April 2022 Marquette Monthly

April 2022

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April 2022

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City Notes

Highlights of important happenings in the area

17 Then & Now

Superior View Corner of Pearl & Main in Ishpeming

April 2022 No. 396

Publishers

Jane Hutchens James Larsen II

Managing Editor Jackie Stark

Calendar Editor Carrie Usher

Graphic Design 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 This month’s cover artist is Lynn Buckland-Brown, a retired art/Spec. Ed. teacher who moved to Marquette with her husband and dogs eight years ago. She is currently coordinating the “Chairs With a View” community outdoor art project, where sponsors will purchase unfinished cedar Adirondack chairs and artists will paint them. Contact Lynn at lbuckmar2@ yahoo.com for more information.

18 On Campus

News from U.P. universities & colleges

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Lookout Point

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Back Then

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Feature

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Locals

Brad Gischia Distiguished gentlemen Larry Chabot

Flying High

Jonny Bahk-Halberg

Celebrating 50 years of song

James Larsen II Remembering a legendary voice

32 At the Table Parsley

Katherine Larson

35 Superior Reads

Victor Volkman Autobiography details a life worth living

36 In The Outdoors Safer travels

38 Poetry

Wild bees

Pam Christensen

Kathleen Heideman

40 Arts

Brad Gischia Restoring the roar

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Locals

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Back Then

John Lautner

Sonny Longtine

Larry Chabot Guess who was here?

48 In The Outdoors Famous foxes

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Scot Stewart

New York Times Crossword Puzzle Body Language (answers on page 13)

54 Home Cinema

Leonard Heldreth Lost daughter a riddle; a son

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Lookout Point

Pam Christensen

Offering a path to success

58 Arts

Joyce Winswell Providing the pep

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In The Outdoors One step at a time

Kristi Evans

65 Out & About

Carrie Usher April events and music, art and museum guides

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city notes Great Lakes monitoring program accepting new volunteers

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he Michigan Clean Water Corps, a network of volunteer monitoring programs that collect and share surface water quality data statewide, is accepting enrollments for the 2022 Cooperative Lakes Monitoring Program season. Training will take place online May 10, 2022. CLMP volunteers monitor water quality, invasive species and habitat conditions in Michigan lakes. Volunteers receive detailed instructions, training and equipment, and the data they collect are added to the MiCorps Data Exchange, a public database that includes CLMP lake information dating back to 1974. Visit https://micorps. net/lake-monitoring/become-avolunteer/ for details. CLMP volunteer training is required for new volunteers, and experienced volunteers are always welcome. There is no charge to participate in the training, although registration is required to receive the link to this online event.

Direct questions about the CLMP to Erick Elgin, Michigan State University Extension, at ElginEri@MSU. edu or 218-340-5731; or Tamara Lipsey, Water Resources Division, Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE), at LipseyT@Michigan.gov or 517-342-4372.

MDHHS announces new wait time feature on COVID-19 test finder

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he Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) is announcing a new feature on the COVID-19 test finder that now lists wait times for many testing sites across the state. This will help make testing easier to plan for ­— especially for those traveling for Spring Break or gathering with loved ones during upcoming spring-time holidays. MDHHS encourages residents to test for COVID-19 before and after travel, as well as before group celebrations and gatherings when events may include family and friends who have increased vulnerability from COVID-19 infection.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offers travel tips for before, during and after travel — including recommendations of when and where to mask and best practices for avoiding illness when traveling.

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April 2022

Global Youth Service Day grant deadline extended

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he Michigan Community Service Commission has extended the deadline to apply for Global Youth Service Day volunteer project grants to April 6. Projects do not need to occur on specific days, but a date needs to be specified in the project plan.

National service grantees, nonprofit organizations, K-12 and higher education institutions are eligible to apply for up to $1,000 for service projects that engage youth. Preference will be given to service-based projects. Visit research.net/r/2022GYSD for more information and learn how to apply.

UPLC to extend conservation area

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n April of 2022, the Upper Peninsula Land Conservancy will purchase two new properties to add to the Vielmetti-Peters Conservation Reserve, forming the Dead River Community Forest. This 309-acre wilderness will protect extensive frontage along the Dead River, a sensitive riparian area key to Marquette County’s freshwater health. One important goal of the Dead River Community Forest project is to demonstrate climate-change mitigation-focused forest management, conserving the ecological integrity of the land to prepare for future climate trends. The Dead River Community Forest project includes local nonprofit partners. The Fred Waara Chapter of Trout Unlimited will help protect water quality and study aquatic life. The Audubon Society will monitor bird diversity. In coordination with the Noquemanon Trail Network (NTN), UPLC will build a non-motorized trail network throughout the Dead River Community Forest. Contact UPLC executive director Andrea Denham at andrea@ uplandconservancy.org for more information.

Cold storage grants available for UP farmers

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he U.P. Food Exchange, in partnership with Upper Peninsula Food as Medicine Team and Upper Peninsula Commission for Area Progress, recently announced a grant opportunity for area farms to build cold storage facilities for storing fresh produce. The grant program, funded by the Superior Health Foundation, will award up to $14,000 to three farms from each to the U.P.’s

Cranewatch 2022 set for April 9 A sandhill crane is pictured. The International Crane Foundation is hosting the 46th annual Midwest Crane Count from 6:30 to 8:30 a.m. on April 9. Over 1,600 volunteer participants gather information annually on the abundance and distribution of cranes in the upper Midwest. There are 30 sites that have been used for past crane counts in Marquette County. The International Crane Foundation sponsors the Annual Midwest Crane Count as a part of its mission to conserve the world’s 15 species of cranes and the natural communities on which they depend. Observations of Sandhill Cranes can lend insight into threatened crane species, including the endangered Whooping Crane. Visit https://savingcranes.org/counterinformation/ for more information. Email Marquette County Crane Count Coordinator Cathy Waller at cathy@upwallers.net to register for a Marquette County Site.

three regional planning districts.

Funds can be used for the materials and labor to build new or additional facilities, as well as access to technical assistance for construction and HVAC. This funding will support the increase of local food production by ensuring that farms have a place

to safely store produce until it can be sold. The application deadline is 5 p.m. on April 18, with awards announced on May 3, and projects completed by Sept. 30. Visit upfoodexchange.com/cold-storage-grantprogram to learn more and to access the grant application. Questions

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can be directed to info@upfoodexchange.com or 906-225-0671 x723.

This grant is tied to the U.P. Prescription for Health program, in which physicians “prescribe” fresh produce vouchers to individuals at risk or diagnosed with a chronic health condition that are also experiencing economic barriers to purchasing food.

Visit upfoodexchange.com to learn more about Prescription for Health.

New database connects U.P. manufacturers with suppliers and producers

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he Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center recently announced the launch of CONNEX Michigan, a database and connectivity platform for manufacturers, providing them with a no-cost avenue for sourcing suppliers and production capabilities. The database catalogs a manufacturer’s assets, certifications, equipment, material types and other relevant information and makes the data searchable through a number of customizable features. Through the end of April, Michigan manufacturers can sign up for CONNEX Michigan for free. Visit https://www. the-center.org/connex to sign up or for more information.

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Hiawatha presents Kids & Family Concert

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he Hiawatha Music Co-op presents an evening of family fun on Wednesday, April 20 with a Kids & Family edition of its monthly Hiawatha Traditional Acoustic Arts Program, which features the region’s best traditional folk musicians. This show will include appearances by Papa Crow and Friends, including Corrine Rockow, John D Beck, John Gillette and Sarah Mittlefehldt, Jerry Mills, Brent Graves, Greg Sandell, Dan Truckey and more. The performance will begin at 6 p.m. at the Ore Dock Brewing Company. Admission will be $5 for members of the Hiawatha Music Co-op and $7 for non-members. Masks will be required for the attendees.

Soo Film festival calls for entries

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he Soo Film Festival returns to downtown Sault Ste. Marie, from September 14 to 18. Films will once again screen at the historic Soo Theatre and Bayliss Public Library, a Superior District Library. Due to the ongoing health crisis, dates and venues are subject to change. This activ-

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

ity is supported by the Michigan Arts and Culture Council, administered

by Eastern Upper Peninsula Planning Commission. An open call for entries began March 7. Documentary and all genres of fiction, feature and shorts, will be accepted online exclusively through FilmFreeway. The festival committee has set a no-fee early bird deadline of April 3. The regular deadline is May 15 and requires a $20 entry fee. Late entries must be submitted by June 6 with an entry fee of $25. The selected films will be announced the week of July 18.

Visit FilmFreeway.com/SooFilmFestival for complete details. The festival is open to filmmakers worldwide but will continue to emphasize and showcase work from the Great Lakes region. The 2022 Soo Film Festival organizing committee is Jason Markstrom, Allison Youngs, Pat Egan and Susan James. The Soo Film Festival, Inc. is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote and host film and allied arts festivals in the City of Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. Soo Film Festival, Inc. seeks to showcase the work of independent and emerging filmmakers, especially from the Great Lakes of North America.

U.P. Home and Garden Show set for April 22 to 24

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he 2022 U.P. Home and Garden Show (formerly the U.P. Builders Show) will return to the NMU Superior Dome from April 22 to 24. Major sponsors include Window Outfitters of the U.P. with Marvin Windows, Midway Rentals and Sales, and Rainy Creek Construction. Tickets can be purchased at the door. Tickets for adults and children over 12 are $5, seniors age 65 and over are $4 and children under 12 are free.

New partnership to support mental health efforts

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reat Lakes Recovery Center and The Youth Mental Health Project have entered into a strategic partnership to bring The Parent Support Network™ to parents and caregivers in the Upper Peninsula who are helping children, teens and young adults struggling with their mental health. This partnership was made possible by funds from the Superior Health Foundation. With the increasing rates of mental health challenges among our nation’s youth, state and local governments, as well as community organizations, recognize that collaboration and a multidisciplinary approach to addressing this crisis is needed. There is also a recognition that parents and caregivers need to be supported and empowered with

information and tools in order to help their children maintain their mental health or guide them through a crisis. The Parent Support Network meetings will be facilitated by parents with lived experience caring for children with mental health challenges. This peer-to-peer model creates a confidential, “judgment-free zone” for parents to express their own emotions with others who understand their experiences and to share knowledge and resources to help other parents. For more information, contact the GLRC at (906) 228-6545.

Marquette Choral Society celebrates 50 years

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arquette Choral Society will celebrate its 50th anniversary this spring with two concerts and a gala event. The chorus will present two concerts featuring Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana, at 7:30 p.m., April 23, and 3 p.m., April 24, at Kaufman Auditorium in Marquette. Tickets are $20 for adults, $15 for seniors and $10 for students, and are available at the NMU ticket office. In addition, MCS will hold a 50th Anniversary Gala at 6 p.m., April 20, at the NMU Northern Center. Tickets to the Gala are $35, and are also available at the NMU ticket office. Marquette Choral Society is a mixed-voice, adult choir of approximately 100 singers from a four-county region in the Upper Peninsula. MCS strives to engage, enrich and inspire this region through the art of choral music. The ensemble was founded in 1971 by Dr. William Dehning and is currently led by musical director Dr. Erin Colwitz. The group’s 50th anniversary celebration was delayed by COVID. For more information, visit marquettechoralsociety.org, the choral society’s Facebook page or email choralsociety906@gmail.com.

American Pickers to film in Michigan

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merican Pickers will film in Michigan throughout May. The show, featured on The History Channel, is a documentary series that explores the fascinating world of antique “picking.” The hit show follows skilled pickers in the business as they hunt for America’s most valuable antiques. They are always excited to find sizeable, unique collections and to learn the interesting stories behind them. As they hit the back roads from coast to coast, the Pickers are on a mission to recycle and rescue forgotten relics. Along the way, they want to meet characters with remarkable and exceptional items. They hope to give historically

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significant objects a new lease on life while learning a thing or two about America’s past along the way. The Pickers have seen a lot of rusty gold over the years and are always looking to discover something they’ve never seen before. They are ready to find extraordinary items and hear fascinating tales about them. Filming will follow CDC guidelines related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The American Pickers TV Show is looking for leads, with an eye toward larger private collections. Those interested in being featured on the show can send their name, phone number, location and description of the collection with photos to americanpickers@cineflix. com or call (646) 493-2184.

Downtown Marquette Farmers Market accepting new vendors

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pplications for the 2022 Downtown Marquette Farmers Market season are now available. Farmers, growers, food producers and artisans can be vendors, and local groups, business and nonprofits can apply to be at the Community Table. Commitment options are flexible for vendors, including full-time, part-time or drop-in options. There’s three market seasons to choose from: Saturday morning, Wednesday evening and the new December Holiday Market. More information about season dates, times, booth fees and the application itself are available at mqtfarmersmarket.com or email farmersmarket@downtownmarquette.org to get in touch with Market Manager

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Sara Johnson. Vendors interested in a full-time commitment should apply by April 18. There is no official deadline for all other vendor types, though the first come, first served rule does apply

Did You Know...

UPHP CEO appointed to NMU governing board

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elissa Holmquist, CEO of UPHP and InvestUP Board Treasurer, was appointed to Northern Michigan University’s Board of Trustees on Friday, February 18. In addition to her roles at UPHP and InvestUP, Melissa is vice president of the Marquette Economic Club and a member of Marquette Ambassadors.

Melissa’s term commenced on February 18 and expires on December 31, 2026. She succeeds Donna Murray-Brown, who resigned.

Nonprofits invited to volunteer-matching networking event

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onprofit organizations looking for volunteers can attend Resolve to Get Involved, an evening of networking aimed at engaging community members with the nonprofit sector. The event takes place at the Northern Center Ballroom at Northern Michigan University, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Monday, April 11.

Whether an organization is looking for short-term volunteers or board members, this event is for them. Organizations will meet local, skilled volunteers interested in boosting their resumes and impacting their community. The Yoopers United platform at

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When the first Finnish-made movie film shown in the United States was?

he first Finnish film, Kuin Uni Ja Varjo (As Dream and Shadow) to be shown in the United States was shown at the Vista Theater in Negaunee on April 17, 1938.

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

yoopersunited.com will be used to match volunteers with opportunities during and after the event. Interested organizations should visit glcyd.org/ resolve-to-get-involved to register and reserve a booth for $15. Space is limited and on a first come, first served basis. Appetizers and refreshments will be provided. The event is a partnership between Grow & Lead: Community and Youth Development, Connect Marquette, United Way of Marquette County and the NMU Student Leader Fellowship Program.

