, 1728 Windstone Dr. (906)

225-7760 or lakesuperiorhospice.org

• Sexual Health and Addiction Therapy Group. Call Great Lakes Recovery Centers for more details. Dates, times and locations vary. (906) 228-9696.

• SMART Recovery—Calumet. A self-help group for alcohol and substance abuse and other addictive behaviors. Mondays, 7 p.m. Copper Country Mental Health, 56938 Calumet Avenue. smartrecovery.org

• SMART Recovery—Hancock. Thursdays, 7 p.m. Basement Conference Room, Old Main Building, Finlandia University, 601 Quincy St.

• SMART Recovery—Marquette. Mondays, Noon. Zoom meeting. Visit smartrecovery.com for Zoom link.

• Stronger Together: Families Against Narcotics. Friends and families who have addicted loved ones are invited. Second and fourth Tuesdays. 6:30 p.m. via Zoom. Meeting ID: 702 728 9111, Passcode 448118. (906) 361-9524.

• Take Off Pounds Sensibly. This is a non-commercial weight-control support group. Various places and times throughout the U.P. (800) 932-8677.

• Virtual Caregiver Support Group. U.P. family caregivers are welcome to join. A device with an internet connection, webcam, microphone and an email address are required. Advanced registration required. 2 p.m. Second Tuesday of the month. (906) 217-3019 or caregivers@upcap.org

• Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Supplemental Food Program. Clinics include nutritional counseling and coupon pick-up. Appointments required. Call for Marquette County schedule. mqthealth.org or (906) 475-7846.