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contents
City Notes
Highlights of important happenings in the area
15 Then & Now
Superior View
The Landmark Inn
May 2022 No. 397
Publishers
Jane Hutchens James Larsen II
16 On Campus
News from U.P. universities & colleges
18
New York Times Crossword Puzzle
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Feature
I’m Still Standing (answers on page 67) Pam Christensen
Mine tours offer historical fun
Managing Editor
26 At the Table
Calendar Editor
28 Locals
Graphic Design
33 Back Then
Kristy Basolo-Malmsten Carrie Usher Jennifer Bell Knute Olson
Proofreader Laura Kagy
Circulation
Dick Armstrong
Chief Photographer Tom Buchkoe
Marquette Monthly, published by Model Town Publishing, LLC, located at PO Box 109 Gwinn, MI, 49841, is locally and independently owned. Entire contents Copyright 2022 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
(906)360-2180 www.marquettemonthly.com
About the Cover Artist
Sandi Mager made her living as a nurse, but art has always been her passion. Twenty-five 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 or email her at sandileamager@aol.com
Katherine Larson A dandelion: It’s what’s for dinner? Erin Elliott Bryan
Anything but Amateur
Sonny Longtine
Skandia Township man defies death on Antarctic odyssey
37 The Arts
Ann Dallman Male chorus celebrates 90th anniversary
40 Lookout Point
Brad Gischia Delta County celebrates Bay-Con: A pop culture event
42 Back Then
Larry Chabot Catherine Bonifas: Worth millions, gave it all away
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Fiction The Pick
Brad Gischia
48 Lookout Point The Return
51 Back Then
Chaos at the Straits
Jon Magnuson Larry Chabot
52 Lookout Point
Scot Stewart Fayette exhibit offers trove of artifacts
56 In the Outdoors
Kristy Basolo-Malmsten Group works to save life-saving station
59 Lookout Point
Brad Gischia Thunder Bay Inn hosts paranormal weekend
62 Poetry
The Dead River
A. Lynn Blumer
63 Lookout Point
Deborah K. Frontiera Lake Linden church celebrates 150 years
65 Superior Reads
Victor Volkman Book definitive source on local mining, labor
66 Home Cinema
Leonard Heldreth Sci-fi classic offers stunning visuals, competent acting
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Coloring Page
69 Out & About
The Gathered Earth Carrie Usher
May events and music, art and museum guides
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city notes
League of Women Voters set May meeting at PWPL
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he League of Women Voters of Marquette County will hold its next membership meeting from 6 to 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 4 at Peter White Public Library, lower level, Studio 2. The League of Women Voters 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. All are welcome to attend meetings. Masks are required by the library. For details, email dthomsona@ gmail.com
History center announces May presentations, hike
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he Marquette Regional History Center will host a variety of events in May. On Wednesday, May 4, Frederick Law Olmsted: Designing America— An Evening with Olmsted Biographer Laurence Cotton will start at 6:30 p.m. 2022 marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Olmsted, social reformer and founder of American landscape architecture. Olmsted visited the area in 1890, and had influence on Presque Isle. Experience an illustrated presentation on The Olmsted Legacy by writer, public historian and filmmaker Laurence Cotton. He will present an information-rich and entertaining talk about Olmsted’s life, career and legacy and a mini-travelogue of select Olmsted landscapes across North America—those designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, Sr., his two sons and the Olmsted Bros landscape architecture firm. Learn about this extraordinary legacy of a Renaissance man and how his philosophy, writings and designs are still relevant today. Cost is $10; call (906)226-3571 for details. Visit www.olmsted200.org to learn more about this year-long celebration. On May 12, a guided Presque Isle Hike will start at 7 p.m. Take a hike along the Presque Isle trails, guided by Dr. Jacquie Medina, professor of Outdoor Recreation Leadership and Management at NMU. As part of the Olmsted 200 series, take a close up look at the park Olmsted himself advised to preserve just as it is. This dramatic landscape is treasured by locals, admired by tourists and part of a network of green spaces throughout the country that could easily be taken for granted, yet were specifically
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kept as “parks for all people,” encouraging both physical and mental well-being. Cost is $15 per person and pre-registration is required by calling (906)226-3571 or visiting www.marquettehistory.org On May 25, Jim Paquette will present “Why? The Untold Story of the Barnes-Hecker Mine Disaster,” beginning at 6 p.m. The real history of Michigan’s Iron Country is not the history of mines and mining companies, it is the history of the miners themselves, largely made up of immigrants who came to the U.P. with their families seeking the American Dream. This presentation honors that history by bringing to light the untold truth about the worst mining disaster in Michigan history—the November 3, 1926 cave-in at the Barnes-Hecker Mine that took the lives of 51 men. This is a 90-minute program followed by a Q&A session at the Marquette Regional History Center. Cost is a $5 suggested donation. On June 1, “Working as Though For Their Self: The Archaeology of Cordwood Choppers’ Everyday Life” will begin at 6:30 p.m. Join Dr. LouAnn Wurst, Michigan Tech professor of Industrial Archaeology and Heritage, for this presentation. Archaeologists from MTU have excavated five sites occupied by cordwood choppers and their families who worked for Cleveland Cliffs Iron Company. These sites, currently in the Hiawatha National Forest, date from 1900-1935. The excavations recovered thousands of ceramic, bottle and can fragments, animal bones and many personal items which help us understand the choppers’ everyday life and how these camps changed over time. Cost is a $5 suggested donation.
MÄTI seeks mural designs of landmark-themed focus
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asonic Arts Theatre & Innovation (MÄTI) is seeking artists to design and execute large wall murals for the interior of the MÄTI Square Shops building in downtown Marquette. While the general theme of each mural should focus on local landmarks that would be of interest to both residents and visitors, the exact content and execution is left up to the artist’s discretion. MÄTI will provide paints and supplies, help gather volunteers to assist, pay a $100 stipend for the designing artist and allow the artist to post their Venmo/CashApp/etc. next to their
mural to accept tips from visitors. MÄTI hopes to provide a creative space for local emerging and professional artists to showcase their talent to visitors, and have a potential ongoing source of income, as well as to promote economic development within the shops by drawing visitors into the building to see the art. Proposals are due by 5 p.m. on May 4. For details, email arts@matimqt. org
Caregivers workshop signup deadline on May 15
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re you caring for someone living at home with memory loss? Are you feeling overwhelmed or stressed from your caregiving responsibilities? If this sounds like you, Creating Confident Caregivers may be the answer to your caregiving needs. Creating Confident Caregivers is a six-week online educational training program provided by the Upper Peninsula Area Agency on Aging/UPCAP for family members caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s Disease, dementia or memory loss and are living at home. The evidence-based university tested program provides participants with information, skills and attitudes to manage stress and increase effective caregiving skills, and to deal with difficult behaviors. The two-hour online classes will be held for six weeks on Wednesdays, May 25 through June 29 from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. An optional Zoom orientation will be held at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 18. There is no charge to participants for the workshop or materials. A computer, tablet or smartphone with internet, microphone and webcam and email address is needed to attend. Participants must complete a pre-class questionnaire prior to the first class. Registration ends on May 15, and class size is limited. Registration can be done online at www.upcap.org or by dialing 2-1-1.
Dan Perkins Construction seeks request for proposals
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an Perkins Construction is seeking applications from organizations who could use a $10,000 award toward a roofing project. Organizations must be within 30 miles of the shop, be a 501(c)3 nonprofit, service club, municipality or school. The company is offering money toward the bid project and a 35-year warranty on the roof. Larger projects can be submitted, but anything over $10,000 will need to be paid for. The application deadline is May 15. For details, call (906)485-2045 or visit www.danperkinsroof.com
State retirees restart lunch and meetings in Hancock
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he 906 Chapter of SERA (State Employee Retirees Association) will have its May luncheon meeting at noon on Tuesday, May 17 at Gino’s in Hancock. 906 SERA represents all retirees from State of Michigan service in the Upper Peninsula and is part of a network of 18 chapters statewide advocating for retired workers. All retired State workers are welcome to attend the session, which will feature a presentation on insurance coverages for retirees. Reservations are required by noon on Monday, May 9 and can be made by calling Edgar at (906)250-5560. The cost of the luncheon and meeting is $15 for each attendee. This will be the first meeting of the group for Copper Country members in several years.
SAYT announces auditions for Pinocchio Jr. production
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he Superior Arts Youth Theater has announced auditions for their summer production of Disney’s My Son Pinocchio Jr. Auditions for this production are open to youth in preschool through Grade 12. This retelling of the classic Disney story features the beloved classic songs “When You Wish upon a Star” and “I’ve Got No Strings” alongside a host of new numbers by Stephen Schwartz. Auditions will be May 23 and 24, with callbacks on May 25. Rehearsals begin on May 30. Performances will be in August. For details, visit www. saytheater.org
Marquette County Habitat celebrates 30 years
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arquette County Habitat for Humanity is celebrating a milestone anniversary. The local nonprofit, founded in 1992, has been proudly serving the community for 30 years. Their mission is to eliminate poverty housing in Marquette County through affordable new construction homes, critical home repairs and ramp installations. In the last three decades Marquette County Habitat for Humanity has built 107 houses for low-income residents and performed 91 critical home repairs, including dozens of ramp installations. Currently the 107th house, located in Ishpeming Township, is weeks away from completion and move in. The 108th house, in the City of Marquette, broke ground last fall and will continue work this spring. Proceeds from the ReStore, the
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donation-based retail store located in Harvey, help support Habitat’s housing programs, along with community donations, grants and volunteers who fulfill a variety of roles throughout the organization. Volunteers are the backbone of Habitat’s programs. Whether it’s raising walls or installing siding on a new building, constructing ramps for disabled homeowners or sorting and cleaning items at the ReStore, volunteers play a key role in Habitat’s success. For details, visit www.mqthabitat. org or call (906)228-3578
Farmers markets opening soon; vendors sought
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armers markets in the Copper Country are preparing for market season. There are many options for shoppers and vendors. Calumet Farmers Market, which opens on June 18, is open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays at the 300 block greenspace between 5th and 6th streets in Calumet. The Houghton’s Farmers Market opens on June 14 and will continue from 4 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday afternoons on Huron Street next to the Portage Lake District Library. The Hancock Tori and Farmers Market opens on Thursday, June 23 and runs from 3 to 6 p.m. on Quincy
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U.P. Notable Book Club presents a virtual Q&A with author Mary Doria Russell
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he Crystal Falls Community District Library and U.P. Publishers & Authors Association (UPPAA) has scheduled author events with winners of the U.P. Notable Book List. The next event is with Mary Doria Russell whose novel The Women of the Copper Country offers a day-byday account of the Calumet copper mining strike in 1913-14. The event will take place at 7 p,m. on May 12 via Zoom. To register, email Evelyn at egathu@crystalfallslibrary.org or call (906)8753344 in advance.
Green, 403 Quincy Street in Hancock. Vendors can sign up for multiple markets by emailing fromthegroundftc@ gmail.com On Saturdays, Lake Linden Farmers Market is held in the Village Park proper in the Gazebo near Calumet Street from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., beginning in July. For details, visit www. lakelinden.net/farmers-market.html On Wednesdays, the Chassell Farmers Market runs from 4 to 7 p.m., beginning June 1, in Chassell Township Centennial Park. Visit www. chassellmarket.com for details
May 2022
Widely praised for meticulous research, fine prose, and the compelling narrative drive of her stories, Mary Doria Russell is the award-winning author of seven bestselling novels, including the science fiction classics The Sparrow and Children of God; the World War II thriller, A Thread of Grace; and a political romance set in 1921 Cairo called Dreamers of the Day. With her novels Doc and Epitaph, Russell has redefined two towering figures of the American West: the lawman Wyatt Earp and the dental surgeon Doc Holliday. Her latest
Hiawatha announces return of its annual music festival
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he annual Hiawatha Traditional Music Festival will resume in 2022, from July 22 through 24 at Tourist Park campground in Marquette. This family-oriented weekend includes events and activities for every age. The line-up includes local, regional, national and international musicians. The Main Stage on Saturday and Sunday will feature Grammy Award winner Dom Flemons, Grammy nominated The Revelers, old-time Appalachian master artist
novel, The Women of the Copper Country, tells the story of the young union organizer Annie Clements, who was once known as America’s Joan of Arc. Mary holds a Ph.D. in biological anthropology from the University of Michigan and taught anatomy at the Case Western Reserve University School of Dentistry. She and Don Russell have been happily married for an unusually high percentage of the years since 1970. They live in Cleveland, Ohio. Visit www.marydoriarussell.net for details. Bruce Molsky, Midwest singer/songwriter Chicago Farmer, Ellis Dyson & The Shambles playing foot stomping original songs, Damn Tall Buildings known as the Carter Family for the millennials, The Quebe Sisters offering a mix of western swing and Texas style fiddling and harmonies, local favorite singer/songwriter Troy Graham, Canada’s finest folk musicians Allison DeGroot & Tatiana Hargreaves, bluegrass and mountain music from Martha Spencer & Whitetop Mountain Band, and local favorite dance band, The Westerly Winds
Swing Band at the Friday Night Get Acquainted Dance. At the Teen Scene, ages 13 through 17 will enjoy music by The Knockabouts and the Cotton Pickin’ Kids at the teens-only dance on Saturday night as well as crafts and other activities. There will be a “Tween Tent” for youth ages 9 to 12 with activities and music tailored to their interests. The youngest festival-goers will enjoy a busy line-up in the Children’s Area, with child-friendly crafts and activities, including the return of Papa Crow, Lake Effect, Corinne Rockow, Fox & Branch, Lunappi, Troy Graham, Roberta Shalifoe, Frank Youngman and the Yooptone Musical Petting Zoo. Workshops of all kinds will be offered throughout the weekend. The Children’s Parade featuring Frank Youngman and the childrens’ homemade instruments will kick off the final evening of music Sunday afternoon. Some changes this year will be that the Co-op will be selling wristbands instead of tickets. This will reduce the need to stop by the Gate Ticket Tent to exchange tickets for wristbands. Another change is the location of the Gate Ticket Tent and off-site parking. NMU’s Jacobetti Center will not be available this summer due to construction. The Kauffman Sports Complex, just north of the Jacobetti Center on CR-550, will serve as the Gate Ticket Tent, parking and shuttle pick up. For details, visit www.hiawathamusic.org or the Hiawatha Music Coop Facebook page.
Tips available for handling bears and bird feeders
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he DNR reminds residents who enjoy putting out bird feeders to watch the seasonal wildlife, that it’s important to keep in mind that birdseed may accidentally attract bears and other wildlife. There are simple steps to make your space bird and bear friendly. Consider putting away bird feeders and incorporating native plants into your yards and gardens this spring—especially in bear territory. Bird feeders provide a convenient, but dangerous, meal for bears. Allowing them to eat from human-provided food sources such as feeders, garbage or outdoor pet foods teaches them bad behavior, which often leads to removing the bears. Instead, planting native species will provide birds with adequate food, water and shelter to get them through the next leg of their migration journeys without attracting bears. Springtime is a remarkable but
precarious time for birds. Our yards, parkways, balconies and porches all can become refuges for migrating birds. It’s important to understand the different food sources birds rely on. Native plants provide berries and fruits, nectar and nuts and seeds. The fourth food source is an unlikely one: insects, specifically caterpillars. Caterpillars are supported best by trees and shrubs, like oak, willow and blackhaw viburnam (Viburnum prunifolium). Wild columbine (Aquilegia canadensis) is an early spring/summer bloomer that will bring nectar and a pop of color to your space, while supporting Michigan’s smallest migrant, the ruby-throated hummingbird. To learn more about plant species native to your area, visit www.audobon.org. For tips on how to coexist with black bears, visit www.Michigan.gov/Wildlife
MI-TRALE 2022 map update announced for releases
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ichigan Trails and Recreation Alliance of Land and the Environment (MI-TRALE) has announced the release of their much sought-after Trails map and a substantial update to its free “Michigan UP Trails” map app. The Trails map was last released in 2020. This new release contains over 400 miles of DNR Designated trails, and another 2,300 miles of trails open to ORV use on the Ottawa National Forest. It is a large map at 35” by 25”, made on quality paper. The map includes ORV trails, equestrian trails, paddling water trails, and hiking trails in the five-county area. Ten points of interest are provided for the entire family to experience. The map also provides details for 19 water trails for the paddler to enjoy. This is a must have for the serious recreational trail user. The map can be ordered at www.mi-trale.org. It may also be purchased from any of the sponsors found on the website. The free MI-TRALE Map App “Michigan UP Trails” can be downloaded from your favorite app store. It is being updated (scheduled for late May) to improve response time and functionality based on user’s comments. It will always have the very latest trail information. The map app allows the user to zoom in and move about the map searching for your perfect ride.
Avian Influenza now detected in Upper Peninsula
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ollowing an investigation by the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development
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Bradford Veley is a freelance cartoonist, illustrator and farmer in the U.P. Follow him on Facebook, Instagram and at www.bradveley.com
(MDARD), the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL) confirmed the presence of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in a non-commercial backyard flock from Menominee County. This is the third detection in domestic birds in the state, and the first in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. HPAI is a highly contagious virus that can be spread in various ways from flock to flock, including by wild birds, through contact with infected poultry, by equipment and on the clothing and shoes of caretakers. To protect other flocks in Michigan, the premises is currently under quarantine, and the birds will be depopulated to prevent further disease spread. Whether it’s a few backyard birds or a large commercial flock, following biosecurity measures is fundamental to protect the health and vitality of Michigan’s domestic birds: • Prevent contact between domestic and wild birds by bringing them indoors or ensuring their outdoor area is fully enclosed. • Wash your hands before and after handling birds as well as when moving between different coops. • Disinfecting boots and other gear when moving between coops. • Do not share equipment or other supplies between coops or other farms.
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• Cleaning and disinfecting equipment and other supplies between uses. If it cannot be disinfected, discard it. • Using well or municipal water as drinking water for birds. • Keep poultry feed secure to ensure there is no contact between the feed/feed ingredients and wild birds or rodents. Poultry owners and caretakers should watch for unusual deaths, a drop in egg production, a significant decrease in water consumption or an increase in sick birds. If avian influenza is suspected, call MDARD immediately at (800)292-3939.
MDNR purchases more than 100 miles of trails
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n partnership with Lyme Great Lakes Timberlands, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources has purchased nearly 103 miles of primarily snowmobile trail easements in Baraga and Marquette counties. The easements were purchased by the DNR for $1.8 million from the L’Anse and Escanaba-based company, with funds from the DNR’s permanent snowmobile easement fund. Eight of the trail miles will be designated as multi-use, including offroad vehicle use, with the remainder for snowmobiles only. Michigan has roughly 6,500 miles of groomed snowmobile trails man-
aged by the DNR and snowmobile clubs, with about half of those miles located in the U.P. For details on snowmobiling in Michigan, visit Michigan.gov/Snowmobiling
MDHHS expands partnership for free COVID-19 test kits
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he Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) has expanded its efforts to provide free, at-home testing kits to underserved areas of the state by providing test kits to additional libraries for a total of 70 locations participating in the program, including Gladstone School & Public Library in Delta County and Crystal Falls District Community Library in Iron County. For Michigan families spending more time in group settings, with extended and/or vulnerable family members and friends, or returning from spring break trips, these test kits could be a valuable tool in preventing the spread of the virus when returning to work and school. More than 24,000 kits have been shipped to 70 libraries. Test kits are limited at each location and are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Michiganders are asked to take one kit per person, up to five per household.
More fruits and vegetables available for WIC families
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ichigan Women, Infants and Children (WIC) clients are being reminded about additional Cash Value Benefits (CVB) they are receiving to purchase fruits and vegetables at the grocery store through September 30. The monthly cash value benefit for fruits and vegetables will remain at the following increased amounts through September 2022: • $24 for children. • $43 for pregnant & postpartum. • $47 for breastfeeding people. WIC’s CVB vegetable and fruit benefit was first introduced in 2007 and is credited with improving the dietary quality of WIC participants’ nutrition and reducing the prevalence of childhood obesity among WIC toddlers. Michigan residents can learn more about what the Michigan WIC program has to offer by visiting Michigan.gov/WIC. To apply for WIC, visit Michigan.gov/MIBridges
Real ID required for flying beginning next May
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eginning May 3, 2023, every air traveler 18 years of age and older will need a REAL ID-compliant driv-
Celebrating Earth Day
Father Marquette students celebrated Earth Day, following Pope Francis’ encouragement to Laudato Si: take care of our common home. Although students do this year around, there were special activities during Earth Week and Sustainability Week. Students filled out a Sustainability Question Chart: Do I turn off the water while I brush my teeth? Do I turn off lights and technology when I leave a room? Do I take reusable grocery bags when I help with shopping? Do I use recycled bins? Students recorded these small-but-important ways to be aware of their impact and to help celebrate Earth Day.
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er’s license, state-issued enhanced driver’s license or another acceptable form of ID to fly within the United States. If you are not sure if your ID complies with REAL ID, check with your state department of motor vehicles For information by state, including where to obtain a REAL ID, visit www.dhs.gov/real-id. You may also call the Sawyer Administration Offices at (906)346-3308 with questions.
UPPAA presents sixth U.P. Reader on many platforms
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he Upper Peninsula Publishers and Authors Association (UPPAA) presents the sixth installment of the U.P. Reader. This latest and biggest-ever edition of the annual anthology will feature the collected works of more than forty of the best of the authors of the Upper Peninsula. More than 60 contributions are featured in Volume #6 including short stories, humor, history, memoir, poetry and much more. It includes the four winners of the Dandelion Cottage Short Story Award in the publication with divisions for Grades 9 through 12 and 5 through 8. This award showcases the best writing from young authors enrolled in U.P. primary and secondary public schools. An audiobook edition of U.P. Reader can be purchased from Audible.com or iTunes. Paperback and hardcover editions are already available to local booksellers as well as contributors for sale and promotion. Paperback, hardcover, and Kindle editions are readily available on Amazon. If you have missed the previous five volumes, a specially priced Boxed Set eBook edition at Amazon allows readers to purchase the previous set of five volumes of U.P. Reader for the price of three. Submissions for U.P. Reader Volume #7 will be open on May 1, 2022 and will be juried by an editorial panel. Authors chosen to be published in the anthology will see their submission published along with an author’s bio to steer readers to more work by that author. Contributors need only have an active membership in UPPAA to be considered for publication. Proceeds from the U.P. Reader will be used to support operating costs of the UPPAA and its many events to educate its members about writing and to support educational projects like the Dandelion Cottage story contest that encourages young writers as well as the annual conference in Marquette on June 4, but the main focus remains to get U.P. literature into the hands of readers. For more info, including submission guidelines, visit www. UPReader.org
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NMU assesses mental health services, partnerships
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orthern Michigan University has started a comprehensive review of its mental health services, led by former NMU Trustee Jim Haveman. Haveman holds both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in social work, and previously served as director of the Michigan Department of Community Health. He was also executive director of the Department of Mental Health, the Kent County Community Mental Health Program, and Project Rehab, a substance abuse program that was located in Grand Rapids. Haveman has initiated his work by collecting relevant NMU policies and procedures pertaining to mental health and substance use/misuse services. This will include a specific review of suicide prevention and treatment alternatives. He will also interview students, staff and faculty about Northern’s current mental health programs and services, and obtain feedback from community resources. NMU has a student chapter of Active Minds, a national organization supporting mental health awareness and education that has a presence on more than 600 campuses. The Active Minds website includes the following statistics: suicide is the second-leading cause of death among young adults; 67 percent of young people tell a friend they are feeling suicidal before telling anyone else; 39 percent of college students experience a significant mental health issue; 67 percent of people 18 to 24 with anxiety or depression don’t seek treatment; one in five adults has a diagnosable mental illness; and 50 percent of mental health issues begin by age 14, while 75 percent begin by age 24. Many of these issues have been exacerbated by the pandemic. NMU’s on-campus Counseling and Consultation Services, staffed by professional psychologists and counselors, is available free to students to help them participate more successfully in the living and learning community. The university plans to build a new comprehensive health care facility that will merge mind and body by housing both Counseling and Consultation Services and the NMU Health Center. Earlier this year, NMU Theatre and Dance presented a production of the rock musical Next to Normal, which featured a character with bipolar disorder. After one of the shows, audience members were invited to hear from Great Lakes Recovery Centers staff about portrayals of mental health in entertainment and how that might impact audiences.
Haveman plans to provide monthly updates on his impressions and recommendations so NMU can implement proposed changes prior to the final report he will complete by August 22. For more mental health resources, visit https://nmu.edu/counselingandconsultation/crisis-resources
Prescribed burnings set in Hiawatha, Ottawa forests
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he USDA Forest Service is preparing for prescribed burning on the Hiawatha and Ottawa National Forests including 1,254 acres of prescribed burning on the East Zone of the Hiawatha, 3,662 acres on Hiawatha’s West Zone, and 78 acres on the Ottawa. Such burns are weather-dependent and will be conducted before early fall, when appropriate moisture, fuel and wind conditions are more likely.
Residents reminded to limit smelt intake from Superior
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DHHS continues to recommend that people eat no more than one serving per month of smelt from Lake Superior due to elevated levels of per-
fluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), a perfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS). For MDHHS Eat Safe Fish guidelines, a serving size is eight ounces for adults and two or four ounces for children. The guideline was created due to data shared by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) that showed elevated PFOS in Lake Superior rainbow smelt. At the time, MDHHS did not have data on PFOS levels in Lake Superior smelt but chose to match WDNR’s guidance and issued a consumption guideline as a precautionary measure. MDHHS recommended the guideline stay in effect until there was enough data to reevaluate. In 2021, the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy along with other partners collected smelt from several locations in Lake Superior and its related watershed. Early results indicate that PFOS levels in smelt collected in Michigan are similar to smelt collected in Wisconsin. Analysis of the smelt for other contaminants of concern is still underway. Until all data is available, MDHHS recommends that the guideline of one
Teens Support Peers
St. Michael Catholic Church teens group recognizes their peers have a lot of extra stressors in today’s world and those that are hit the hardest are often dealing with a dual diagnosis of mental health conditions and substance abuse issues. The teen group, which is made up of youth in Grades 5 through 12 from four school districts, recently completed a service project and donated 12 Easter baskets to the Great Lakes Recovery Residential Adolescent Recovery program in Negaunee. Derrick DePetro, GLRC, Children’s Services Director, was on site to receive the donation and share the latest with the teens on services offered to their peers in crisis. From left, group members are Marcia Parkkonen, Teen Group Coordinator, Lyla Burke (WHS), Maija Parkkonen (MSHS), Caydence Ranta (MSHS), Stella Huddle (FMCA), Bella Nurkala, (GWINN) Sarah Bleckiner (BMS), Derrick DePetro, Sierra Nurkala (GWINN), Lucas Belkowski (BMS) and Anthony Thill (FMCA).
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serving per month remain in place for smelt from Lake Superior. When all data is available, MDHHS will update the guidelines for smelt. MDHHS makes Eat Safe Fish guidelines to help Michiganders make safer choices when it comes to choosing and eating fish. For details, visit www.Michigan.gov/eatsafefish or call (800)648-6942.