MRHC presents third annual triva night

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he Marquette Regional History Center will host its Third Annual Trivia Night during National Library Week. This year, all questions will derive from the MRHC’s “Superior History” column in The Mining Journal, programs, exhibits and “Harlow’s Wooden Man” quarterly newsletter. Registration is open now until the start of the event at 6 p.m. on April

6. Registration is $5 per person, with teams of 4 to 5. No notes this year.

Bring your own libations. Snacks will be provided. Call 906-226-3571 for more info or to register, or visit marquettehistory.org

State awards $3.6 million for invasive species projects

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he state of Michigan recently announced that 31 projects will share $3.6 million in grants through the Michigan Invasive Species Grant Program. The program — cooperatively implemented by the Michigan departments of Agriculture and Rural Development; Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy; and Natural Resources — addresses prevention, detection, eradication and control of aquatic (water-based) and terrestrial (land-based) invasive species in Michigan through four key objectives: preventing the introduction of new invasive species; strengthening the statewide invasive species early detection and response network; lim-

iting the spread of recently confirmed invasive species; and managing and controlling widespread, established invasive species. This year’s grantees have offered $541,500 in matching funds and services to support these projects, leveraging a total investment of $4,141,500. Grants were awarded to three different projects in the Upper Peninsula that cover Delta, Marquette, Schoolcraft, Baraga, Houghton and Keweenaw counties.

The grants will help support critical habitats and managing invasive species in those areas. Visit michigan. gov for a detailed list of recipients.

UP Notable Book Club presents virtual event

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he Crystal Falls Community District Library in partnership with the U.P. Publishers & Authors Association has scheduled author events with winners of the UP Notable Book List. The 16th event is with Mikel B. Classen whose travelogue Points North visits 40 unique locales in the U.P. with commentary and over 100 photographs. Each site is a forgotten gem of history or natural beauty. His book has earned the State History Award from the Historical Society of Michigan. The Q and A will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, April 14 via Zoom. Contact Evelyn Gathu in advance by email at egathu@uproc. lib.mi.us, or by phone (906) 8753344 for more information.

InvestUP board leadership in transition

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ith Bob Mahaney’s tenure as the InvestUP Board Chairman coming to an end, the Board of Directors was joined by Governor Rick Snyder and Quentin Messer, Jr., to thank Mahaney for his service and dedication in making InvestUP what it is today, and presented him with a token commemorating his time. The InvestUP Board of Directors leadership will transition to Steve Hicks, CEO of JM Longyear, and Vice Chair Karyn Olsson, CEO of Marketing Department, Inc. Melissa Holmquist and Matt Johnson will keep their leadership positions as Treasurer and Secretary, respectively. Additionally, two new members were added to the board: David Rowe, CEO of MTEC SmartZone, and Kelly Reed, CEO of VAST.

Nominations open for 2022 Governor’s Service Awards.

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o recognize those who go above and beyond in volunteer and philanthropy efforts, winners will be named in categories for youth, mentors and seniors. Organizations

Shipwreck society finds vessel at bottom of Lake Superior after 130 years Top, an image of the Atlanta, a schooner-barge recently discovered in 650 feet of water 35 miles off Deer Park, Michigan. Above, an image of the shipwreck, where just the ship’s wheel can be seen. The Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society (GLSHS) announced the discovery of the 172-foot ship in March. The Atlanta sank on May 4, 1891.

It was upbound with a load of coal in tow of the steamer Wilhelm when both vessels got caught in a northwest gale. The storm was too much for the towline which snapped, and with no sails, the Atlanta was soon at the mercy of the lake, and the crew took to the lifeboat.

They pulled at the oars for several hours and eventually came within site of the Crisp Point Life-Saving Station. While attempting to land their small boat near the station, it overturned and only two of the crew made it safely to the beach. Because of its time in the frigid depths of Lake Superior, the Atlanta is a wonderfully preserved shipwreck. “It is rare that we find a shipwreck that so clearly announces what it is and the name-board of the Atlanta really stands out,” said Bruce Lynn, executive director of the GLSHS. “It is truly ornate, and still beautiful after 130 years on the bottom of Lake Superior.” Director of Marine Operations, Darryl Ertel for the GLSHS said. “No one has to ask where the Atlanta is anymore.” The survivors said all three masts broke off during the storm, and video from a remote operated vehicle proves all three masts broke off flush with the deck and are nowhere to be found. (Photos courtesy of the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historial Society)

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will be recognized for civic engagement, and businesses that maximize the collective impact of employee volunteerism and corporate social responsibility programs will be honored. Special awards will also be given for lifetime achievement in service and giving. The nomination deadline is April 30. The Governor’s Service Awards ceremony is an annual statewide recognition event acknowledging the contributions made

by Michigan residents. The event is coordinated by the Michigan Community Service Commission, the state’s lead agency on volunteerism.

For nearly 30 years, the Michigan Community Service Commission has supported Michigan volunteers, organizations and businesses that are committed to service and play a critical role in improving the lives of people and our communities.

Negaunee Housing Commission accepting new applications

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he Negaunee Housing Commission provides housing assistance to low income residents through the management of Low Rent Public Housing. This program is income based and the eligibility guidelines are set by HUD. Applications are being accepted for 1-Bedroom apartments at Lakeview Apartments. Rent includes electricity, heat, water, sewer and garbage. Range and refrigerator are provided and laundry facilities available. Application are available at 98 Croix Street, Negaunee, MI 49866.

Nominations for Forest Legacy Program being accepted through May 13

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ichigan has more than 160,000 acres of environmentally sensitive forests that are protected through the federal Forest Legacy Program, which protects environmentally important forests by purchasing property outright or acquiring development rights through a working forest conservation easement. Nomination applications are now open for the nationally competitive program and are accepted through May 13. Administered by the USDA Forest Service, the program provides an opportunity for landowners to keep forests as forests, encourages sustainable management and supports strong markets for forest products. All interests in land acquired by the Forest Legacy Program last forever. Michigan’s program also requires that land or rights in land are open to the public, at least for nonmotorized access. Landowners who don’t have an existing forest

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management plan will need to create one before a project can be completed. The DNR will review and prioritize eligible projects and may submit the top three to compete nationally for funding. Projects nominated by May 13 will compete for funding in the federal fiscal year 2024, which begins Oct. 1, 2023. The state can request up to $20 million for projects. Visit Michigan.gov/PrivateForestLand for more information and to find an application. Contact Kerry Heckman at 517-643-1256 with questions.

New firewood permits available

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reviously existing US Forest Service firewood permits expired on March 15, requiring anyone wishing to have a Personal Use Firewood Cutting Permit to apply for a new one. These non-commercial deadand-down gathering permits cost $20 and are good for personal firewood gathering for one year from the date of purchase, or when the purchased cords have been gathered, whichever comes first. Permits are sold at district offices; schedule an appointment by calling one of the US Forest Service district offices. Information required to obtain a permit includes full name, phone number, driver’s license or other identification number and expiration date, address and license plate number. Only standing dead and down trees may be gathered for firewood. Further guidelines for cutting will be provided with the permit. This authority applies only to non-commercial firewood cutting on Hiawatha National Forest system lands.

Auto insurance refunds being distributed

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overnor Gretchen Whitmer and Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services Director Anita Fox confirmed that the Michigan Catastrophic Claims Association has initiated the transfer of $3 billion in surplus funds to Michigan’s auto insurers, and that eligible Michiganders are already starting to receive their $400 per-vehicle refunds. Auto insurers must send out refund checks or ACH deposits to eligible Michiganders as quickly as possible and no later than May 9.

NMU presents musical The Producers in April

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he Northern Michigan University Theatre and Dance program presents The Producers, a Mel Brooks musical. The cast will perform at 8 p.m. April 8 to 9 and April 13 to 16.

UP native Baumgartner races to gold in Beijing Winter Olympics

By Jackie Stark On a cold day in February, Iron River native Nick Baumgartner lined up at the start gate of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic quarterfinals in individual men’s snowboard cross.

This was his fourth Olympics, and up until then, gold had eluded him.

The four-man race saw one competitor fall early, leaving Baumgartner with just two people to beat. Staying in a close second through much of the race, it appeared Baumgartner was going to get his chance to compete for gold. And then the slightest mistake near the end sent him back into a distant third, eliminating him from moving on to the medal competition.

An interview immediately following the race was a heartbreaking display of emotion as Baumgartner came to terms with the fact that his dream of winning gold may have just ended.

“I’m 40 years old. I’m running out of chances,” he told an NBC reporter, his voice quivering. “Man, this one stings.”

But he promised himself something else during that interview.

“I ain’t stopping on this,” he said.

“I’ve gotta do something better to end with.”

His pain was on display, and it was tough to watch him struggle to come to terms with what seemed like the end of a dream. But just hours lat-

er, in a turn of events straight from a Hollywood movie script, Baumgartner found himself in gold medal contention one more time, racing with Lindsey Jacobellis in the mixed team snowboard cross event.

Jacobellis, also one of the oldest athletes to compete from Team USA, is a star in the snowboard world — the most decorated female snowboard cross athlete of all time.

The pair made it to the final race, where they would each compete for a combined time, hoping to capture gold.

This go-around, there were no mistakes — big or small — from Baumgartner, and he won his portion of the combined race, setting up Jacobellis as the first person to leave the gate among the women.

With a camera trained on him, Baumgartner cheered on Jacobellis, willing her to cross the finish line first.

For much of the race, Jacobellis stayed in a solid second place, drafting off the first place competitor until she was ready to make her move.

And as she smoothly rode into first, Baumgartner’s voice cracked once again, but this time with joy instead of sorrow.

“Yes, yes, yes,” he yelled. “Come on! Come on!”

As Jacobellis crossed the finish line, Baumgartner threw back his head, both hands in the air.

“Yes!” He yelled before running over to Jacobellis and hugging his fellow Olympic gold medalist.

“I would never have been able to imagine or script this, when I was 28, going to my first Olympics, that I would take until I was 40 to get a medal” Baumgartner said roughly a month later, back home in the Upper Peninsula. “That goes to show everyone what’s possible if you don’t give up on your dreams. Sometimes it takes a long time, a lot of learning. You can’t always be so fixed on the destination to that gold medal.

You’ve got to embrace that whole journey.”

Reflecting on the emotional roller coaster of those 24 hours, Baumgartner said he was glad to showcase every part of what it takes to reach the pinnacle of athletic competition.

“I’m so proud of that interview. I could barely talk. It was really difficult,” he said. “The world got to see that I’m a human being, just like everyone else. I don’t think there’s a better way that this story could have happened to make it so sweet … To see her start to pull away, the emotions that hit me — excitement, so pumped but yet still crying. That’s a feeling that I’ve been chasing my whole career.”

At 40 years old, Nick Baumgartner became a first-time Olympic gold medalist. And though his life has changed in ways that probably

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still aren’t evident to him yet, he’s still the same Nick Baumgartner the U.P. has gotten to know over those four decades. His biggest concern right now? Staying in shape for his next competition, and making sure the people who’ve messaged him since his long-awaited win don’t think he’s let it go to his head.

“People have been reaching out to me with so many messages and requests and I haven’t ben able to get to all the messages,” he said. “I hope people aren’t thinking, ‘Oh he’s got a gold medal, he’s too cool for us now.’

My life has completely changed in the last month. I do very much love all the support and all the messages.

I just haven’t had time to get them.

But I will get through every one of them.”

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Creating cribs at Gooseneck Lake A multi-disciplinary team of US Forest Service employees recently gathered for several days at Gooseneck Lake, 33 miles northeast of Rapid River, to help Hiawatha National Forest fisheries biologists install 40 “fish cribs” on the ice, pictured here. When the ice melts, the crib will sink into the lake, providing habitats for a variety of aquatic animals. (Photo courtesy of Hiawatha National Forest)

A sensory-friendly performance is scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday, April 16. The show is about a theater producer, Max Bialystock, who used to be the “King of Broadway,” but is disgraced after his newest show closes on its opening night. When his accountant, Leo Bloom, discovers that a producer could theoretically make more on a bad show than a good one, the two devise a plan to produce the biggest “flop” in Broadway history.

Tickets are available at $17 for the general public, $12 for military, senior citizens and faculty/staff and $10 for students 18 years or younger.

Visit https://nmu.universitytickets. com to purchase tickets. Visit https:// nmu.edu/theatreanddance/producers for more information about the show.

Longtime TV6 news anchor Steve Asplund retires

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teve Asplund, longtime news anchor at TV6, broadcast his final show on Wednesday, March 16.

Working at TV6 for more than 42 years, Asplund served in a variety of roles, with his most recent role as news director. During his final broadcast, Asplund received a proclamation signed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Ltn. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist, State Sen. Ed McBroom, and State Reps.

Markkanen, LaFave and Cambensy.

About 30 crew members joined him for his farewell.

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UP3D exhibit returns to the Beaumier Center

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his spring and summer, dazzle your eyes with a new exhibition at the Beaumier U.P. Heritage Center. The display “UP3D” will feature over 50 large three-dimensional images from the stereograph collection of collector Jack Deo of Marquette.

The exhibition will be open from April 23 to August 27 in the Beaumier Center’s gallery at the corner of Seventh Street and Tracy Ave. Admission is free and open to the public. This is an expanded version of an exhibition the Center mounted in 2011. All of the images in this display are early stereograph images from the late 19th century taken in communities and locations around the Upper Peninsula by some of the region’s best-known photographers.

They feature mining and other industrial operations, cityscapes, fires, Native Americans and slices of life from the 1860s to the 1890s. Communities featured will be Ironwood, Sault Ste. Marie, Houghton, Marquette, Escanaba and many others. The exhibition will also include stereographic cameras, viewers and equipment on loan from Don Balmer of Marquette and Jack Deo. These will include vintage View Master viewers and cameras from the 1940s through the 1990s. In addition, there will be

stereograph cameras and equipment from the late 19th and early 20th century on display. The concept that you can use two slightly off drawings to create a three-dimensional effect is older than photography itself. With the advent of photography in the late 1830s and early 1840s, the idea of using early photographs to create 3D images was embraced quickly. Over time, a whole industry in three dimensional images on cards and slides developed, and photography studios around the globe sold them as souvenirs or as volumes. Photography studios around the U.P. started doing this as early as the 1860s, and these images became a popular way to promote the region’s unique natural surroundings.

MDARD Awards rural grants to support infrastructure sustainability

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ecently, the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) awarded 21 Rural Development Fund Grants designed to promote the sustainability of land-based industries and support infrastructure that benefits rural communities. The department received 114 proposals with requests totaling more than $9.6 million. Of those, MDARD awarded the following 21 projects totaling nearly $1.8 million, leveraging a match of more than $8.6 million. Upper Peninsula projects include:

• Ishpeming Public Schools District No. 1 - $100,000 (Ishpeming)­ – Partnership with Partridge Creek Farm to develop the infrastructure for an innovative Intergenerational Farm in downtown Ishpeming.

• Maria Del Barrio, Inc. dba Café Bodega - $100,000 (Marquette) – Expansion of cold storage and HVAC system to increase capacity for production and sales of Michigan grown and value-added products and job creation.

• Powell Township - $70,000 (Big Bay) – Support recreation development opportunities for improving the health and recreation of the community and growing number of tourists attracted to the area.

• Marquette-Alger Regional Educational Service Agency - $100,000 (Marquette) – Expanding childcare options for infant, toddler and preschool children within the Ishpeming community.

• Village of Baraga - $60,000 (Baraga) – Implement improvements by replacing ferric chloride chemical treatment tanks at the wastewater treatment plant to maintain the required treatment process of the village wastewater.