Closures, opportunities at Seney Wildlife Refuge
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eney National Wildlife Refuge recently received Great American Outdoor Act Funds. These funds will allow them to complete much needed work on several refuge structures that have been on a maintenance backlog. Funding will go to four big projects: a new combined visitor and headquarters building; Marshland Wildlife Drive and Fishing Loop Bridge and water control structure repairs; show pool site rehabilitation and improvements; and Pine Ridge Nature Trail improvements. The largest portion of the project effects the current visitor center, office and the campus surrounding these buildings. As part of this process, the two buildings were evaluated to see if they could be renovated to meet the needs of the station. During this process it was determined the best path forward was to demolish the current structures and build a new combined building. The old visitor center was demolished this winter and a contract will soon be awarded for the construction of a new visitor center/headquarters, to be built in the same location. In the meantime, existing facilities will be adapted to temporarily house the visitor center and headquarters offices. For details, visit www.fws.gov/ refuge/seney
News from the desk of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer
• March 21 was proclaimed “Oberon Day,” celebrating Michigan’s unofficial start to spring; this year marks the 30th anniversary of Oberon Ale, made by Michigan’s oldest operating craft brewery, Bell’s. • Whitmer announced the recipients of grants totaling $4 million to provide young adults with a meaningful introduction to job skills and work. This program aligns with Michigan’s Sixty by 30 goal to increase the number of working-age adults with a skill certification or college degree to 60 percent by 2030. Upper Peninsula Michigan Works! received $300,000 of the grant to support the development and/or enhancement of a Young
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Professionals employment initiative. • Whitmer signed the Building Michigan Together Plan into law, which will invest nearly $5 billion in bipartisan investments to benefit residents by growing the economy, improving infrastructure, supporting jobs, and investing in every region of the state. The plan will make significant investments in affordable, attainable housing and expand access to reliable high-speed internet, building on progress achieved since Governor Whitmer took office. • Whitmer signed Senate Bill 247 and House Bills 4205, 4206, 4332, 4994 and 5541 into law. These bills cover a range of issue areas from improving the process for Michiganders to get prior authorization from insurers for their prescriptions and medications, helping small businesses make space for inventory or other needs, updating outdoor recreation laws, and modernizing the State Bar of Michigan admissions process. • Whitmer announced that multiple road rebuilding projects have begun, including the rebuilding of four bridges in Iron and Ontonagon counties. MDOT will invest $4.9 million to rebuild the bridges, which is expected to directly and indirectly support 62 jobs. Work will include deck replacement, substructure repairs, scour countermeasures, beam end repairs, steel cleaning and coating and roadway approach work on M-64 over the Floodwood River, M-64 over Halfway Creek, US-141 over the East Branch of the Net River and US-45 over Roselawn Creek. • Whitmer appointed Neil J. Lynch of Negaunee to the State Survey and Remonumentation Commission. Lynch, a recently retired professional surveyor for the Marquette County Road Commission, served as the Marquette County Remonumentation representative. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Surveying from Michigan Technological University. Mr. Lynch is appointed to represent surveyors from the Upper Peninsula, for a term commencing April 8, 2022 and expiring October 20, 2025. He succeeds William Karr whose term expired October 20, 2021. • Whitmer has signed HB 5525, legislation making a deposit in Michigan’s Unemployment Compensation Fund and funding ongoing efforts to crack down on waste, fraud, and abuse of taxpayer funds. • Whitmer announced that Michigan food, agriculture and forest products exports experienced a 19 percent year-over-year growth in 2021. Though business owners and
farmers across the nation continued to adapt to global challenges in 2021, Michigan’s food and agriculture sector experienced success despite these challenges. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Michigan’s food and agriculture exports totaled $2.5 billion in 2021. • Whitmer announced that a third of eligible Michiganders have already received their $400 auto refund checks from the Michigan Catastrophic Claims Association (MCCA) catastrophic fund surplus. According to data gathered by the Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services (DIFS), more than $906 million of the total $3 billion in surplus funds has been returned to Michigan drivers. Auto insurers have until May 9 to deliver the remaining $2.1 billion to eligible drivers. • Whitmer and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) announced that 19 communities around Michigan have been awarded a total of $491,834 in grants aimed at supporting small local businesses to create resiliency and strengthen downtowns, including Peace Pie Company, LLC in Marquette ($25,000) and Keweenaw Coffee Works, LLC in Houghton ($25,000). • Whitmer announced the first three energy-efficiency projects that will receive nearly $5 million in funding from the new Energy Efficiency Revolving Fund (EERF). Included in Governor Whitmer’s fiscal year 2022 budget recommendation and passed by the Michigan Legislature, the EERF provides an innovative opportunity to lower costs in state government and make government facilities more energy efficient and sustainable. • Whitmer released the MI Healthy Climate Plan, a roadmap for Michigan to achieve economy-wide carbon neutrality by 2050 with interim 2030 goals. Whitmer joined Liesl Clark, director of EGLE, business owners, tribal leaders and students at a large solar array in Traverse City to announce the plan. The MI Healthy Climate Plan proposes climate action that would create tens of thousands of clean-en-
ergy jobs, spur economic development and innovation, protect clean air and water, and improve public health. The MI Healthy Climate Plan builds off the leadership of tribal communities and cities and town across Michigan, in addition to the private sector.
Notes from the desk of U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow
• U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, announced $1,233,165 to support Michigan rural healthcare providers. Funds come from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Emergency Rural Health Care Grant program created through funds Senator Stabenow secured in the American Rescue Plan. Munising Memorial Hospital Association in Munising will receive $195,680 to purchase a new computed tomography (CT) scanner.
Local business news…in brief
• Great Lakes Recovery Centers announced the acquisition of the unoccupied Bell Teal Lake Medical Center in Negaunee; GLRC will use the facility to create a behavioral health campus for residents of Marquette County and beyond. • InvestUP Board of Directors’ leadership transitioned from founding chairman and CEO of Veridea Group, Bob Mahaney, to Steve Hicks, CEO of JM Longyear. Hicks will continue to focus on the strategic priorities defined under Mahaney’s tenure, including business and talent attraction and retention, population growth, talent development and promotion of the Upper Peninsula. • Michigan Celebrates Small Business (MCSB) 2022 awardees were recently announced, with many U.P. companies recognized. The most prestigious small business awards program in the state of Michigan, MCSB has a mission to honor and recognize Michigan’s small business people as well as the champions and advocates that support them. U.P. award-winners include Able Medical Devices of Marquette County (2022 Michigan 50 Companies to Watch);
Did You Know... When opium was first used in the Upper Peninsula?
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pium mixed with some 64 spices was an ancient medicine made in Venice called “theriac” that arrived with the French in the 1600s. It was used by fur traders, Jesuit missionaries and soldiers as a cure-all medicine. Submitted by Russell M. Magnaghi, history professor emeritus of NMU and a U.P. author and historian.
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Orion Hunting Products of Dickinson County (2022 Michigan 50 Companies to Watch); Kall Moris, Inc. of Marquette County (Michigan SBDC Best Small Businesses); Calderwood Enterprises of Ontonagon County (PTAC Best Small Businesses); Van Straten Enterprises – X3 Energy of Houghton County (SmartZone Best Small Businesses); and Waldo Solutions, Inc. of Houghton County (SmartZone Best Small Businesses). • Shepler’s Ferry, which has shuttled millions of visitors to Mackinac Island since the 1940s, was sold to David Hoffmann from Naples, Fla.; the Hoffman family runs a multibillion-dollar operation with a presence in 27 different countries, including other tour boat businesses in the United States. • New housing is coming to the City of Houghton through a community revitalization project to renovate a vacant, two-story building; the project—being completed by Sisu Ventures, LLC—will consist of two residential units on the second floor and retail space on the first floor. • The Fire Station Cannabis Co. opened its seventh storefront at 231 North 4th Avenue in Iron River; it will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. CST, seven days a week. • Nashville recording artist, Hannah Bethel of Houghton won the award for Best Female Vocalist at the Appalachian Arts and Entertainment Awards (The Appys) in ceremonies that took place at the Mountain Arts Center in Prestonsburg, Kentucky on Saturday, April 9. • The Lake Superior Community Partnership (LSCP) Board of Directors have named the incoming CEO for the economic development organization. Christopher Germain, who is currently employed as a Senior Redevelopment Ready Communities (RRC) Planner with the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) will start his role as CEO in
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Crystal Theatre announces line-up, including Crystal Gayle
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rystal Theatre announced a full slate of professional entertainers for the 2022 season, including Crystal Gayle as the featured artist of the Legend Series. One of the most popular female country singers of her era, Gayle takes the stage on Saturday, August 20. Gayle was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry in 2017; her career and talent are legendary. This headliner concert is among a host of other musical offerings and special events coming to Crystal Falls’ historical theatre this season. After a two-year pandemic pause, the familiar “Gem of a Season” returns with eight concerts appealing to a variety of musical tastes. The first Gem Season musicians are Max and Ruth Bloomquist, appearing at 7 p.m. on Saturday, May 7. Celebrating 45 years of performing, their style of acoustic Americana music has roots in folk, bluegrass and traditional country. This pure Michigan duo captivates audiences with their songs, harmonies, and folk-infused charm. The Enemy in our Midst, a film about German prisoners of war held in the U.P. from 1944-46, will be shown on Friday, May 27. On Friday, June 3 at 7 pm, Steel City Rovers are guest performers. The Rovers stand out for their dynamic, expressive music that is a unique composite of traditional Celtic music and North American styles including bluegrass, folk and
roots. They perform on handcrafted replicas of historical instruments that rarely appear on today’s musical landscape. A free Missoula Children’s Theatre workshop is offered for students in Grades 1-12 in June; performances of The Emperor’s New Clothes are scheduled for June 10 and 11. Crystal Theatre is the venue for two Pine Mountain Music Festival concerts: The Bergonzi Trio on June 14 and an UPStarts concert, showcasing young musicians from the U.P. on June 20. For the complete season schedule, visit www.thecrystaltheatre.org or call (906)875-3208 for details.
the beginning of June 2022. • Mark A. Aho, President, Financial Advisor, of Mark Aho Financial Group located at 205 N. Lakeshore Blvd was among the Raymond James-affiliated advisors named to the Forbes list of Best-In-State Wealth Advisors.
• The Verso acquisition by BillerudKorsnas is now official, with the plan for the merger made public in December and the sale completed. BillerudKorsnas plans to convert Verso’s largest facility—its Escanaba mill—into a world-class, sustainable, fully integrated paperboard produc-
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tion site. The company estimated that the investment for the project will be up to about $1 billion. Additionally, BillerudKorsnas plans to continue operating the Quinnesec mill—a cost and quality leader in graphic paper. • The Keweenaw Co-op purchased the former home of Keweenaw Buick-GMC property at 612 Quincy Street in downtown Hancock, and it will take $7 million to transform the empty space into a fully stocked grocery store. • U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced it has awarded $75,000 to the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community under the Environmental Justice Small Grants program. The funding will provide support to identify legacy and current environmental pollutants in the community, conduct an environmental risk assessment and develop materials to distribute project findings. • Northern Michigan University presented an honorary Doctor of Science degree to scientist Thomas Zurbuchen, the head of Science at NASA and former NMU trustee. He also delivered the keynote address at the university’s April 30 commencement. • OK Rental Sales & Service celebrated its one-year anniversary with a ribbon cutting to dedicate its new location, 609 Elm Street in Ishpeming. • Brookridge Heights staff served more than 120 free Easter meals from the Negaunee Senior Center as a part of their Grateful Give Back campaign. • United Way of Marquette County distributed 5,000 pairs of Bombas socks to local nonprofits. Bombas is a comfort-focused brand that helps those in need by donating an item for every item that is purchased.
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Editor’s Note: The deadline for event and press release submissions is the tenth of the month prior to publication. Please email your press release to editor@marquettemonthly.com
then & now
The Hotel Northland was built in the 1920s, and opened in January 1930.
The Hotel Northland, which was renamed the Landmark Inn in 1995, remains standing on Front Street in Downtown Marquette
Photos provided by Superior View Studios, located in Art of Framing, 149 W. Washington Street Marquette www.viewsofthepast.com
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on campus
Students present chemistry research
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orthern Michigan University chemistry students recently gave presentations at both the national American Chemistry Society (ACS) conference in San Diego, Calif., and at the American Chemistry Society Annual Upper Peninsula Research Symposium held at NMU. Gino Pacifico, a senior studying biochemistry, and Tyler Watson, a senior studying medicinal plant chemistry, presented their topic, “Betulin concentration in Betula papyrifera bark: A comparison of living trees vs. fallen trees in the presence of fomes fomentarius.” Haylee Kuehl-Weisser, a senior studying medicinal plant chemistry, presented her topic, “The degradation of terpenes within a cannabis sativa extract based on different storage conditions.” The ACS is an organization dedicated to advancing the broader chem-
istry enterprise and its practitioners for the benefit of Earth and its people. The national ACS conference, which had more than 12,000 registrants this year, is an exposition that was created to allow chemistry professionals to share their ideas and knowledge. Two NMU students, Garret Meso, a graduate student studying mathematics, and Sam Smith, a senior studying chemistry, presented at the ACS U.P. Research Symposium on their topic, “Aromatic Donor-acceptor Interaction Based Organocatalyst Assembly for Asymmetric Catalytic Reactions.” The research symposium, presented by the ACS Upper Peninsula Local Section, is an opportunity for graduate, undergraduate, high school and community college students to share their work with faculty, other students and the community and showcase research that is being conducted within the Upper Peninsula.
Finlandia opens Aanrud textile exhibit
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inlandia University Gallery is currently featuring “Off the Hook,” a textile exhibit by Los Angeles artist Liv Aanrud through June 3. It will feature work informed largely by the language of painting, and constructed through the traditional folk method of rag rug hooking. Her figurative weavings, mostly of women, give physical form to emotional states. “The joy in their creation is visible, their bodies are a celebration of form and color—but there’s also an intensity that portrays a duality of these woven women,” Aanrud said. “The viewer’s gaze is met with melancholy, discontent, even grief. I want these figures to seem strangely familiar as they stare back, and remind us that our beauty is oddly scrappy... made of the remnants of ourselves.”
Raised on a dairy farm in Wisconsin where a certain work ethic, resourcefulness, modesty and self-sufficiency were fundamentals handed down from her Norwegian relatives, Aanrud’s rag-hooked textile pieces are created using “everyday” materials and a simple, yet laborious method of construction. Aanrud’s work has been the subject of one-person exhibitions at New Image Art, Arvia, 1700 Naud and TSA-LA in Los Angeles. Her work has been shown in group exhibitions across the U.S., Taiwan, Germany and Spain. The gallery is located in the Finnish American Heritage Center, 435 Quincy Street in Hancock and is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday. Call (906)4877500 or email gallery@finlandia. edu for details.
NMU helps recycle pandemic PPE waste
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orthern Michigan University diverted a total of 655 pounds of waste from the landfill through its participation in The RightCycle program in 2021. The program began in fall 2020 after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic sent a plethora of PPE waste to landfills. Kimberly Hegmegee, Occupational & Environmental Health Specialist for NMU, runs the RightCycle program and collects previously hard-to-recycle items such as protective clothing, safety glasses and nitrile gloves. The PPE is sent to a recycling facility and turned into new consumer products ranging from patio furniture and flower pots to plastic shelving. With a focus on recycling the most
used PPE on campus, nitrile gloves, NMU is becoming more sustainable and recycling hundreds of pounds of waste each year. “We are very happy with its success and hope to continue adding collection bins on campus,” Hegmegee said. When the program first began, the first shipment of materials to be recycled was 287 pounds. So far in 2022, about 150 pounds have been collected, and it is expected to reach 300 pounds for the next shipment. With fewer COVID-19 precautions in place, the NMU campus community may not be producing as much PPE waste, but the addition of more collection bins will allow more waste of various kinds to be recycled and repurposed.
Artist Liv Aanrud poses in her studio; her work will be on display at the Finlandia University Gallery in Hancock through June 3.
Tech sees record undergraduate applications, increase in minority groups
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or the fifth straight year, a record number of prospective undergraduates have applied to Michigan Technological University, including significantly more underrepresented minority students. MTU has received more than 8,800 applications for fall 2022—up 5 percent from last year, and 30 percent from the former all-time high set in 2019. Applications from women have increased nearly 66 percent in that time. Those from underrepresented minority groups have doubled. Along with continued growth in
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Michigan Tech’s historically strong College of Engineering and College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science, MTU’s new College of Computing is also helping drive the surge in interest. Applications to programs like software engineering and cybersecurity are up 40 percent in the same threeyear span. Consistent enrollment increases in pre-health professions, mathematics and other offerings in the College of Sciences and Arts and the College of Business further confirm that Michigan Tech is offering both
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the kinds and the quality of education sought by today’s students. Michigan Tech is receiving more interest than ever from Michigan-based students. Applications from prospective in-state students have doubled since 2015. Much of this growth has come from Grand Rapids, Traverse City and southeastern regions of the state. It’s not just Michiganders looking to come to the Keweenaw, though. Applications from students in Arizona, California and Texas have tripled since 2015, putting those states on
similar footing with others much closer in proximity, like Minnesota. To John Lehman, MTU’s Vice President of University Relations and Enrollment, the acceleration in interest from afar suggests not a temporary trend, but a permanent shift. “Through excellence in research and education, and by listening and responding to the needs of our students, Michigan Tech has established itself as a premier niche STEM-based institution,” Lehman said. “We’re being discovered by students across the nation.”
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I’M STILL STANDING
No. 0403
Reprinted from the New York Times
By 14-year-old A ugust L ee -K ovach /Edited by Will Shortz
ACROSS 1 Swears (to) 8 L.A. region 13 Motto meaning “to the stars” 20 Place with carts 21 Square 22 What oil may do in frigid temperatures 23 1990s-2000s Volkswagen sevenseater 24 Things 25 Overseas land measure 26 Not needing a thing 27 “____ homo” 29 Siri uses it 30 Halliwell a.k.a. Ginger Spice 31 Dino friend of Buzz Lightyear 32 “____ it ironic?” 34 Storm 37 What an up arrow might mean 39 Green-light 41 Approximately 5.5 million tons of it was used to build [see circled letters] 43 Bellini opera that takes place in Gaul 46 A = B, B = C, ergo A = C, e.g. 48 Purchase plan 50 Sneaker, in British lingo 51 See 5-Down 55 Committed to memory 56 Western Hemisphere grp. 57 Gunslinger’s cry 59 Former Japanese P.M. Shinzo ____ 60 Country between Ghana and Benin 61 Word repeatedly said while plucking petals 62 Clipped
Answer Key To check your answers, see Page 67. No cheating!
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63 Opposing vote from a horse? 64 Blue ribbon or gold star 66 Yarn 68 Make secret, in a way 71 A chance to dream 74 It’s often played for 75 Website with an “Everything Else” category 76 Some small batteries 78 C sharp equivalent 80 Mexican poet Juana ____ de la Cruz 81 Sass 82 U.F.C. fighting style 83 Radio host John 84 Head, in slang 85 Play group 87 Frequent victim of an April fool 90 Creep 93 Municipal facility: Abbr. 94 Kind of bar 96 Waterfall feature 98 One forced into a force 100 One-act Oscar Wilde play 101 Burial ____ 103 Fútbol cry 104 “You no-good dog,” e.g. 105 Spoils 106 ____ bean 108 Some December purchases 109 They’re stored in pollen grains 111 Villainous “Star Trek” collective 113 Like some chicken cutlets 116 Element named after a German river 120 “Ugh!” 121 Prehistoric Southwest culture 122 Little squirt 123 Sign of success 124 Trendy 125 Vardalos of “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” DOWN 1 Periods in history
2 Level 3 They wrap things up 4 Prefix with system 5 With 51-Across and 15-Down, group in which [see circled letters] is the only one still largely intact 6 Egyptian desert, e.g. 7 Harmonize 8 ____ generis (unique) 9 Prompt 10 Greek name for this puzzle’s enclosed answer 11 Targets 12 Sleeve fillers 13 Not just smart 14 Active sorts 15 See 5-Down 16 Pepper’s rank: Abbr. 17 High-arcing shots, in basketball lingo 18 Like a T206 Honus Wagner baseball card 19 Lion in the “Madagascar” movies 28 Most massive dwarf planet in the solar system 30 Pass it on 33 Singers’ star turns 35 Contents of some belts, informally 36 Reason for an R rating 38 It comes before one 39 Regarding 40 Harp-shaped constellation 41 Turkish money 42 Provide resources for 44 [Big kiss, dahling!] 45 Pay (up) 47 ____ and the Pacemakers (1960s pop group) 49 They reflected rank in old Rome 52 “Ooh-la-la!” 53 It gives you a lift 54 2003 #1 Outkast hit 58 Tad 60 Mat made of soft rush
62 You might take them out for a spin 65 Artful 66 Mujeres con esposos 67 Outdoor game for kindergartners 69 Time out? 70 “The Office” role played by Jenna Fischer 72 College voter, perhaps 73 Light shades 74 With 101-Across, where this puzzle’s enclosed answer is located 75 Disney’s ____ of Arendelle 77 Smooth, in a way 79 Number of 101-Acrosses in [see circled letters] 85 Workmates, e.g. 86 Pale ____ 87 Tiffs 88 Sleeve filler 89 Brewer Frederick 91 ____-Magnon 92 Like a book with a bookmark in the middle, say 95 Chewy confection 96 Oxford, e.g. 97 Michelle of “Crazy Rich Asians” 99 Fakes 101 Hotel offering 102 New York town that’s home to Playland amusement park 105 Caused 107 The “A” of James A. Garfield 110 So-called “Iron Lady” of Israeli politics 112 “This does not look good!” 113 Fell for it 114 Pi follower 115 “People who love to ____ are always the best people”: Julia Child 117 Writer Fleming 118 Weapon in “The Terminator” 119 Actress Farrow
feature
Mine tours offer historical fun
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By Pam Christensen bout 7,000 years ago, Indigenous people mined copper in Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula in shallow pits. The copper was worked by hand to create fishhooks, tools, jewelry, beads and other trade items. Copper relics originating in the Keweenaw have been found throughout the North American continent. Since that time, mineral extraction has shaped Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Alexander Henry, intrepid English fur trader and explorer, first visited the Ontonagon area in 1765. He later returned to establish the first commercial attempt to mine copper near the Ontonagon River in 1771. According to Dean Juntunen of the Ontonagon Historical Society: “Alexander Henry was mining in a clay bank near the site of the Ontonagon Boulder, but the boulder was actually an erratic, carried from elsewhere. Henry never would have found any copper in the clay bank, so in a way he’s fortunate that the mine shaft caved in. It was a waste of time.” Henry terminated his mining efforts in 1772. Lewis Cass, who served as Michigan’s Territorial Governor, and Henry Schoolcraft were members of a survey expedition mounted in 1820 to study the Northwestern part of the Michigan Territories. The group was to assess the area, survey mineral deposits, study topography and geography, investigate the customs and loyalties of the resident Native Americans and locate the headwaters of the Mississippi River. They investigated the Ontonagon River and were shown the Ontonagon Boulder. Schoolcraft estimated the size of the Ontonagon Boulder to be 3-feet-8-inches by 3-feet-4-inches with a weight of 2,200 pounds. He also noted that the boulder was scarred by the marks of chisels and axes, assumed to be made by Native Americans and explorers. Over the years, and prior to its accession by the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, attempts were made to remove parts of the boulder. Its current weight is cited as 3,708 pounds. While the Ontonagon Boulder is not the largest specimen of native copper to be discovered, it is probably the most famous due to the many disputes over ownership of the specimen. Early records of the boulder reflect
The Quincy Mine, located in Hancock, offers multiple tours, above ground and below. (Photo courtesy of Quincy Mine Hoist Association)
the fact that the deposit was visited by indigenous people. It was used as a place for communicating with spirits and seeking good health. In 1991, the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community requested an assessment of the Ontonagon Boulder, claiming the object should be returned to the tribe as a sacred object under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. This claim was reviewed until 2000, when the Repatriation Office ruled that the Ontonagon Boulder does not fit the definition of a sacred object and reaffirmed ownership by the Smithsonian. The Ontonagon County Historical Society is home to a life-sized replica of the Ontonagon Boulder. The museum, located in downtown Ontonagon, is an attention-grabbing periwinkle building. The society was founded in 1957
and operates the museum as well as the Ontonagon lighthouse. The collections held by the museum includes pre-Columbian stone and copper implements, copper mining equipment and displays dedicated to the 19th and 20th century mining history of the area. The museum and lighthouse will open May 15 this year. The museum is open Tuesday through Saturday. The lighthouse is open seven days a week, and visitors can take a self-guided tour of the facility. A volunteer is stationed at the lighthouse to answer questions during open hours. For details, visit www.ontonagonmuseum.org or call (906)884-6165. In 1837, Michigan was granted statehood as the twenty-sixth state. As a condition of statehood, Michigan had to relinquish ownership of the Toledo Strip. In what has become known as a poor business deal, the fledgling
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state was awarded what would later become Michigan’s resource-rich Upper Peninsula In 1841, State Geologist of Michigan, Douglass Houghton set off a land rush with his report detailing the mineral-rich land in the Upper Peninsula. As a result of his extensive research and geologic exploration, Houghton has been called “the father of copper mining in the United States.” He died tragically in 1945 at the age of 36 on a federally funded expedition of Lake Superior. He and two companions drowned when their small boat capsized on Lake Superior near Eagle River. His body was found in the spring of 1946 washed ashore. Houghton left much work undone due to his untimely death, but his legacy is still alive in Copper Country. The Keweenaw Peninsula and western end of the U.P. are dotted with copper mining sites of historic significance. Many of these locations are affiliated with the Keweenaw National Historical Park (KNHP). President George H.W. Bush signed legislation establishing the park on October 27, 1992. Since that time, National Park staff have worked to collect, preserve and interpret the history of copper mining on the Keweenaw Peninsula in partnership with governmental, pri-
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or natural resources that illustrate the complex story of the copper mining industry. There is no fee to visit the Visitor Center, but affiliated sites may charge admission fees. National Park passport book stamps are available at the visitor center for those collecting passport stamps from U.S. National Parks. For details, visit www.nps.gov/ kewe/ or call (906)337-3168. Coppertown Mining Museum he Coppertown Mining Museum is located in the former Calumet and Hecla pattern shop in Calumet. This museum focuses on the history of copper mining, especially the Calumet and Hecla properties, and community life in the area. The museum features a variety of exhibits including a large model of the Calumet and Hecla underground and surface mining operations. Other exhibits include the Rastello Shoe Shop, the Calumet and Hecla Hospital operating room, two-man drill, the foundry process for casting metal, the Italian Hall Tragedy, Annie Clemenc, the Sheffield Pump, ore car loading process and a machine shop that made axles and wheels for the Houghton County Traction Company that operated in the area from 1900 to 1932.
T Cub Scout Pack #395 from Marquette toured the Quincy Mine, including a tram ride, last fall. (Photo courtesy of the Quincy Mine Hoist Association)
vate, public, historical and educational organizations. One of the best places to start when visiting Copper Country is the Keweenaw National Historical Park Calumet Visitor Center located at 98 Fifth Street in downtown Calumet. The Visitor Center is open seasonally and offers three floors featuring interactive exhibits, films and ranger talks. The Visitor Center also provides
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information about the 21 sites affiliated with the KNHP. The KNHP works with each of these entities to coordinate services and preservation efforts. The staff and volunteers of each organization are responsible for conducting research, providing exhibits and offering tours and special events held at their location. The sites have been identified because they offer significant cultural
The museum also has a gift shop that sells publications related to the area, jewelry and mineral specimens. The museum is open June through September. For details, visit www.uppermichigan.com/coppertown Quincy Mine ld Reliable” was the moniker given the Quincy Mine due to its longevity—99 years (18461945)—and the quality of the ore deposits. Quincy’s No. 2 Shaft House still dominates the Houghton-Hancock skyline, and serves as a museum containing artifacts, interpretive displays and an operational model railroad detailing the Quincy Mining Company and Stamp Mill facilities. The former mine properties are now owned by the Quincy Mine Hoist Association. This non-profit organization’s mission is to preserve the Quincy Mine site and educate people about the rich history of copper mining at the site. The organization offers an above-ground tour as well as a full tour that includes a visit below-ground. All tours are guided and fully accessible. The facility also includes a gift shop offering books and DVDs related to copper and mining history, items made of copper and locally sourced products. The underground tour lasts about 2 hours and 15 minutes and involves walking approximately 2,000 feet across uneven ground. The underground tour begins at the East Adit built in 1895. This takes visitors to the No. 5 shaft, where visitors can see early mine cars on rails. Visitors will also be able to view the large mine opening or stope developed in the late 1850s. Also included are exhibits of manual and pneumatic drilling equipment. This portion of the tour gives the visitor an appreciation for the difficulty of working underground. A highlight of the tour is the 1918 hoist building. The Nordberg Steam Hoist is the world’s largest
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Matthew Portfleet, Adventure Mine owner, teaches blasting and mine safety at Michigan Tech. (Photo courtesy of Adventure Mining Company)
steam-powered hoist engine. The engine was built in 1920 and it made possible the extension of the Quincy’s No. 2 shaft to 92 levels deep. The hoist building is also unique since it is one of the largest reinforced concrete buildings ever built and does not contain any interior supporting columns. Visitors can also take a ride on the Quincy Mine Cog Wheel Tram to the East Adit. This tram was originally used to transport ore to the Quincy Smelter located on the waterfront in Hancock. The tram was modified in 1997 with a new passenger car to transport visitors. Riding the tram also provides a panoramic view of the Portage Canal, Houghton and the Lift Bridge. Once the tour of the Quincy location is completed, visitors should also visit the Quincy Smelter to trace the entire mining process. The Quincy Mine Tours season runs from April to October. The association also provides limited winter tours. For additional information on the Quincy Mine, tours, hours and attractions, visit www.quincymine.com
or call (906)482-5569.