• Michigan Tech Enterprise Corporation, dba MTEC Smartzone - $100,000 (Houghton) – Manufacture hardwood mass timber to meet the strong need for near-term expansion and diversification in hardwood product markets.

Answers for New York Times crossword puzzle on page 53

P A P A

N EAR L Y B R H EAR Y E I N L EAR N T G A EAR N I N G S I E G M P H C R E E L I S E I S U P P R E S A S T I S E H O T R O L S A T A B L A Z E D I E T E R MI ND ED Y O T I S N T P O O Z E U W I N G L S A C H T H O S T April 2022

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Y L L E B

O U T R E

O I L O N I T N G E S N E A T E H O E P E R S L A M S E D L A S L S T E M E R E A G E G R O W G I S S A S S C A A X D P O E T O N L A S I C

B E L L A G I O F L A I R

C U R D F U L L

W R E S T

M O R I O W S

S E E W H A T I D I D T H E R E R S V P

T H A E R A Y N A O N S E S T U P H E E F D Y G E S R I C E K E E O N

S E T A A T B A T H O I N K E D R O W E L

S I D E

S I G D A E S

K A L E S

C E L L I

M Y T H W H E N

O S S A

T O P S

S T I N G

L E A L B L M E M I N I C B E L A T H

• Hiawatha Log Homes - $100,000 (Wetmore) – Business and workforce expansion project to increase manufacturing capabilities for domestic and export sales of the new TimberPro product line.

• Lake Effect Distillery, LLC $100,000 (Escanaba) – Increasing the total production by installing distillation equipment that can handle commercial demand.

• Barrel and Beam LLC - $21,900 (Marquette) – Establish a commercial kitchen to be utilized by public and private partners, as well as to develop a rural model for food waste reduction.

• Jilbert Dairy-Dairy Farmers of America - $100,000 (Marquette) – Rebuild investment opportunity to help in the reduction of food product waste and energy efficiency.

• County of Marquette - $59,500 (Marquette) – Completion of assessment and upgrades at Sugarloaf Mountain Natural Area.

The grant funds, Public Act 411 of 2012, are aimed to promote the sustainability of land-based industries (food and agriculture; forestry; mining, oil and gas production; and tourism) and support workforce training, rural capacity building, business development and infrastructure that benefits rural communities.

Eligible counties include those with a population no greater than 70,000 residents or micropolitan statistical areas. Preference was given to projects in Marquette County. The proposals were evaluated through a competitive process. Visit Michigan. gov/MDARDGrants for more information about this grant program or a complete list of eligible counties.

USDA Announces UP grants related to health

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nited States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development State Director for Michigan Brandon Fewins recently announced infrastructure investments in 12 Upper Peninsula communities. “These projects represent significant infrastructure investments in public safety and medical care for Upper Peninsula communities,” Fewins said. “This showcases how USDA is working to strengthen rural Michigan.” The total investment in the Upper Peninsula is $753,500: • Munising Memorial Hospital, in Alger County, will use a $63,000 grant to purchase a mobile x-ray room. The medical equipment will include a computer interface, processing software, automatic transfer of patient information and reports.

• The City of Iron Mountain, in

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Dickinson County, will use a $14,300 grant to purchase a patrol vehicle.

The vehicle will be an addition to their current fleet. The police department has an increased need for patrol vehicles for the new code enforcement position in the department.

• The City of Crystal Falls, in Iron County, will use a $27,400 grant to purchase a four-wheel-drive patrol vehicle. This will replace a very old, high-mileage one. The grant also includes emergency lighting and safety equipment.

• The City of Iron River, in Iron County, will use a $100,000 grant to purchase a snowplow. The plow will replace an older model from 2001 with high mileage that was barely operable last year.

• Adams Township, in Houghton County, will use a $50,000 grant to purchase a pumper truck. The older one has outlived its useful life. The new pumper truck will be critical to helping fight fires for the volunteer fire department.

• Gogebic County will use an $8,400 grant to purchase a new heating system boiler, which will replace a 30-year-old model. The boiler is located in the Natural Resource Center, which houses the county’s Forestry and Park Division, the Soil Conservation District and the Michigan State University Extension office.

• The City of Wakefield, in Gogebic County, will use a $242,000 grant to purchase an existing commercial facility to relocate their department of public works operation. The current DPW facilities consist of three separate buildings that are more than a hundred years old, fail to meet current building code requirements, and are undersized for modern equipment, posing a safety concern for staff. The new site will allow the city to consolidate all of the DPW operations into a single location that houses critical equipment. Funding includes a backup power generator, and a lift to permit in-house vehicle maintenance and repair.

• Houghton County will use two grants totaling $70,600 to purchase a pair of patrol vehicles. The sheriff’s department has a fleet of 12 vehicles that maintain 24-hour road patrols.

The vehicles average 50,000-60,000 miles of use per year. The vehicles that will be replaced have more than 200,000 miles each.

• The City of Houghton, in Houghton County, will use a $25,700 grant to purchase a replacement patrol vehicle.

• Keweenaw County will use a $18,400 grant to purchase a patrol vehicle. The vehicle will replace an

Velodrome Coffee Company opens new location in Ishpeming The Greater Ishpeming-Negaunee Area Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon cutting Thursday, March 10 to celebrate the opening of Velodrome Coffee Company in downtown Ishpeming. Velodrome Ishpeming is located at 109 S Main St. The newly refurbished storefront houses a coffee shop and the company’s roasting facility. Coffee roasted

by Velodrome in the West End of Marquette County can be found at an increasingly wide range of coffee shops, restaurants and grocery stores. Velodrome Coffee Company was founded in Marquette. The company began selling their product online in 2016 and opened a storefront on Washington Street the following year. Velodrome held a soft opening at its Ishpeming location on February 20. The grand opening took place March 13. (Photo courtesy of Greater Ishpeming-Negaunee Area Chamber of Commerce)

older fleet vehicle with more than 200,000 miles and high maintenance costs. Keweenaw County is the least populous county in Michigan and has long patrol routes between populated areas in the county.

• The City of Norway, in Dickinson County, will use $23,200 to purchase a patrol vehicle. This will replace an older one with high mileage.

The grant will also include emergency lighting and safety equipment.

• The City of Manistique, in Schoolcraft County, will use $110,500 to purchase an ambulance.

The public safety department of Manistique is a small full-service department that provides first response

police, fire and emergency medical services. The ambulance division is a certified Advanced Life Support service staffed by paramedics, emergency medical technician specialists, and emergency medical technicians which support four ambulances. In addition to responding to 911 emergency calls, the department also does long-distance patient transfers to larger hospitals offering advanced levels of care.

From the desks of US Sen. Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters...

• U.S. Senators Debbie Stabenow (MI) and Gary Peters recently an-

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nounced that the Michigan Department of Transportation will receive $13,590,831 in funding from the Federal Transit Administration. A total of $6,199,631 will go towards purchasing buses for rural transit agencies across the state. A total of $7,391,200 will go to the City of Alma, the Benzie Transportation Authority, the Eastern Upper Peninsula Transportation Authority and the Thunder Bay Transportation Authority for rehabilitating and expanding bus terminals. This funding comes from the Federal Transit Administration’s Grants for Buses and Bus Facilities Program.

• U.S. Senators Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters announced that Northern Michigan University will receive $1.2 million through the U.S. Department of Agriculture to help fill the gap in fast, affordable internet service in the Upper Peninsula and Northern Michigan. The senators ensured this funding in the federal budget bill was enacted into law. Northern Michigan University is a leader in efforts to provide reliable highspeed internet service in the Upper Peninsula through their Educational Access Network. The network is open to university and K-12 students as well as eligible community members, alumni and U.S. military veterans. Currently the Educational Access Network serves 113 communities in the Upper Peninsula. This investment will fill in the gaps in coverage in the Upper Peninsula and establish the network’s first services in the Northern Lower Peninsula.

The project is estimated to have $3.2 million per year in economic impact.

News and notes from the governor’s office:

• Gov. Whitmer’s decision to reinstate prevailing wage for all state construction contracts went into effect in March. The governor believes this policy ensures the best value on infrastructure for Michigan taxpayers and raises wages for working people, helping them support their families and improve their quality of life.

• In response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Gov. Whitmer recently sent a letter to State Treasurer Rachael Eubanks calling on the State of Michigan Investment Board to hold a special meeting to divest the state of Michigan Retirement Systems pension plans from Russia, and for the State Treasurer to do the same with various trust funds over which she is fiduciary.

• Gov. Whitmer recently signed Executive Directive 2022-2 to direct the Michigan Department of

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Transportation (MDOT) to speed up pothole repairs on state trunkline highways. The Executive Directive calls on MDOT to use all available resources, including overtime pay and contracted services, to expedite repair of road surface, as well as ensure the public can easily report the location of potholes or other issues.

• The governor’s office recently authorized $3.5 million in MI Clean Water grants to nine Michigan cities and villages to help reduce the risk associated with lead in drinking water and other improvements to better ensure safe, clean tap water for residents. The grants, awarded in January through the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE), support work including replacing lead service lines, enhancing water affordability plans and connecting homes that have contaminated drinking water wells to safe community water supplies. The MI Clean Water Plan is a $500 million investment announced by Governor Gretchen Whitmer to rebuild the state’s water infrastructure to help provide clean, affordable water to Michiganders through investments in communities. Baraga was awarded $166,344 through the program.

• Gov. Whitmer signed House Bills 4562 and 4563 that amend the Michigan Corrections Code to allow the Michigan Parole Board to deny parole for violent incarcerated individuals for up to five years after a majority vote and written report.

This would ensure that victims of violent crimes do not have to relive traumatizing experiences every year at parole hearings.

• Gov. Whitmer signed executive directive 2022-3, requiring State of Michigan departments to accept credit card payments for any fees associated with the production of records under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). This directive builds on efforts spearheaded by Attorney General Dana Nessel and her late Communications Director Kelly Rossman-McKinney to promote transparency.

• Gov. Whitmer announced that students who want to be given priority consideration for state of Michigan financial aid programs now have some extra time to complete their Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Completing and submitting a FAFSA is a critical step when applying for grants, scholarships, and other forms of financial assistance to help lower the cost of higher education.

MM

then & now

The corner of Pearl and Main in Ishpeming, Michigan in the early 1900s.

The corner of Pearl and Main in Ishpeming, Michigan recently.

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 First-ever Computing Showcase comes to MTU April 4 to 6

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rom Adobe and Amazon to Microsoft, Netflix and the National Counterterrorism Center, experts on the leading edge of digital transformation are lined up to speak, teach and share what’s next in the world of computing during the first Computing Showcase is set to take place from April 4 to 6.

Jointly hosted by Michigan Technological University’s College of Computing and Institute of Computing and Cybersystems, the showcase begins with a Monday, April 4 awards and induction ceremony, along with a discussion panel and reception at Michigan Tech’s Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts.

The showcase runs all day Tuesday and Wednesday in the Memorial Union featuring workshops, panels, demonstrations and talks by computing visionaries including Dianne Marsh.

“Dianne is one of our most distinguished computer science alums, having worked in multiple industries and now as director of device and security content at Netflix,” said Dennis Livesay, dean of MTU’s College of Computing.

Livesay is also looking forward to the keynote by Philip Bourne, founding dean of the University of Virginia School of Data Science.

“Phil is a legend in bioinformatics and data science, having led some of the most important biomedical big data projects that this country has ever done,” he said.

The showcase is intended to be a connection-maker on many levels. It’s for prospective students considering computing or data science careers. Current undergraduate and graduate students are bringing their most exciting innovations and research presentations to competitions and demonstrations. Faculty research will also be in the spotlight, with many also presenting or taking part in workshops and panels on topics ranging from women in IT to visualizations in Python.

And, both industry and alumni will be on hand to spark conversation about what’s happening now in the world of computing and what’s next. Read the full story, see the schedule of events and find out how to register on Michigan Tech News.

MM

NMU to host cannabis conference, first of its kind in the region

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osted by Northern Michigan University, this 2022 Great Lakes Cannabis Education Conference will showcase developing trends in cannabis education and scholarship, as well as insights from industry leaders and experts at the forefront of the sector’s evolving landscape.

This first-of-its-kind event aims to inspire progress in cannabis education and scholarship through open dialogue, exchange of information and ideas, and celebration of student and faculty success.

The event will take place on April 19 and was specifically designed to facilitate open dialogue and exchange of ideas; highlight teaching and research related to cannabis; showcase evolving trends in the cannabis industry, including product testing, genetic development, cultivation/agriculture, business and supply chain management, design, investment frameworks, and legal, regulatory, and public policy trends; summarize the state of the industry, including educational needs of current and future employees; and share findings and best practices in cannabis research, teaching, and learning.

Visit nmu.edu/great-lakes-cannabis-education-conference for more information or to register for the April 19 event. The conference is free to NMU students, $25 to other students and $50 to the general public.

MM

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lookout point

Pictured here is the Gold Triumph Eric Malmsten is planning to ride in this year’s Distinguished Gentlemen’s Ride, which aims to raise funds for research in men’s health. (Photo courtesy of Eric Malmsten)

Distinguished gentlemen

Locals pair with international charity to fund men’s health

By Brad Gischia

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nyone in the Escanaba area on May 22 will have the opportunity to see classically-styled motorcycles and motorcyclists on the road. The Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride will take to the road, barring foul weather, to raise money and awareness for men’s health.

In a world that is filled with options for your charitable dollar, the Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride (DGR) is looking for donations. But they’re doing it a little differently.

On May 22, every year, in cities around the world, men dress in their finest suits and throw their leg over the seat of a classic or classical style motorcycle, and they ride to raise money. They’re “Riding Dapper for a Cause,” as their website proclaims, but don’t be discouraged by the title, this event is open to both men and women.

The DGR was founded in Sydney,

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Australia by Mark Hawwa. Inspired by a photo of Don Draper from the AMC TV series Mad Men astride a classic bike and wearing a suit, Hawwa thought it would be a great way to connect niche motorcycle enthusiasts while raising funds to support men.

Since the organization’s founding in 2012, the group has raised over $31 million through the efforts of over a quarter of a million riders in 107 countries around the world for men’s health.

Eric Malmsten, owner of Cycle City in Escanaba, thought this was a great idea.

“I was driving around with a friend in Indianapolis, and we saw all of these old bikes and we just had to pull in,” Malmsten said.

What he found was the Indianapolis DGR getting ready to take off. It inspired him, and due to his efforts, Cycle City is now a sponsor of the ride.

A white ’77 Bobber is shown. To date, the Distinguished Gentlemen’s ride has raised $31 million for men’s health, from 107 countries around the world. (Photo by 636 Photo)

“I have a lot of friends who have bikes here, and thought it would be a good way to raise money while riding,” he said.

Proceeds of the ride benefit men’s health in a variety of ways, including men’s mental and physical health.

According to the DGR website, “... focus is on gentlemen who have been dealt a tough hand in life. In particular, we raise funds for cutting-edge research into prostate cancer, and mental health and suicide prevention programs, as part of our mission to support men’s health globally. These funds are invested by our partner, Movember, which is the world’s largest men’s health organization.”