Adventure Mining Company he Adventure Mining Company in Greenland, Michigan offers a variety of mine tour options. The Adventure Mine is owned by Matthew Portfleet. As a youngster, owning a copper mine was not on his short list of future occupations, but Portfleet comes by his vocation naturally. He serves on the faculty of Michigan Technological University and has owned the mine since 2014. Portfleet currently teaches drilling, blasting and mine safety at MTU. He provides training on Industrial Mining Safety for corporations and their employees, and also designs and constructs bat-friendly enclosures for abandoned mine openings in cooperation with the U.S. Forest Service and Michigan DNR. “Our goal at the Adventure Mine is to provide purposeful history of the mine and copper mining and offer an adventurous aspect to the tours,” he said. “We cater to individuals, groups and families with children. We find
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kids love how active and realistic we make the mine tour. Portfleet said his staff tries to provide as accurate a tour experience as they can, while keeping safety in mind. “We limit the lighting in the tunnels so visitors can experience the mining environment just like the miners saw it,” Portfleet said. “We also limit signage and have tried to limit the use of safety rails and barriers in accordance with safety regulations. Our mine tours are led by trained tour guides. The tours follow a very basic script allowing for the guides to adapt to the age range and interest level of our guests.” The Adventure Mine was in operation from 1850-1920 and includes 100 acres on the surface. Portfleet has secured all mineral rights to the surface and underground areas included in the mine facilities. The company hires a staff of 16 to 20 for the summer season. Many of the guides have years of experience. They are a combination of locals and MTU students who have the skills needed to help visitors make the most of the experience. All visitors are issued a hardhat and headlamp at the beginning of the tour. Adventure Mine offers three standard tours and custom tours for groups. Currently the first and second levels of the mine are accessible. The third level of the mine is undergoing dewatering and may be included on future tours in the next year or two. MTU students and staff will be documenting the archeology of the third level, which contains hand tools, equipment, broken headlamps and tools, a tractor, lunch area and latrines. The third level is 45 minutes from daylight. The Prospector Level Tour lasts about 1.5 hours and includes the first level. There is no age limit for this tour, which allows visitors to see where the mine shafts intersect. They will also be able to see solid copper
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deposits and where they remain in the walls of the mine. The Miner’s Tour is two to three hours long, depending on the interest level of the group. There is an age limit of 12 years or older for this tour. This tour includes the Prospector Level Tour and then rappels 80 feet to another part of the mine. This tour features native copper deposits, the largest room and the oldest parts of the mine. To complete the tour, visitors walk the rope bridge over the shaft to Level 3 or slide down on a 10-foot slide. All rappelling and safety gear is provided. This tour only should be attempted by those who can walk and crawl. For the hardcore mining enthusiast, the Captain’s Tour includes a comprehensive tour lasting five to six hours. This tour includes the First and Second Levels of the mine. Many of these areas have recently been dewatered. The tour requires two miles of hiking over sloped and loose ground. Visitors must carry a provided backpack that weighs 10 pounds and be able to walk for 40 minutes. This tour does not include rappelling and there is a 13 or older age limit that is strictly enforced. Visitors to the Adventure Mine may get wet and dirty. Long pants, a jacket or sweatshirt and closed toe shoes are
a must. The underground levels have a temperature of 48 degrees. All tour participants should be able to walk, stoop and crawl. The walking surface may be uneven, contain loose rock, water and mud. The Adventure Mine does not allow mineral or specimen collection in the mine at this time. Adventure Mine served almost 6,000 visitors in 2021, so planning a visit in advance will assure visitors can take the tour they desire at the most convenient time. The 2022 tour season will open on May 21. For details, call (906)883-3371. Advanced tour tickets can be purchased online at www.adventureminetours.com Delaware Copper Mine orace Greeley took part in the Copper Rush by investing in the Delaware Copper Mine, which operated from 1847-1887. Unfortunately, the mine did not return much money to its investors even though the mine produced eight million pounds of copper. A visit to the Delaware will allow the visitor to experience what mining was like in the 1800s. The Delaware Copper Mine is located 12 miles south of Copper Harbor on US-41 in the historic ghost town of Delaware. The mine was comprised of
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Andrew Garn of Saranac heads down 100 feet of stairs to 1,700 feet of tunnels below the Delaware Mine site. (Photo by Kristy Basolo-Malmsten)
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The Delaware Mine site was visited by celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay, who learned about cooking pasties. (Photo by Kristy Basolo-Malmsten)
five shafts feeding ten levels. The operation reached a depth of 1,400 feet. The self-guided tour allows the visitor to reach the first level of the mine via 100 feet of stairs. 1,700 feet of tunnels can be explored. Visitors can see veins of copper exposed on the walls of the mine. The surface property of the mine includes walking trails that take visitors past original mine buildings, equipment displays, antique engines and trains, a petting zoo and gift shop. The gift shop features locally made items and rock and mineral specimens. The Delaware Copper Mine is open seven days a week from mid-May to mid-October. Visitors should allow at least one hour for the self-guided tour. For details, visit www.keweenawheritagesites.org or call (906)289-4688.
Other Mining Sites he Copper Range Historical Society and Museum is located in South Range. The museum collection includes exhibits related to the social and mining life in the range towns of southern Houghton County. The museum is open during June, July and August and other times by appointment. For details, visit www.pasty. com/crhm or call (906)482-6125. The Keweenaw County Historical Society maintains 11 sites in Keweenaw County. The Eagle Harbor Lighthouse Museum Complex includes the lighthouse, the Keweenaw History, Marine and Commercial Fishing Mu-
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seums. Other sites operated by the organization include the Rathbone School, Eagle Harbor Lifesaving Station, Central Mine, Phoenix Church, Bammert Blacksmith Shop, Eagle River Museum and the historic Gay School. The Bammert Blacksmith was built on the Cliff Mine location in the 1880s. In 1906, the shop was moved to Phoenix. Amos Bammert operated the shop until 1940. The shop was donated to the society by his grandsons in 1998. The shop is undergoing extensive repair work and all the building’s contents are in storage until restoration is complete. Central Mine operated from 1854 to 1989 and produced almost 52 million pounds of copper. The Keweenaw County Historical Society maintains three buildings that are open to the public. The Central Mine Visitor’s Center is located about five miles northeast of Phoenix, just north of the intersection of US-41 and the Central-Gratiot Lake Roads. The society secured 38 acres of the old Central site. Residences in the community are being restored. The visitor’s center includes interpretive exhibits about the mine and social life in the community. In 2005, two hiking trails were opened and provide an active way to visit some of the various mine sites. One trail is a quarter of a mile while the second is a half mile. The site also includes the Central Memorial Garden directly across the street from the
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visitor’s center. Descendants of Central Mining families stage an annual reunion on the last Sunday in July at the old Methodist Episcopal Church. The church was built in 1868 and features a distinctive tower that reflects the Cornish ancestry of many original Central families. The Central Mine property is open to the public year-round, but visitors should be courteous of the residents who reside on the property. The visitor’s center and museum buildings are open mid-June through early October. For details, visit www.keweenawhistory.org or call (906)289-4990. The are more historic mining sites in the Keweenaw Peninsula, including Copper Country Ghost Towns, Keweenaw National Historic Park and Copper Country Trail National Byway, which can be found via the Keweenaw Convention and Visitor’s Bureau’s website, www.keweenaw. info COVID-19 protocols and a surge in tourism over the past two years have impacted all tourist destinations in the Upper Peninsula. Many of the sites detailed in this article are in the early stages of planning for summer visitors, so it is best to visit the social
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media or websites for each venue or call to verify open hours and any visitor restrictions. Most sites also request that visitors wear sturdy, closed toe shoes, limit loose fitting clothing and bring a jacket or sweatshirt, especially if you will be going on an underground tour where temperatures may be in the low 40s. Many attractions offer advance ticket sales, and it is not uncommon to find available tours have been sold out in advance of arrival. If your heart is set on taking in a specific experience, it is best to contact the venue and verify that you will be able to fully experience everything you want to do. MM About the Author: 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, finally hanging up her formal work shoes in May 2021. She and her husband Ralph are in the process of making an off-grid cabin in Nisula their second home.
April VanAbel provides reference for the true-to-size replica of the Ontonagon Boulder at the Ontonagon County Historical Society. (Photo courtesy of Dean Juntunen and the Ontonagon County Historical Society)
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at the table
A dandelion: It’s what’s for dinner?
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By Katherine Larson id you celebrate National Dandelion Day on April 5? If you missed it, it’s not too late to do so now. In fact, in our climate, May is a better month for dandelions anyway. Dandelions are worth celebrating. Those readers who chafe at the sight of a dandelion on their lawn may think I’m nuts, but my theory is: don’t fight it, eat it. Yes, eat it. Dandelions are tasty and nutritious, which is actually more than one can say about grass. From their flowers to their roots, all parts of the plant are said to contribute to a healthy diet. Indeed, the type of dandelions that are most pervasive across North America today were actually introduced here intentionally by European immigrants who wanted to take advantage of these nutritional powerhouses. The French in the north, the Pilgrims on the Atlantic coast, and the Spanish in the southwest all brought dandelions with them. In fact, the English name “dandelion” comes from the French dent de lion, or lion’s tooth, a reference to the leaves’ jagged shape, which in turn comes from the ancient Greek leontodon. (An earthier French name, pissenlit, refers to the plant’s diuretic properties.) In the republican calendar adopted by the French in the throes of their revolution, the 26th day of the month called ventôse was officially named jour du Pissenlit. The European colonizers pulled from an old tradition: dandelions were cultivated and used by ancient Greeks, Romans, Egyptians and Chinese as remedies for illnesses including liver problems, gastrointestinal distress, fluid retention and skin ailments. They had good reason, as this tasty vegetable is packed with vitamins, anti-oxidants and calcium. Dandelions also provide a side benefit: erosion control. Whether you love dandelions or hate them, you probably know that their roots are long, strong and deep. If your all-grass lawn shows an unfortunate tendency to slide downhill in the spring floods (grass has notoriously shallow roots) consider welcoming in some dandelions to help hold everything in place. But this column is about food, not gardening. So let’s talk food. I’ll start in the middle with the leaves, because they are what I know (and like) best. For dandelion leaves,
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Area stores sell dandelions, as do area farmers. The plants have medicinal properties, as well as nutritional value. (Photo by Scot Stewart)
you don’t even need to tolerate them in your garden. Area stores sell them; so do area farmers, once the Downtown Marquette Farmers Market reopens on May 21. If you’re picking them yourself, choose a site that hasn’t been sprayed. Tiny leaves are less bitter, big ones more so, postbloom leaves more bitter still, but all can be flavorful and nutritious. The little leaves are a delight in a salad, tossed among a variety of other spring greens. An all-dandelion salad probably needs a little mellowing— say, with a hot bacon vinaigrette. If you’re looking for a way to serve deviled eggs, this dandelion-and-bacon salad provides an especially welcoming nest for those tasty morsels. I like larger dandelion leaves in my family’s favorite tart of seasonal greens (sort of a green-intensive quiche); here, wilting the leaves in olive oil tames any troublesome bitterness. Or colcannon, the classic Irish dish made by mashing potatoes together with chopped fresh greens. To keep it healthy, use olive oil instead of butter when mashing the potatoes and add a slosh of the potato-cooking water if necessary to get the right texture. Then stir in a lot of finely-chopped dandelion leaves plus salt and pepper to taste, perhaps with some sautéed minced green onion and garlic if the fancy so takes you. Finally, turn the whole thing into
an ovenproof dish, sprinkle it with breadcrumbs and a little more olive oil and brown it in a 400-degree oven for about 15 minutes. With small dandelion greens, that’s all you have to do; those last 15 minutes are just the right amount of time to prepare a chicken breast or pork tenderloin or something—maybe a wedge of good sharp Irish cheddar if you want this to be a meatless meal. When the greens are larger and more bitter, I prefer to toss the chopped greens into the pot with the potatoes for the last 30 seconds of boiling to mellow them, then continue with the recipe as above. Either way, the dish is a winner. Finally, here’s a way to let dandelion greens truly shine. Slice up a couple of onions nice and thin. Sauté them in olive oil for about ten minutes, until they’re golden, then remove half the onions from the pan and set them aside. Sauté the other half for another five minutes or so until they’re crispy and brown, then decant them onto paper towels to drain. Now it’s time for a good big bunch of dandelion greens, which you chopped up while the onions were sautéing. Put them in the pan with the reserved golden onions along with a clove or two of garlic, minced, and let them cook together for about five minutes until the dandelions are soft to the bite. Stir in a tablespoon of fresh lemon juice and salt and pepper
to taste, then serve with more lemon on chain, if you don’t mind the stems’ wedges and the crispy brown onions milky fluid. sprinkled over the greens. Extra lemHow about dandelion roots? When on wedges on the side are nice, par- the French want to say their equivaticularly if you’re serving this dish lent to the sardonic American phrase with something like fresh-caught fish, “pushing up daisies,” they use manfreshly fried... ger des pissenlits par la racine, or eatOh, the leaves are delicious! And ing dandelions by the roots. But does the stalks from which the leaves grow? anyone with a choice ever eat them? They can be pickled like chard stems Well, I want to maintain my credin vinegar with, say, peppercorns, all- ibility with you. I could tell you that spice, coriander, mustard seeds, chili people make ersatz coffee from danpepper flakes and a bay leaf. Or per- delion roots—which is true—but haps onion, garlic and dill. Just don’t that doesn’t mean I recommend it. I forget to add enough sugar to cut the could tell you that people make wine bitterness. from dandelion roots—again true— Moving up on the plant to the but once more this is not something flower, alluring photographs of dan- I choose to put my name behind. I delion-flower fritters fill the Internet. could tell you that people assert danSo do recipes, almost all of which delion root shrub makes a refreshing involve the type of thick fritter batter if bitter drink, but I can’t actually test reminiscent of county fairs. it before my deadline; the roots are I’m not big on deep-frying and deep in frozen mud. Or I could just even less fond of that sort of batter, leave them in the ground to hold back and in any case the exigencies of the erosion. magazine business mean that I’m I choose Option 4. If you go for the writing this article with snow still on shrub, let me know. the ground. I therefore enlisted a sisHappy (belated) Dandelion Day! ter who lives in California and who MM photographed the dandelions that accompany this article. She courageous- About the Author: Katherine Larson ly undertook to fry up some of those is a writer, teacher and former lawyer cheerful yellow flowers from a patch with a special passion for food justice. of ground that she knew hadn’t been sprayed with insecticide. She counsels cooking the flowers right after they’ve been picked and thoroughly washed because, as she found, they close up if one waits. After she dipped them in a little seasoned flour, she wrote, “they sizzled beautifully in a little olive oil, so that part of the experiment definitely worked.” In the end, though, the result disappointed: both she and her husband “found the flowers too bitter to enjoy.” I guess that if you want to try this yourself, you’ll have to go with something like Martha Stewart’s thick fried batter. Or you can use the flowers to make a pale yellow dye. All parts of the dandelion have a purpose, from food Or make a dandeli- to dye. (Photo courtesy of Jacqueline Wender)
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locals Miner leans on history in training, archaeology success
Anything but Amateur
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By Erin Elliott Bryan egaunee resident Jim Paquette is a self-proclaimed history nerd. “It always was important to me,” he said. “I found it exciting.” Paquette’s lifelong interest has translated into a rich and varied life of researching and understanding local history, including that of the iron ore mines and the people who lived here first—all in addition to a distinguished 35-year career at Cleveland-Cliffs. For decades, Paquette has shared what he’s learned with others through writing and speaking. But his hard work has also made significant and wide-reaching impacts on mine safety and labor journalism, as well as how archaeologists and historians understand the pre-history of the Upper Peninsula. “I always wanted to learn more about local history, but I had to be a pioneer,” Paquette said. “As members of a community, my history isn’t that far from your history. Who we were is who we are.” Paquette was born in Ishpeming and lived there until he was four years old, when the family moved to Negaunee. For him, his own history begins with his beloved paternal grandfather, Medolph Paquette, who often described himself as a “French-Indian,” which is now known as Métis, a person of mixed First Nation and European heritage. Paquette described his
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In 2003, Paquette discovered a 10,000-year-old spearpoint on Silver Lake, changing the local history narrative. (Photo courtesy of Jim Paquette)
grandfather, a World War I veteran, as a soft spoken and kind man who told stories about his past. In a November/December 2019 article Paquette wrote for Michigan History magazine, titled “Taking a Stand at the Vista Theater,” he recalled spending part of his summer vacations with his grandparents and extended family in Kingsford. In the article, he called his grandfather his “greatest childhood hero,” who was proud of who he was.
During Summer 2013, an excavation team worked at the famed Goose Lake Outlet (GLO#3) site, including Dr. Marla Buckmaster, Dr. Terry Martin, Paquette and Dr. John Anderton. (Photo courtesy of Jim Paquette)
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Paquette graduated from Negaunee High School in 1970. He graduated from Northern Michigan University in 1974 with a bachelor’s degree in social services and a minor in history. Paquette said he had opportunities to leave the area to pursue a social work career, but he decided to stay near his close-knit, loving family. Though he had two job offers for social work positions in Marquette County, he reluctantly took a job at Cleveland-Cliff’s Tilden Mine as it offered better pay and benefits to support his growing family. He married his high school sweetheart, Karen, and they had already welcomed the first of their four daughters. He told Karen he would give it a month. “We’ll see how it goes,” Paquette told her. He retired from the company in 2009—after 35 years. During his time at Cleveland-Cliff’s, Paquette recognized that he could use his social work background and communication skills to build important relationships. That soon led to his involvement with the United Steelworkers union. Paquette served as the union’s grievance committee chairperson, the mine safety and health committee
advocate and the safety committee chairperson at the Tilden Mine. “I actually read contracts and safety rules,” Paquette said. For the first half of his career and through his service with the union, Paquette was a passionate and devoted advocate for his fellow miners and made mine safety a top priority. He also became involved with union publications, writing a lot about local mining history. Paquette was the founder and editor of The Iron Mine Informer; and founder, editor and writer of The Miner’s Voice, which was first published in 1982 and won numerous international awards. He credits his NMU history professors for teaching him “to do the right things,” such as proper research methods and how to distinguish truth from opinion. Paquette shared writing duties for The Miner’s Voice with his childhood neighbor and best friend, Mike Prusi. “We were both ardent unionists and good communicators, so we partnered up to publish a monthly newspaper to both inform and to motivate,” Paquette said. Prusi, of course, went on to serve as a Democratic representative and later senator in the Michigan legislature. Paquette was recognized with the 1988 Human Rights Special Award by the United Steelworkers for a special historical edition of The Miner’s Voice that commemorated the 1946 iron ore miner’s strike on the Marquette Iron Range. He also earned the United Steelworkers Press Asso-
ciation’s Lloyd McBride Award “for outstanding achievement in the field of labor journalism,” and the United Steelworkers Award of Excellence for Safety and Health Journalism for researching, authoring and publishing a series of articles on several early 20th-century mining disasters in the Negaunee mining district. “That’s when I realized the importance of local history,” Paquette said. At the mid-point of his career, when managers were retiring and new management styles were being implemented in an effort to improve the culture at the Tilden, Paquette was invited to become a salaried employee as a way to create “change from the inside.” When he made the transition, Paquette was tasked with taking over the maintenance department at the Tilden Mine, which had been deemed the worst department in terms of safety and budget. Again, he relied on his social work background to manage a diverse group of employees. Under Paquette’s leadership, the department was the first to incorporate computers. Some of his employees didn’t even graduate from high school, but Paquette recognized those who were able to pick up the new technology. “We had to do it all ourselves, there was no IT department,” he said. “We pulled it off.” Paquette was also the first to bring two women to work in the maintenance department, which was beneficial for everyone. An internal audit
Jim and Karen Paquette celebrate his retirement in 2009, after 35 years with Cleveland-Cliffs. (Photo courtesy of Jim Paquette)
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later found the department to be the No. 1 maintenance department in the entire company. “I understand people and I can communicate,” Paquette said. “What you see is what you get. I’m always going to tell you the truth.” Paquette led countless safety trainings as a certified federal mine safety and health administration instructor where he impressed upon employees how important it is to “get home at the end of the shift.” Drawing on his interest and knowledge of mine history and mine safety, Paquette spoke often of the Barnes-Hecker Disaster, which claimed the lives of 50 Ishpeming and West Ishpeming miners and the county mine inspector in 1926. That tragedy is still the worst iron ore mining accident in the United States. He would train employees in groups of about 25 and said that at least one person in each group was related to a victim of the Barnes-Hecker, noting that “there are a lot of the same names as people who are still here.” He used the story of the Barnes-Hecker to make mine safety personal for the current employees. “We have to honor [the miners’] sacrifice,” Paquette often told employees. “Don’t make your wife a widow.” Paquette has also spoken publicly about the disaster and said talking about the miners who were lost is like giving a eulogy. He calls the widows who somehow managed to survive and move on “the real heroes.” Paquette managed Cliffs Michigan Mining Company’s accident and incident investigation system and was one of the creators of the Root Cause Analysis system. Using that system, he recently completed the first professional investigation into the Barnes-Hecker Disaster and will offer the results at an upcoming presentation at the Marquette County Regional History Center on Wednesday, May 25. The presentation will also be filmed by NMU.
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“No one was held accountable for the Barnes-Hecker,” Paquette said. “It will make a difference to the families. They haven’t had closure almost 100 years later. A few things went wrong, but we had to prove it. The records were all there—I just pieced it together. It’s not the end, it’s just the next step.” When he retired in 2009, Paquette had worked his way up to be the senior staff development and safety training representative in the human resources department at Cliffs Michigan Mining Operations, which included both the Tilden and Empire mines. “We went from having some of the most unsafe iron ore mines to now Cliffs’ mines are the safest in the world,” he said. In the midst of his time at Cleveland-Cliffs, in the mid-1980s, Paquette returned to his own history and genealogy. Inspired by his grandfather, he revisited his childhood interest in his Native American ancestry and began studying archaeology on his own. “My passion was to go back in time and see who I really was,” Paquette said. Medolph Paquette had always said the family was “Indian through grandmothers,” and possibly had both Ojibwe and Iroquois ancestry, despite the two tribes engaging in land disputes and full-fledged warfare. Through extensive research, Paquette was able to verify that his grandfather had been correct about the family’s lineage. But Paquette also wanted to discover how the story of his own family connected to the larger story of Paleo-Indians living in the Ishpeming-Negaunee area. Through research and writing articles for several magazines, Paquette discovered that nothing had been done on the pre-history of the area. There had been no archaeological excavations in Marquette County and very few in the Upper Peninsula. “The professionals said there’s
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Paquette and John Gorto at the site of their historic discovery at the 10,000-year-old Deer Lake Basin site. (Photo courtesy of Jim Paquette)
nothing there,” Paquette said. “The archaeologists said [I] wouldn’t find anything—but no one had ever looked.” On his birthday, May 12, in 1984, Paquette, who described himself as a “rank amateur,” took his metal detector to the north shore of Teal Lake. Within 30 minutes, he found copper tools scattered along walking paths. Researchers from NMU later excavated the site and the tools were dated to between 3,000 and 5,000 years old. “They didn’t find the same things as the rest of Michigan,” Paquette said. “They were closer to what was found in Wisconsin and Minnesota.” He was told that finding something
older wasn’t possible, but Paquette didn’t like that answer. He was certain that he could find diagnostic evidence—namely, a spearpoint—of Paleo-Indians living in the area more than 10,000 years ago. He explained that the design of spearpoints changed with the evolution of Native American cultures and there were very specific spearpoints that would indicate the presence of Paleo-Indians. In May 1986, Ishpeming’s Deer Lake was drained due to mercury contamination. On March 21, 1987, Paquette and his friend, John Gorto, walked out to the north shore and found several Paleo-Indian spear-
points simply laying in the rocks. The 10,000-year-old Gorto site, as it is now known, was documented by the Michigan Office of the State Archaeologist, and the discovery is the earliest archaeological evidence of human occupation in the Upper Peninsula. It was a game changer, helping to prove that ancient Paleo-Indian people had lived in the area since the end of the last ice age. “It was the absolute proof and the most important discovery in the Upper Great Lakes,” Paquette said. But Paquette wasn’t finished. He later found stone tools at Silver Lake in 2002, as well as ancient spearpoints there in 2003 and 2004. He also searched near Goose Lake in the summer of 2013 and found Jesuit brass rings that dated back to the 1630s, which were found with moose bones, stone tools and other French trade items. That constitutes the earliest archaeological evidence of early to mid-17th century French contact with First Nation People in Michigan. Paquette co-authored and published archaeological research papers about the projects and participated in other field surveys and site excavations with NMU professors. He published the book The Find of a Thousand Lifetimes: The Story of the Gorto Discovery Site in 2005. Everything that has been found is donated to museums where it is properly cataloged and respected. “It’s the connection I feel with the people who lived here,” Paquette said. “I can’t help but think of the person
Paquette with daughters Nicole and Jill, marching for the Steelworkers Union in a parade in the early 1980s. (Photo courtesy of Jim Paquette).
who held it last. I feel that magic; it goes to the tips of my toes.” And that connection continues to be felt in Paquette’s own family today. He and his wife have four daughters, Nicole, Jill, Jodi and Kerri, as well as eight grandchildren, all of whom live in Ishpeming and Negaunee. They continue to be close and a lot of time is spent outdoors—at camp during the summer—where the family gardens, fishes and hunts. “We honor our ancestors by filling our freezer with deer meat,” Paquette said, noting that his family lives what he calls a traditional Yooper
Métis lifestyle. “The most important thing in life is my family. How good life can be if you keep it simple and be nice to people.” Paquette expressed his longtime appreciation to those who volunteer at local museums and historical societies, both past and present, who work hard to record the history of our area. He has also had opportunities to serve, including as a Great Lakes Métis and Upper Peninsula regional representative on the board of trustees of the Historical Society of Michigan; president and member of the board of trustees of the Marquette Region-
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al History Center and Museum; and former president and member of the board of trustees of the Negaunee Historical Society. He currently serves on the Michigan Iron Industry Museum Advisory Board as an appointee of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer; an archaeology/cultural resource consultant to the Marquette Regional History Center and Museum; the heritage and archaeological advisor for the Voyageur Métis Muskrat Community/Métis Community of the St. Clair Region/Métis Nation of Canada, which covers Ontario and the western U.S. Great Lakes region; and the Title VII Indian Education Program instructor in local Marquette County schools. Even in retirement, Paquette continues to write and speak, sharing everything he has learned about our shared community and our shared history. “My interest in our history was always there, and there’s a need for it,” he said. “I have to do it right and share it with this generation.” “Why? The Untold Story of the Barnes-Hecker Mine Disaster” will start at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, May 25 at the Marquette Regional History Center. Paquette will offer a 90-minute program followed by a Q&A session. There is a $5 suggested donation; call (906)226-3571 for details. MM About the Author: Erin Elliott Bryan grew up in Ishpeming, and was the MM calendar editor from 2001 to 2005. She is now a freelance writer.