The Movember organization has pledged to reduce the number of men dying prematurely by 25% by the year 2030 by funding research into mental health and suicide prevention, prostate cancer and testicular cancer.

Any funds raised at the Escanaba ride in May will go to the international organization, but it’s a draw for the community as well.

“There are several benefits of tourism for host destinations,” said Vickie Micheau, director of the Delta County Chamber of Commerce and managing agent of the U.P. State Fairgrounds. “Tourism boosts the revenue of the economy and that helps with job creation and plants a sense of appreciation for visitors who may decide to make return visits or relocate to Delta County. “(Malmsten) contacted me about the possibility of holding the event on the fairgrounds and we were eager to help him get this ride started in our beautiful waterfront community,” Micheau said.

The route chosen for the ride starts

at the Antique Village in Escanaba and takes a leisurely 13 mile drive.

“We plotted out a tentative route, 13.5 miles, which should take about 35 minutes if you drive straight through, but we’ve got a few stops scheduled so it will take a bit longer,” Malmsten said.

It won’t be a 13.5 miles drive down the highway either.

“The organization is very specific about the ride being on roads that are 45 mph or less, since many of the people will be dressed in suits, and that isn’t considered safe gear, and they want you to drive through the heart of your town,” he added.

So anyone hearing the roar of motorcycles on May 22 can look for Distinguished Gentlemen. They’ll be obvious. Malmsten will be among them, riding for men’s health.

“My plan is to ride a ’72 Triumph Bonneville 650,” he said.

Micheau said this kind of event is a unique way to bring more focus on Delta County.

“I think it’s important to recognize Eric’s effort and his commitment to bringing this wonderful event to his home community,” she said.

The Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride will take place on May 22 at the Antique Village in Escanaba. Go to gentlemansride.com/2021 to sign up for the DGR or to donate to their organization. For information on the local ride, call Eric Malmsten at Cycle City, 906-786-5834.

MM About the Author: Brad Gischia is a writer and artist native to Upper Michigan. He mixes his time between drawing funny books and writing.

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back then Flying high

A life spent in the air was as groundbreaking as they come

A

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s Mary Ford shelved books in the hushed quiet of a library, she seemed not so out of the ordinary. After all, how much does anyone really ask about their local librarian, or wonder about their lives?

But she was not a typical librarian, or typical person for that matter; her background of incredible adventures and accomplishments surely places her among the U.P.’s memorable women. Among other things, Mary was a veteran pilot who had bit parts in movies, taught movie stars how to fly, survived German bombings of England in World War II and could fly 32 different kinds of airplanes. Oh, and Hollywood made a movie about her.

Who was this wonder woman? She was Mary Estelle Zerbel, born in Marquette on August 4, 1920. Her father Raymond was managing the Delft Theater on Washington Street with a side-but-related job at the Delft Poster Advertising Company. Her mother was the former Estell Patrick of Iron River. The family later followed Ray Zerbel to theater assignments in Iron River and Menominee.

After moving to California to pursue her dreams, she enrolled in and dropped out of the University of California at Los Angeles, after losing interest in her career choice of bacteriology. Instead, she took flying lessons at age 19, entered a new world and never looked back.

Her flying instructor was so confident in Mary’s abilities that she allowed the teenager to fly aircraft from coast-to-coast for seasoning. In 1940, still only 19, she was in a group of 20 pilots in an historic mass flight of civilian aircraft roaring from Ohio to California. When the United States was drawn into World War II by the attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, Mary wanted to help her country in need by doing what she did best: flying. She offered her skills to the military to ferry aircraft from factories to the airfields, thus freeing male pilots for combat.

“Sorry,” she was told, “no females need apply.” This was not a job for women. “Hah! You are sadly mistaken,” she thought. Her boyfriend at the time, Roy Hooper, a California

April 2022

By Larry Chabot

boy, was flying for the Royal Air Force in England. Learning of her desire and frustration, Hooper suggested that she bring her talents to England where 25 American women pilots were being recruited for ferrying work. Mary jumped at the chance, boarding a creaky old Norwegian freighter heading for Europe in a convoy of vessels.

The tired ship was so slow that the convoy abandoned it in waters constantly patrolled by German submarines. Arriving safely in the British Isles, she discovered that the British Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) had women flyers from many nations who flew fighters and bombers from airplane factories to the active airfields.

In June 1942, far from her U.P. roots, Mary Zerbel eagerly signed up.

“I never had any really unusual experiences or accidents while flying RAF or Fleet Air Arm aircraft,” she wrote later. “The whole experience was exciting, however. I flew thirty-two different types of aircraft, three of these as co-pilot only and the rest as solo, from small fighters to big bombers.

“If I had the opportunity to do the same thing again in ATA, I would be back in the cockpit so fast, the world would think a jet had just flown past at ground level! ATA was the most wonderful fulfilling experience of my whole life!”

It wasn’t all fulfilling, however. She survived several German air raids in England.

“The air raids were not constant enough to give me much pause,” she noted. “Like anyone in such a situation, I ‘knew’ I would never be hit or hurt. I was 21 at the time.”

While she was busy flying for the British, the U.S. military realized its mistake and in September of 1942 recognized two separate civilian groups for ferrying planes, towing targets and carrying cargo. One was founded by Nancy Harkness Love, a Yooper from Houghton. The two soon merged to form the WASPS — Women Air force Service Pilots — with over 1,000 women flyers serving their country.

Meanwhile, there was time for love and marriage for Mary as she wed her boyfriend Roy Hooper in August 1942. Her joy was tragically shortlived, because Hooper, flying on an anti-submarine patrol off the Shetland Islands north of Scotland, disappeared two months after the wedding and was never found. Despite her grief, Mary decided to remain in England and continue ferrying.

In January 1944, 15 months after Hooper died and nine months after his death was confirmed, Mary Zerbel Hooper married again, this time to Jack Ford, an American flyer in a heavy bomber squadron operating over European skies. In May of 1945, the war in Europe was over, and the Fords came home to America.

“After the war,” she wrote, “we started our own aircraft ferrying company, Fleetway, Inc.” headquartered in Berkeley, California. The end of warfare stuck the American military with plenty of surplus aircraft. Many of these warbirds were scrapped, stored for possible future use, or sold to airlines and cargo operators.

The Fords’ new company of two veteran aviators who were qualified to fly almost anything was perfectly positioned to take advantage of the need for ferrying, so they got plenty of work moving the surplus from one place to another. So unique was their husbandand-wife partnership that Universal Studios in Hollywood produced a movie, The Lady Takes A Flyer, loosely based on their lives. Movie critic Leonard Maltin gave it two-and-a-half stars, calling it a comedy-drama about “a lady flyer who marries a pilot, each finds it hard to settle down to married life.” Actors Jeff Chandler and Lana Turner starred in the film, which Chandler said was one of his favorites.

Mary Zerbel Ford, shown below in an image from the San Diego Air Museum, was a founding member of the WASPS. (Illustration by Mike McKinney)

The Fords continued their world-wide flying until August of 1959. Having lost her first husband in a crash after only two months of marriage, fate struck Mary again when Jack was killed as the twin-engine Beechcraft he was flying on a 2,000 mile flight to Tokyo blew up minutes after takeoff.

Two husbands dead in air crashes was enough for Mary; she never flew again.

After Jack was killed, she used the life insurance proceeds to finance a college education, earning credentials in teaching and library science.

She taught English and life sciences in high school but “HATED IT,” to use her words. So she quit teaching, worked as a clerk-typist for the Air Force, then used her other degree to work in libraries wherever the jobs were.

Although she wanted to retire after all of these memorable adventures, Mary worked for a temporary job agency for a while to help pay her bills.

She finally called it a day and moved in with her daughter Pam and her nine cats, who went through 100 pounds of cat litter a week. On Sept. 27, 2012,

Mary Zerbel Hooper Ford passed away in Pocatello, Idaho at the age of 92. The great adventure was over.

Researchers looking for her papers and memorabilia will find them in the Mary Ford Special Collection at the Air and Space Museum in San Diego, California. The file has data on her life as an instructor and aviator, plus a scrapbook, news items, photos, a partial manuscript for a possible book, her leather flying helmet and pilot’s gloves.

Mary Zerbel Hooper Ford, a distinguished daughter of the Upper Peninsula, wanted it all in aviation. She got almost everything she desired, and a whole lot more.

MM Author’s Note: Larry is no aviation expert but he has landed in over 80 airports, some of which were really weird. On his first-ever airline flight, the baggage door opened while the plane was taxiing for takeoff and dumped out a mile-long line of luggage. And at one small airport, the local sheriff was waiting to arrest the pilot as they landed.

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feature Celebrating 50 years of song Marquette Choral Society reaches milestone anniversary

By Jonny Bahk-Halberg

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Top, the Marquette Choral Society performs in St. Peter Cathedral in Marquette in 2019. The choral society canceled several concerts during the COVID-19 pandemic, but are now ready to return to their former glory as they celebrate their 50th anniversary. (Photo by Seth Milano) Above, soloists perform during a 2021 concert. (Photo by Charles Blaksmith)

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n 1971, a singing group started in Marquette that would offer hundreds of singers in the U.P. and thousands of listeners around the world their chance to give and receive the gift of music.

The Marquette Choral Society, a community choir that started that year with a boost from Northern Michigan University, thrived in a way that only a committed community can sustain, and is now hosting a 50th anniversary celebration in 2021.

Like almost everything over the last two years, the society’s plans changed due to COVID-19. But the celebration is on this month, and it’s going to be a big one.

“We’re back,” proclaimed MCS musical director Dr. Erin Colwitz, who also serves as director of choral activities at NMU. And though there might still be some concerns about the virus, she said, “at this point we’re just kind of rolling with it, you know?”

Celebrating their 50th anniversary this year with a gala and two nights of concerts, Colwitz and the society, along with their audiences, are getting ready for a big event this month.

According to an MCS preview: “People who worry that ‘classical’ music might be boring or monotonous haven’t heard Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana, with its driving rhythms and powerful melodies. As for the texts, they include sexy love lyrics, rollicking drinking songs, zesty sinners’ so-called confessions, wild hymns to gambling and gluttony, and a litany to Lady Luck. The Marquette Choral Society will perform this exuberant work on April 23 and 24 in Kaufman Auditorium. Come and prepare to be dazzled.”

To get things kicked off before those weekend concert nights, the choral society will host a gala celebration the evening of Wednesday, April 20, at NMU’s Northern Center. Celebrating MCS members, supporters and choral music enthusiasts from throughout the society’s history, the gala will feature hors d’oeuvres, a cash bar and musical entertainment.

Soloists will include Alexandra Lang, a former student and great fan of Dr. William Dehning (MCS’ founding director), who now lives in Atlanta; and Darrius Morton, an opera singer who with his fiancee Tessa Newman-Heggie (who also sings with the MCS) has just moved to Marquette. Other singers with the MCS include charter members — people who have sung with the group since its inception five decades ago.

The choir, whose numbers have ranged from around 80 to well over 100 the last several years, have shared their love for music with audiences in the U.P. and around the world over the past half century.

Rehearsals continued, sometimes online, and sometimes with masks, as the pandemic waxed and waned in the Covid era, but regular seasonal concerts were postponed. In 2021, the choral society had only their annual December holiday concert at St. Peter Cathedral in Marquette.

This year, as pandemic concerns have subsided, the society is ready for an anniversary with this special show.

“Carmina Burana is a big, giant work,” said Colwitz, MCS director. “It’s lots of fun — something I think that’s cele-

bratory and interesting and a lot of people, you know, want to hear it.

“It’s an interesting work by … a German composer from the 20th century,” Colwitz said, “He took very, very old medieval poems from monks and nuns … and kind of made it into a modern work, so it’s got a lot of folk elements to it.”

With its opening and closing movement “O Fortuna,” calling out to fate, the words of the ancient poems collected and set to music may not be well known, but their tunes are recognizable, the singers and director said. Music from Carmina Burana has been heard in hundreds of films and television commercials.

The entire collection is based on 11th and th 12 -century poems obtained from a Bavarian monastery, set to music by German composer Carl Orff in the 1930s. The poems were written in a mix of Latin, German and medieval French by musicians, scholars and religious students to celebrate the joys of the tavern, nature, love and lust with earthy humor. Orff chose 24 songs, setting them to music in a form he called a “scenic cantata.”

“It’s really surprising because it does have a lot of more earthy sort of stuff in it than you might expect a religious order to have in their collection,” Leigh said. “The music is really various; you know there’s everything from slow melodic ballads to this piece that we were just working on last night, which is this crazy drinking song in German.

“Carmina Burana is intended to show the rise and fall of the wheel of fortune, if you will,”

Leigh said. “You know, you go up, you go down; sometimes things are good and sometimes things are bad. And there are songs about both. The piece that everybody knows is called ‘O Fortuna.’ It’s the opening and the closing piece. It’s heard in commercials and things like that.”

“It’s a work that most people want to come to see,” added Colwitz. “We’re doing the chamber version, six percussionists and two pianos….

And the hope was to sort of use it as a celebratory piece for the 50th.”

Rick Beyers of Marquette, a retired nurse and MCS member since its early days, serves as historian for the society. Beyers said he first heard the group sing in 1973 while he was a student at NMU, and joined during spring of ‘74.

One memorable event Beyers recalled was when the choral society commissioned legendary jazz pianist Dave Brubeck to write the choral work Earth is Our Mother. Brubeck performed the world premiere together with the choir in April 1992.

Other highlights included traveling to Carnegie Hall and the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York a few times, as well as touring Finland, Poland, Italy and other countries. Several choir members are planning another Italian tour this spring.

Although he’s retired from his day job as a nurse, Beyers said he wasn’t ready to retire from the choral society.

“It’s part of me,” he said. “You know music is — you just have to do something and you know it.”

Marquette Choral Society Director Erin Colwitz is pictured doing what she does best, leading the choral society during a 2019 concert. (Photo by Seth Milano)

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The Marquette Choral Society, pictured above and to the right, are returning to their normal schedule in their 50th anniversary year after two years of performing minimally in public due to the pandemic. (Photos by Seth Milano)

“There’s those nights that, God, you get home and you don’t want, you just don’t want to leave the house,” Beyers explained.

“And then you get to the Choral Society and start singing and all the cares go away, all the troubles go away. You’re in a community where everybody loves to do the same thing.

Singing is a unique art, and it’s human and when 100 people can sing the same thing all together, it’s incredible.”

Asked about some of her favorite choral memories, Colwitz, now in her seventh year as director of Choral Activities at NMU and of the Marquette Choral Society, spoke of events closer to home, recalling last December when the choir returned to performing its annual concert at St. Peter Cathedral in Marquette.

“Performing at the cathedral every December is a really remarkable, always memorable thing to do,” Colwitz said. “The acoustics in there are tremendous for the chorus and orchestra. What really stands out to me was this past December, when we were finally back. It was just, it was so good, and so moving for me to conduct live musicians again.”