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back then
Skandia Township man defies death on Antarctic odyssey
“I
By Sonny Longtine never felt so sure of anything in my life as I did of death at night.” These are the words of William Bakewell as he sailed the turbulent Scotia Sea in a small, unseaworthy craft for five days in Antarctic waters. He and his companions searched for Elephant Island, a small, but desperately needed piece of terra firma; if they missed the Island, death at sea was a certainty. This was the unbelievable odyssey from 1914 to 1916 of Dukes’ (Skandia Township) resident William Bakewell’s near two-year nightmare at the frigid South Pole, where his ship (The Endurance) became mired in ice and eventually William Bakewell survived a two-year nightsank off the Antarctic mare in Antarctica on The Endurance. (Photo coast in the Weddell Sea. courtesy of Elizabeth Bakewell Rajala) Bakewell survived alternately on then went to Grand Marais, where he an Antarctic ice-flow, a barren rock, had his first taste of the adult world as a snow-covered island and in a small a lumberjack. Red Squirrel Whiskey, 20-foot boat in a treacherous open sea. wild women and fisticuffs ushered Bakewell and 27 other survivors en- the five-foot-five-inch, 130-pound dured below zero temperature, eating Bakewell into the lumberjack’s roughnothing but penguins, seals and dogs. and-tumble world. William Bakewell was an extraorThe itch to move again gnawed at dinary man with adventure and travel his spirit, and he headed north to Canetched in his heart. Born in Joliet, Illi- ada. The slight but sturdy Bakewell nois in l888, Bakewell established his became a seasoned woodsman while wanderlust early in life, when at seven in Canada. He traveled a hundred years of age he hopped a railroad box- miles through uncharted forests in the car and rode it 100 miles. At 11 years middle of winter, with only a nap sack of age he took to the rails again and of minimal supplies. He was always traveled 400 miles to Southern Mis- confident of his survival. He worked souri. At 15, he left home for good at lumber camps in Canada for two and began to travel the world. It was years before returning to the United not because his home life was so ter- States. rible, rather he didn’t care for school Montana was the 18-year-old noand wanted to see wide-open spaces. madic Bakewell’s next stop. There The first stop on his worldwide he acquired cowboy skills, and again quest was Seney, Michigan, where he demonstrated his willingness to learn arrived with less than a dollar in his something new in order to survive. pocket. Bakewell worked as a lumOn to California he went, at the age berjack at Seney for three months, and of 25, where he signed on as an able
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seaman for the British full-rigged ship Philadelphia. A self-assured Bakewell said, “I had some nerve signing on as an able seaman, as I had little sailing experience, but I was pretty handy with a rope and good at climbing, so I made out all right.” The world was now Bakewell’s venue; he sailed to ports in Africa, Europe and South America. His gypsy journey came to a sudden halt in Montevideo, Uruguay, where his ship ran aground and was badly damaged. Now stranded, Bakewell looked for another ship on which to apply his seaman skills. He went to Buenos Aries, Argentina, where he saw, anchored in the harbor the three-mast Endurance; he had an instant “love affair” with the ship. Fortunately for Bakewell, the ship’s commander, Ernest Shackleton, was in need of a seaman to replace the one he had just fired. Bakewell immediately applied for the position, and after an extensive interview with Shackleton, he was hired. Little did Bakewell know that he had just signed on for a journey that would become one of the greatest sea sagas of the 20th century. The Endurance was ready to set sail for the Antarctic, where it would
anchor in the Weddell Sea, close to the ice-covered rocky continent. Shackleton’s plan was a 1,500-mile trek across the continent to the Ross Sea, on foot with sled dogs. Shackleton left Buenos Aires on the Endurance in October, and sailed to their first stop at a whaling station on South Georgia, an Island located in the South Atlantic, and not a great distance from the Antarctic continent. After a month’s stay in South Georgia, the Endurance again set sail to the Antarctic on December 5, 1914. In addition to Shackleton and his 27 men, the Endurance had over sixty sled dogs. “We had plenty of food and clothing and were one of the best equipped expeditions to ever go south,” Bakewell said. They journeyed south and made anywhere from a couple of miles a day up to ten or fifteen miles a day, depending on the thickness of the pack ice. In some places barrier ice was higher than the ship’s mast. On January 30, 1915, about twenty miles from their destination, they became mired in impenetrable pack ice. Unable to move, they knew they were frozen in for the winter. At this point, no one on board the
The Endurance, built with the best materials of the time, was constructed to withstand the most threatening Antarctic ice packs. Its wreckage was found in March 2022. (Photos courtesy of Elizabeth Bakewell Rajala)
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William Bakewell’s home still stands in Dukes. (Photo by Sonny Longtine)
Endurance was concerned. The plan was to camp on the ice-bound ship until spring, when a thaw would release the boat from its icy grip. For the next several months, the crew occupied their time gathering penguins and seals for food, for themselves as well as for the dogs. They bided their time until spring by reading the many books on board the ship, or playing a creative game of ice football. This semi-idyllic existence, however, became worrisome in early spring, when huge, high icebergs began their routine springtime movement; the Endurance would be its victim. The tremendous pressure on the beleaguered ice captive vessel caused the vulnerable ship’s hull to moan and groan under the constant strain of ice pressure. Finally, the unthinkable happened. On October 27, with unbelievable force from ice, the hull of the Endurance was slowly crushed and finally gave way. The now partially sunk ship was unusable and all hands were forced to leave the boat and camp on the ice. Part of the ship remained in tatters on the ice until November 21, when its remnants unceremoniously slipped quietly to the bottom of the Antarctic Ocean. Bakewell said of the ship’s demise, “There was an odd lump in my throat and I felt lonely.” The nearest land was Paulette Island, some 35 miles away. For the next six months, the crew of the Endurance, along with three small lifeboats they had salvaged, floated north for 1,500 miles on pack ice until they reached open water. While en route on their unsolicited migration north, they ate seals, penguins and finally the younger dogs that they had meticulously cared for. Bakewell said, “They were much better eating than the seals or penguins, but we did not relish it.” Having missed Paulette Island and now on the perimeter of the open wa-
ter, they launched their three small crafts and headed north to Elephant Island. After a harrowing five-day journey north, in below zero temperatures and in ice-clad clothing, they reached the foreboding island. It was an ice-covered jagged rock with outcroppings reaching skyward for 2,000 feet. After a rough landing on a rocky beach, they made a shelter using the lifeboats as a roof. It was their first time on land in 497 days. They were ecstatic. Shackleton knew they would not be rescued from Elephant Island; no one in the civilized world had any idea if they were dead or alive, much less where they were. With this in mind, he and five others readied the 22-foot James Carid, a small lifeboat rigged with a crude, leaky deck cover and a handmade sail. Shackleton would now set out on one of the most precarious voyages ever undertaken: an 800-mile trip in the perilous south Atlantic, to South Georgia Island, to get help at a Norwegian whaling station. Miraculously, after a nerve-racking 17-day voyage, they arrived at South Georgia Island―but on the opposite side of where the whaling station was located. Shackleton and two companions embarked on a journey over the island’s uncharted 10,000-foot peaks to get help. Modern day climbers with all the latest technological climbing accoutrements would have a difficult time with this trip, but with undeniable tenacity and a belief in himself, the exhausted Shackleton and his companions reached the whaling station. Meanwhile, Bakewell and the 22 men left on Elephant Island were uncertain if Shackleton had made it to South Georgia. As the months dragged on, they feared that he had perished in the punishing sea on the arduous journey. Shackleton, in the meantime, had made several attempts to return to Elephant Island and res-
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cue his courageous band. But pack ice thwarted three attempts to get to Elephant Island. Finally, on the fourth trip, some four months after he had arrived on South Georgia, enough ice had dissipated to land at Elephant Island. Upon seeing Shackleton approach the abandoned crew in his lifeboat, the besieged seaman gave a rousing cheer. “It was like seeing someone back from the dead,” Bakewell said. “When we got on board Shackleton’s ship the Yelco, we noticed the crewmen on board stayed away from us. It was then we realized that we hadn’t bathed or changed clothes in 10 months and that we were not carrying an Eau de Cologne odor with us.” Bakewell never wavered in his commitment and confidence in Shackleton’s skill to extract them from their ordeal. Bakewell, like Shackleton, never complained and always pushed forward; he personified perseverance in the face of overwhelming odds. Bakewell continued his worldwide globetrotting after the Endurance experience, but eventually, in 1945 at the age 57, moved to a farm in Dukes, a small farming community in Mich-
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igan’s Upper Peninsula. He spent the remainder of his life there, dying in 1969 at the age of 81. Prior to his death, he was fortunate enough to attend an Endurance reunion in London, some 50 years after the famed expedition, where he received the George Medal, an English award granted to those who have demonstrated courage and bravery. Later, a pleased Bakewell found out that a small island on the Antarctic coast was named after him. With courage beyond belief and the leadership of Ernest Shackleton, all 27 seaman miraculously survived the harrowing expedition. Shackleton died of heart attack on his next Antarctica voyage―he was 47. Bakewell said of the Upper Peninsula, “I love this country up here, and I promised myself I would come back—and here I am!” MM About the Author: Sonny Longtine is a Marquette resident who has published eight books about the Upper Peninsula. For more than three decades he taught American history and government in Michigan schools.
The route of Shackleton’s precarious expedition, in which William Bakewell of Dukes participated. (Illustration courtesy of James Cartera)
the arts
Male chorus celebrates 90th anniversary
M
By Ann Dallman ark your calendars for the evening of Saturday, May 14 when the Negaunee Male Chorus will present its first Spring Concert in three years. The event will be held at 7 p.m. in the W.C. Peterson Auditorium of Ishpeming High School. “We’re all pretty excited,” said Dennis Dompierre, chorus historian. “We’re hoping for an audience of at least 600 to 700.” That number will easily fit in the auditorium which seats 1,100. “The program will be varied with something for everyone from the upbeat to the mellow,” Dompierre said. Included will be “Juanita,” a selection dating to 1931. “I love it,” Dompierre said. “It has neat chords. It’s hard to describe—it’s beautiful. It was published originally in 1853, but not the arrangement we’re singing. I think it was Vicki’s idea to include the number as it was sung in our very first concert.” Vicki Lempinen has been the cho-
The Negaunee Male Chorus will perform on May 14 in Ishpeming. (Photo courtesy of Negaunee Male Chorus)
rus director since 2003. “She’s done lots of good things for the chorus and has an extensive musical background,” Dompierre said. “Linda Hurrell, an accomplished musician in her own right with years of experience as both an accompanist and piano teacher, will accompany us. Linda has accompanied the chorus since 2004.”
Included in the program will be small ensembles of six to eight members who will sing several selections. Strictly Gospel, a well-respected group comprised of chorus members who have been singing gospel music together for more than 35 years, will also perform. Another highlight of the evening’s performance will be “American Sa-
May 2022
lute,” offering a medley of selections including: “America,” “When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again,” “Shenandoah,” and “Battle Hymn of the Republic.” The program will also include: “Brothers, Sing On,” “The Creation” (where a quiet beginning builds to a triple forte or very loud ending), “Nessun Dorma” (taken from the op-
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The male chorus in 1938-39. (Photo courtesy of Negaunee Male Chorus)
era, “Turandot”), “Lullaby,” “Step to is bass. the Rear” and “Order My Steps.” The chorus currently has 42 mem“Singing ‘The Creation’ gives bers. The youngest is 25 years old and me goose bumps,” Dompierre said. started at age 18. The oldest member “They’re not written like this any- is 78 years old. more. And ‘Step to the Rear’ is a rous“We enjoy a wide range in the ages ing one for a male chorus.” of our membership,” Dompierre said. According to Wikipedia, “a men’s “But we’d like to get more young men chorus or male voice choir is a choir involved. The more young folks we consisting of men who sing with ei- can get in now, the better off we’ll be ther a tenor or bass voice, and whose in the future.” music is typically arranged into high The chorus’s history dates back to and low tenors (1st and 2nd tenor) and 1930 when Eino Hutander planted the high and low basses (1st and 2nd bass; seed, according to Dompierre. or baritone and bass).” “He approached three other men The Negaunee Chorus has six first who he knew liked to sing,” Domptenors. ierre said. “They all agreed it was a “They can get high up in the strato- good idea and they then gathered sphere and more men until they’re pretty the group numgood,” Dompbered 16. They ierre said. “We wanted to lift have 11 lead the spirits of tenors or secthe community ond tenors during the Dewho sing in pression.” the mid-range. Thus, the We’re usually Negaunee Male the ones with Chorus was the melody. born, with its Our baritones first concert are very good. in May 1931. They don’t The musical necessarily alselections for ways have the that inaugural prettiest part, program came but they are from the Blue definitely needBook of Songs ed. I give 100 Joe Phillips, a founder of the group, found in the and its first historian. (Photo courtesy percent credit of the Negaunee Male Chorus) Negaunee High to all 11 of our School music baritones. And, we have about a doz- room. The group has been holding reen members who sing bass.” hearsals there since its first rehearsal Baritone is the range between tenor in January 1931. and bass. The lowest male voice type “Negaunee schools have been very
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nice to us,” Dompierre said. “After 92 years, we’re still there.” Joe Phillips was one of the founders of the Negaunee Male Chorus. He was the group’s original historian and sang with the chorus for more than 60 years. Dompierre, who joined the chorus in 1992, has fond memories of the Big Sing held in 1993 in Lakeview Arena in Marquette. “It was billed as 1,000 voices, and choruses came from the Upper Peninsula, Lower Peninsula, Minnesota, New York, North Dakota, Wisconsin and Canada,” he said. “To hear those voices together was thrilling. Each chorus sang two or three individual selections, then we also sang en masse. Nothing on that scale has been done since then.” Few communities are fortunate enough to have a male chorus to call their own. “We continue to exist because we have community support from folks in Negaunee and the surrounding communities,” Dompierre said. “We’d like to give a shout out to everyone who has supported the chorus over the years and we hope we can count on that support for another 92 years. There’s just something about a four-part male chorus sound you can’t hear anywhere else.” He said members have a lot of fun and that there’s a lot of camaraderie within the group. Summer picnics are held. Years ago, in 1950 or 1951, a white elephant gift exchange was part of that summer’s picnic. One member, being new to the concept, searched for, found and purchased a ceramic white elephant statue as his contribution. That started a new picnic tradition of drawing a name from a hat
A recording of the chorus at the 1973 Big Sing will be on display during the anniversary concert. (Photo courtesy of the Negaunee Male Chorus).
to determine each summer’s winner. That person then has the honor of having his name written on the elephant and brings the elephant to his home for the next year. A display will be set up in the Ishpeming High School’s Commons areas for concert-goers to view prior to the performance. Included will be the chorus’s white elephant, photos of current and former members, a director’s tuxedo worn by Charles Phare, who directed the chorus from 195663, and a historical timeline of the chorus compiled by chorus member Mike Lempinen. Also included will be an album the group recorded April 28, 1973 in Negaunee. Tickets are priced at $10 for adults, and $5 for children ages five to 10. Children younger than five will be admitted free. Tickets will be avail-
able at the door, and at Ace Hardware, TruNorth Credit Union and Jubilee Foods in Ishpeming, and at Super One Foods and Smarty’s Saloon in Negaunee. Proceeds will be used to defray chorus costs and to award local scholarships. MM About the Author: Ann Dallman loves delving into “the story behind the story” and is a freelance writer. Her first Middle Grade novel, Cady and the Bear Necklace, received the Historical Society of Michigan State History Award, Midwest Book Award, New Mexico-Arizona Book Award and was a Next Generation Indie Book Award Finalist. Her second book in the series, Cady and the Birchbark Box, will be published by LH Press, Inc. in the spring.
The Strictly Gospel group, at left, shown with director Vicki Lempinen. At right, the white elephant from the 1950s will be on display at the anniversary concert on May 14. (Photos courtesy of Negaunee Male Chorus)
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lookout point
Delta County celebrates
D
By Brad Gischia o you have a comic book collection sitting beneath your basement stairs? Perhaps a crate of Black Sabbath records your parents collected? Or maybe you have an Iron Man costume you’ve been building in the evenings and you want to show it off. Look no further. Bay-Con, a pop culture convention at Bay College in Escanaba, is the place for you. The event will be in Room 952 of the Joseph Hierman University Center and doors will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, May 21. The convention is the brainchild of Dave Laur, Director of Student Life at
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Bay College. “We started talking about it in 2019 with some of the student organizations, but then the pandemic hit,” Laur said. “Now we’re opening back up and we’re so excited to do it.” There is no pop culture convention in the Upper Peninsula at this time, so Dave—and several student organizations—are breaking new ground. “Right now Gaming Galaxy, our video game club, and Campus Activities Board (CAB) are the main organizations running the show, but the Anime Club is helping out on the periphery,” Laur said. The show is happening on May 21, two weeks after the winter semester
ends, but Laur isn’t worried about kids sticking around. “Given how much everyone is chomping at the bit to get out and do things again, and having an event like this in the area, we decided to go forward with it, even though it’s after our winter semester ends,” he said. Running such events with student organizations can be challenging, given the static nature of student life, but Laur has found that the influx of new students is a plus. “Each year we have students that are excited about certain passion areas, and then when they graduate or move on, other students come in with different ideas,” Laur said. “But
Bay-Con coordinator Dave Laur has his own collection, from games to music. (Photo courtesy of Dave Laur).
May 2022
no matter what the Laur expects the event you have those event to be a success challenges to work and has plans for the through.” future. For those people un“Next year, we want familiar with convento make it more of a true tions of this sort, they con, involving more often involve many of campus, as well as different events and bringing in some voice vendors. Bay-Con is actors and speakers or working hard to do the trivia games,” he said. concept justice, while For those that have keeping in mind that a hunger that can’t be this is their first year satiated by the nerdy and they have time and goodness inside, there room to grow. will be a taco truck There will be a there for the duration. vintage gaming room Laur just hopes that open from 11 a.m. to everyone can come and 2 p.m. Attendees will have a good time. be able to relive their “The cool thing is childhoods on conthat this is geared tosoles they grew up wards lovers of pop with. Atari 2600, Cali- A game room will be open during Bay-Con, with older systems like Atari (Photo by Kristy Malmsten). culture, whether it’s co-Vision, and the clascomics or movies or old sic Nintendo are just a few of the old it started,” Laur said. Kainulainen has been vending at toys or video games, and there are a platforms that will be available, and He is expecting between 35 and 40 shows in the area for a couple of years, lot of people out there who may not there will be newer consoles as well, vendors to descend on Bay with their and believes that they are important. identify with all of those pieces but like Xbox and PlayStation—a little geeky goodies. There will be a little “They bring attention to the issues can still find something they love,” he something for every gamer out there. something for everyone there, from that are relevant to society, and can said. A video game tournament is also in comics to a professional baker selling even provide an escape from the harsh For details about Bay-Con or to bethe planning stages, most likely on an video game-themed goodies. realities of this world for a day,” he come a vendor, call Laur at (906)217older system like the GameCube or Jesse Kainulainen of Gwinn will be said. “Sometimes we all need a day to 4031. For the convention schedule, N64. There will be no charge to enter. a vendor at Bay-Con, selling comic remember what it was like to have fun check out its Facebook Page. As with other conventions, Bay- books and comic-inspired art. like we did when we were kids.” MM Con is hoping to have some informa“I am super excited to have a conThe event is free to everyone, but tion sessions as well, including a vinyl vention in the U.P.,” he said. “I think as it is run by student organizations, About the Author: Brad Gischia is record care clinic by Jon Teichman this convention will be different from there will be a suggested $2 donation a writer and artist native to Upper and Geoff Walker. Other sessions are shows I’ve done because most of the at the door. All proceeds will go to Michigan. He has published two in the planning stages. crowd will be there for a specific pur- those organizations that are helping children’s books and done illus“We’re mainly focusing on the pose—to have fun. They won’t be ca- put on the event. There is free parking trations for both comic books and vendor area this year, as we try to get sual shoppers out to pass time.” in Lot A on the Bay College Campus. novels.
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lookout point
Catherine Bonifas:
F
Worth millions, gave it all away
By Larry Chabot ar from their Escanaba home, Bill and Catherine Bonifas spent winters at their big house in Miami Beach, Florida. One winter day, a visitor approached the Bonifas residence and spoke to a woman who was on her knees scrubbing the front steps. “Is Mrs. Bonifas at home?” the visitor asked. The scrubwoman stopped her work and said, “I am Mrs. Bonifas.” No surprise to those who knew this remarkable woman, a member of one of Escanaba’s best-known couples. Described as “entirely a homebody,” she came from a humble life in Ireland, and was modest and reserved all of her life. She did her own housework, baking, shopping and darning, and didn’t feel the need to hire a maid until well into her 80s. Born Catherine Nolan in County Carlow in Ireland on May 15, 1864, she found a job as a maid in a lumber camp on the Garden Peninsula. Only six days before Catherine’s birth in Ireland, William Bonifas was born in Luxembourg, and migrated to America in the 1880s with almost no money in his pocket. Starting work as a lumberjack in the Upper Peninsula, he proved to be another hard-working immigrant. In 1894, these two new, industrious Americans were married and began a life together which made them very rich. Bonifas started small, with a purchase of 40 acres of land that contained enough good timber for him to supply Kimberly Clark Paper Company of Neenah, Wisconsin, which in turn sold it to Fisher Body of Detroit with enough wood to serve as panels on General Motors station wagons. Bonifas, seeing how profitable this business deal was for all parties, began buying stock in both Kimberly Clark and General Motors. As the Bonifases started to accumulate a great deal of money, so too began their charitable contributions. According to Lewis Reimann in his entertaining book When Pine Was King, Bonifas thought of himself as a timber king rather than a lumber king. On his frequent business trips, he carried a lunch packed by his domestic
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Bonifas scrubbing the front steps. (Illustration by Mike McKinney)
partner. As their fortunes (and fortune) grew through successful business ventures, they built a lodge on the shores of Lake Gogebic in 1924, where they hosted friends, neighbors and celebrities. Just south of Lake Gogebic and north of Watersmeet is Bonifas Lake, which housed two Civilian Conservation Corps camps between 1934 and 1941. A small settlement, also called Bonifas, is alongside the lake. We pause to consider the Bonifas lodge, a stunning mansion with numerous amenities. According to Historic Homes That Tell A Story by Nanette Watson, the Bonifases were not known as spendthrifts, but spared no
expense in outfitting this beauty. The 15,000-square-foot edifice features a private harbor, several cottages, a boathouse, trap range, kennel, shop, art studio, walk-in wine cellar, custom made furniture and a three-acre trout pond, with a mile of frontage on Lake Gogebic. Lumber for the project from the Bonifas Lumber Company in Marenisco was skidded across the icedover lake to the building site. Sadly, William died in 1936 so he didn’t get to enjoy the lodge much. Later it became a Catholic retreat center. It’s still there, known as Funk’s Lodge Shop. Catherine led a quiet, unassum-
ing life without ostentation, until her a Bonifas scrapbook of clippings and death on May 25, 1948. The world memorabilia. was in its usual state of war and woe, The impact of her bequests was then. The new state of Israel, only enormous and wide-spread. As one nine days old, was in danger of attack official put it, “no city in the U.S. of from its neighbors. In Europe, the So- the size of Escanaba has ever been the viet Union was insulting the United beneficiary of such large gifts from States, its former ally. On the Satur- any estate or individual.” The monday after her passing, readers of the ey was distributed among the city, Escanaba Daily Press were startled schools, churches, friends and other by the eye-popping news about what willing and grateful recipients. Catherine Bonifas had done with her She herself benefited from her own husband’s money, all of which was generosity, as the first person buried left to her. from the cemetery chapel she had The paper’s front page headline funded in Holy Cross Cemetery. In trumpeted the big news: “Mrs. Bon- 2008, a Bonifas Mausoleum Restoifas Bequests Total $2,500,000. Es- ration Committee, funded by donors, canaba Churches & Schools Share mounted an elaborate headstone to in Lumber Fortune.” The total outlay William and Catherine “to pay homwould be the equivalent of $27 mil- age and respect to the memory of pilion today. oneers…whose unprecedented legacy The bequests were spread over a and generosity to Delta County will variety of cultural, educational and re- benefit generations to come.” ligious beneficiaries: the Catholic DiCatherine Nolan Bonifas inherited ocese of Marquette, Escanaba School a fortune worth $27,000,000 in toDistrict, Escanaba City Council, Holy day’s money, and she gave it all away. Cross Cemetery in Escanaba, Knights MM of Columbus, St. Francis Hospital, Bishop Noa Home, Bay de Noc Com- Author’s Note: The author is indebtmunity College, St. Joseph’s Church, ed to several other sources not menSt. Norbert’s College and Marquette tioned here. University in Wisconsin and many other smaller gifts. About the Author: Larry Chabot, an The school district’s largesse was Ontonagon native, worked his way to finance a new high school building, through Georgetown University and establish scholarships and for gener- was then employed at White Pine al purposes. She asked for a school Copper Company for 32 years, before for handicapped children, opening moving to Marquette with his wife, of a junior college, repair and main- Betty. He is a freelance writer who tainenance of a technical school and has written for several publications, to build an elementary school in Gar- including more than 170 articles for den. Marquette Monthly. The gifts rolled on: $100,000 for a home for the aging, $405,000 for construction of a Catholic high school, an auditorium and gymnasium for the St. Joseph parish school to be named for her husband. She even gave away their house, willed to the Catholic diocese as a home for priests doing home mission work in the U.P. The city council spent $300,000 to erect government office buildings, whose rental fees recovered building costs. Re-purposing of some properties enriched the city’s cultural life, creating the popular William Bonifas Fine Arts Center in 1974, considered a regional hub for cultural activities and educational programs. The Delta County Historical Society, located in the Sand Point Lighthouse, has Catherine Bonifas (Courtesy of Bay College)
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fiction
This is the first of a multi-part, original story
The Pick
“Y
written and illustrated by Brad Gischia
Part I: Spring ou going to open up The Pick again or what?” The wipers slapped back and forth, shoving the slurry falling onto the windshield to the side, where it collected and froze. This storm had come in with the dawn. Scooter watched it on the weather channel in his hotel room while he listened to the wind rattle the siding outside his room. Officer Delaney fiddled with the levers on the dash, and heat blasted up in a rush of hot dust and spilled, stale coffee. Those scents mingled with the steam rising off an aluminum-wrapped packet between them on the seat. The pasty’s flaky crust sent a buttery smell into the air that reminded Scooter of fall weekends at camp. The seat’s vinyl was hot to the touch, cracked like the desert floor. The blazer, which had seen better years, crashed through snow drifts like last years’ brush. The Pick, to which he was refer-
ring, was Pickett’s Mine. Active from 1870 to 1950, this open pit iron ore mine closed when the bottom fell out of the market after the war and the company, CMC, had bought out the owners. CMC promptly laid off the miners, who walked across town and picked up their tools at the Empire Mine, the other CMC enterprise. They welded the gates to the property shut. Now Officer Delaney was driving Scooter on snot-slick roads with balding tires and a near-useless set of wipers. “I can guarantee that CMC has no plans to reopen the Pick,” Scooter said. “It isn’t financially feasible at this time.” He reminded himself he wasn’t speaking to a board member. “They aren’t going to dump the money into it. I just need to get up there and test the water, check that the Green Creek is running smoothly.” “M-hmm.” Delaney didn’t seem to believe it. Staticky country music played low in the background, strug-
gling to drown out the heater motor, which began to rattle. WHACK! Delaney slapped the dash with the palm of his hand. Dust rose into the air in a jet and Scooter jumped. The fan quieted and the radio static cleared. “Been a lot of you environmental guys around. EPA last week. Now CMC sends you in. Anything I should know about?” Delaney turned away from the road, giving Scooter a long glance, his eyes off the road long enough that Scooter began to get uneasy. “Don’t know about the EPA. They have their own stuff to take care of.” “M-Hmm.” Delaney’s eyes were back on the road. The sun had risen above the horizon but promptly vanished up into the cloud bank. The snow had changed to a slushy rain, and the motor was kicking out a dusty furnace into the blazer’s cab. “Do you know Mr. Larson?” “M-Hmm.” Coy Larson was the
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current leaseholder on the Pickett’s property. CMC often leased property that they owned, but didn’t use anymore, as a way to balance out the books on their very large land holdings. It really didn’t bring in much revenue, but it was a way to keep eyes on property that CMC couldn’t afford to police. “Coy’s been living out there for as long as I can remember.” “The lease first went to Vernon Larson. His father maybe? Right after the mine was closed in the ’53.” Delaney’s brow furrowed. It had somehow gotten darker since the dawn, and Scooter could see the dash lights reflecting in his glasses. “Vern Larson was a nutbag, and I’m not so sure that Coy isn’t of the same breed, though we haven’t had any real trouble from him. Not like Vern.” Delaney didn’t offer any more information. They slid down a county road where the salt trucks hadn’t yet passed. The blazer skidded going around a corner
and Scooter’s stomach did a slow roll to one side. Delaney adjusted without comment, tapping the brakes and then the accelerator to get the back end around again. He lowered his speed a little. Everything was dishwater gray, the tree line nearly continuous except for the occasional seasonal drive, mounded with snow from the winter that was clinging to life. Delaney stopped the blazer and threw on his hazards. “We’re going to have to walk from here. I don’t know if Coy lives here through the winter anymore, but he sure as hell doesn’t clear the road.” He stepped out into the slop and walked around the back of the blazer. Scooter followed him up over the bank. It was like walking on concrete, and Delaney kicked footholds in with his cracked leather boots so they could scamper over the top. The bank sloped downward on the other side, and the trees had grown along the road so they created a corridor of overlapping branches. It was darker
“
Scooter knew that sightings of strange beasts were not unusual out in the sticks.
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in here. A hundred yards in, Scooter broke through the snow pack and sunk to his crotch. “Darn it!” He rocked himself back and forth, trying to get his feet unstuck. Snow sloughed down the insides of his boots, soaking his socks. His ankles were immediately and painfully cold. Delaney shone a flashlight down the path. “I was afraid of this. Weather’s been warm enough the last couple of days to begin the melt. If this road had been driven on all winter, even by a snowmobile, there would be hard pack to walk on for a couple more weeks. It’s only going to get worse from here. We’re not going to make it back there until the road clears. You may have to come back in the summer.” Scooter rolled himself out of the hole. Delaney had already passed him on the way back to the blazer. He stood, holding his feet wide apart, feeling like he would go through at any second, and looked back down the dark road. The pines leaned heavily. There was the noise of falling snow as it gained weight from the slush, hitting the pack like a thrown pillow. Scooter turned and went back to the blazer. On the return trip, Delaney clicked the radio off. “Somethin’ about that place. Strange you know?” Scooter did not. He stayed quiet. “We get reports up here—two, three times a year. People seeing things. Usually its kids, out for a bonfire and a bottle of their Pap’s stolen hooch, see something they can’t explain. Not often, but like I said, couple times a year.” Scooter knew that sightings of strange beasts were not unusual out in
the sticks. Rural communities thrived on their folktales and legends. Sasquatch, the Dogman, Presquie, all were strange cryptids that were said to roam these far north woods. He also knew what Delaney said was true. Ninety-nine percent of these things were built on a foundation of campfire stories and teenage sexual frustration. He couldn’t help but look in the side mirror though, at the dark woods behind them. “Strange place. Reports go back darn near fifty years. Pretty steady too. Couple a’year, like I said. All of them around that lake, or within spittin’ distance. We get a lot too, from regular folks. Out for walks. Hiking. Couple of ’em never came out again, but I’m pretty sure the sheriff chalked that one up to some kind of tax scheme.” Scooter had a thin sheen of sweat on him. It had built up from his roll through the snow, and now it cooled his skin. He shivered. “You ever see anything like that?” Delaney laughed. It was overly loud in the stifling cab and didn’t do anything to reassure Scooter. “Naw. I’ve been working these woods for nearly thirty years. There’s nothing out there but moose and deer and the things that eat them.” He chuckled again. “I mean bear and wolves a’course.” “Of course.” Scooter said, and shivered again. MM
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Somethin’ about that place. Strange, you know?
About the Author: 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.
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lookout point Prayers, bones and a journey home
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The Return
By Jon Magnuson n the spring of 1675 on a late afternoon, a lone birchbark canoe with three travelers approached the mouth of a river on the shores of Lake Michigan, near what is now the town of Ludington, ninety miles south of the Straits of Mackinaw. Two Native Americans and a Frenchman landed their craft on a remote beach and built a small fire. They quickly constructed a makeshift shelter for the night from branches and bark. Although no documentation identifies them by name, two of the travelers are believed to have been of mixed tribal descent. The Frenchman was Jacques Marquette, a 38-year-old Jesuit priest and explorer. That evening, after suffering from previous days of weakness and dysentery, he died at the edge of the forest and water, surrounded by prayers from his two companions. The next morning, he was buried there, at a place that came to be known for years following as “River of the Blackrobe.” Jesuits, in those times, universally wore simple black wool robes across North America as signs of modesty and service. At the time of his death, Father Marquette, under a request of his superiors, had recently completed mapping and exploring the Mississippi Valley with Louis Jolliet, a commissioned French-Canadian explorer from Quebec. That spring, Jolliet returned to Montreal. Marquette was on his way
back to St. Ignace, the place he had come to call home. Two years later, in June of 1677, members of the Native community in St. Ignace traveled to his burial place. They retrieved his remains, cleansed the bones as was their tradition, and carried them by canoe north to the mission he had founded in 1671. Thirty canoes of Huron, Ojibway, Odawa, Potawatomi and Iroquois tribal members accompanied the delegation as they landed at the bay in St. Ignace. Marquette was buried there beneath a simple altar in the Mission chapel on the Monday after Pentecost, framed by sounds of drums, prayers and rituals of a traditional indigenous pipe ceremony. Two hundred years passed. During that time, the mission was abandoned. As all cities and villages subsequently come to be, the Village of St. Ignace was rebuilt and transformed. Then, in 1877, Peter Grondin, a Native American employee of a local businessman, discovered the site of the Mission during an excavation project. Under what remained of the rudimentary altar’s foundation, he found a box of nineteen bones, preserved in a double-walled birchbark box. For 145 years, they have been missing. Now under the care of Marquette University in Milwaukee, Jacques Marquette’s bones will be officially presented this spring to a small delegation of Native peoples from St. Ignace and the Museum of Ojibway Culture. Seventy-two-year-old Tony
This brass statue of Father Jacques Marquette, which is located in the City of Marquette, was dedicated on July 15, 1897. (Photo courtesy of Cedar Tree Institute)
Grondin, tribal elder and great-greatgreat grandson of Peter Grondin, will be present. He will be carrying an eagle feather and ceremonial pipe. Jesuit legacy in New France n the 17th century, 46 French Jesuit priests were commissioned to travel to “New France”—what is now Canada and our nation’s Northeastern States. The Jesuits first arrived in Quebec and Montreal where they underwent extensive training in indigenous languages. They were taught practical skills about how to live with harsh weather, how to survive midst the dense, forbidding forests of a strange, new country. They were also specifically instructed how to show respect when carrying through their religious obli-
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Mission Bay in St. Ignace is a key location within the story of Father Marquette. (Photo courtesy of Cedar Tree Institute)
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An Anishinaabe deerskin medicine bag and prayer rosary show the intersection of faith traditions. (Photo courtesy of Cedar Tree Institute)
gations, how to find common ground with Native American peoples and their cultures. Jacques Marquette was among them. Born near Laon, France, he was cross-trained as a map maker, navigator and historian. He’s credited as founding the first European settlement in the Great Lakes Basin at Sault Ste. Marie in 1669. Two years later, he established the Mission at St. Ignace which he came to regard as his home. Like all social movements and institutional projects of their times, history shows us such initiatives inevitably leave mixed legacies: ethnocentricity, misplaced intention, self-interest. Yet, given that, Jacques Marquette left behind an example of someone who, though steeped in limits of his own religious convictions, opened his mind and heart to a deeper vision of shared values. He held strong convictions about the integrity of cultures, personally embodied a strong, unusual spirit of adventure. His life reflected a devotion to a larger common good. As the French and English fur industry was established as a lucrative commercial enterprise in New France, Native Americans were exploited and manipulated in commercial transactions. Alcohol was provided. Freely.
Records document that frequent fist fights and murders constellated around such matters. The Jesuits in the New World, having taken vows of poverty, were especially sensitive about these issues. They were often despised by fur traders and government officials because of their position as fierce advocates. They demanded Native peoples be treated fairly.
Prayer, sage, a ceremonial pipe et, a question can, and should be raised: Why would Native American people welcome back the remains of a zhaganosh (Anishinaabe for “white man”), now that recent history has documented the devastating results from the loss of indigenous culture and traditional belief? “Our oral tradition has passed down the story, over hundreds of years, that Father Marquette was beloved by our tribal community,” said Francie (Moses) Wyers, cultural teacher for St. Ignace’s Museum of Ojibwa Culture. “That he lived among us, shared our life together, respected our teachings. He cared for our people.” Grondin, elder of the Sault Ste, Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians shares similar convictions. “Jacques Marquette came and lived
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among us. He was given by our people the honor of being a sacred pipe carrier,” he said. “For us, this has always been a sign of respect and honor. It means that such a person shares our values, understands and respects our spiritual teachings. His memory lives on among us as one who showed kindness, fought to protect our tribal communities.” Grondin said while following his own faith and mission, Father Marquette honored and practiced many Native spiritual traditions. “On behalf of Native peoples of this community, Russ Rickley, one of our tribal members and caretaker of our Indian cemetery, will kneel with us to place his bones back into Mother Earth,” Grondin said. “Here at the site of the old St. Ignace mission is where Father Marquette longed to be buried. This is where, surrounded by prayers, the scent of sage, a ceremonial pipe and songs from a sacred Anishinaabe drum, we will welcome him back.” Shirley Sorrells, director of the Museum of Ojibwa Culture in St. Ignace, is coordinating logistics with her staff and city leaders for the forthcoming transfer and reburial. “Our community is preparing for an extraordinary time of remembrance and healing,” Sorrells said. Marquette’s bones will be formally buried at the original gravesite in St. Ignace by descendants of tribal peoples he lived among. The occasion will be shaped by prayers and a feast of commemoration highlighting Native American and French-Canadian foods. Representatives from the Jewish, Buddhist, Christian and “Three Fires” (Ojibway, Odawa and Potawatomi) indigenous spiritual traditions will be present. On that day, for a single moment, time will stop in the small Village of St. Ignace. At 1 p.m. on June 18, the reburial of Jacques Marquette’s remains will
This statue is one of five sculpted in Italy by Gaetano Trentanove, although the artist was not able to find a physical likeness from documents or archival resources. (Photo courtesy of Cedar Tree Institute)
take place in the courtyard of the Museum of Ojibwa Culture in St. Ignace. The public is cordially invited. This one-time effort is being supported by gifts from individuals of all walks of life. Donors will be acknowledged on a modest plaque. It’s hoped that, as years pass, visitors will find encouragement in this story of reconciliation and healing between cultures. To make a contribution, visit www. cedartreeinstitute.org by May 15. For details on the day’s events, visit www. museumofojibwaculture.net MM Editor’s Note: While there is no definitive way to ensure these remains are from Father Marquette, most research points to the bones authenticity. Regardless, the ceremony will offer a final resting place for a beloved spiritual person integral to U.P. history.
Common Native American ceremonial objects will be used during the reburial of Father Marquette’s remains. (Photo by Scot Stewart)
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back then
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Chaos at the Straits
By Larry Chabot hat was going on at the Straits of Mackinac, that five-mile wide passage between Michigan’s two peninsulas? Was it Black Friday? A presidential visit? Elvis sighting? Thousands of cars were lined up for miles on the south end, some as far away as 17 miles on the highways feeding into Mackinaw City. Fifteen state troopers were present to manage the crowd. It was just before deer season in mid-November, in the years before the mighty Mackinac Bridge eliminated those massive traffic jams of U.P.-bound hunters trying to get across the straits to hunt the plentiful Virginia whitetails. The problem: their vehicles were being slowly funneled into ferries for the one-hour cruise to St. Ignace, with service around the clock in deer season. In 1956, the last year before the bridge, 900,000 vehicles made the journey. The record for a 24-hour period was 6,579 cars ferried on November 12, 1956. The state troopers also helped ferry personnel guide hunters (and non-hunters) and their vehicles the boats and keep a semblance of order among the pressing crowd, who had finally reached the Mackinaw City docks after long hours wending their way up roads leading from Traverse City on the west, Cheboygan on the east and Gaylord in the middle. Disgorged in St. Ignace on the north side, hunters fanned out in all directions to their favorite hunting grounds. A November 1956 article in the Menominee Herald-Leader remarked on the “monumental lineup of deer hunters’ cars.” The paper noted that opening day required lots of detailed planning, like preparing rifles, stocking up on ammunition and packing food, clothing, playing cards, poker money, adult beverages and maybe extra gas cans for waits that could stretch to 19 hours. The Kirkland Schools website spotlighted a lad named Mark, a member of the civilian support army which lined the northbound roads each deer season to sell food and drink, extra gasoline, reading matter, overlooked camp supplies and provide estimated wait times to the thousands of hunters idling their engines down the line. Young Mark’s specialties were lemonade and hot chocolate, depending on the weather.
That Bridge Won’t Last ince their father was captain of the ferryboat Aurora, the sons helped guide cars onto the boat, and thus got to enjoy many round trips themselves. As the Mackinac Bridge’s 1957 opening neared, the father predicted that high winds and big ice floes could take the Big Mac down. When one of his sons applied for work on bridge construction, dad was quoted as fearing that the bridge would put him and his ferry out of business. Actually, the father got a job on a ferry running to nearby Mackinac Island. Ferrying across the straits goes back almost 150 years. A barge named Betsy carried railroad cars between the two peninsula’s railroads until a railroad
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ferry debuted in 1888. According to the St. Ignace Chamber of Commerce, the few autos that crossed on the railroad ferries in the early 1900s were charged $40 one way, baggage cost 20 cents per hundred pounds, and passengers were docked 50 cents per trip. Fares dropped to $4 plus a $1 dockage fee at each port in 1919. The ferries connected Lower Peninsula railroads with the U.P.’s Detroit, Mackinac and Marquette line. Full ferry service began in 1923 with the arrival of the boat Ariel, according to the mLive website. The car fee was cut to $2.50. Ariel could carry up to 20 railway cars until the water froze over in the winter, after which the vessel was sold to a line operating between the Lower Peninsula and Canada. The state highway department began operating two 40-car boats, expanded them to 60, and added a third ferry in 1928. Michigan was actually the first state with a car ferry system. During its 34-year pre-bridge history, the service ran eight boats: Ariel, Sainte Ignace, Mackinaw City, The Straits of Mackinac, City of Cheboygan, City of Munising, City of Petoskey and Vacationland. All told, the state handled 12 million vehicles and more than 30 million passengers in those 34 years. For many people, the crossing was their only sea-going experience, so to speak. Sometimes the passage was jeopardized by rough waters, high winds, dense fog and an occasional disembarking for passengers to make their way to port by crawling over the ice formations that had trapped their boat. The advent of icebreaking ships helped to keep the channel clear all winter long. One day in June 1939, two ferries—the northbound City of Cheboygan and the southbound Saint Ignace—were shrouded by a fog so thick that the
Illustration by Mike McKinney
two vessels collided, with the latter ship sustaining a 20-foot gash. The impact caused the upper deck support beams on the Saint Ignace to collapse onto the cars stored below (some of them were occupied at the time). Eight people were hurt, like the ship’s cook who was scalded by an overturned cauldron of hot soup. As a safety precaution, all passengers were supplied with life vests. As for deer hunting season, the traffic jam was repeated on the north side when the season ended as thousands of hunters headed for home, the successful ones with deer carcases draped over the car fenders, tied on the roof, or laying lifeless in the back of a pickup. Because some hunters left early after filling their tags, the return traffic was smaller than the upbound crowd. The St. Ignace ferry site was the ideal time and place for state conservation officials to stage a deer count and check for violators. MM Editor’s Note: Larry Chabot made one round trip on the ferries, which was spent inside a school bus, and many trips over the bridge. On one December bridge crossing, he followed a sand truck in such a fierce wind that the sand never reached the surface of the bridge but blew sideways over the edge, resulting in a perfect white-knuckle drive. About the Author: Larry Chabot, an Ontonagon native, worked his way through Georgetown University and was then employed at White Pine Copper Company for 32 years, before moving to Marquette with his wife, Betty. He is a freelance writer who has written for several publications, including more than 170 articles for Marquette Monthly.
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lookout point
Fayette exhibit offers trove of artifacts
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By Scot Stewart rcheology is alive and well in the Upper Peninsula. One place where some of the most extensive work in the U.P. has been done over the longest period of time is at Fayette Historic State Park on Lake Michigan in Delta County. The Michigan Iron Industry Museum in Negaunee is currently featuring an exhibit that digs into the stories and background of Fayette, and its connection to the Negaunee area. Once, the thriving townsite was busy with the production of pig iron. In its short existence, from 1867 until 1891 Fayette produced 220,000 tons of the high carbon iron ingots and shipped them down Lake Michigan to steel mills on the southern end of the lake. It became a state park in 1959. The iron came from the Jackson Mine in Negaunee. At the end of the Civil War, demand for iron skyrocketed as the country expanded westward, sending great iron horses on railroad lines stretching to the growing territories and states of the west, turning the sprawling prairies into the breadbasket of the healing country. In the 1850s the Marquette Iron Range began producing large amounts of high quality iron ore. Shipping cargo down Lake Superior the through the new Soo Locks was in its infan-
The company office, store and a view through the hotel to Snug Harbor offer insight to daily life in the 1800s for visitors to the Fayette Historic State Park on Lake Michigan in Delta County. (Photo by Scot Stewart)
cy for shipments headed to Cleveland and Pittsburgh, but for iron headed to Chicago and Indiana, the path was not yet cleared. In 1864, a rail line was completed
State of Michigan historian Dr. Troy Henderson explains an archeoloogy panel of the current exhibit in Negaunee. (Photo by Scot Stewart)
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between Negaunee and Escanaba. Ore could be sent by rail to Escanaba, but shipping raw ore all the way to the mills farther south was still expensive. To improve the profits, the ore needed to be smelted down to a purer form. With the Jackson Iron Company intent of producing pig iron, Fayette Brown eyed up Snug Harbor on the Garden Peninsula, across Big Bay de Noc from Escanaba, as the perfect spot to smelt the ore. Snug Harbor stood at the foot of great limestone-dolomite cliffs. Limestone could be crushed, heated and added to the ore being smelted in the furnace to help separate impurities. The woods of the Garden Peninsula were filled with large maple, oak, elm and other hardwood trees perfect for making charcoal to fire up the furnaces. The ore was loaded in barges and pulled by tug across Big Bay de Noc to Fayette, and the smelters went to work. The first furnace was finished, up and running in 1867, the second two years later. The molten iron ran down a trough into two parallel sets of forms that resembled suckling pigs, giving the ingots their name. The finished “pigs” were loaded onto boats in the harbor and shipped south.
To support the new operation, the company town of Fayette sprang up. Eventually reaching a population of nearly 500 souls it drew workers from at least 15 countries. At the north end of town on a small bluff sat the homes of the company managers and skilled workers. On the other side of the smelting operations to the south were the homes of unskilled laborers, many along a small road past the slag piles from the smelter. Travel to and from Fayette followed many of the traditional methods one might picture for the day. Stagecoaches carried visitors and residents to and from Escanaba, nearby Garden and Manistique. It took two days to get to Escanaba by stage, but in the summer travelers could reach Escanaba by ferry across Big Bay de Noc in only three hours. Winter travelers could take a sled across the ice to Escanaba. The historical Escanaba and Manistique newspapers provide a wealth of information about life on the Great Lakes. At least one book from the period, Snail Shell Harbor, a fictious account of life at Fayette, and records from the Jackson Iron Company also offer insight into the life of the community during this time.
Fayette is a great site for archeology; work was first started there in the 1970s. It combines three different aspects of life and their artifacts: commercial, industrial and residential. This combination provides a wide range of opportunities to learn more about the lives of the workers and residents who lived in this part of Upper Michigan in the late 1800s. To that end, an amazing exhibit, more than a year in the making, featuring some of the best artifacts found at Fayette was developed and assembled at the Michigan Iron Industry Museum in Negaunee Township; ironically, the museum is at the site of one of the other 90 former smelting sites that operated during this era. Under the direction of Dr. Troy Henderson, historian for the State of Michigan, artifacts at the state historical museum in Lansing were carefully chosen to accompany a number of information panels describing some of the archeological work done at Fayette, the people who lived there and the production of pig iron. Henderson explained the process of developing the exhibit. “The planning involved obviously research on some of the people at Fayette,” he said. “We had a good deal of the research already done, but a lot of the planning was done with the inhouse exhibit team with the Michigan History Museum in Lansing.” Henderson said a designer and an artist helped take the archeology collection and put the exhibit together.
“Our research was about seeking good images, research about people and then identifying artifacts that we could put on display, because this is just the tip of the iceberg,” Henderson said. “The warehouse is full of artifacts. We went through and identified artifacts, both large and small, representative of work life—industrial artifacts from those people’s lives at Fayette.” He said some of the planning work included building a cabinet to the specifications of one seen in a historic photograph taken inside the hotel. The cabinet contains a display of a number of pieces of china probably used at the hotel. These pieces were found by archeologists at the site of the hotel privy. Henderson said other artifacts found in the large privy pit included silverware, combs and other discarded objects that tell a great story about Fayette and its hotel, which was fairly luxurious. They were able to learn about the china they ate on at the hotel, where it came from and where it was imported from. “These people at Fayette had a wide range of access to materials from Europe,” Henderson said. Also found in the privy pit—a schnapps bottle thought to be the only one of its kind in America. It was common practice in the late 19th century here to use privies also as garbage pits since there was no municipal collection or formal city dumps.
The Fayette Cliffs and harbor from the townsite. (Photo by Scot Stewart)
Archeologists have long known these pits are a wealth of artifacts, from discarded, worn out and broken materials, remains of food—particularly animal bones—and articles accidentally mixed in garbage like silverware and occasionally even jewelry like rings. Many items of these types are part of the Fayette exhibit, developed by Henderson as he recognized just how many great artifacts there
Former state archeologist John Halsey digs in the Fayette Historic State Park. (Photo by Scot Stewart)
May 2022
were from the town. At the state park in the townsite of Fayette, there are more than a dozen restored homes, businesses and civic buildings and one newly constructed replica of a laborer’s home. Inside the restored homes, offices and hotel are many artifacts from the era, well-preserved dinner ware, furniture, commercial and tools of the day. This exhibit at the Michigan Iron Industry Museum consists mostly of artifacts uncovered by the archeologist. They are articles actually owned, handled and used by the people living in Fayette more than 130 years ago. Over the years, archeological work has ranged from just digging up a few shovelfuls to look at a site to excavating an entire workman’s cabin site. Most work has depended on the funds available. Henderson has done work there as had John Halsey, now retired state historian, and archeologists from Michigan Tech, with field classes in the 1990s. While new work will continue, some work will be done as new signage, ramp work and other additions take place. When post holes are planned for new signs, there is need for preliminary shovel work ahead of the construction to make sure no new site is disturbed. In addition to the china, artifacts found include an egg cup, fly swatter, earthen ware, tools used at the blast furnaces, a personalized bone comb, a lice comb, a bone toothbrush, a wheelbarrow, buttons, silver coins from the 1850s, clay pipes and much
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more. Along with the artifacts are informational panels explaining more about life in Fayette at the time, with photographs of some of the Fayette residents who lived there and excerpts from local newspapers describing events of the day. Henderson is passionate about his work and his connections with Fayette and its former residents. He expressed his excitement in how these artifacts bring history to life and the people of Fayette closer to visitors this way. “That’s the exciting stuff, they tell you about the people who were there, and I think the artifacts are powerful, even more powerful in some ways than historic images,” Henderson said. “They make that connection.” There is plenty of evidence in the artifacts about the orientation of class structure and geographical structure. In examining the contents of privies, there is a wealth of evidence to help determine differences in the diets of the residents, particularly in the meat they ate. While heritage played a part, there seem to be noticeable differences due to income of the homeowners. This was seen as privy contents from the superintendent, middle management and workmen’s homes were examined. In other words, if you want to
know what a family’s life is like, just look in their garbage. Henderson said he would like to see archeological work done at the doctor’s house. It is assumed the physician lived in a large prominent house on the hill overlooking the harbor. It was the custom in many Upper Peninsula communities, including Marquette, for doctors to have their offices and even operating facilities in their homes. Artifacts like medical equipment and supplies or medicine bottles in an old privy vault would offer more support to that supposition, something that has not yet been explored yet. Another place where limited archeological work has been done is in the submerged portion of Snug Harbor itself. In 2004, the state dredged the harbor to permit larger boats to enter and dock in Fayette. Harbor bottom materials were sifted by archeologists to examine them for artifacts, but a formal underwater survey has not yet been done. Eventually, the supply of hardwood ran out, and the demand for iron lessened considerably with economic times. With the drop in the demand for pig iron from Fayette, the forges closed. Afterwards, changes came
This schnapps jug from Scotland found at the Fayette site is thought to be the only one of its kind in the United States. (Photo by Scot Stewart)
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Artifacts of all shapes and sizes have been found at Fayette, telling the stories of the people who lived there. (Photo by Scot Stewart)
to the town somewhat slowly. Some residents working at the blast furnace and other parts of the operation for the Jackson Iron Company moved on, but some remained to continue work in the town or turned to farming nearby. In the 1920s, an effort was made to turn the town on Lake Michigan into a tourist destination with the hotel still in operation. As more time passed, almost everyone moved away and the buildings began to fall apart in their disuse. Photographs provided a record of the buildings that found their demise like the boarding house, and a few laborer’s cabins were taken apart and moved to Sac Bay. The exhibit also includes two interactive portions. One is a display of five objects found by an archeologist that had them puzzled. One turned out to be a mallet used to push caulking in a ship’s hull, a second a door lock and a third a bridle bit for a horse. The others provide visitors the opportunity to think about their purpose unless they have seen similar objects and can offer suggestions. The second interactive part is built to resemble a small archeological dig and is filled with modern artifacts buried under plastic beads. It begs the question: how will future archeologists tell our story using what we leave behind? In the fall, this exhibit will move to Fayette itself. No large-scale projects are currently in the works for Fayette, but small digs associated with the
work projects will be conducted. Fayette offers an intriguing opportunity to touch the past. It helps visitors take a step back and see what life was like in earlier days in the Upper Peninsula. “Fayette is special for lots of reasons,” Henderson said. “For one, there are so many intact structures at that townsite that can tell a comprehensive story of the people who lived at Fayette. We have had archeologists over the years investigate all those facets of society, too. Then we have all those artifacts to teach us about the people there and that is really special. Lastly, the site, the historical (town) site, is a very rich site, and that it has the potential to teach us.” The Michigan Iron Industry Museum is located at 73 Forge Road in Negaunee. The museum is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. through September 30. Admission is free; donations are appreciated. Some special programs have fees for participation or parking. This exhibit will continue at the museum through the summer months before being moved to the Fayette Hotel where it will continue its run. For details, call (906)475-7857. MM About the Author: 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.