Colwitz was married to William J. Dehning, the MCS founding director who later went on to world renown, winning multiple awards as a conduc-

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April 2022

tor, teacher and author of choral arts at the University of Southern California with the USC Chamber Choir and the California Choral Company. Dehning died in 2017.

“I’m the fifth conductor of this ensemble in 50 years,” she said. “It’s just kind of interesting that it’s come full circle. It kind of keeps me close to him. This is the music that he would have done. [The choral society] was designed for major works like this.”

Visit the choral society’s website at marquettechoralsociety.org for details about the Marquette Choral Society Gala and concerts April 20, 23 and 24.

MM About the Author: After more than two decades working with universities in Seoul, writer/editor/teacher Jonny Bahk-Halberg brought his family back to his favorite place in the Western Hemisphere — the shores of Lake Superior.

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Remembering a legendary voice

locals

Elmer Aho, local radio DJ and musician, entertained listeners for decades

By James Larsen II

I

n the Upper Peninsula, there are few traditions more sacred than going to camp. Whether taking a sauna or sitting by the campfire, Elmer Aho’s American Country Gold radio show served as the perfect backdrop to many cherished Saturday night memories.

And though Aho passed away in February, his show remains on the air — a U.P. tradition all its own.

First airing in 1988 on WJPD, and later continuing with WFXD through his retirement in 2018, the weekly show was can’t-miss radio for legions of fans. From 7 p.m. to midnight, listeners were treated to an odyssey

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of tunes from bluegrass and western sets, to a healthy dose of classic country. Local and regional musicians also found their songs spun on the airwaves.

“He enjoyed playing the local artist, but it had to be clean,” recalled son Swen Aho. “Dad was always clean. He kept his music clean.”

Chuck Aho (no relation) of Palmer and his sons were self-described, “faithful followers” of Elmer for many years.

“He was fun to listen to and had quite the personality.”

During one wintery Saturday, father and sons spent much of the day

April 2022

Elmer Aho is pictured by his 1929 Model A, customized with a Hudson roof so he could dance on it during the annual Trenary Independence Day Parade. (Photo by Michelle Graves Photography)

making their way to camp in preparation for the radio show.

“We went out there specifically for that, to go sit there and listen to him,” Chuck Aho said. “We blew the road open into camp and got the camp all heated up, had dinner, got the sauna

going and sat down to listen to Elmer and he wasn’t there. So, we packed everything up and left.”

That was never a problem for Tom DePetro, who has cassette tapes of shows dating back several decades.

“I started taping him and just kept

While Elmer Aho was well known as a local DJ, he was also an accomplished song writer and musician. (Photo courtesy of Aho family)

taping him every Saturday night,” he said. “If during the week I want to have a Saturday night with Elmer, I’ll just put a cassette in.”

DePetro’s appreciation for the show was instant.

“It was just kind of the way that I grew up. My dad played the accordion, the organ, the banjo and he played a lot of the old country and western music. This came about and I thought ‘Holy smokes, I can start listening to this now.’ It fell into place for me.”

Another of the camp faithful is Mike Bath of Negaunee.

“I began to listen to Elmer when I came to NMU and rarely missed a Saturday night show,” he said. “Listening to the old country music and the stories that Elmer told about the artists and the songs was great. Tuning into Elmer while at camp was the highlight of the weekend.”

Elmer took great care in selecting

music for his show, while also taking requests. Always thoughtful, Elmer offered personal dedications and tributes for his listeners. Bath commented that, “when my dad passed away, a friend of mine let Elmer know, and he did a tribute to my dad on the next Saturday night. I have had the pleasure of hearing that tribute a couple of times now as his shows have re-aired.

It means as much to me now as it did when he first did it.”

Elmer truly appreciated all his listeners, including those dialing in from two rut roads across the U.P. “It amazes me how many camps with saunas listen,” Elmer said during a 2008 interview. “That camp bunch is a good bunch of listeners.”

To the delight of listeners everywhere, 103 WFXD is committed to both airing and streaming archived American Country Gold shows “well into the future, every Saturday night,”

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according to longtime radio partner Eric Scott. The radio station website also contains archived shows that can be listened to anytime.

Scott called his 18 years working with Elmer, “the opportunity of a lifetime” and described his partner as, “a wonderful person. I’ll miss him dearly. There will never be another like Elmer.”

It wasn’t all roses every Saturday night though. “A couple of times he was late for shows.” The reason said Scott, “he went to nursing homes to visit listeners.”

“A lot of his listeners he’d talk to on Saturday night, but they didn’t realize all the days he put up at the veteran’s facility and also the elder nursing homes,” reiterated his son Swen. “He just felt obligated to meet some of these people in these nursing homes.”

Personal requests were fulfilled whenever possible. These included stopping by the local gas station to meet fans when they were in Gwinn.

They also included driving to Copper Harbor to perform at a wedding. Endless invitations to camps were extended to the beloved radio host.

With Elmer, listeners became friends and friends were treated like family. Born in 1931 to Finnish immigrants John and Anna Aho, Elmer was one of nine children raised on a rural Trenary farm to a close-knit family.

For all his 90 years, family remained king.

Still, calling from The Lost Resort

Elmer as a young man. (Photo courtesy of Aho Family)

family camp in Alger County didn’t mean you had any better chance of your request getting aired.

“You know how it works, you don’t jump the line just because you are family,” recalled grandson Kyle Aho of his grandfather’s insistence on fairness.

“There was no VIP treatment” explained son Swen Aho. “At 11:45 p.m, we might hear our request made at 8 p.m.”

Swen said that with phone lines often jammed during the show, “people started calling the house during the week with requests.” The Upper Peninsula ingenuity didn’t end there.

“When out on the job, they asked me for requests, or to get items signed for camp by Dad.” American Country Gold was picked up in Finland on Jarvi Radio.

This fact greatly pleased Elmer who often started the show with ‘Hyvaa iltaa’ which translates to ‘Good evening’ in Finnish. Elmer had strong ties to his family in Finland, communicating with them throughout his life and even traversing the Atlantic to visit.

After 30 years behind the mic, Elmer’s last live show aired in April of 2018. Later that year, he was recognized by the local music community.

“We were honored to induct Elmer into the Marquette Music Scene Hall of Fame for his many contributions to music and radio and very happy it was at a time when he could be there and receive his award and give the speech and enjoy the honor,” said Marquette

To the last heartbeat A personal reflection

By James Larsen II

S

urrounded by hundreds of family members and friends, the love and support is palpable.

A radiant young bride and her beaming husband prepare to take the dance floor for the first time as a couple. The artist introduces his song and they soon find themselves swaying back and forth as Elmer Aho’s “To The Last Heartbeat” is played just for them.

Similar stories could be told in the hundreds, if not thousands. We’d sooner run out of paper and ink before we could do justice to Elmer and his impact on the Upper Peninsula community and beyond.

We first met in 2008 while working on a Gwinn Centennial Project. When I heard that unmistakable voice, I stopped right in my tracks. Like El-

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mer did with seemingly everyone, we hit if off right away and agreed to get together real soon.

During a visit the next week, Elmer explained, “My voice gives me away. I realize I have a pretty good Finnish accent, but so do a lot of people here in the U.P. I’d have a hard time robbing a bank. I’d walk in and they’d say ‘I listen to you every Saturday night.’ I think I’d have to write a note.”

That voice brought radio listeners joy for over 30 years. As we struggle with life’s impermanence, Elmer was a constant we could rely on.

Elmer passed away peacefully at his home on February 20, with his loving family by his side.

His legacy, among many other admirable traits and accomplishments, was kindness. Elmer of-

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ten ended his radio show with the Ernest Tubb quote, “be better to your neighbors and you’ll have better neighbors.”

As the groom in the earlier story, I can attest that Elmer and his wife Rita made a fantastic day all the merrier. As the DJ whittled down couples to those married 50 years or more, there remained only a few on the dance floor. It was heartwarming to see Elmer and Rita, along with my grandparents, still dancing and very much in love after over half a century.

What an example of loving commitment to a pair of newlyweds.

For any of you that are wondering, the wedding occurred on a Friday.

MM

“

HE MADE EVERY SINGLE PERSON FEEL LIKE HE HAD NOTHING BETTER TO DO THAN TO SPEND TIME WITH THEM.

Music Scene founder Cindy Engle of the 2018 ceremony.

The recognition didn’t end there. In 2020, the State of Michigan bestowed a special tribute on the beloved radio personality for his service to the community, signed by state officials.

His music resume includes over 600 songs written, including several recorded by Nashville artists. Many radio listeners will recall both sides of Hylo Brown’s 45 were written by Elmer including the oft requested ‘Riding in a Dump Truck.’ Elmer recorded 11 of his own songs for the 1996 album ‘Gwinn Model Town Blues.’

Beyond the title track, the album includes several locally inspired songs.

‘Goodbye K.I.’ honors the men and women who served at K.I. Sawyer Air Force Base. ‘Gramps, What Will They Do With Those Memories?’ harkens back to his time attending the old Trenary schoolhouse.

On Saturday, March 12, Eric Scott hosted a special tribute show on WFXD. Friends, family, colleagues and listeners alike flooded the station with tributes and stories about Elmer. One of Elmer’s daughters, Heidi (Aho) Case of Wisconsin, said of her father’s treatment of people, “you were never a stranger.”

Granddaughter Jenna Moede from Idaho called her grandfather, “the

Elmer Aho’s distinct voice could be heard on his weekly radio show, American Country Gold, every Saturday for 30 years. Above, a picture from 2008. Right, Aho, pictured as a young man. (Photos courtesy of Aho family)

best conversationalist, I think I’ve ever known.” She articulately captured much of his essence when she reflected on, “his ability to be in the moment. He made every single person feel like he had nothing better to do then spend time with them.” She went on to recount her own personal experience, “he made me feel like that every time I was with him, that I was the most important person in his world at that moment and he just lived his life for kindness.”

Before his fabled days behind the microphone, Elmer was a beloved art teacher in the Gwinn school systems.

In speaking with former student Rick Wills, he noted Elmer’s “patience and his willingness to help the students out.”

“He was about as nice a person as

you could meet,” Wills added. “He was always very upbeat, very positive.”

In describing his former teacher’s “second act,” Wills was happy to see the community respond so favorably to his mentor.

“To get on the radio and share his passion for his kind of music was just wonderful,” he said. “His personality came through. He was genuine, he was caring, very kind.”

It’s easy to see why generations of loyal listeners tuned in every week.

MM About the Author: James Larsen II is a long time Marquette County resident. He enjoys American Country Gold to ward off the occasional spell of “Gwinn Model Town Blues.”

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at the table

To keep parsley (and many other herbs) fresh and ready to enjoy, after you bring a bunch home, remove and compost any yellowed or slimy sprigs. Then make a bouquet: give everything a quick rinse and cut off the ends of the stems, about half an inch up, to let the freshly-cut stems draw up water. Place those cut ends in a glass of cool water and cover the resulting bouquet of herbs with a loose-fitting plastic bag to protect it from the drying effect of the fridge. Herbs treated this way will last in the refrigerator for as long as a week or two — unless you eat them up first. (Photo by Katherine Larson)

Parsley An oft-overlooked green, overlooked no more

By Katherine Larson

A “

nd parsley. Quite sparsely. Just twenty-two sprigs.” That’s the garnish applied to “Scrambled Eggs Super-Dee-Dooper-DeeBooper, Special de luxe à-la-Peter T. Hooper,” in the Dr. Seuss book which details how young Peter pulled together his unforgettable concoction.

And garnish is how most of us think of parsley.

Heck, many of us don’t even eat the garnish; we send the plate back to the kitchen, practically licked clean except for the sad little green sprig left to wilt.

We’re missing a treat. First, if a restaurant offers you that garnish: go ahead and eat it! Parsley offers lively green flavor and crispy mouth-feel. It complements and enhances some of our favorite flavors, from eggs (Peter

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T. Hooper knew what he was doing) to garlic, lemon and beyond. Parsley is jam-packed with vitamins and minerals, particularly Vitamins A, C and K, and it contains antioxidants that clear toxins and reduce inflammation.

That same sprig helps increase circulation to your digestive tract and acts as a great breath freshener.

How about in your own cooking?

Is it worth going to the trouble to add parsley?

Of course, that depends on what you’re cooking. Birthday cake, no, unless your idea of a good birthday cake is a nice paté. But parsley can indeed enhance a whole range of roasts and spaghetti and casseroles. A shower of finely-chopped flat-leaf parsley makes almost any potato dish sit up and sing. A sprightly tangle of curly

April 2022

parsley provides an otherwise-bland omelet with some of the depth of flavor of the omelets of your dreams.

If you’re feeling more ambitious than that, mince up some parsley with a clove of garlic and a bit of salt to make a persillade, a French garnish that enlivens almost any vegetable. Or add lemon zest to the parsley-garlic mix to get gremolata, the Italian garnish that turns an ordinary stew into a feast.

But if you’re short on ambition, a handful of flat-leaf parsley leaves can jolt even a quotidian ham sandwich into the extraordinary, particularly if you add a bit of butter.

In fact, parsley makes a perfectly good sandwich on its own: a thick swath of sweet butter (I use the unsalted kind, then add my own salt on

the sandwich itself), a vibrant layer of parsley, salt and pepper to taste. Yum! Which brings me to the surprisingly, and pleasingly, broad range of use for parsley as a vegetable rather than as a mere garnish — though, of course, I don’t mean to disrespect garnishes. As noted, they can transform a dish.

The availability of parsley as an actual vegetable is particularly welcome in April, when our supply of locally-grown vegetables is close to its nadir. The root vegetables we saved from last fall — including parsley root itself, but that’s another story — have pretty much run their course. For fresher local food, in the U.P. we’re lucky to get spring greens in May. (Oh, for the start of local farmer’s markets!) But it’s April and we can

Parsley plays a big roll in young Peter’s culinary masterpiece from the classic Dr. Suess book, Scrambled Eggs Super!. (Photo courtesy of Karen Donato)

procure parsley, so let’s enjoy it.

In this regard we’re luckier than the ancient Greeks, who didn’t eat parsley but rather, fashioned it into wreaths for graves. And we’re luckier than the ancient Romans, who apparently ate parsley only to freshen their breath, akin to an after-dinner mint. Eventually people got wise to the many uses of this versatile plant — probably in the Middle East, where parsley moved beyond the symbolic role (it was and is used in Passover celebrations) to become an important part of the cuisine, before the French and Italians jumped in with their persillades and gremolatas.

The most common parsley-based dish in the United States today is tabbouleh, a salad of Lebanese origins.

Alas, most American tabboulehs go way overboard on the bulgur while being positively stingy with their parsley. That’s all wrong. For a truly refreshing tabbouleh — one that’s actually a salad rather than a grainbased concoction — the proportions should be reversed. David Tanis, in his mouthwateringly splendid cook-

book Market Cooking, recommends two full cups of parsley to only three-quarters of a cup of bulgur, and he’s right in terms of both tradition and flavor.