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in the outdoors
Group works to save life-saving station
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By Kristy Basolo-Malmsten any people have never heard of the United States Life-Saving Service, a predecessor to the Coast Guard. Its inspiring stories of people who risked their lives to save shipwreck victims in the times of row-boats and lookout towers are almost forgotten. However, one group has seen the value of this history, and hopes to preserve it through a Life-Saving Service station building that still stands on Vermilion Point. “My dad took me to Vermilion when I was a senior in high school,” S.O.S. Vermilion board president Grace Truman said. “I fell in love with it.” Truman went to college, got married and went on with her life, but Vermilion never left her heart. Located about seven miles west of Whitefish Point on the Lake Superior shoreline in Chippewa County, the station is the only one surviving in the area. “My husband and I started going up to Vermilion,” she said. “My husband fell in love with it too, and we went every year.” Declared surplus property by the federal government, the Vermilion Point U.S. Life-Saving Service Station was sold to a private owner in 1947. Although the three 1938 build-
Piping plovers are counted by LSSU students at the Vermilion Point Nature Preserve. (Photo by Scot Stewart)
ings were privately cared for, the original 1876 station building fell into disrepair. Truman said the private owner gave Vermilion to then-Lake Superior State College (now Lake Superior
Shown in August 2020, the sand has taken over part of the first floor of the historic life-saving station. (Photo courtesy of S.O.S. Vermilion)
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State University), who didn’t have the money to maintain it, and eventually returned it. In 2007, the Little Traverse Conservancy purchased the 175-acre site to support their mission of land and natural resource conservancy. It is now known as the Vermilion Point Nature Preserve. Truman said Little Traverse wanted the land, but never wanted the station. “The station is part of the history that shouldn’t be forgotten,” Truman said. “They didn’t want the environment degraded, whether we preserved the station or don’t.” There was much discussion about what to do with the station. Truman worked to gather people who cared about the building to discuss its future. Seeking input, meetings were held in Mackinaw City and Gaylord. When the first meeting to talk about the future of Vermilion was held in 2014, things were stagnant. Many people were interested in preservation of the building, but no movement was happening. “We didn’t want to take this on, but felt it was important,” Truman said. Truman and her husband Steve worked to form a non-profit to preserve the building. A historic preservation group was formed to partner
with Little Traverse Conservancy to preserve and restore the building. The new group, S.O.S. (Save Our Station) Vermilion, obtained status as a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization in 2017. In 2020, S.O.S. Vermilion purchased the 1876 station building from Little Traverse Conservancy and executed a lease for the property where the building stands. “We needed to find people to be on the board to legally incorporate,” Truman said. “We pulled in many people due to their expertise. Ken (Czapski) was one of them.” Czapski, an S.O.S. Vermilion board member, said someone approached him to help, and he saw the historical significance of the preservation as well. “We also have a cabin in that area, and had been venturing to Vermilion over the years,” Czapski said. “Looking at the buildings, enjoying the nature—but we were not involved with anything beyond that. I knew this is a worthwhile cause; the history and the story were certainly captivating.” The Vermilion Point U.S. Life-Saving Service Station was an active site for many years with crew members and their families stationed there. In 1915, the U.S. Revenue Cutter Ser-
vice and the U.S. Life-Saving Service merged to become the U.S. Coast Guard. In 1939, the U.S. Lighthouse Service became part of the Coast Guard. With Coast Guard stations at Grand Marais and Whitefish Point, and improved technology, the four life-saving stations in the area were abandoned. Now, a small but dedicated group of volunteers continues work to keep the 1876 station building standing by removing some small additions that were in bad shape, keeping the building boarded up to prevent vandalism, installing temporary preservation measures and maintaining the temporary tar-paper roof. The Trumans serve as board president and treasurer, as well as U.S. Life-Saving Service historians who wrote the book Storms and Sand: A Story of Shipwrecks and the Big Sable Point Coast Guard Station. Grace also served on the board of directors for the Sable Points Lighthouse Keepers’ Association (SPLKA) and is a past president of SPLKA. Vice president Richard Neumann and Czapski are architects and members of the Michigan Historic Preservation Network. Neumann put together an assessment of the Vermilion station for the Little Traverse Conservancy. Czapski prepares Historic Structure Reports. Secretary Bruce Lynn serves as executive director for the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society and is a popular speaker. Additional board
members include Barbara and Rob Bannan, who are retired educators. According to their website, S.O.S. Vermilion is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization formed by people passionate about preserving the history of the U.S. Life-Saving Service at Vermilion Point on Lake Superior. Their passion for the history is apparent, but they also are aware of the environmental importance of the area, especially as a nesting ground for the Piping Plover. Truman studied natural resources in college, and remembers talking about how sometimes people love the land to death. “All of the Little Traverse Conservancy lands are open to the public,” Truman said. “I’m impressed with their organization. They just try to make it easy for the public, yet encourage being respectful to the land.” At Vermilion, this includes signs showing where it’s appropriate to walk and education about the plover’s plight. Having dogs in the area is discouraged, but they must at least be on a leash. “These plovers are a shore bird on the Fish & Wildlife endangered species list,” Czapski said. “Sometimes they nest at Vermilion.” Students and staff from Lake Superior State University monitor and protect the plover population in the area. “They put a wire cage over the nest called an exclosure, which is big enough for plovers to go in and out, but protect them from predators,”
The Vermilion Point Life-Saving Station was active for years, with crew and their families stationed there. (Photo courtesy of S.O.S. Vermilion)
Czapski said. “Merlins pray on piping plovers, so the exclosure helps. The merlins are also endangered, so that poses a challenge.” Czapski said visitors to the area are looking for agates, hiking and seeking the recently popular Yooperlites. Hopefully with the restoration, a walk through history will be added to the list of reasons to visit this remote area, The Vermilion station is the only
The Vermilion Point Nature Preserve is home to several structures. (Photo courtesy of S.O.S. Vermilion)
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life-saving station left standing of its Lake Superior-Type architectural style. This style speaks to the particular configuration of the building, especially the roof. “It’s a bit of a Gothic style, a unique style at the time,” Czapski said. “There were only the few locations with one, and this is the only remaining structure, hence, it’s importance.” Truman said the steep-pitched roof of this style helps with the snow load that comes from being on the Lake Superior shore. Others in that style were Crisp Point, Two Hearted River and Deer Park (Muskallonge Lake), all along the south shore of the lake. Replacing the roof is a critical concern, Truman said, but the plan to restore the building starts from the ground up. “We’re looking at a multi-step restoration plan on the building itself,” Czapski said. “The first phase is to raise the building and construct a new foundation, and set the building back down.” The first floor is almost non-existent as it’s been swallowed up by sand. “We are optimistic that we might make this all happen in 2022,” Czapski said. “Once the foundation is in place, and the building is structurally sound, we will move on to other phases. This would include the exterior where it’s bad in places—new roofing material, wood siding, trim and new windows and exterior doors. We want visitors to see the building as it looked when it was first constructed.” Czapski said the group hasn’t fo-
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cused on what will happen with the interior due to the immediate needs of the structure. He said once the exterior is restored, eventually the building might be open on special occasions. “The focus is to preserve the building, and by having the exterior restored, accomplish that,” he said. Also on the property are other buildings built by the Coast Guard in the late ’30s, including officer’s quarters, a bunkhouse for the crew with a lookout at the top and a boat house. The complex where the Vermilion Life-Saving Station is located can be found by taking a gravel and sand road off Whitefish Point Road to the northwest. There is a parking lot for visitors, and a creek between the lot and buildings. The buildings are about 200 yards from the parking lot, and the beach is about a quarter mile further. There are no public restrooms. “There is a trail that goes to the beach,” Czapski said. “We try to help people get there with some wayfinding signs.” Cameras on the property show that the site gets about 400 visitors per month in the summer. Visitors can seek out the donation pipe and brochure holder in front of the building if they’d like to contribute during their visit. S.O.S. Vermilion fundraising efforts are ongoing, but they are hoping
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to raise at least $100,000 to get going on the first phase of the restoration. “Right now, we have a very generous donor that has already given us $50,000 and have matching funds available, dollar for dollar,” Truman said. “The grant is good until the end of 2022.” Board members get the occasional photo sent to them throughout the winter from a snowmobiler who has made it to the site, but other than that, the status of the building is unknown until the spring thaw. “As springtime approaches and we make our first trip to Vermilion, we all hold our breath and keep our fingers crossed that the structure has survived another winter,” Czapski said. S.O.S. Vermilion is registered with the State of Michigan as a charitable organization. To donate to the preservation efforts, mail your check to “S.O.S. Vermilion” at P.O. Box 68634; Grand Rapids, MI 49816. For details or to donate online, visit www.sosvermilion.org MM About the Author: Kristy Basolo-Malmsten has a master’s degree in writing from NMU, has worked for MM for almost two decades and has her own editing and publishing company. Her day job is as senior center director in Negaunee.
At Vermilion Point, piping plover nests are protected by “exclosures” to prevent predators from getting into the nests. (Photo by Scot Stewart)
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Big Bay’s Thunder Bay Inn will host presentations and a paranormal investigation during the upcoming Michigan Paranormal Encounters event on May 20 and 21. (Photo courtesy of Thunder Bay Inn).
Thunder Bay Inn hosts paranormal weekend
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By Brad Gischia he Thunder Bay Inn is famous in this part of the world. It has been in movies. It has been memorialized in song. It has been the stopping place for thousands of campers and vacationers over its 100plus years. Perhaps, in all of that time, there have been a few guests who decided that they wanted to stay permanently? Michigan Paranormal Encounters (MPE) will be coming to the Anatomy of a Murder-famous inn for a two-day conference on May 20 and 21. MPE has been around for 20 years, and has conducted investigations in the United States, Canada, Ireland, Scotland and England. While they are primarily based in Michigan, MPE explores purportedly haunted places elsewhere as well. They offer classes, workshops and events as well as private and group investigations, with the primary goal to research the paranormal and share
what they learn. Kathy Conder, director of MPE, has had the inn on her “to-do” list for some time. “My first trip to the Thunder Bay Inn was a couple years ago when I was researching my book,” Conder said. “I was working on the U.P. section of the book and hear that some people had reported having Conder paranormal experiences there, so I booked a stay.” She found the owners very helpful and they let her investigate thoroughly. Paranormal investigations often involve hours of sitting quietly in a dark room while recorders, both au-
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dio and visual, record the room. After that, investigators must relive the entire experience while going over the information gathered, hoping for a noise that wasn’t heard in the moment or for the video cameras to pick up an image. It’s often a very frustrating experience. Tim Ellis and Brad Blair, founding members of the Upper Peninsula Paranormal Society, have spent many hours doing just that. “We do a lot of sitting around in the dark talking to ourselves and looking at nothing,” Blair said. “A lot of the time, we have no evidence, no pictures, no audio, nothing happens. That happens on a fair amount of investigations. But when we do end up with evidence like an EVP (electronic voice phenomenon), it makes that all the more fascinating.” The pair have been investigating spirit phenomena across the Upper Peninsula since they were kids. “We were always captivated by anything bizarre,” Blair said. “Because of that fascination we would go out at night looking for UFOs, searching abandoned homes that we thought looked haunted, it all just Ellis fed into our obsession with the paranormal.” Ellis said it brought Blair, Steve (LaPlaunt, the other founding member of UPPRS) and himself together . “It bonded us,” he said The conference will focus on U.P.-centric hauntings, and has gathered a group of paranormal experts, including Conder, Blair and Ellis, to present their haunting experiences. “I don’t think the U.P. always gets the recognition for the many reportedly haunted locations there,” Conder said. “We will have vendors and are offering a ghost investigation on Saturday night,” Conder said. “The investigation is a separate event and will be limited in size. Attendees can get a ten percent room discount if they mention that they are attending the event.” Blair and Ellis plan to give those people who pay the extra ticket price for the investigation the most for their paranormal buck. “To a point, we have to up our game, it’s a brief period of time so we want to make sure they get the most out of their experience,” Ellis said. “It will be along the lines of one of
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our regular investigations on steroids. We’re going to try and hit them with everything and teach them as much as we can in a short amount of time.” Conder is hopeful about the upcoming investigation, since she had a paranormal experience at the Thunder Bay Inn once before. Blair “It was very late, and I decided to wrap things up, so I gathered my equipment and started up the stairs to my room on the second floor,” she said. “Halfway up the stairs, as I was juggling my equipment, I felt as if I was losing my balance and started to sway backwards.” Conder’s panic quickly turned to curious relief, however. “As soon as I realized I was going to fall, I felt what I can only describe as ‘something’ preventing my fall. It was so startling to feel that in the split second I lurched backwards. My body made contact with something soft, but solid.” There is a full lineup of presentations for the attendees. Even if you’re not brave enough to venture out at night for the investigation, there will be panels and presentations by Blair and Ellis, Conder, Todd Clements, Shetan Noir and the duo behind the Sinister, Strange and Suspicious Podcast. Clements is the author of Haunts of Mackinac, and offers guided walking tours of Mackinac Island’s strange paranormal history. Noir is a Michigan-based author and paranormal travel journalist. She also teaches classes on the paranormal history of the Great Lakes. The Sinister, Strange and Suspicious Podcast deals with exactly that, and hosts Kayse and Élan have both been fascinated with the occult and the mysterious for as long as Clements they can remember. MPE schedules several different events throughout the year, all of them in the realm of the paranormal. Conder featured the Thunder Bay Inn in one of her books, Hauntings,
Spirits and Eats Michigan. Sue Bevins and her husband Mark are the owners. “We love to have those types of events here, and we’re honored that they chose us,” Sue said. “We’re happy to be able to bring this kind of event to the Marquette Noir area.” Sue said she’s had a few experiences that she thought were strange since she became owner of the inn. “We haven’t had anything that happened that we thought, now that was paranormal, but there have been a few things that were hard to explain,” Sue said. “I heard a door close and heard footsteps, and then when I went in the hall no one was there.” But the Bevins aren’t worried about a possible ghost. “If the investigation finds anything, I’ll start charging the ghost rent,” she said. Michigan Paranormal Experiences
puts on several events a year, and is looking forward to the Big Bay convention. “We bring our experiences to anyone who is interested as well as providing a meeting place for like-minded people,” Conder said. For more information about Michigan Paranormal Encounters, the upcoming event at the Thunder Bay Inn in Big Bay or to register for the conference, visit MPE on Facebook or at www.paranormalupconference.com MM About the Author: 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.
Sinister, Strange & Suspicious Duo
Conference-goers can pay extra to participate in a night investigation in the Thunder Bay Inn. (Photo courtesy of Thunder Bay Inn).
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poetry
The Dead River
It’s a half moon, just enough to move through this sheltered trail—a meander to the cold concrete bridge, a pass where you now sit.
It’s trauma to depart you & here one piece is found on a distant train you can relate with its keen, inanimate scream coming through the trees. Parallel rails draw out the sound so unlike any human embrace or emotions like iron never knew how to hold even a simple conversation you can relate with that, at least there is contact. Though for the rest, there is none—not for the undead— it’s a visceral kind of numb that keeps you up & away to where the dead run, wallowing over bedrocks. So here you sit, & listen to the long way the gone speak leaking their stream of ceaseless dark you could at any thought get caught in. But remember, you’re at about a half moon —basking back, you can feel it waxing with animate coos. About the Author: A. Lynn Blumer lives in Marquette, where she enjoys the north and being involved in her local art and poetry scene. She works with two non-profits, does odd jobs for monetary ends and spends her free time writing and printing zines as Pyre Publishing. Her personal work has appeared in Maiden Voyage by Gordon Publications, Horror Sleeze Trash: Poems and Their Anthology Prose in Poor Taste, Paper and Ink Literary Zine: Rebellion, as well as online with Cephalo Press. Her first chapbook, Wayward Creatures, was released by Between Shadows Press. You can follow her on Instagram @pyre_publishing or on GoodReads as herself. The Marquette Poets Circle is very thankful for the support of Marquette Monthly with respect to its five-year anthology Maiden Voyage. The 10-year anthology, Superior Voyage, is intended to be published this year with a tentative book release date of October 18, 2022 at the Peter White Public Library with all profits from any books sold at the event to be donated to the library.
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lookout point
Lake Linden church celebrates 150 years
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By Deborah K. Frontiera n June 12, 1871, a group of French-Canadian immigrant families came together for their first Mass in a new building in Lake Linden. Prior to that date, families had met in various homes. That same year, on August 21, Bishop Mrak, then bishop of the Diocese of Marquette, dedicated a woodframe structure standing in the 700 block of what would later be called Calumet Street as St. Joseph Church. At the time of its dedication, the church was under the patronage of St. Joseph Calasanctius (born in Arran, Spain in 1556). Reverend Francois Héliard served the parish for the first decade. There were 25 families informally headed by Joseph Gregoire, whom many referred to as “the Father of the Canadians of Lake Superior” and one of the most important people in the community. Sources differ as to whether Gregoire donated the land or the money to build the first church, but the best-established source states that Gregoire gave $900 toward the construction of the parsonage and $1,500 toward the building of the first school, as well as the lumber for construction, and that “M/M Guilbault and Beesely” gave the land. It is also known that Gregoire was a big-hearted but private person who kept his donations anonymous. By 1882, the first Catholic School, St. Anne’s Academy, was established.
The first St. Joseph Church in Lake Linden was built in 1871, shown from the outside, above, and its interior, below. At left, a young Monsignor Napoleon J. Raymond. (Photos courtesy of St. Joseph Church)
The parish grew so rapidly that by 1888, a group of Irish and German families (who perhaps wanted to hear a Sunday homily preached in something other than French) split off to form Holy Rosary Church. One year prior to that, the village of Lake Linden was nearly destroyed by a fire. The people banded together to help each other through that ordeal and St. Joseph Church had taken a large part in helping those left homeless by the fire. So, almost from the start, the people of St. Joseph Church would know what was needed to survive whatever life might throw their way. Due to the copper boom and the fact that Calumet and Hecla Copper Mining Company had its main smelter on the shores of Torch Lake between the edges of Lake Linden and Hubbell, the populations of both towns continued to grow. Two large transepts had to be added to the church, so that on November 5, 1892, then-Bishop John Vertin rededicated the building
and the parish was dedicated to St. Joseph, spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The reason for the change from the first-mentioned St. Joseph was not recorded. Another Catholic parish, St. Cecelia, formed in Hubbell the following year. Phenomenal growth continued. Lake Linden reached its peak population figure in the 1900 census recording 3,575 persons. Once again, the church building was too small to accommodate the number of families worshiping there. Fr. Edward P. Bordas arrived as pastor on May 22, 1897, and immediately set about planning a completely new building. A hand-copied page (original newsprint not available) from Aug. 15, 1901, Portage Lake Mining Gazette reads: “For several weeks past, a large force of men has been employed at the foundation of the new St. Joseph Church, Lake Linden, and now it is about complete. The work of erecting the large twelve-foot [high] basement
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has commenced. In laying the foundation, the contractors have been very particular, having been instructed by the Church Committee to put in a thoroughly substantial one. The best of building material—Portage Entry Sandstone—is being put in and when it is complete it will equal in beauty any church in the country.” Bishop Eis dedicated the basement for use as a church in 1902. And then the money ran out. The church sat in a state of incompletion. Enter Fr. Napoleon J. Raymond in September of 1905, originally from Quebec, as were many of the founding families, with French as his native language. Only two years into his priesthood, Fr. Raymond took over a mess of a parish deeply in debt. There are many unsubstantiated rumors about how Fr. Raymond managed to pay off that debt in a few years, but it can certainly be said that he had a way of making his parishioners reach very deeply into their pockets to make the building rise from its foundation. Fr. Raymond, who was made Monsignor in the late 1940s, would “rule the roost” at St. Joseph Church all the way until his death in 1963! Controversy arose over Fr. Raymond’s complete change in the plans for the church. The original plans called for the building to face Lake Street—now Front Street—but in the years the church sat uncompleted, the “main” street of Lake Linden changed from that one to Calumet Street, the original back of the church. Fr. Raymond reversed front and back and made other adjustments to the blueprints to echo French churches in Quebec. A group of 145 families opposed to this hired a lawyer who wrote a letter to the bishop asking him not to approve the changes. Records available at the church do not state how the issue was resolved, but the church does face Calumet Street, although the essence of the original “front” can still be seen when one drives down Front Street behind the church. On March 3, 1912, the Daily Mining Gazette had reported on the construction: “The exterior dimensions of the church measure 70 feet in width by 150 in length. The present portion...is made of Portage Entry sandstone and the contractor expects to erect the remainder of the structure of the same material... On either corner of the front
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the front will be two towers measuring 16 feet square and from the spires, will tower over the building until a height of 100 feet is attained, including crosses which will decorate these spires. The crosses will measure about seven feet high...The entrances will be ornamented with four fluted columns ...These columns will support a portico, the latter projecting out seven feet from the main portion of the building. The portico will be surmounted by four evangelic statues...Matthew, Mark, Luke and John...The roof...will be of steel construction...The ceiling will be 35 feet high. When the finishing of the walls is completed, it will be one of the finest in the country... The woodwork for the interior will be of select red oak. The flooring will be of hardwood and the structure will be steam heated and lighted by electricity.” On June 8, 1912, Rt. Rev. Bishop Eis blessed the cornerstone in a special service. Over the years, Msgr. Raymond would oversee several other building projects including a new school building across the street from the church (after St. Anne’s Academy burned down in 1930) which included a public movie theater, a great ecumenical gift to the community; a new rectory attached to the church in 1950, and several other smaller projects. The people of the parish felt a great loss when Msgr. Raymond died in 1963. They would also stumble through drastic changes in the church after Vatican II, see the population of
the years following. Under Fr. Olson in the early 2000s, parishioners undertook a complete restoration of the interior. Creative fundraising techniques included building a model of the church as a “float” in a July 4 parade and “passing the basket” along the parade route. During that major restoration, services were, once again, in the basement. Now celebrating their 150th Jubilee, the people of St. Joseph are served by Fr. Joseph Boakye Yiadom, who was born in Ghana and came to the parish in 2017. Parishioners chose various ways to celebrate, including a picnic in September of 2021, and a “Fat Tuesday” lasagna dinner in March 2022. The vibrant parish, though much smaller in numbers of families than before, finds itself facing another challenge with funding since they recently had to spend $87,000 to replace a leaky rectory roof, and several other pricey maintenance and repair projects are needed in the near future. No doubt, they will rise to the occasion as they have throughout their history. MM
The exterior of the church today. (Photo courtesy of St. Joseph Church)
their town decrease to the point where Holy Rosary Church closed in 1966, its people folding back into St. Joseph Church; experience the “death” of the town’s major employer, C&H, in 1968. But these people must have had a good deal of that Finnish character-
istic “sisu” because they weathered all those storms and endured! They also raised funds for the refurbishment of the organ in 1981, such an improvement that the Pine Mountain Music Festival held several of its organ recital events there in
About the Author: Deborah K. (Olson) Frontiera is a Lake Linden native who was married in St. Joseph Church in 1971, lived away for many years and returned to the area after retirement. She has written for Marquette Monthly many years and has published a variety of books in several genres. Visit www.authorsden.com/ deborahkfrontiera for details.
A restoration in the early 2000s resulted in this beautiful altar. At right, St. Joan of Arc is featured in one of the church’s 16 stained-glass windows.
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superior reads
Book definitive source on local mining, labor
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Review by Victor Volkman shuttered in 2016. After more than a reservoir for the plant and Michigan’s llan Koski is that rare com- century in operation as a strip-mining first autogenous grinding system had bination of an eloquent his- site, it remains the biggest hole in the to be invented. Autogenous means the torian, talented engineer and ground east of the Mississippi River. ore is grinding itself in a big cylinstoryteller with a penchant for seeing It is 1.5 miles wide and 1,200 feet der to eventually get down to a fine the big picture. Because I thoroughly deep, the volume of dust that can be turned into pellets. enjoyed Koski’s Another Time, Anoth- which is undoubtedly This process was the er Place: World War II in the Pacific greater than many of first of its kind 1941-1944, which details the exploits Michigan’s smaller in America and of his father Eino Koski in the Navy inland lakes. the first two-stage Catalina PBY-5 “Flying Boats,” I As a young autogenous grindwas thrilled when Empire Mine Cas- lad growing up er in the world. At cade Range: Michigan’s Largest in Grosse Pointe the end of the line Iron Mine crossed the review desk. Park, Michigan in was a massive kiln Koski literally leaves no stone un- the early 1970s, I for firing the pellets turned to provide both a history of iron would often see into shape. The kiln extraction in the Upper Peninsula as what seemed was 115 feet long, well as a nearly day-by-day account like an end18.5 feet in diameter, of the struggles of the Empire Mine less chain of and weighed 225 tons. and other Cascade Range operations lake freighters Delivering the kiln reStarting with the revelation of iron hauling ore quired a logistical efore in the U.P. by Marji Gesick, the down-bound fort equivalent to transNative American guide, the author on the Detroit porting the first Space gives us a detailed look at the early River, which Shuttle. Now, the site days of mining. Koski’s overview of was barely preparation for strip minthe life of an underground miner is 1,000 feet wide from the ing was another achievestark and eye-opening. For example, vantage of Patterson Park. Little did ment—2.5 million cubic he shows us the progression of light- I know that the 858-foot MV Roger yards of earth was excavated and ing in the mine from candles attached Blough was hauling iron from the Em- used to construct a railroad grade 50 to the miner’s caps to battery powered pire Mine—literally within a stone’s feet high. Empire Mine Phase I was a lamps and finally electric lights. throw of the dock where I stood. huge success and had the biggest ReThe dangers of making a wrong The book is organized, for con- turn on Investment (ROI) of any mine turn underground and taking a hun- venience, by decade with a general anywhere in America at the time. The dred-foot fall down a shaft are illus- theme for each ten-year span from production goal of 1.2 million tons of trated with accounts from the local decades starting in 1930 to 2010. Em- pellets per year was easily achieved newspapers. Children falling into dis- pire Mine Cascade Range is unpar- and during the next 20 years would used pits and the subsequent remedi- alleled in its photographic record of quadruple with Empire II, III and IV ation are another tragedy that had to daily operations, strikes, and celebra- coming on line eventually. be mitigated. Indeed, the archives of tions. Each chapter ends with a glossy I recommend this book in any curThe Mining Journal are the basis for photo section, and the photos from the riculum of Michigan history, as well much of the coverage of strikes, their last 40 years are generally full-color as for a graduate course in labor relanegotiations and resolution. reproductions. Koski is able to draw tions. Koski’s book is now the definiKoski comes by his knowledge of photos from local newspapers, Cleve- tive text on the history of iron mining the Empire Mine and Cascade Range land Cliffs archives and local US in Michigan and should be a source of honestly. He started at the bottom as Steelworkers Association (USWA) pride for four generations of Yoopers a general laborer working his way newsletters for the most compre- who worked the Empire Mine, which through college in the mid-60s. Koski hensive documentation I believe the sourced the raw materials for Amergraduated from Michigan Technologi- world will ever see of the area. ica’s cars, skyscrapers and even iron cal University with a degree in mining For me, the most exciting aspect ore freighters themselves. Enlivened engineering in 1969, so was that rare of the book is the massive Apollo-era by rare photos, it paints a complete guy whose experience spanned both engineering that went into the modern picture from mine workers to manthe rank-and-file and the management Empire Mine. Some of the goals that agement. team. Indeed, he retired as senior staff they managed seem as fantastic to me MM engineer after 44 years on the job at as a moonshot. It all revolves around Empire Mine. Additionally, he has the new technology of pelletization About the Author: Victor R. Volkman been instrumental in helping preserve to allow American steel to compete is a graduate of Michigan Technologindustrial history in his 20 years of with the foreign competition that ical University (Class of ’86) and is service on the board of the Michigan was already taking a full one-third the current president of the U.P. PubIron Industry Museum. of the market share by 1960. The list lishers and Authors Association (UPAs most Yoopers probably know, of technical and logistical challenges PAA). He is senior editor at Modern the Empire Mine was run by the Cleve- is stunning: a state highway had to History Press and publisher of the land Cliffs Iron Company and was be relocated, a dam built to create a U.P. Reader. Send Upper Peninsula-related book review suggestions to victor@LHPress.com Books submitted for review can be sent to: MM Book Reviews, 5145 Pontiac Trail, Ann Arbor, MI 48105
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home cinema First installment of sci-fi classic offers stunning visuals, competent acting
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Reviews by Leonard G. Heldreth he films this month include the first half of an epic science fiction classic, a first person animation account of a refugee’s escape and a quick glance at a murder mystery series.
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Dune: Part One
irector Denis Villeneuve’s version of Frank Herbert’s novel, Dune, is the third (or maybe the second-and-a-half) version of what is often said to be an impossible novel to film. The first version was David Lynch’s 1984 film, which, although it had some admirers, was considered a critical and commercial failure, partly because it was cut from three hours to 137 minutes before release. In 2000, John Harrison and Richard P. Rubinstein made a live-action miniseries for the Syfy Channel, a version that critics thought improved on Lynch’s film, but was dragged down by too much exposition while lacking the spectacle required for a feature film. Eccentric director Alejandro Jodorowsky acquired the rights to make an extravagant 14-hour adaptation, but the project fell through and survives only in the 2013 documentary film, Jodorowsky’s Dune. Villeneuve’s version, officially called Dune: Part One, attempts to cover only the first half of the sprawling novel with Dune: Part Two scheduled to be released on October 20, 2023. If these are successful, there is talk of a third film based on Herbert’s Dune Messiah (Herbert wrote five novels on the subject). Villeneuve’s previous science fiction films are Arrival and Blade Runner 2049. The plot traces the adventures of Paul Atreides, a young man who is heir to the noble House of Atreides, as he travels to the dangerous planet of Arrakis (Dune). Paul’s father, Duke Leto, has been assigned by the emperor to rule over the planet which is the source of “spice,” a substance that enables interplanetary travel. The previous ruler of Arrakis was Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, who is plotting with the emperor to stage a coup and overthrow the House of
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Atreides as soon as they are settled in. How these political maneuverings and attempted revolts play out comprise most of the action as Paul and his mother Jessica attempt to take refuge with the Fremen, the indigenous people of the planet. A subplot involves Paul’s dreams of a Fremen girl and the test he is given by a member of the Bene Gesserit, a matriarchal order that may control Paul’s destiny. Timothée Chalamet looks about the right age to be Paul Atreides, the ducal heir of House Atreides, and he is able to strike a messianic pose and to appear mentally wounded and confused. He looks effective in everything except dangerous, which may be somewhat of a shortcoming for a young hero. The rest of the cast is good, but this is not a film that requires great acting, and those involved are all at least up to par. The biggest task of any director for a complicated novel with a huge cast is what to cut and what to transfer to the film. Although most critics felt that Villeneuve has done a good job in keeping the essentials, some felt the narrative got bogged down in exposition about the various families and the political struggles; since I haven’t read the novels, I can’t judge, but the film seemed to move quickly enough and to explain what was needed for the viewer to understand the background. Much of the film’s appeal is in the visuals and sound effects, such as the costumes and architectural sets, the insect-like helicopters and the enormous sandworms that are attracted by the mining of spice. Hollywood seemed to agree, and Dune won Academy Awards for Visual Effects, Cinematography, Film Editing, Production Design, Sound
May 2022
and Original Score. This first half of an epic film succeeds in catching the viewer’s attention, presenting visual sweep and special effects and providing competent acting. The question now is, how much of the plot and characters can we remember for two years until the second half comes out?
J
Flee
onas Poher Rasmussen first met Amin Nawabi, (an alias) when the two were in high school. He knew that Amin was a refugee from Afghanistan, fleeing that country after the Russian withdrawal, but it was only as the two became friends that Jonas, a budding filmmaker, found out more details and persuaded Amin to film his story. The result is Flee, a true story and a harrowing, realistic account of a young man’s attempt to escape totalitarian regimes and find a home of his own, while trying to convince himself that he is not gay. The earliest location Amin remembers is his home in Kabul. As the youngest of five children, Amin watches as the Soviet-backed government in Afghanistan gives way, the Taliban takes over and his father, a military officer, is taken into custody and disappears. When he and his brother barely escape being conscripted, the remaining family, with the help of a brother who lives in Sweden, move to Moscow, the only place that will accept their passports. After 1989, with the collapse of the USSR, Russia becomes a dangerous place of poverty and brutal weather; the family tries to move to Scandinavia, but they need money to bribe the people-smugglers to help them escape. Through various hardships and separations from his family, Amin
eventually arrives in Copenhagen alone, and through flashbacks, we find out that today he is a successful professional pursuing a post-doctorate degree at Princeton while looking for a house to share with his partner Kasper. But the fate of his father is never made clear, and the rest of his family is scattered all over Europe. He acknowledges that, compared to other refugees, he has been very lucky. Flee is a refugee’s tale of flight and eventual settling, but it’s also a coming-out story, and as such, a complex reflection on different forms of being an outsider. Flee is an animated film. Like other such films, such as Ari Folman’s Waltz with Bashir and Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis, Flee uses animation techniques to elucidate and embroider memory. The film overall has a simple, colorful style, but that brightness is intercut with scratched newsreel footage, black-and-white animation and stylized, blurry impressionistic sketches, the latter to show memory which cannot be totally recalled, sometimes by choice. Further, the animation, like the use of alias names and drawn faces, conceals the actual appearance of Amin and his family, and—perhaps most important for him—it establishes a buffer between the horror of what actually happened and what he can force himself to remember. While the narrative generally follows chronological order, it sometimes doubles back or avoids certain facts or events, delving into the past through association, indirection and the overcoming of repressed knowledge. At the start of the film, Rasmussen positions Amin carefully on a patterned background cloth or rug; he is lying on his back on a table looking up at the camera, like a patient lying on a simplified version of a psychiatrist’s couch. As Amin recounts his memories, Rasmussen interrupts and asks for clarification, for Amin to be more specific. Finally the director asks what he considers the big question—are any of Amin’s family still alive? When Amin acknowledges that only his fa-
ther was definitely taken away by the Taliban, he further confesses that his earlier story of losing all of his family was drilled into him by a refugee trafficker who said that he could gain asylum as a refugee only if he was an orphan. Amin has told the story so many times to so many interrogators that it has replaced reality in his mind. Certain scenes stand out: the trek through the forest of tall trees as they try to escape Russia appears to be almost as black-and-white as the newsreels; an encounter between a boatload of refugees and an ocean liner whose tourists look down at the refugees and take pictures; a scene on a train where Amin pleads with a doctor to give him medicine which will disable the attraction he feels toward men; Amin’s disagreements with Rasmussen over what should go in the film and what should be left out. Flee brings the viewer face to face with a pressing global issue — the plight of refugees displaced by war and other emergencies— but it’s also about a specific person’s life. It’s no small achievement to take the audience into this broader picture without losing sight of one young man’s search for a home and his family. Flee received Academy Award nominations for Best Documentary Feature Film, Best International Feature Film and Best Animated Feature. It is the first movie ever to be nominated in all three categories. Flee appeared on more than 33 film critics’ top-ten lists for 2021. In Danish, Dari, Russian, Swedish (news-
reel), French (newsreel) and English (newsreel) with English subtitles. Flee is available on Amazon Prime.
F
Harlan Coban Films
or those who like complex thrillers, Netflix has a new series of films based on Harlan Coban best seller novels. So far there are six, and each runs for eight episodes of an hour per episode—enough space to allow character and plot development. All are stand-alone projects with no carry-over of character or plot, but, like Coban’s novels, each is jammed full of characters and plot twists. I’ve watched Stay Close and Safe, both of which were intense, and I anticipate the others will be equally good. These are for people who enjoy serious murder mysteries. Safe (2018) The Stranger (2020) The Woods (2020) Gone for Good (2021) The Innocent (2021) Stay Close (2022) MM About the Author: 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. Editor’s Note: All films reviewed are available on DVD or streaming video. Answers for the New York Times crossword puzzle, located on Page 18.
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This coloring page from Colors of Marquette, Michigan Volume 1 is courtesy of The Gathered Earth, located in downtown Marquette.
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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. Due to changing event requirements, please call ahead to ask about safety precautions, or bring a mask to events, as many events require masks regardless of vaccination status.
Index
Send your June events by Tuesday, May 10 to:
on the town ………… 70
calendar@marquettemonthly.com Marquette Monthly P.O. Box 109 Gwinn, MI 49841 phone: (906) 360-2180
art galleries ……… 72-73 museums …………..75-76 support groups ……… 79
Sea Change Expeditions | May 9 | Houghton
end of april events 27 WEDNESDAY
sunrise 6:42 a.m.; sunset 8:52 p.m.
Escanaba
• Players de Noc: James and the Giant Peach. Local actors will peform the classic children’s tale. $15. 7:30 p.m. Bonifas Art Center, 700 First Ave. S. (906) 786-3833 or playersdenoc.org
Marquette
• Wonder Babies. Newborns to age 20-months with an adult are invited for songs, rhymes and stories. Online registration required. 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. • Visual Art Class: Scientific Illustration. Amelia Pruiett will lead this class for those age 55 and older. Advanced registration required. Marquette City residents, free; nonresidents, $5. 1 to 3 p.m. Marquette Arts and Culture Center, lower level, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 225-8655. • Preschool Creative Movement. Youth age 3 to 5 will explore dance and rhythm while developing large and fine motor skills, coordination and imagination. 2 p.m. Great Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4323.
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on the town Gwinn
• Hideaway Bar. - Mondays: The Hideaway All-Stars. 7 p.m. 741 M-35. 346-3178. • Up North Lodge. - Saturday, the 8th: Reverend. 8 p.m. 215 S. CR-557. (906) 346-9815.
Marquette
• Barrel + Beam. - Friday, May 20: Derrell Syria Project. 7 p.m. 260 Northwoods Rd. (906) 273-2559. • Blackrocks Brewery. - Mondays: Trivia. 7 to 9 p.m. - Wednesdays: Open mic. 6 to 9 p.m. - Friday, the 29 and Saturday, April 30: Pajamas. - Thursday, May 19: Tip O the Mitt Songwriters U.P. Tour. 6 p.m. - Friday, the 20th: The Driftless Revelers and Sugar on the Roof. 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. - Tuesdays: Bingo. 6 to 8 p.m. - Thursdays: Trivia. 6 to 8 p.m. 501 S. Lake St. 273-1300. • Flanigan’s. - Tuesday through Thursday: Karaoke. 9:30 p.m. - Friday, April 29: Whiskey Ryan. 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. - Friday, May 6: Soulshine. 6 p.m. - Friday, the 13th: Under the Radar: 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. - Friday, the 20th: Daydreamers Acoustic. 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Cover charge on weekends only. 429 W. Washington St. 228-8865. • Marquette Mountain. - Wednesdays: Family game night. 4 to 9 p.m. - Fridays: Trivia. 7 to 9 p.m. 4501 M-553. (906) 225-1155. • Northland Pub. - Thursday, April 28: Troy Graham. Music at 8 p.m. Inside the Landmark Inn. 230 N. Front St. (906) 315-8107. • Ore Dock Brewing Company. - Friday, April 29 and Saturday, the 30th: Chris Michaels Band. 9:30 p.m. - Saturday, the 30th: Palestras. 5 p.m. - Friday, May 6 and Saturday, the 7th: Galactic Sherpas. - Sunday, the 8th: Alexis Mahler, Kerry Yost, Jacob Miller and Christopher Lander Moore. - Friday, the 13th: Dede Alder & Friends. - Friday, the 20th and Saturday, the 21st; Leroy.
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February Sky | May 14 | Falling Rock Cafe, Munising
- Wednesday, the 25th: Hiawatha on T.A.A.P. Members, $5. nonmembers, $7. 6 p.m. - Saturday, the 28th: Chasin’ Steel. All shows are free and begin at 8 p.m. unless noted. 114 W. Spring St. 228-8888. • Rippling River Resort. - Friday, April 29 : Troy Graham. - Saturday, the 30th: Troy Graham and Nels. Music from 6 to 9 p.m. 4321 M-553. (906) 273-2259 or ripplingriverresort.com • Superior Culture. - Saturday, April 30: Sister Hammer. 9 p.m. - Thursday, May 5: Electric Wors and Music. 7 p.m. - Friday, the 6th: Troy Graham. 9 p.m. 713 Third Street. (906) 273-0927 or superiorculturemqt.com • The Fold. - Sundays: Acoustic Jam. 3 to 5 p.m. - Friday, May 5: Ben Hassenger and Jeff Krebs. 7 p.m. 1015 N. Third Street, #9. (906) 226-8575.
Munising
• Falling Rock Cafe and Bookstore. - Saturday, May 7: Chris Valenti. Noon. - Saturday, the 14th: February Sky. 7 p.m. Saturday, the 21st: Dennis Palmer. 5 p.m. - Friday, the 27th: Matt Hannah. 5 p.m.
- Saturday, the 28th: The Maynards. 7 p.m. 104 E. Munising Ave. (906) 387-3008 or fallingrockcafe.com
Negaunee
• Smarty’s Saloon. - Wednesdays: Karaoke. 8 p.m. - Thursdays: Live acoustic music. 7 to 10 p.m. 212 Iron St. (906) 401-0438.
Republic
• Pine Grove Bar. - Friday, April 29: Swampberry Moonshine. 8 p.m. to midnight. - Saturday, the 30th: Old Skol. 8 p.m. to midnight. - Friday, May 6: The Wallens. 7 to 10 p.m. - Saturday, the 7th: DJ Ricky P/Karaoke. 10 p.m. - Friday, the 13th: Just the Two of Us. 7 to 10 p.m. - Saturday, the 14th: Spun. 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. - Friday, the 20th: Toni Saari. 7 to 10 p.m. - Saturday, the 21st: The Crunge. 8 p.m. to midnight. - Friday, the 27th: Ethan Bott and Country Band. 7 to 10 p.m. - Saturday, the 28th: Daydreamers. 8 p.m. to midnight. 286 Front St. (906) 376-2234. MM
• Joy of Sound Meditation. Enjoy a relaxing meditation with sounds produced by Tibetan singing bowls and metallic gongs. 7 p.m. St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 201 E. Ridge St. (906) 362-8291. • La Table Française. French speakers of all abilities are invited for informal conversation and discussions. 7 p.m. Room 311, NMU Library. (906) 227-2648 or nkupper@nmu.edu • Marquette Senior High School Jazz Band Concert. 7 p.m. Community Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4321.
28 THURSDAY
sunrise 6:41 a.m.; sunset 8:54 p.m.
Escanaba
• Players de Noc: James and the Giant Peach. Local actors will peform the classic children’s tale. $15. 7:30 p.m. Bonifas Art Center, 700 First Ave. S. (906) 786-3833 or playersdenoc.org
Marquette
• Toddler Storytime. Stories, songs, rhymes, finger-plays and activities for youth ages 21 to 36-months with an adult. 9:45 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. 1 p.m. $5 for games. Westwood Mall, 3020 US-41 West. superiorland_bridge.tripod. com or (906) 360-3056. • Afterschool Camp Vibes. Schoolaged youth are invited for group games, activities and crafts. 4:30 p.m. Youth Services, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4323. • STEM Preschool Storytime. Preschool age children with an adult are invited for STEM related stories and hands-on activities. 6:15 p.m. Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4323. • Poetry Jam with Michael Waite. Individuals are invited to share poems along with improvisational music by Michael Waite. 6 p.m. Community Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4323.
Rapid River
• NCLL’s Rapid River Knifeworks Tour. Learn the history of the business, tour the facility and visit the showroom. Register by the 20th. NCLL members, $3; nonmembers, $10. 2 p.m. Rapid River Knifeworks, 10484 U.25 Road. (906) 226-8347.
29 FRIDAY
sunrise 6:39 a.m.; sunset 8:55 p.m.
Gwinn
• Story Time. Youth are invited for stories, crafts and snacks. 10:30 a.m. Forsyth Township Library, 180 W. Flint St. (906) 346-3433.
Escanaba
• Players de Noc: James and the Giant Peach. Local actors will peform the classic children’s tale. $15. 7:30 p.m. Bonifas Art Center, 700 First Ave. S. (906) 786-3833 or playersdenoc.org
Marquette
• Toddler Storytime. Stories, songs, rhymes, finger-plays and activities for youth ages 21 to 36-months with an adult. 9:45 a.m. Great Room, Peter White
Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 2264323. • Spring and Summer Children’s Clothing and Gear. Shop for gently used clothing, gear and furniture. Preemie through pre-teen items will be available. 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Basement, First Presbyterian Church, 120 N. Front St. (425) 287-0842. • Winter Play Date. Join other families for sledding and free play. 10 to 11:30 a.m. Harlow Park, corner of Seventh and Bluff streets. mloukusa@greatstartma.org • Preschool Storytime. Stories, songs, rhymes, crafts and school-readiness activities for preschool-aged children with an adult. 10:45 a.m. Great Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4323. • Great Michigan Read. Author Mary Doria Russell will discuss her book The Women of the Copper Country. Advanced registration required. 11 a.m. Conference Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4323. • Documentary Film Matinee. The documentary film Bigfoot and Marty will be shown. Noon. Via Zoom. Visit pwpl.info for Zoom link • Superiorland Duplicate Bridge Club. Games open to all interested players. 1 p.m. $5 for games. Westwood Mall, 3020 US-41 West. superiorland_bridge.tripod. com or (906) 458-4844. • LEGO Club. Meet other LEGO enthusiasts and build LEGO projects using the library’s LEGO blocks. 4 p.m. Great Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4323. • Trees, Timber and Local Treasure: An Arbor Day Forestry Workshop. Foresters Sara Kelso and Jim Ferris will share the history of forestry in Michigan, explain how forests are managed and lead an exploratory hike around the island. 5 p.m. Pavilion, Presque Isle Park. (906) 2268871.
30 SATURDAY
sunrise 6:37 a.m.; sunset 8:56 p.m.
Calumet
• Meet the Author. Author Mary Doria Russell will discuss her book The Women of the Copper Country. 1 p.m. Keweenaw Storytelling Center, 215 Fifth St.
Escanaba
• Players de Noc: James and the Giant Peach. Local actors will peform the classic children’s tale. $15. 7:30 p.m. Bonifas Art Center, 700 First Ave. S. (906) 786-3833 or playersdenoc.org
Marquette
• Superiorland Duplicate Bridge Club. Games open to all interested players. Lessons, 10 a.m. Games, 11:30 a.m. $5 for games. Westwood Mall, 3020 US-41 West. superiorland_bridge.tripod.com or (906) 236-3173. • Baby and Toddler Saturday Storytime. Stories, songs, rhymes, finger-plays and activities for babies and toddlers with an adult. 10:30 a.m. Great Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 2264323. • Spring and Summer Children’s Clothing and Gear. Shop for gently used clothing, gear and furniture. Preemie through pre-teen items will be available. 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Basement, First Presbyterian Church, 120 N. Front St. (425) 287-0842.
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art galleries Calumet
• Calumet Art Center. Works by Bobbi Shirey will be on display May 1 through 31, with a public reception at 1 p.m. on the 1st. 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. Works by local and regional artists. Days and hours vary. 109 Fifth St. (906) 369-0094.
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
• 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 • William Bonifas Fine Arts Gallery. - Disable the Label will be on display through May 5. Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Saturday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., 700 First Ave. S. bonifasarts.org or (906) 786-3833.
Hancock
• Finlandia University Gallery. - Off the Hook, featuring works by Liv Aanrud, will be on display April 28 through June 3, with a public reception at 7 p.m. April 28. 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. - A selection of advertising and show posters, dating from the 1920s to 1970s, on loan from the Hamilton Wood Type and Printing Museum, will be on display May 4 through 28. 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) 4822333 or coppercountryarts.com • Youth Gallery. Works by area students will be on display. 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) 482-2333 or coppercountryarts. com
Houghton
• A-Space Gallery. Featuring works by local, regional and national artists. 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.
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Liv Aanrud | Night Bloom | Finlandia University Gallery, Hancock
130 W. Washington St. (906) 225-1993. • DeVos Art Museum. - Senior Exhibition will be on display through April 29. - Annual Children’s Exhibit, featuring works from area students in kindergarten through grade 12, will be on display May 2 through 27. - Regional Perspectives by Women Artists, featuring works in various media from the dawn of the 20th century to present, will be on display through June. - The Last Place on Earth, featuring works by Jan Manniko, will be on display through November 15, 2022. 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 regional and national artists. Featuring fine craft, contemporary art, and jewelry. Thursday and Friday, noon to 5 p.m. Saturday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday through Wednesday, by appointment or chance. 555 E Michigan Street. gracigallery.com • Huron Mountain Club Gallery. - My Lady and I, featuring fabric quilts by Beth Jukuri, will be on display through May 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 • Lake Superior Art Association Deo Gallery. - High School Art Show, featuring works by area high school students, will be on display May 1 through 31, with a public reception at 6 p.m. on the 12th. 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 Reception Area Gallery. - Locally Sourced, featuring works by Taimur Cleary, will be on display through May 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. • 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@.org • 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. - Birchwood baskets by Scott Schieler, will be on display through May 2. (continued on page 81) 73)
art galleries - Works by Kathy Binoniemi, will be on display May 3 through 13, with a public reception at 6 p.m. on the 6th. - Works by Elena Boula, will be on display May 14 through June 3. Featuring works by local and regional artists. Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. 810 N. Third St. (906) 273-1374. • Zero Degrees Artist Gallery. - Works by guest artist Meegan Flannery will be on display, with a public reception from 1 to 4 p.m. on May 14, with refreshments and music. 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
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may events 01 SUNDAY
sunrise 6:36 a.m.; sunset 8:58 p.m.
Ishpeming
• Ukraine Benefit Breakfast. Youth, $5 and younger, free; 6 to 12, $5; adults, $10. 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wesley United Methodist Church, 325. S. Pine St.
Marquette
• Spring and Summer Children’s Clothing and Gear. Shop for gently used clothing, gear and furniture. Preemie through pre-teen items will be available. 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Basement, First Presbyterian Church, 120 N. Front St. (425) 287-0842.
02 MONDAY
sunrise 6:34 a.m.; sunset 8:59 p.m.
Gladstone
• Farmers Market. 3 to 6 p.m. Gladstone Farmers Market, 911 Delta Ave.
Ishpeming
• An Evening of Singing Bowls. Experience relaxation and peace of sound meditation through Tibetan singing bowls and gongs. 7 p.m. Joy Center, 1492 Southwood Dr. (906) 362-9934.
Marquette
• Wonder Babies. Newborns to age 20-months with an adult are invited for songs, rhymes and stories. Online registration required. 9:45 a.m. Great Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4323. • Marquette Poets Circle Workshop and Open Mic. Bring copies of a poem, short prose or lyrics to share. Workshop, 6:30 p.m. Open Mic, 7:15 p.m. Shiras Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. • Registration Deadline: Introduction to Nordic Asahi. See Monday the 9th.
• U.P.-Scale Art. Featuring works by local and regional artists. By appointment. 109 W. Superior Ave. (906) 387-3300 or upscaleart.org
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) 339-1572 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 or aurelia1998@yahoo. com MM
03 TUESDAY
sunrise 6:33 a.m.; sunset 9:00 p.m.
Marquette
• Toddler Storytime. Stories, songs, rhymes, finger-plays and activities for youth ages 21 to 36-months with an adult. 9:45 a.m. Great Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4323. • Preschool Storytime. Stories, songs, rhymes, crafts and school-readiness activities for preschool-aged children with an adult. 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. 1 p.m. $5 for games. Westwood Mall, 3020 US-41 West. superiorland_bridge.tripod. com or (906) 236-1811. • 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. • Muggles for Potter. Youth in grades 2 and 3 are invited to make Potter crafts. 4:30 p.m. Great Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4323. • 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 • Registration Deadline: Constellations and Planets in the May Skies. See Tuesday the 10th.
04 WEDNESDAY
sunrise 6:31 a.m.; sunset 9:02 p.m.
Escanaba
• Farmers Market. 3 to 6 p.m. Escanaba Farmers Market, 1501 Ludington St. (906) 789-8696.
Houghton
• Preschool Sorytime. Youth and their caregivers are invited for stories and
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crafts. 10:30 a.m. Portage Lake District Library, 58 Huron St. (906) 482-4570 or pldl.org
Iron Mountain
• Estate Planning for the Modern Family. Learn about estate planning during this free seminar. 6 p.m. Room 231 A, Bay College West, 2801 US-2. (906) 2286212.
Marquette
• Foot Clinic. This clinic is for people age 55 and older. Appointments necessary. $25. 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Marquette Senior Center, 300 W. Spring St. (906) 228-0456. • May the 4th Be With You: Star Wars Day. Star Wars themed crafts will be available. 9:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Youth Services Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4323. • Wonder Babies. Newborns to age 20-months with an adult are invited for songs, rhymes and stories. Online registration required. 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. • Visual Art Class: Silk Scarf Painting. Diane Kribs-Mays will lead this class for those age 55 and older. Advanced registration required. Marquette City residents, free; nonresidents, $5. 1 to 3 p.m. Marquette Arts and Culture Center, lower level, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 225-8655. • Preschool Creative Movement. Youth age 3 to 5 will explore dance and rhythm
while developing large and fine motor skills, coordination and imagination. 2 p.m. Great Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4323. • Outword. LGBTQIA youth and allied students in grades 7 to 12 are invited. 4 p.m. Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4321. • Estate Planning for the Modern Family. Learn about estate planning during this free seminar. 6 p.m. Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 228-6212. • League of Women Voters Monthly Membership Meeting. Masks, vaccine and social distancing required. 6 p.m. lower level, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. • Frederick Law Olmsted: Designing America–An Evening with Laurence Cotton. Frederick Law Olsmsted biographer Laurence Cotton will discuss Olmsted’s life, career, legacy and his influence on Presque Isle Park. $10. 6:30 p.m. Marquette Regional History Center, 145 W. Spring St. (906) 226-3571 or marquettehistory.org • An Evening of Singing Bowls. Experience relaxation and peace of sound meditation through Tibetan singing bowls and gongs. 7 p.m. St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 201 E. Ridge St. (906) 362-9934. • Registration Deadline: Greeting Card Making II. See Wednesday the 11th.
05 THURSDAY
sunrise 6:30 a.m.; sunset 9:03 p.m.
Marquette
• Toddler Storytime. Stories, songs, rhymes, finger-plays and activities for
Circus | May 5 and 6 | Marquette
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Big Bay
• Big Bay Lighthouse. The grounds of the 1896 lighthouse are open yearround. 3 Lighthouse Rd. (906) 345-9957.
Scot Stewart
museums
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 Colosseum, 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. Opens May 23. 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. 265-2617 or ironcountymuseum. org
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 and campsites are on site. Opens May 17. 8:30 a.m. to dusk. $17 per car, per day for Michigan residents, $9 for nonresidents. US-41 (one mile east of Copper Harbor). 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. Youth 5 and younger, free; 6 to 12, $7; 13 and older, $12. Daily, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. US-41, 12 miles south of Copper Harbor. 289-4688 or keweenawheritagesites.org
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 midMay. $17 per car, per day for Michigan residents, $9 for nonresidents. Daily, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. 13700 13.25 Lane. 6442603.
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
Fayette Historic Townsite | Garden
shafts are still open for touring. Tours range from surface walking tours to underground rappelling down a mine shaft. Opens May 27. Tour prices vary. Youth 6 and younger, free; 7 to 12, $7.50 to $14.50; 13 and older, $14 to $25. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. 200 Adventure Ave. 8833371 or adventuremine.com
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 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. (906) 482-3101 or quincymine.com
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. (906) 487-2572 or museum.mtu.edu • Carnegie Museum. Features rotating displays of local history, natural science and culture. The Science Center is dedicated to interactive exhibits about science for kids. Thursdays, noon to 5 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) 4873209.
Ishpeming
• Ishpeming Area Historical Society Museum. New exhibits include a military exhibit and artifacts from the Elson Estate. Donations appreciated. Days and hours vary. Gossard Building, Suite 303, 308 Cleveland Ave. ishpeminghistory.org • U.S. National Ski Hall & 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. By appointment only. 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
Marquette
• Beaumier Upper Peninsula Heritage Center. - UP3D, an exhibition of stereograph images from the collection of Jack Deo, will be on display through August 27. Three separate collections focus on cultural artifacts relating to ethnic, religious and social diversity in the U.P. 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 17. Prices vary. Tuesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. 300 Lakeshore Blvd. 226-2006 or mqtmaritimemuseum.com (continued on page 76)
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museums • Marquette Regional History Center. - Railroads of Marquette County: Yesterday and Today, featuring select hands-on elements, as well as maps, artifacts and photographs, will be on display through February 2023. 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) 226-3571 or marquettehistory.org • Upper Peninsula Children’s Museum. A variety of interactive exhibits offer learning through (continued from page 75) youth ages 21 to 36-months with an adult. 9:45 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. 1 p.m. $5 for games. Westwood Mall, 3020 US-41 West. superiorland_bridge.tripod. com or (906) 360-3056. • Cooking Class For Teens: Tacos. Youth in grades 6 through 12 are invited to learn how to make tacos. Advanced registration required. 4:30 p.m. Marquette Food Co-op, 502 W. Washington St. (906) 226-4321. • Afterschool Camp Vibes. Schoolaged youth are invited for group games, activities and crafts. 4:30 p.m. Youth Services, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4323. • STEM Preschool Storytime. Preschool age children with an adult are invited for STEM related stories and hand-on activities. 6:15 p.m. Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4323. • Carden Circus. The circus will feature three rings with music, magic, aerialists and more. Prices vary. 6:30 to 9 p.m. Lakeview Arena, 401 E. Fair Ave. • Registration Deadline: City Planner – Improvement Projects in Marquette. See Thursday the 12th.
Menominee
• Estate Planning for the Modern Family. Learn about estate planning during this free seminar. 6 p.m. Riverside Golf Club, 3459 14th Ave. (906) 228-6212.
06 FRIDAY
sunrise 6:28 a.m.; sunset 9:04 p.m.
Gwinn
• Story Time. Youth are invited for stories, crafts and snacks. 10:30 a.m. Forsyth Township Library, 180 W. Flint St. (906) 346-3433.