Here in the U.P., however, tabbouleh is months away; tomatoes are essential to the dish, and our tomatoes won’t be ripe until mid-August. We can, however, enjoy a parsley salad: yes, a salad where the parsley itself constitutes the green.

For this purpose, I seek out flat-leaf parsley; the curly type has too delicate a flavor and too chewy a texture to serve in a starring role. But flat-leaf parsley, with its tangy and herbaceous leafiness and light peppery notes, performs beautifully.

Take the leaves off the stems, but don’t compost the latter; instead, bundle them up with some kitchen twine and add them to your next stew or stock or braise. Even though you’ll discard the bundle before serving, the essence of parsley will have gently suffused throughout the dish.

With the leaves, you can make a simple salad, barely dressed with just

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Above, a bunch of parsley stems added to a stew can provide an extra depth of flavor. Or, cut up some leafy parsley for a nice salad, as shown below. (Photos by Katherine Larson)

“

A bright parsley salad, lightly dressed with lemon and garlic, adds zest to an otherwise mellow plate of fish and potatoes. (Photo by Katherine Larson)

WE ARE SO USED TO THINKING OF BASIL (IN PESTO) ... THAT WE FORGET OTHER HERBS WORK TOO.

a little olive oil, a squeeze of lemon juice and a bit of salt. Or you can go robust, adding garlic to the dressing and perhaps a bit of freshly-grated Parmesan cheese.

The other day I served the lemony-garlicky version of this salad (no cheese) to accompany a slow-roasted salmon that had spent half an hour in a low oven bathed in olive oil with an assortment of citrus fruit — blood oranges, cara cara oranges, Meyer lemons — and the results were fantastic.

But you could also, as Tanis suggests, scatter this same salad over a pizza, also with fantastic results.

Not in the mood for salad? Parsley makes a delectable pesto. We are so used to thinking of basil in this context (and, yes, basil won’t be ready for a few months yet) that we forget other herbs work too. To my taste, a good fresh parsley pesto is hard to beat, either as a pizza topping or, even better, tossed with good whole-wheat pasta

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for a meatless meal.

It’s fast and easy, besides, at least if you have a food processor or powerful blender. Into the machine you plop a few whole cloves of peeled garlic and whir them around a bit with a chunk of Parmesan cheese. Add a couple of cups of parsley leaves — if you like, a few of the more delicate stems too, along with a few sprigs of fresh mint — and process everything until it’s finely chopped together. Now slowly drizzle in about a third of a cup of olive oil with the machine running until the mixture magically turns into pesto. That’s it!

And it’s fine if you made more than you can use for one meal. Unlike pesto made of basil, parsley pesto keeps its bright color and flavor during the week or so that you can keep it stored, closely covered, in the refrigerator.

Beyond pesto, parsley performs well in all the applications for which flavorful spring greens are used. In

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my family, that means especially our signature Tart of Seasonal Greens, a sort of extra-leafy quiche where the greens take center stage.

Then there’s parsley-based salsa verde. Even though it’s called salsa, I think of it as playing the role of a green vegetable when I’m serving what in my childhood we called “boiled dinner” — chicken or beef slowly simmered with potatoes, onions and carrots until all is tender.

Nourishing, no doubt, but frankly somewhat boring until you accompany it with a large bowl of this fragrant concoction: the leaves from a bunch or two of flat-leaf parsley (put the stems in to simmer with the meat and root vegetables!), tossed with a robust mixture of minced raw garlic, minced anchovies, minced shallot, capers, lemon zest and juice and your best extra virgin olive oil.

If all that mincing is too much for your busy schedule, enlist the help of

your food processor for everything except the parsley, which you want to keep nice and leafy. You can even make this hours ahead of time, provided that you hold off on the lemon juice until the last minute to keep the salsa verde nice and green. Spoon it lavishly on your plateful of boiled dinner and enjoy.

With this dish you accomplish the best of April cooking: warm and soothing enough for our still-wintry clime, but through the magic of parsley promising spring.

MM About the Author: Katherine Larson is a writer, teacher and former lawyer, with a special passion for food justice. Katherine Larson notes that World Central Kitchen is dedicated to providing meals in response to humanitarian, climate, and community crises, and are very active in response to the situation in Ukraine. Donations can be made to https://wck.org/

superior reads

Autobiography details a life worth living Review by Victor Volkman

L

Growing Up in Sparta And Other Adventures

by Larry Buege

arry Buege’s autobiographical Growing Up in Sparta And Other Adventures is a story in three acts. In the first act, he describes the realities of growing up in the 1950s in a small rural Midwestern town of Sparta, Michigan (population 4,000).

As the author points out, this wasn’t a unique experience, but rather kind of a template for anyone living in an agricultural area of Michigan. Accordingly, Buege tries to express the universality of growing up as a “free range child.”

I, having grown up a decade later, can attest to this craziness as a member of the last generation of free range children. It was a time when social services would not be knocking on your door for letting your child go to the park unsupervised, or ride a bike many miles from home, or just roam the streets until the streetlights came on. Even so, some of Larry’s experiences definitely pre-date my own such as living with a coal furnace (ours had been converted to natural gas) and starting cars with a choke control. Yes, I have no doubt that younger readers will find it an altogether eye-opening experience to read about these primitive times. And that’s the point of the first act, to expose Buege’s yet unborn great-great grandchildren to a world that he lived in.

The book opens with a provocative statement questioning the point of the exercise — “The author has accomplished nothing worthy of ink in a history book.” But then he counters with: “To fully understand our history we must understand the lifestyles, activities, and hardships facing the common citizen. Ordinary people are essential to our understanding of our history.”

In the second act, Larry more than fulfills this mission. Here we follow the author’s journey from a bored, lackadaisical college student to the draftee experience in the Vietnam War. By dint of a few months experience as an ambulance EMT, Larry

ends up as a medic through a convoluted set of circumstances. His entire first year is spent stateside, first in training and then in practice. Worried that his skills would never match the task, he volunteers to be trained and work in the base’s Emergency Room.

An unprecedented request and one that would prove invaluable.

Eventually Larry’s deployment unavoidably arrives, as he writes: Twelve months was the typical Vietnam tour. I have been on tours of the Hershey factory in Pennsylvania and the Gerber factory in Fremont, Michigan. This was not that kind of tour.

My first month in Vietnam was petrifying. I assumed bullets would be flying through the air like a summer hailstorm. Most of this misconception was caused by watching too many newscasts prior to my arrival. Yes, people were getting killed, but most Americans returned home without purple hearts. I did not live in constant fear once I established my routine.

He has a poet’s ear for language, even as he speaks in the clipped style of an Elmore Leonard protagonist.

Larry’s gift for understatement keeps the narrative grounded. Having edited a Vietnam anthology and helped other vets with their memoirs, his story rings true. The long weeks of boredom and makework military duties punctuated by moments of sheer horror and dread are par for the course. At the end of it all, his summation can hardly encompass any of it: I knew I would never be the same after eleven months in Vietnam. I slept leaning against a burned-out school after the Tet offensive. I sat on a decapitated corpse while I tried to save the life of a teen-age combatant. I [accidentally] consumed brain tissue from a dying patient. I felt the loneliness of a silent sky filled with endless stars. I experienced the wrath of the Magic Dragon as it shattered that silence with thousands of tracer fire. I then relied on the accuracy of unknown artillerymen as their shells exploded around me. How could I be the same man I was eleven months earlier?

And yet, there is, of course, a third

act which carries us from age 20 onwards. Larry’s career takes twists and turns as he first certifies to become a high school science teacher and as newlyweds they have to live in camping tents for a while. Eventually, he’s able to parlay his medic training into joining the third class of Physicians Assistants to graduate from Western Michigan University. However, there’s a slight wrinkle as nobody knows what to do with a PA yet, and so he lands a job at Marquette’s notorious state prison. There’s much more to Larry’s story than I can possibly tell you here, but I think contrary to his closing chapter, there’s a bit more to come.

If Buege’s story inspires even one other person to put down their life in words, I think it has achieved its goal.

We are all richer for knowing Larry’s story and his contribution to the tapestry of U.P. life will not be forgotten thanks to his literary legacy of fiction and now autobiography.

MM About the Author: Victor R. Volkman is a graduate of Michigan Technological University (Class of ’86) and is the current president of the U.P. Publishers and Authors Association (UPPAA). He is senior editor at Modern History Press and publisher of the 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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in the outdoors

Safer travels

New signs along Copper Country trails make identifying location easier

By Pam Christensen

O

utdoor enthusiasts in Keweenaw and Houghton Counties will be safer thanks to the efforts of Joe Schneller.

Schneller, a Bootjack resident and long-time first responder, recognizes firsthand how difficult it can be to locate snowmobilers, ATV riders and hikers in remote sections of Keweenaw and Houghton counties. That’s why he is spearheading a project to install trail markers on trails in those two counties.

Curt Pennala, Keweenaw County Sheriff, heartily endorsed this project.

“Before the signs were installed, we could spend one or two hours locating a lost or injured person on the more remote sections of the trail,” he said.

“Once located, getting them off the trail and to an ambulance or hospital adds even more time. The trail signs have really reduced our response time and help get medical care to a person as quickly as possible, especially when time is critical.”

The last week in February alone, his department helped to coordinate five incidents of lost or injured snowmobilers or accidents on the trails.

The Keweenaw Houghton County Emergency Trail Marker project began in 2020 following the death of Joe’s wife, Linda, of cancer in July 2020.

As a tribute to Linda, Joe started raising money for the emergency trail markers for the over 230 miles of snowmobile trails on the Keweenaw Peninsula. The signs have been installed from the Houghton side of the Portage Lift Bridge throughout the Keweenaw Peninsula — with the exception of a section from Gay to Lac La Belle via trail 133. This route has been difficult to travel due to beaver activity, water and poor trail conditions. Repairs on this trail section have been made, and signage for this 21-mile

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section of trail should be completed later this year.

Snowmobile trails are the project’s priority due to potentially hazardous weather conditions that can easily turn a pleasant ride into a tragic situation. Once the snowmobile trails in Houghton and Keweenaw counties have been signed, Schneller plans to expand the project to other motorized and non-motorized trails and more heavily used hiking trails in the Copper Country.

Emergency trail signs are placed along the trail every half mile. Each sign displays an identification number that corresponds to GIS mapping and a GPS coordinate. This is critical for riders and hikers who are unfamiliar with the area or who get lost. All 911 calls from both Houghton and Keweenaw counties are answered by Negaunee Central Dispatch. The trail signs help first responders find those in distress and provide lifesaving assistance as quickly as possible. In order to determine if a trail user is in Keweenaw or Houghton County, the trail signs use 31 as the first two numbers for a location in Houghton County and 42 to signify Keweenaw County.

Pennala said a lack of cell phone coverage is an issue in the area, but they have found that other trail users will travel to the nearest trail sign where they can get a cell signal and report an incident. He urged people using the trails to observe landmarks, emergency trail signs and road names as they travel.

“Being aware of where you are is the best way to get information to us,” he said. “That information and the emergency trail signs will ensure your safety and the speed of first responders if there is an emergency.”

Ann Gasperich has helped Schneller with the project since its inception.

April 2022

An example of a trail sign, installed as part of a two-county wide project to make it easier for outdoor enthusiasts to notify first responders of their exact location, should they need help. (Photo courtesy of Ann Gasperich)

“Joe has insisted on installing each and every trail sign in person,” Gasperich said. “A group of us help him, and it is not unusual to run into hikers, bicyclists and trail riders who stop, ask about the project and thank us for what we are doing.”

Pennala said the project holds a lot of potential for other uses.

Joe Schneller, pictured here next to a newly installed trail marker, is spearheading a project to install markers along trails in Houghton and Keweenaw counties.

(Photo courtesy of Ann Gasperich).

“We will be adding the GPS information and GIS mapping to emergency response agencies’ handbooks,” he said. “This information will allow everyone to work together to extract injured people, respond to accidents, set up staging areas and coordinate emergency response. There are so many opportunities to improve our emergency response with this project.

We have been contacted by an organization from Copper Harbor that maintains bike trails. They would like to use the same system along the biking trails to improve rescue efforts.”

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Keweenaw County and Houghton County Sheriff’s departments and local first responders and search and rescue agencies have all endorsed the project and credit Schneller for undertaking such a large endeavor.

“Schneller and Gasperich are a big part of the success of this project,” Pennala said. “They have dedicated hours to making sure trail users are safe. What they have accomplished is amazing. They have completed almost all of the snowmobile trail signs in Keweenaw County.”

Not only does Schneller coordinate the project and installation of each sign, he has also launched a Go Fund Me site (gofund.me6bc8589d) that allows people to donate to the project.

To date, over 150 people have donated just over $8,000. Included in the sign price, of approximately $30 each, is the two-sided locator sign, signpost and installation supplies The project is being publicized via social media by Schneller and vari-

ous organizations that utilize trails in Houghton and Keweenaw counties.

“This is a 100% volunteer project and it’s all about helping others. Small donations make a big difference. We just received a $5 donation this week, and the small donations mean as much to me as the big ones do,” Schneller said.

Donations to the site have ranged from $5 to the thousands.

“Every little bit helps and there is no limit to how often or how much you can donate,” Schneller added.

An article about the project was published in Detroit area newspapers in July 2021. This publicity resulted in many trail users from Lower Michigan donating to the cause. Copper Country snowmobile and ATV clubs have also endorsed the project and provided support. Donations can also be sent to the Keweenaw County Sheriff’s Department at 5104 4th Street, Eagle River, MI 49950. Envelopes should have “Emergency Trail Sign Project” written on the outside of them. Checks can be made out to Joe Schneller or Keweenaw County Sheriff’s Department.

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.

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poetry An excerpt from Maiden Voyage

Wild bees

By Kathleen M. Heideman

Wild bees have built their wax nest in a secret void between boards, in the barn-gap covered by a batten they swarm the entrance — too many to count as they enter and depart, a liquid rope of bees leading the hive into the bark-sweet wilds of jackpine, seeping where the red squirrels chew away cones, spattering down on the sugar plums, ferns, a riotous upheaval of autumn mushrooms, pale and perfumed as warm cinnamon rolls.

Sweetness and the seeking of sweetness consumes us, a sticky sap-thread connecting everything & everything else, frenzied air-trails, buzzing.

Black bear tracks in late September sand show they’re veering trunk to log, like us, seeking a honey hidden in the world, like wild bees going out into sun-dappled days and bringing it back inside themselves, a rare ore waiting to be sipped, warm syrup, gift — they are offering it freely, showing us how naturally it must always be done.

About the Author: Kathleen M. Heideman is the author of Psalms of the Early Anthropocene (Winter Cabin Books), and past recipient of the Marquette Arts & Culture Center’s “Outstanding Writer” award. Her work has appeared in Arcadia, Passages North, South Dakota Review, Steam Ticket, Stoneboat, and elsewhere. Heideman completed artist residencies with the National Park Service, watersheds, scientific research stations, private foundations and the National Science Foundation’s Antarctic Artists & Writers Program. She is drawn to wild and threatened places, and works to defend them.