Marquette
• Toddler Storytime. Stories, songs, rhymes, finger-plays and activities for youth ages 21 to 36-months with an adult. 9:45 a.m. Great Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4323. • Preschool Storytime. Stories, songs, rhymes, crafts and school-readiness activities for preschool-aged children with an adult. 10:45 a.m. Great Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4323. • Superiorland Duplicate Bridge Club.
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investigation and creativity. Monday through Satruday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Prices vary. 123 W. Baraga Ave. (906) 226-3911 or upchildrenmuseum.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. Walk shoreline nature trails. View exhibits of boats, equipment, and practices of commercial fishermen and Native Americans who lived on the west shore Games open to all interested players. 1 p.m. $5 for games. Westwood Mall, 3020 US-41 West. superiorland_bridge.tripod. com or (906) 458-4844. • LEGO Club. Meet other LEGO enthusiasts and build LEGO projects using the library’s LEGO blocks. 4 p.m. Great Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4323. • Carden Circus. The circus will feature three rings with music, magic, aerialists and more. Prices vary. 4:30 and 7:30 p.m. Lakeview Arena, 401 E. Fair Ave. • TV6 Mother’s Day Craft Show. Youth 12 and younger, free; 13 and older, $3. 5 to 9 p.m. Superior Dome, NMU. • Youth Spring Fling Semi-Formal Dance. Students in grades 6 to 8 are invited. Refreshments served. 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. Great Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4321.
07 SATURDAY
sunrise 6:27 a.m.; sunset 9:06 p.m.
Calumet
• Driftwood Gnome Magnets. Sandy Lindblom will lead the class. Advanced registration required. $25.10 a.m. to noon. Calumet Art Center, 57055 Fifth Street. (906) 934-2228.
Crystal Falls
• Max and Ruth Bloomquist Concert. The duo will perform their acoustic Americana hits, with roots in fold, bluegrass and traditional country music. Students, $5; adults, $25. 7 p.m. CDT. Crystal Theatre, 304 Superior Ave. (906) 875-3208 or thecrystaltheatre.org
Curtis
• Sue Huber Evening of Music. 7 p.m. Pine Performance Center, Erickson Center for the Arts, Saw0Wa-Quato St. (906) 5869974 or ericksoncenter.org
Escanaba
• Benefit for the Bonifas. This benefit includes entertainment, food, a silent auction, games, and a live art auction. Advanced tickets, $40; at the door, $55. 6 to 10 p.m. 7 p.m. Bonifas Art Center, 700 First Ave. S. (906) 786-3833 or bonifasarts.org
Marquette
• Marq Wars. Celebrate all things Star Wars with vendors, projects, food, costumes, droids, movies, toys and more.
May 2022
of Green Bay. Opens May 28. 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.
Youth 9 and younger, free; 10 to 17, $10; 18 and older, $20. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Masonic Center, address W. Washington St. • TV6 Mother’s Day Craft Show. Youth 12 and younger, free; 13 and older, $3. 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Superior Dome, NMU. • Superiorland Duplicate Bridge Club. Games open to all interested players. Lessons, 10 a.m. Games, 11:30 a.m. $5 for games. Westwood Mall, 3020 US-41 West. superiorland_bridge.tripod.com or (906) 236-3173. • Baby and Toddler Saturday Storytime. Stories, songs, rhymes, finger-plays and activities for babies and toddlers with an adult. Registration required. 10:30 a.m. Great Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4323. • Marquette Symphony Orchestra: A Universe of Music. This concert will the MSO Youth Concerto Competition winner, Christine Harada Li. Prices vary. 7:30 p.m. Kaufman Auditorium, 611 N. Front St. (906) 227-1032 or tickets.nmu. edu
08 SUNDAY
sunrise 6:25 a.m.; sunset 9:07 p.m.
Mother’s Day Marquette
• TV6 Mother’s Day Craft Show. Youth 12 and younger, free; 13 and older, $3. 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Superior Dome, NMU.
09 MONDAY
sunrise 6:24 a.m.; sunset 9:08 p.m.
Escanaba
• Marquette Symphony Orchestra: Christine Hara Li Violin and Cello Duo. Students, $6; nonstudents, $12. 7 p.m. Besse Center Theatre, Bay College, 2001 N. Lincoln Rd. (906) 217-4045 or baycollege. tix.com
Gladstone
• Farmers Market. 3 to 6 p.m. Gladstone Farmers Market, 911 Delta Ave.
Houghton
• Sea Change Expeditions. Katya and Mark Gordon will discuss their sailing trips around Lake Superior. 6:30 p.m. Portage Lake District Library, 58 Huron St. (906) 482-4570 or pldl.org
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 large-scale 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. Daily, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. 73 Forge Rd. (906) 475-7857.
MM
Marquette
• Wonder Babies. Newborns to age 20-months with an adult are invited for songs, rhymes and stories. Online registration required. 9:45 a.m. Great Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4323. • Introduction to Nordic Asahi. Instructor Marsha Lucas will lead a demonstration of the slow, easy movements performed standing, sitting or in a horizontal position with a focus on motions and breathing. Register by the 2nd. NCLL members, $3; nonmembers, $10. 10 a.m. Pavilion, Mattson Lower Harbor Park, Lakeshore Blvd. (906) 4585408. • 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. • Senior Theatre Experience Monthly Workshop. Those age 55 and older are invited for the monthly workshops and discussions. Advanced registration required. 4 p.m. Marquette Arts and Culture Center, lower level, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 2258655. • Picking with the Champ. Five-time national morel-hunting champion Anthony Williams will share tips on how to find morel mushrooms. 7 p.m. Community Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4322.
10 TUESDAY
sunrise 6:23 a.m.; sunset 9:09 p.m.
Houghton
• Estate Planning for the Modern Family. Learn about estate planning during this free seminar. 6 p.m. Portage Lake District Library, 58 Huron St. (906) 228-6212.
Marquette
• Toddler Storytime. Stories, songs, rhymes, finger-plays and activities for youth ages 21 to 36-months with an adult. 9:45 a.m. Great Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 2264323. • Preschool Storytime. Stories, songs, rhymes, crafts and school-readiness activities for preschool-aged children with an adult. 10:45 a.m. Great Room,
Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4323. • Tasty Reads Book Group. The group will discuss With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo. Noon. Shiras Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4323. • Constellations and Planets in the May Skies. NCLL members, $8; nonmembers, $13. 1 p.m. Shiras Planetarium, 1203 W. Fair Ave. (906) 361-5370. • Superiorland Duplicate Bridge Club. Games open to all interested players. 1 p.m. $5 for games. Westwood Mall, 3020 US-41 West. superiorland_bridge.tripod. com or (906) 236-1811. • Dumbledore’s Army. Students in grades 4 to 6 are invited for Harry Potter crafts. 4:30 p.m. Great Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 2264323.
Munising
• Estate Planning for the Modern Family. Learn about estate planning during this free seminar. 6 p.m. Alger County Commission on Aging, 1604 Sand Point Rd. (906) 228-6212.
11 WEDNESDAY
sunrise 6:21 a.m.; sunset 9:11 p.m.
Escanaba
• Farmers Market. 3 to 6 p.m. Escanaba Farmers Market, 1501 Ludington St. (906) 789-8696.
Houghton
• Preschool Sorytime. Youth and their caregivers are invited for stories and crafts. 10:30 a.m. Portage Lake Distric Library, 58 Huron St. (906) 482-4570 or pldl.org
Ishpeming
• Yooper Knitz Open Craft Night. Knitters, crocheters and crafters of all abilities are welcome. 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Stash Crafters Lounge, 113 Cleveland Ave.
Marquette
• Wonder Babies. Newborns to age 20-months with an adult are invited for songs, rhymes and stories. Online registration required. 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. • Greeting Card Making II. Learn to make greeting cards during this class. Supplies provided. Register by the 4th. NCLL members, $9; nonmembers, $16. 1 p.m. Harlow Farms Community Center, corner of Wilson and Horizon streets. (906) 361-5370. • 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. Youth Services, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4321. • Authors Reading Virtually: Sonya Sones. Author Sonya Sones will read selections from her novel Stop Pretending: What Happened When My Big Sister Went Crazy. 7 p.m. via Zoom. Pwpl.info for Zoom link.
12 THURSDAY
sunrise 6:20 a.m.; sunset 9:12 p.m.
Escanaba
• Bay Film Series. The film Cyrano will be shown. Bay students, $2; nonstudents, $5. 7 p.m. Besse Center Theatre, Bay College, 2001 N. Lincoln Rd. (906) 2174045 or baycollege.tix.com
Crystal Falls
• Virtual Q&A with U.P. Author Mikel B. Classen. Author Mary Doria Russell will discuss his book Women of the Copper Country: A Novel. 7 p.m. ET. Call or email to register. (906) 875-3344 or egathu@ uproc.lib.mi.us
Manistique
constellations and planets visible in the May sky. Age 60 and older, free; youth 17 and younger, $2; 18 and older, $3. 6:30 p.m. Shiras Planetarium, 1203 W. Fair Ave. shirasplanetarium.org • Presque Isle Guided Hike. Dr. Jacquie Medina will lead a hike along the Presque Isle trails and discuss how Fredrick Law Olmsted advised to preserve the park. Advanced registration required. $15. 7 p.m. Presque Isle. (906) 226-3571 or marquettehistory.org • Registration Deadline: NCLL Annual Meeting and Service Dogs for Vets. See Thursday the 19th.
13 FRIDAY
sunrise 6:19 a.m.; sunset 9:13 p.m.
• Estate Planning for the Modern Family. Learn about estate planning during this free seminar. 1 p.m. Manistique Senior Center, 101 S. Main St. (906) 2286212.
Chatham
Marquette
• Story Time. Youth are invited for stories, crafts and snacks. 10:30 a.m. Forsyth Township Library, 180 W. Flint St. (906) 346-3433.
• Toddler Storytime. Stories, songs, rhymes, finger-plays and activities for youth ages 21 to 36-months with an adult. 9:45 a.m. Great Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4323. • City Planner – Improvement Projects in Marquette. Dennis Stensaas will discuss how city projects are prioritized and the infrastructure money fund. Register by the 5th. NCLL members, $3; nonmembers, $10. 1 p.m. Shiras Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 361-5370. • Superiorland Duplicate Bridge Club. Games open to all interested players. 1 p.m. $5 for games. Westwood Mall, 3020 US-41 West. superiorland_bridge.tripod. com or (906) 360-3056. • Household Hazardous Waste Collection. Leftover household products containing reactive, corrosive, ignitable or toxic ingredients will be collected. A list of acceptable items is available online. 3 to 7 p.m. Marquette Rubbish/Compost Site, 1415 Pioneer Rd. (906) 249-4125 or recycle906.com • Second Thursday Creativity Series. Youth are invited for a hands-on activities. Register online, space is limited. 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. U.P. Children’s Museum, 123 W. Baraga Ave. (906) 226-3911 or upchildrensmuseum.org • May Night Sky Tour. Explore
• Registration Deadline: Rock River Perennial Garden and Greenhouse. See Friday the 20th.
Gwinn
Marquette
• Toddler Storytime. Stories, songs, rhymes, finger-plays and activities for youth ages 21 to 36-months with an adult. 9:45 a.m. Great Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4323. • Preschool Storytime. Stories, songs, rhymes, crafts and school-readiness activities for preschool-aged children with an adult. 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. 1 p.m. $5 for games. Westwood Mall, 3020 US-41 West. superiorland_bridge.tripod. com or (906) 458-4844. • LEGO Club. Meet other LEGO enthusiasts and build LEGO projects using the library’s LEGO blocks. 4 p.m. Great Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4323.
14 SATURDAY
sunrise 6:17 a.m.; sunset 9:15 p.m.
• LEGO Club. Bring your own box or bag of LEGO blocks. 1 p.m. Escanaba Public Library, 400 Ludington St. (906) 789-7323.
Houghton
• Worm Compositng Workshop. Learn to make your own year-round compositing site. Bring a recycled, washed container with a lid. Red worms will be provided. 12:30 p.m. Portage Lake Distric Library, 58 Huron St. (906) 482-4570 or pldl.org
Marquette
• Coastal Cleanup at Founders Landing. Join others to clean up the area around Founders Landing, including the Whetstone Brook. Bags, grabbers and gloves provided. 10 a.m. to noon. Founders Landing, Lakeshore Blvd. • Superiorland Duplicate Bridge Club. Games open to all interested players. Lessons, 10 a.m. Games, 11:30 a.m. $5 for games. Westwood Mall, 3020 US-41 West. superiorland_bridge.tripod.com or (906) 236-3173. • Baby and Toddler Saturday Storytime. Stories, songs, rhymes, finger-plays and activities for babies and toddlers with an adult. Registration required. 10:30 a.m. Great Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4323. • Onagomingkway Chapter of NSDAR Meeting. Questions about genealogy and joining DAR will be answered following the meeting. Noon. 1801 Wright St. (906) 226-7836.
15 SUNDAY
sunrise 6:16 a.m.; sunset 9:16 p.m.
Calumet
• Red Jack Jamboree. Karen Blue and The Might Mac will perform during this live radio show. $25. 7 p.m. Keweenaw Storytelling Center, 215 Fifth St. redjacketjamboree.org
K.I. Sawyer
• Dance. Dance to music performed by te Hart Beats. Prices vary. 1 to 4 p.m. K.I. Sawyer Heritage Air Musuem, 402 Third St.
Marquette
• Westerly Winds Big Band Swing Dance. Students, $5; adults, $10. 2 p.m. Ore Dock Brewing Company, 114 W. Spring St. (906) 228-8888.
Escanaba
Rock River Perennial Garden and Greenhouse | April 20 | Chatham
Negaunee
• Spaghetti Dinner Fundraiser. Proceeds will benefit Glenn Troupe’s medical costs for a kidney transplant. Prices vary. 1 to 7 p.m. Negaunee Eagles Club, 311 Iron St.
16 MONDAY
sunrise 6:15 a.m.; sunset 9:17 p.m.
Gladstone
• Farmers Market. 3 to 6 p.m. Gladstone Farmers Market, 911 Delta Ave.
Ishpeming
• An Evening of Singing Bowls. Experience relaxation and peace of sound meditation through Tibetan singing bowls and gongs. 7 p.m. Joy Center, 1492 Southwood Dr. (906) 362-9934.
May 2022
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Marquette
Spelunking at Pictured Rocks | May 25 | Marquette
• Global Geeks Book Club. The group will discuss In the Country of Others by Leila Slimani. 6 p.m. Dandelion Cottage Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4312. • Phil Lynch Concert. Singer, songwriter and pianist Phil Lynch will perform. 7 p.m. Community Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4312. • Registration Deadline: Heritage Trail Hike. See Monday the 23rd.
• BAY-CON. This inaugural event will feature a large vendor space, and several smaller events such as a vintage video gaming room, video game tournament, and educational sessions on topics like how to clean and store your vinyl records. $2 suggested donation. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Room 952, JHUC Building, Bay College, 2001 N. Lincoln Rd. (906) 217-4031.
17 TUESDAY
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, 600 Hawley St. noquetrails.org • 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. Lessons, 10 a.m. Games, 11:30 a.m. $5 for games. Westwood Mall, 3020 US-41 West. superiorland_bridge.tripod.com or (906) 236-3173.
Gwinn
• Literature at the Lodge. The group will discuss Ghosted by Rosie Walsh. 7 p.m. Up North Lodge, 215 S. CR-557. (906) 3463433.
Marquette
18 WEDNESDAY
sunrise 6:13 a.m.; sunset 9:19 p.m.
Curtis
• Nunsense the Musical. 7 p.m. Prices vary. Pine Performance Center, Erickson Center for the Arts, Saw0Wa-Quato St. (906) 586-9974 or mynorthtickets.com
Escanaba
• Farmers Market. 3 to 6 p.m. Escanaba Farmers Market, 1501 Ludington St. (906) 789-8696.
Houghton
• Preschool Sorytime. Youth and their caregivers are invited for stories and crafts. 10:30 a.m. Portage Lake Distric Library, 58 Huron St. (906) 482-4570 or pldl.org
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. • Feeding America Mobile Food Pantry. Noon to 2 p.m. Berry Events Center parking lot, NMU. • Visual Art Class: Silk Scarf Painting. Diane Kribs-Mays will lead this class for those age 55 and older. Advanced registration required. Marquette City
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• May Market. 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Calumet Art Center, 57055 Fifth Street. (906) 9342228.
Escanaba
sunrise 6:14 a.m.; sunset 9:18 p.m.
• 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. • Superiorland Duplicate Bridge Club. Games open to all interested players. 1 p.m. $5 for games. Westwood Mall, 3020 US-41 West. superiorland_bridge.tripod. com or (906) 236-1811. • Zonta 50th Anniversary Celebration. Enjoy light dinner fare, dessert and a complimentary beverage. Door prizes and basket raffles available. Proceeds benefit the Women’s Center. Individual, $75; couple, $140. 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Barrel + Beam, 260 Northwoods Rd. lcontois@nmu. edu • Artists and Their Art: Andrew Wyeth. Ellen Longsworth will discuss the life and work of painter Andrew Wyeth. 7 p.m. Via Zoom. Visit pwpl.info for Zoom link.
Calumet
residents, free; nonresidents, $5. 1 to 3 p.m. Marquette Arts and Culture Center, lower level, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 225-8655. • Teen Advisory Board. Students in grade 9 to 12 are invited to meet new people, plan activities and gain volunteer experience. 4 p.m. Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4323. • An Evening of Singing Bowls. Experience relaxation and peace of sound meditation through Tibetan singing bowls and gongs. 7 p.m. St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 201 E. Ridge St. (906) 362-9934.
necessary. $25. 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Marquette Senior Center, 300 W. Spring St. (906) 2280456. • Superiorland Duplicate Bridge Club. Games open to all interested players. 1 p.m. $5 for games. Westwood Mall, 3020 US-41 West. superiorland_bridge.tripod. com or (906) 360-3056. • NCLL Annual Meeting and Service Dogs for Vets. A new board of directors will be elected followed by a presentation on training service dogs by Andrew Bek. Register by the 12th. 4:30 p.m. American Legion, 700 W. Bluff St. (906) 361-5370.
Negaunee
• Registration Deadline: The Union Carpenters, Millwrights, Apprenticeship Skilled Training Center Tour. See Wednesday the 25th.
Skandia
• Farmers Market Opening - Plant Sale. 4 to 7 p.m. Skandia Farmers Market, 9271 US-41 S.
19 THURSDAY
sunrise 6:12 a.m.; sunset 9:21 p.m.
Curtis
• Nunsense the Musical. 7 p.m. Prices vary. Pine Performance Center, Erickson Center for the Arts, Saw0Wa-Quato St. (906) 586-9974 or mynorthtickets.com
Escanaba
• Estate Planning for the Modern Family. Learn about estate planning during this free seminar. 6 p.m. North Woods Place, 501 S. Lincoln Rd. (906) 2286212. • Marquette Symphony Orchestra: Andrew LaCombe and Ryan Ford Cello Recital. $12. 7 p.m. Besse Center Theatre, Bay College, 2001 N. Lincoln Rd. (906) 217-4045 or baycollege.tix.com
Marquette
• Foot Clinic. This clinic is for people age 55 and older. Appointments
May 2022
20 FRIDAY
sunrise 6:10 a.m.; sunset 9:22 p.m.
Chatham
• Rock River Perennial Garden and Greenhouse. Rowan Bunce will discuss perennials, growing conditions and more. Register by the 13th. NCLL members, $3; nonmembers, $10. 9 a.m. to noon. Rock River Farms, N6301 Rock River Road. (906) 361-5370.
Curtis
• Nunsense the Musical. 7 p.m. Prices vary. Pine Performance Center, Erickson Center for the Arts, Saw0Wa-Quato St. (906) 586-9974 or mynorthtickets.com
Gwinn
• Story Time. Youth are invited for stories, crafts and snacks. 10:30 a.m. Forsyth Township Library, 180 W. Flint St. (906) 346-3433.
Marquette
• Superiorland Duplicate Bridge Club. Games open to all interested players. 1 p.m. $5 for games. Westwood Mall, 3020 US-41 West. superiorland_bridge.tripod. com or (906) 458-4844.
21 SATURDAY
sunrise 6:09 a.m.; sunset 9:23 p.m.
22 SUNDAY
sunrise 6:08 a.m.; sunset 9:24 p.m.
23 MONDAY
sunrise 6:07 a.m.; sunset 9:25 p.m.
Gladstone
• Farmers Market. 3 to 6 p.m. Gladstone Farmers Market, 911 Delta Ave.
Marquette
• Heritage Trail Hike. Join others for a four-mile walk on the Heritage Trail. Walkers can choose a shorter distance hike. Register by the 16th. NCLL members, $3; nonmembers, $10. 1 p.m. Parking lot behind Wendy’s, 2025 US-41 S. (906) 361-5370. • Senior Theatre Experience Monthly Workshop. Those age 55 and older are invited for the monthly workshops and discussions. Advanced registration required. 4 p.m. Marquette Arts and Culture Center, lower level, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 2258655. • Documentary Film. The untold documentary film Hidden Pictures–the Underexposed World of Global Mental Health will be shown. 7 p.m. Community Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4322.
24 TUESDAY
sunrise 6:07 a.m.; sunset 9:26 p.m.
Marquette
• 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. • Superiorland Duplicate Bridge Club. Games open to all interested players. 1 p.m. $5 for games. Westwood Mall, 3020 US-41 West. superiorland_bridge.tripod. com or (906) 236-1811.
support groups • Alano Club. Twelve-step recovery meetings daily. Monday through Saturday, noon and 8 p.m. Sunday, 9 a.m. and 8 p.m. 1202 S. Front St., Southgate Plaza, Marquette. • Al-Anon Family Groups. A fellowship offering strength and hope for friends and families of problem drinkers. alalon.org or (888) 425-2666. • Alcoholics Anonymous. Meetings throughout Marquette County, open daily, at many locations and times. Twenty-four-hour answering service, (800) 605-5043 or aa-marquettecounty. org • 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. • Amputee Social Group—Group Yoga Session. This peer support group is for amputees, friends and families to share resources, life experiences and create relationships. May 10. 6 p.m. Northern Orthotics and Prosthetics, 1015 Commerce Dr. (906) 273-2444. • Blood Pressure, Blood Sugar and Cholesterol Checks. Cholesterol checks are $5. Call for Marquette County schedule. (906) 225-4545.
25 WEDNESDAY
sunrise 6:06 a.m.; sunset 9:27 p.m.
Escanaba
• Farmers Market. 3 to 6 p.m. Escanaba Farmers Market, 1501 Ludington St. (906) 789-8696.
Houghton
• Preschool Sorytime. Youth and their caregivers are invited for stories and crafts. 10:30 a.m. Portage Lake Distric Library, 58 Huron St. (906) 482-4570 or pldl.org
Ishpeming
• Yooper Knitz Open Craft Night. Knitters, crocheters and crafters of all abilities are welcome. 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Stash Crafters Lounge, 113 Cleveland Ave.
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. • Superiorland Duplicate Bridge Club. Games open to all interested players. 1 p.m. $5 for games. Westwood Mall, 3020 US-41 West. superiorland_bridge.tripod. com or (906) 360-3056. • Why? The Untold Story of the BarnesHecker Mine Disaster. James Paquette will discuss the 1926 cave-in at the Barnes-Hecker Mine that took the lives of 51 men. $5. 6 p.m. Marquette Regional History Center, 145 W. Spring St. (906) 226-3571 or marquettehistory.org • Spelunking at Pictured Rocks. Michael Neiger and Todd Theoret will
• Divorce Care—Ishpeming. This nondenominational group is for people who are separated or divorced. New members are welcome. Tuesdays, 6 p.m. Northiron Church, 910 Palms Ave. (906) 475-6032 or northiron.church Grief Share—Ishpeming. This nondenominational group is for people dealing with grief and loss. Mondays, 2:30 p.m. Northiron Church, 910 Palms Ave. (906) 475-6032 or northiron. church • iCanQuit. Smokers are invited to learn more about quitting with the help of a quitting coach. (800) 480-7848. 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 11. 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 18. 5:30 p.m. Lake Superior 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 19. 3 p.m.
Negaunee Senior Center, 410 Jackson St. (906) 475-6266 or lakesuperiorhospice. org • Michigan Tobacco Quit Line. This free quit smoking coaching hotline provides callers with a personal health coach. (800) 784-8669. • 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 for Zoom meetings. May 9 and May 19. 7 p.m. Call (906) 3607107 or email ckbertucci58@charter.net for Zoom invitation, or namimqt.com • Nar-Anon Meetings. 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. • Nicotine Anonymous. (415) 750-0328 or www.nicotine-anonymous.org • Parkinson’s Support Group— Marquette. May 18. 2 p.m. Marquette Senior Center, 300 W. Spring St. (906) 228-0456. • Senior Support Group—Marquette. Learn about strength, flexibility and balance. May 19. 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
share photos of grottos and caverns along the lakeshore. 7 p.m. Community Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4322.
304 Superior Ave. (906) 875-3208 or thecrystaltheatre.org
Negaunee
• Union Carpenters, Millwrights, Apprenticeship Skilled Training Center Tour. Tour the new training center, and learn about various programs from the regional director and instructors. Register by the 18th. NCLL members, $3; nonmembers, $10. 12 p.m. 370 US-41 E. (906) 228-8347.
Skandia
• Farmers Market Opening. 4 to 7 p.m. Skandia Farmers Market, 9271 US-41 S.
26 THURSDAY
sunrise 6:05 a.m.; sunset 9:28 p.m.
Marquette
• Campfire Under the Stars. Tour the planetarium and learn about the equipment inside, as well as stars in the sky. Youth, $2; adults, $3. 6:30 p.m. Shiras Planetarium, 1203 W. Fair Ave. shirasplanetarium.org
27 FRIDAY
sunrise 6:04 a.m.; sunset 9:29 p.m.
Crystal Falls
• Documentary: The Enemy in Our Midst. The film will discuss five prisoner of war camps in the U.P., which were active from 1944 to 1946. John Pepin will answer questions following the film. Donations appreciated. 7 p.m. CDT. Crystal Theatre,
Gwinn
• Story Time. Youth are invited for stories, crafts and snacks. 10:30 a.m. Forsyth Township Library, 180 W. Flint St. (906) 346-3433.
Marquette
• Free Blood Pressure/Blood Sugar Clinic. This clinic is free to resident age 55 and older. Appointments necessary. 11 a.m. Marquette Senior Center, 300 W. Spring St. (906) 228-0456. • Documentary Film Matinee. The documentary film Hidden Pictures–the Underexposed World of Global Mental Health 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. 1 p.m. $5 for games. Westwood Mall, 3020 US-41 West. superiorland_bridge.tripod. com or (906) 458-4844. • Gubernatorial Debate. 7 p.m. Kaufman Auditorium, 611 N. Front St.
28 SATURDAY
sunrise 6:03 a.m.; sunset 9:30 p.m.
Gwinn
• Community Plant Swap. Bring veggie flower start to swap with others. Open to all growers. 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Peter Nordeen Park, corner of Pine and Flint streets. gwinnseedlibrary@gmail.com
Marquette
• Saturday Morning Farmers Market. 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Marquette Commons, 112 S.
May 2022
and locations vary. (906) 228-9696. • SMART Recovery—Calumet. A selfhelp 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. • Take Off Pounds Sensibly. This is a non-commercial weight-control support group. Various places and times throughout the U.P. (800) 932-8677 or TOPS.org • 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.
MM
Third St. mqtfarmersmarket.com • Superiorland Duplicate Bridge Club. Games open to all interested players. Lessons, 10 a.m. Games, 11:30 a.m. $5 for games. Westwood Mall, 3020 US-41 West. superiorland_bridge.tripod.com or (906) 236-3173.
29 SUNDAY
sunrise 6:02 a.m.; sunset 9:31 p.m.
30 MONDAY
sunrise 6:02 a.m.; sunset 9:32 p.m. MEMORIAL DAY
31 TUESDAY
sunrise 6:01 a.m.; sunset 9:33 p.m.
Marquette
• Elder Law Seminar. Learn how to protect loved ones and avoid probate during this free seminar. 11 a.m. Heirloom Law Group, 302 M-533. (906) 362-2503. • 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. • Superiorland Duplicate Bridge Club. Games open to all interested players. 1 p.m. $5 for games. Westwood Mall, 3020 US-41 West. superiorland_bridge.tripod. com or (906) 236-1811.
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