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arts

The Festival of the Angry Bear returns April 9. Pictured here, not looking quite so angry as the name would imply, the bear itself taps a keg at a previous festival. (Photo courtesy of The Ore Dock Brewing Co.)

Restoring the roar

Ore Dock Brewing Co. reinstates sour beer festival

By Brad Gischia

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pring in the Upper Peninsula is both a blessing and a curse. After months of cold and snowy weather we see longer, warmer days, and with that come slushy, dirty roads, and salt caked right up to the top of your vehicles’ roof.

In Marquette, April brings the Festival of the Angry Bear at the Ore Dock Brewing Company, and after a two year hiatus due to COVID-19, the bear is returning for the “Restore the Roar” 2022 Festival. They are planning a large event, taking place on at 3 p.m. on Saturday, April 9.

“For 2022 we are returning the bear to its former glory and going all out,” said Amanda Courchaine, customer engagement lead for the Ore Dock Brewing Company. “Due to COVID, we had to make Angry Bear ‘virtual’ in 2020, and due to capacity limits in 2021 we had to take Angry Bear ‘Underground.’”

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Looking at the lineup of events planned, it seems that they indeed are planning big. It starts the Thursday before, April 7, with the Baby Bear, a family friendly event starting at 5 p.m. On Friday, April 8 the final Culture of Cult: Pop-Up Art Show begins, featuring local artists, at 7 p.m. There will be three stages of live music, a Woodland Creature Costume Contest, and the March of the Angry Bear parade.

There will be no shortage of music. Spring Street and portions of the Spring Street parking lot behind the Ore Dock will be closed off, allowing for a street fest and block party.

Bands from the Marquette area and as far away as Indiana and Wisconsin are scheduled to play. The live music line up will include Lalo Cura, The Coulee Boys, Blanco Suave, Outlaw’d, Ramble Table, WhoDat Brass and The Brothers Quinn.

Don’t worry about the hunger pangs either, because there will be food trucks, including the season premier of Marquette favorite Dia de Los Tacos and the Burger Bus. There doesn’t seem to be a bad reason to get together and drink beer, or to celebrate the Marquette scene, but Courchaine explained the origins of the festival thus.

“As the days start getting longer and the weather starts to warm, we could all use an excuse to get out of our caves and roar a little. We recognized in our second year that there really wasn’t a lot going on in Marquette, and we wanted to give the community that opportunity.”

They just so happened to have barrel-aged beers maturing at that point, and used that spring awakening as a reason to celebrate.

With sour beer.

“In general, there are two types of

Culture of Cult opener to Angry Bear Festival

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Above festival-goers enjoy live music at a previous Angry Bear Festival. Below, the culmination of the Woodland Creatures Costume Contest. (Photos courtesy of the Ore Dock Brewing Co.)

sour beer with endless possibilities.” Courchaine said.

“A kettle sour and a barrel-aged sour. A kettle sour is ready to drink in approximately two weeks. The result is a tart, puckering flavor. Our barrel-aged sours are aged in oak barrels that have mixed fermentation and are aged anywhere from eight to 36 months.”

If you’re worried about choices, do not. The Ore Dock will have two kettle sours as well as nine barrel-aged sours to sample.

They’ll also have some non-sour barrel-aged beers as well as the staples you’ve come to enjoy.

With all of this going on, you can expect that there will be a crowd. The Festival has grown from about 500 people in 2014 to well over 3000 people in 2019.

“The festival is free to attend,” said Kris Weirenga of the Ore Dock. “We will have Angry Bear goblets available for $5 and an exclusive insulated Angry Bear stein for $35. Attendees are welcome to bring any previous year’s Angry Bear vessel in an effort to reduce waste.”

It looks to be an amazing schedule of events, and the beer will be flowing.

“It’s been almost three full years since we woke the bear, and it’s gon-

na be angrier than ever. We hope you’ll come down and roar with us,” Courchaine said.

MM About the Author: Brad Gischia is a writer and artist native to Upper Michigan. He mixes his time between drawing funny books and writing.

hen Mike Forester moved back to Marquette after living on the east coast and Detroit, there was some amount of culture shock. The change from the hustle and bustle of big city life to the slowed down nature of a small town was what he was looking for, and yet, Forester felt there was something missing.

“When I moved back I was really adamant about bringing some of the things I loved about bigger cities back with me, and that included doing some of the features, showcases and other things in the modern art world like pop-ups and heavily themed shows,” said Forester, an art professor at Northern Michigan University.

Thus the Culture of Cult was born.

Forester’s artwork is often in view — he’s been designing the promotional posters for the Angry Bear Festival since its inception.

The show has been a mainstay at the Ore Dock Brewing Company since 2014, a yearly pop-up art show that features art pertaining to pop culture. With a break only for the COVID-19 pandemic, Forester has been running the show since then.

“It’s a tremendous amount of work both physically and logistically,” he said. “The Ore Dock Brewing Company have been amazing hosts, incredibly accommodating and never blinked an eye when I came to them with this crazy idea.”

The final show, titled “Omega,” will be a return to form, focusing strictly on pop culture and featuring 30 to 40 artists from the Upper Peninsula and across the country, working in a variety of media.

“It will celebrate everything from movies, TV, comics, celebrity and everything in between,” Forester said. “Each artist brings a different medium to the show. We’ve got a custom neon piece, posters, prints, paintings and stained glass, we’ve got all the bases covered.”

Forester’s near decade of work organizing the pop-up show has given him a unique look at the local art scene.

“I am so appreciative of both the artists and the local community for supporting these shows over the last eight years,” Forester said. “You have to be passionate about how you’re investing your time, and the only way these shows have continued to happen is because the artists truly love to create, the venue loves contributing to people discovering and appreciating other creatives, and my friends who have recognized it’s a great event and stay up until 2 a.m. the night before setting up the show.”

Although Forester is retiring the show, it doesn’t sound like he’ll be quietly waiting for something to pop up around him.

“Over the next year or two, we’ll be launching something that will keep fans of the show just as happy AND make a show that is able to do more than just be a simple one-nightonly art show,” he said. “We’re very excited about what is coming next and so appreciative of the support we’ve gained over the last near decade of doing these shows.”

The Omega Culture of Cult Show will be at 6 p.m. at the Ore Dock Brewing Company on April 8.

MM

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locals John Lautner

Brilliant Marquette architect trained under iconic Frank Lloyd Wright

J

ohn Lautner built homes for the rich and the famous — Bob Hope was amongst the notables. These homes were not only aesthetically pleasing, but technically sound and proclaimed his virtuosity with unprecedented designs.

As an art form, architecture is different than literature, sculpting or painting, in that the observer is in it.

Being in a Lautner house makes one aware of how the master architect used space lavishly, yet gracefully integrating the house into the environment.

John Lautner Jr. was born in Marquette to John (Sr.) and Vida Catherine (Gallagher) Lautner in 1911. John Lautner, Sr., a professor of German, Economics, and Sociology at Northern Michigan Normal School (Northern Michigan University), didn’t want to live in an ordinary house across the street from campus. As a result, he built a saltbox home that was considered an architectural gem. So impressive was the Lautner Sr. home that Architectural Record rated it as “one of the best cottages in the Midwest.”

With its clapboard siding and long sloping rear roof, it is a classic representation of New England saltbox style. Nestled in a densely wooded lot, it is barely visible when the foliage is in full bloom, and it appears to be right out of 1650 Salem, Massachusetts.

Perhaps living in this historic home and having stimulating artistic and creative parents provided Lautner with the necessary inspiration and imagination to become an architect.

Lautner graduated from Marquette Graveraet High School in 1928 and continued his studies at Northern Michigan University, majoring in English. In 1933 he obtained his college degree and was ready to make his way in the world — at what, he wasn’t exactly sure.

At the time of his college graduation, Lautner’s mother obtained a book on famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright. She alerted her son to the book’s content, and encouraged him to read it. Lautner read the book and was instantly fascinated by Wright.

From then on, Lautner knew what he wanted to do with his life — become an architect.

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By Sonny Longtine

John Lautner, pictured here, studied under Frank Lloyd Wright and went on to become a renowned architect. (Photo courtesy of Karol Lautner Peterson)

In 1933, at age 22, tall, browneyed Lautner married his childhood friend and companion, Mary Roberts.

Roberts was a descendant of famed Marquette lumber and mining magnet, John Munro Longyear. The Lautner and Roberts families were close friends for years, and John and Mary’s friendship went back to their childhood. The union would produce four children — Karol, Michael, Mary and Judith. Judith and Mary live in California. Sadly, in 2005 Michael died in California. Karol (Peterson) who re-

sided in Marquette, died in 2015.

With his life’s mission now clear, Lautner embarked on a career quest, and in 1933 he moved to Spring Green, Wisconsin to study under America’s most famous architect — dynamic and temperamental Frank Lloyd Wright.

At Spring Green, Wright had a residence and architectural school called Taliesin at which he trained young and aspiring architects. Later, Wright built another Taliesin in Phoenix, Arizona. The Taliesin in Wisconsin was then referred to as Taliesin East, while

The Lautner family home on North Fourth Street in Marquette. It is classic New England Saltbox style. (Photo courtesy of Sonny Longtine)

the one in Phoenix was called Taliesin West. With financial backing from his mother-in-law, Abby Beecher Roberts, Lautner immersed himself in Wright’s architecture. He was an ideal candidate for Wright’s training; he was eager, talented and not corrupted by a college architectural education.

Lautner, along with his wife Mary, resided at each Taliesin for the next six years. At both schools, he learned the Wright style of architecture from the ground up. As an apprentice at Taliesin, students ate, worked and slept architecture. If they missed breakfast at 7 a.m., they did not eat until lunch.

The fledging architectural apprentices would spend the summer and fall months at Taliesin East, and then caravan south to Taliesin West, where they would spend the winter months.

At Taliesin, neophyte architects were not solely students of drafting and design; they also constructed buildings. Lautner learned that it was essential for architects to have experience in building as well as design.

Lautner would later disdainfully say, “If you graduate here (U.S.) from an architectural school, you can’t even

hold a hammer.” (This did not include the Taliesin’s.)

Mary Lautner also studied design at Taliesin and was skilled in drafting.

This did not set well with Lautner, who admittedly was not a particularly good draftsman. He told his wife, “There will only be one architect in the family.” Mary complied and gave up drafting; however, she did make a contribution at Taliesin. The apprentices at the school made their own meals, and after a while Mary assumed much of the food preparation duty. Disgusted by the quality of kitchen utensils, she managed to get the normally tightfisted Wright to buy some decent utensils for the trainees at Taliesin.

Lautner called Wright a genius, and much of his early work reflected the Wright influence. In 1938, Wright sent Lautner to Los Angeles to supervise the construction of the Sturgis House.

After completing that project, Lautner stayed in Los Angeles, and two years later opened up his own architect offices. He never liked Los Angeles.

“I’d go up on Mulholland and make giant concrete balls and roll them down the hill, and that would get rid of

Hollywood and Vine and all that junk ...,” he said.

But Lautner was also keenly aware that Los Angeles was one of the few places that had both the climate and the clients that were essential to his employability as an architect.

One of the first things Lautner did after arriving in Los Angeles in 1940 was build his own residence. His daughter, Karol Lautner Peterson, recalled growing up in that home, and remembered one occasion when she was walking on an open and high, unprotected hallway on the side of the house. Seeing the danger in what his daughter was doing, Lautner enclosed the area. In this case, “architecture be damned.” Lautner recognized his child’s safety was more important than architectural integrity.

Peterson also recalled an early event in Desert Hot Springs, Arizona, where her dad designed and built the Desert Hot Springs Motel in 1947.

“I remember making tomato soup for my dad in that motel,” she said.

Lautner felt that desert motels were noisy from high winds that frequently swept across the open areas. He de-

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“

LAUTNER CALLED WRIGHT A GENIUS, AND MUCH OF HIS EARLY WORK REFLECTED THE WRIGHT INFLUENCE.

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signed the Desert Motel, which not only minimized the wind sound, but was also effective in keeping out the sun’s hot midday rays. Peterson noted he would often examine a potential building site by observing light at different times of day. Frequently he would sit out at nighttime under the stars, smoking cigarettes and observing how the nighttime light affected the landscape. This was his preliminary process in deciding how he would build a home that would optimally utilize ambient light. Karol Lautner Peterson died in 2015. She was the president of the John Lautner Foundation and a primary advocate of her father’s brilliant work.

Lautner also designed buildings for commercial use. The Googie Coffee Shop (1949), at the corner of Sunset Strip and Crescent Heights in Los Angeles was one of his early attempts at commercial construction. The building had expansive glass walls, a space craft look, and oversized signage designed to attract car traffic. It began the trend in fast food restaurants in which extensive use of glass allowed patrons to observe what was happening on the outside. The snobbish architectural community of the 1950s derided Googie’s as being superficial and vulgar. For some time it damaged Lautner’s reputation in the architectural community, which resulted in a loss of prestigious clients. However, by the 1970s, with the construction of the Bob Hope home in Palm Springs, his reputation was restored. In spite of this, the “Googie Look” had an appeal and a following, even in the financially slim years. A modified Googie look is still somewhat popular today in fast food restaurants.

In Los Angeles, a young engineer owned a piece of property on a steep incline with a panoramic view of the San Fernando Valley. The engineer entertained the idea of putting a house on the lot, but he thought the site was unbuildable. Lautner thought otherwise.

He solved the incline problem by constructing an octagonal, saucer-shaped house (Chemosphere, 1960) that rested on a five-foot diameter central stem. The famed house, now a Los Angeles landmark, was used in Brian De Palma’s film Body Double. In 2000, a German publisher bought the home, restored it, and now uses part of it as his American office.

Lautner’s houses were also used in the James Bond film Diamonds Are Forever and the Mel Gibson movie Lethal Weapon ll. In Lethal Weapon ll, the climax of the film is when Mel Gibson destroys a Lautner stilt house.

“I understand they built a full size model in the studio which cost

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Karol Lautner Peterson, John’s daughter, was the President of the John Lautner Foundation. (Photo courtesy of Sonny Longtine)

$500,000, and they just tore it down,” Lautner said.

The original home was built some 20 years earlier for jazz musician Russell Garcia, and, according to Lautner, cost $60,000 to build.

Lautner was never impressed with Marquette architecture, except for the sandstone structures. The courthouse is a beautiful building, as is the old city hall, Lautner said. Commenting on Marquette’s current city hall, Lautner said, “Too bad they had to move everything to that misguided new facility there . . . and they should refer to it as a facility, certainly not architecture.” Lautner was more impressed with the camps in the Marquette area than he was with the buildings.

“They’re more human with more individual character,” he said.

Although he lived and pursued architecture in California, he came back to Marquette as often as possible.

During his later years, when he was more established, he frequently came back to Marquette to spend time at his beloved Middle Island Point cabin. His artistic mother designed the camp and called it “Midgard” (between heaven and earth). To Lautner, the cabin was heaven on earth. He helped his father build the camp when he was only 12.

“I loved the whole thing, rafting the logs and working the windlass (a winch worked with a crank),” he said.

Karol Peterson Lautner, John’s daughter, was often asked what it was like to have a father who was a famous architect.

“During my growing up years, I never thought of him as a famous architect, to me he was just Dad,” she said.

She felt fortunate that she was the firstborn, because he had more time to spend with her than with her siblings, who came along later, when Lautner’s

John Lautner at Middle Island Point, just north of Marquette. He referred to his camp as “Midgard” (between heaven and earth). (Photo courtesy of Karol Lautner Peterson)

architectural career was expanding and demanding more of his time.

There was almost a Lautner home in Marquette’s Shiras Hills subdivision, but it never materialized. Dr. Tom Rumney had a corner lot in Shiras that Lautner designed a house for; however, when local contractors looked at the house plans, they had no idea how to build from his intricate and complex designs. As a result, the plan was scrapped. Peterson said her dad would have loved to have built one of his homes in the Upper Peninsula, but for the most part his homes were not suited for a northern climate.

Lautner was a music buff, but in particular he enjoyed the classics and jazz. Duke Ellington and Miles Davis were two of his favorites. On different occasions, he invited talented musical artists to his home. The silky-voiced Nat King Cole Trio entertained at the Lautner home in Los Angeles, while the great bass-baritone Paul Robeson provided pleasure for Lautner at Taliesin East.

In the early 1990s, Lautner’s work

was finally given the national honor it deserved when Frank Escher published a classy, coffee-table-size, full-color, illustrated book, John Lautner, Architect. This was followed by Alan Hess’s 276-page hard-covered book, The Architecture of John Lautner. The Escher book came out just prior to Lautner’s death in 1994. Although frail and on his deathbed, he signed books in the hospital while life slowly ebbed from his once robust body. He passed on with an awareness that his architectural brilliance had been finally recognized. His ashes were brought back to the Upper Peninsula and strewn in his much-loved Lake Superior.

The most significant architect to come from the Upper Peninsula now belongs to the ages.

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.

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back then

Many famous (and infamous) names have been in the Upper Peninsula over the years.

(Illustration by Mike McKinney)

Guess who was here?

Movie stars, aviators, inventors and more ...

By Larry Chabot

L

ocomotive engineer John Milne plugged away at his job on the Soo Line Railroad, back and forth to the Gogebic County lumber camps, then home to 509 West Washington in Marquette. On November 17, 1893, his wife Eva Fitzpatrick gave birth to daughter Ethel in the family home.

They eventually had eight kids as they moved west to Ishpeming, Republic and eventually Michigamme.

A transfer to Superior, Wisconsin, brought daughter Ethel, now 18, in contact with Francis Gumm; they married and moved to Grand Mara-

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is, Minnesota, where Ethel had three daughters; the third one changed her name to Judy Garland, whose spectacular singing in movies (“The Wizard of Oz”) and show business got her voted one of the top 10 women entertainers of the 20th century. *** he huge Lincoln-Z automobile pulled out of the Landmark parking lot in Marquette and purred west toward Duluth.

It was Thursday, October 3, 1935; the car was fresh off the Ford assembly line before its trip north. A light snow was falling as the big luxury

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car eased through Negaunee, Ishpeming, Champion and Michigamme, then swung onto M-28 and the hamlets scattered along the way. People would have been shocked at the driver’s identity; ironically, she was flyer Amelia Earhart, then the most famous woman in the world, driving herself between speaking engagements because her flights were grounded by bad weather. As she passed through your home town, maybe she waved at your grandma. *** oichiro Honda — yes, that Honda — flew into Houghton in May

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1974 to accept an honorary degree and give the commencement address (in Japanese) to 736 graduates of Michigan Tech. This business wizard, who was also an artist and pilot among other talents, had allegedly applied for work at Toyota as a young man but was rejected, so he began assembling bicycle motors in an old shack. The rest, as they say, is history. To the delight of the Tech crowd, Honda donated a snazzy motorcycle to a lucky graduate, presented by Mrs. Honda. According to a witness, the bike failed to start so Honda himself repaired it on stage. While in the

U.P., he also toured the White Pine Copper operation and was the star attraction in that year’s Michigan Week celebration. *** ho was that big man frolicking with a bunch of kids on the lawn of the Granot Loma estate north of Marquette — throwing phantom punches and feigning knockouts among much screaming and laughter?

Why, it was Muhammad Ali, boxing champ and international celebrity, with his coat off, rolling on the ground and pretending to beg for mercy.

Lured to Marquette in 1977 by promoter Bill Spagnolo, the champ delivered a couple of lectures, toured local attractions, walked about town, held fake boxing bouts at NMU, sparred with former title holder Jimmy Ellis, and agreed to a press conference.

What he really wanted was to buy Granot Loma for a training site, to which he arrived in a convoy of six cars.

He offered $5 million for the place.

No. $10 million. No. $20 million!

Sorry. He offered to bring the money in grocery bags full of $20 bills. Still no. The big prize had eluded him. *** rnest Pearce, manager of the Lake Superior Engine Works in Marquette, was in the crowd waiting at the harbor on August 30, 1915, for the ship South American to dock and discharge its passengers The luxury cruise ship, launched the year before, carried a contingent of touring Knights Templar, a Christian group nearly a thousand years old, and another passenger of worldwide fame.

Down the gangway on the arm of an escort came the incomparable Helen Keller, age 35 then, for what she said was a wonderful, two-hour tour of Presque Isle with Knight Templar Earnest Pearce.

Author, lecturer, activist and the subject of the outstanding film The Miracle Worker, Keller had been blind and deaf since an infant. A local paper called her enunciation remarkable since she had never heard another person talk.

Other stops on her U.P. tour were Houghton, Sault Ste. Marie and Mackinac Island. *** n July of 2002, two small jets touched down on the Sawyer International Airport runway and taxied over to the Boreal Aviation terminal.

Even though the arrival was kept secret, word leaked out and a goodsized crowd eagerly filled the area.

The door of the lead jet opened, steps folded out, and down came the world-famous Rolling Stones rock

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band, led by lead singer and frontpage celebrity Mick Jagger, here for the funeral of their long-time, beloved road manager Royden Magee. Thirty visitors piled into cars for the trip into Marquette, trailed by a caravan of fans.

Royden had died in Toronto during a band rehearsal, but lived in Marquette, which The Mining Journal said kept him close to the nature he loved. The 700 people at the funeral at Messiah Lutheran Church sat in reverent silence as the Stones played a moving, instrumental version of “Amazing Grace.”

During the group’s short visit, Jagger walked down from the Landmark, strolled along Washington to Third Street, and walked back, apparently without being recognized. Other Stones popped into the library and historical society before they flew off from Sawyer International Airport. *** here WAS this guy? He was reportedly spotted in eight different states at the same time. The cops looked for him everywhere, wanted for robberies and murders. His biographies have a gap in his whereabouts in late April 1934, but while the hunt went on, Public Enemy No. 1 John Dillinger was sitting in a living room in the Oak Hill section of Sault Ste. Marie, chatting with gang member John Hamilton and his sister Tena Steve.

On April 17, as a planeload of FBI agents on his trail headed for St. Ignace, an edgy Dillinger took off with Hamilton in Tena’s car. He was seen in over a dozen places in the U.P. as he headed west. Young Al Riisku of Deerton was chased through the woods by a drunken Hamilton, and my father was startled to see Dillinger buying a pack of cigarettes in an Ontonagon drug store; his picture was on the front page of the Chicago Tribune my dad was holding.

The hoodlum had not long to live: after surviving a shootout at a Wisconsin resort, he was killed by police as he left a Chicago theater. Back in the Soo, Tena Steve went to jail for harboring a fugitive.

W

Note: Although the Upper Peninsula is considered remote from almost everyplace else, the truth is that since we live in this enviable land, it’s everyplace else that’s remote.

MM About the Author: Larry Chabot has written more than 160 mostly historical stories for the Marquette Monthly over the past 23 years. He also authored U.P. history books about World War II and the Civilian Conservation Corps.

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in the outdoors

An adult fox is shown. (Photo by Scot Stewart)

Famous foxes Group of nine took up residence in North Marquette, providing a close look at family life

By Scot Stewart “When I am alone, I can become invisible. I can sit on the top of a dune as motionless as an uprise of weeds, until the foxes run by unconcerned. I can hear the almost unhearable sound of the roses singing.” — Mary Oliver

S

omething has happened in Marquette over the past few years, creating an amazing chance to connect with wildlife. There has been an explosion in the population of red foxes in town, with foxes seen crossing roads, wandering through yards, and hunting in wooded areas around houses

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and businesses. There were some jokes about five families living within a mile or so of a den in north Marquette. It was funny until a biologist noted there were five families living just on the NMU campus. Many residents saw them traveling through their neighborhood and those driving to work or school in the early morning hours saw them even more frequently.

“Go to the winter woods: listen there, look, watch, and ‘the dead months’ will give you a subtler secret than any you have yet found in the

April 2022

forest.” — William Sharp (writing as Fiona Macleod), Where the Forest Murmurs Last winter, Marquette’s experiences with foxes got even better. Pairs have been residing in a number of wooded spots in and around town over the past few years, but last winter a pair settled in right in the middle of a busy area in north Marquette between two parking lots. The pair excavated a den in a very open area, affording hundreds the chance to watch the nearly daily adventures of a family last spring.

Above, the female fox at the mouth of a den in North Marquette with two of her pups. Below, the male fox is seen with three pups at the same den. The family moved in last year, much to the delight of the locals. (Photos by Scot Stewart)

Foxes mate in mid-winter and after a short gestation period of 48 to 53 days, pups are born. The male fox had been seen resting or sleeping frequently near a den mouth in a grassy and very visible area along a well-traveled sidewalk. With the light amounts of snow that had fallen last year, the area was the perfect place for both the male fox and humans to wait as the vixen sat in their den waiting to deliver her pups and then care for the newborns.

“Never trust a fox.” — Erin Hunter The fox has been the subject of anecdotes and story for millennia from “The Fox and the Grapes,” a tale written by Aesop, to the great fox song “The fox went out on a chilly night,” made famous by Pete Seager. Expressions like, “Sly as a fox,” “A fox in the henhouse,” “Foxy,” and “Vixen,”all reverberate in our conversations. And now red foxes themselves occupy a

larger part of the natural history of both our wildlands and our residential scene.

The Upper Peninsula is home to four species of wild canids — members of the dog family. Eastern timber wolves, or gray wolves, are the largest. Females can weigh up to 60 pounds in Michigan and males can get to more than 100 pounds. They have to be big — on Isle Royale they hunt moose who can weigh half a ton.

Next are coyotes, the second largest family member. They average out around 45 pounds, have pointier ears and muzzles than wolves and feed mostly on smaller prey like hares, rodents and birds, but are opportunistic and will eat snakes, fruit, insects, carrion and occasionally on smaller or injured deer.

The smallest are gray foxes. They are smaller than red foxes, are mostly gray and have black tipped tails, and average 8 to 15 pounds. Gray foxes are just distantly related to red fox-

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Top left, mama fox relaxes with a couple of her pups. Middle left, a great example of how to babysit for seven — pair them up in corners.

Bottom left, the female nurses some hungry pups as she keeps watch.

With seven pups, the little ones had to take turns when it came to mealtime. (Photo by Scot Stewart)

es and belong to a different genus.

They are catlike and can climb small trees. They feed on rabbits and mice, insects and fruit. Occasionally there are small increases in their population in Marquette, but they have been mostly absent in recent years.

Then there are red foxes. They are probably most adaptable of all the wild canids. They are found throughout most of North America, except for Florida, parts of the southwest, and extreme portions of tundra Canada and Alaska. Genetic studies have been conducted to check the heritage of red foxes in the United States as some have wondered if most are the descendants of foxes brought here from Europe. They have been the subject of hunts in both Europe and the United States. Once feared by poultry farmers as chicken thieves, many farmers now recognize their value as important controllers of rodent populations on their land.

Red foxes, once seen occasionally around town, have become more and more visible the past five years. Most often they were seen wandering and casing the scene along wooded areas like the triangle north of Lakeview Arena, the old city compost area along Lakeshore Boulevard, the wooded strip north of Mattson Park, the undeveloped stretch of land on and the south side of the Dead River from the river mouth up to the Co. Rd. 550 bridge.

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April 2022

What made their presence even more notable was the sightings of “cross foxes” or melanistic forms of the red fox. These foxes have large portions of their shoulders, backs and flanks marked in black or very dark brown instead of reddish-orange fur. Their markings look a bit like those of calico cats, a mix of white, orange and black fur and are simply gorgeous animals. Red foxes more typically have reddish orange backs, black legs, ear tips and tail tips. Their chests and bellies are white. They average 10 to 15 pounds, but one was found that weighed 31 pounds.

“Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family: Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one.” — Jane Howard The family on the west side of the NMU campus allowed for the opportunity to actually get a glimpse of their lives, as they waited, watched for danger, brought back food, and raised their family. Mild conditions, and evidently profitable hunting and good genes, resulted in the birth of seven healthy pups. Pups first appear at the den entrance and outside about four weeks after they are born. Backtracking, it would put their births somewhere around the end of February.

In the early days of their appearance, they were always close to the den mouth, appearing in small groups

The mother fox examines something of concern with two pups behind her. The fox family eventually left their North Marquette den once the pups became too big for everyone to fit comfortably inside. (Photos by Scot Stewart)

of just one to three. As they got older it became easier to see how they were maturing and gaining confidence. As their appetites grew, they nudged the female out more to hunt, on separate forays from the male, even during the daylight hours. As the pups grew, the return of a parent could be predicted by the behavior of the pups as they sensed their return.

“A happy family is but an earlier heaven.” — George Bernard Shaw With the warmer days the female spent more time outside the den, resting away from the imaginable mayhem of seven ever-rowdier pups down in the den. Several openings to the den, a subterranean cavity probably lined with dry grass, appeared and the pups would emerge from them to look around from time to time. Eventually several pups would come out and rest alongside or on top of the female when the temperatures warmed.

When the female was gone for a more considerable time, her return was met by an excited welcoming party of all seven pups, eager to nurse on the hill by the den. With the limits of motherhood, one pup would usually have to wait a turn. While there were two pups that seemed a tiny bit smaller than the rest, there did not seem to be a sharp pecking order to nursing.

As April wore into May, the mother’s patience was stretched on more than one occasion when a pup wanted to nurse longer than she was willing.

From time to time the adults were seen as they brought home a meal.

Parts of rabbits, mice and an entire gray squirrel were seen being brought

back to the den. Smaller meals and prey were probably eaten, brought back, and regurgitated for the pups.

“In family life, love is the oil that eases friction, the cement that binds closer together, and the music that brings harmony.” — Friedrich Nietzsche By the beginning of May, the fox pups were beginning to lose their brownish gray puppy fur and starting to look like adults, with their orange fur and black and white trim.

Their confidence grew as well as they romped over their mother more as she tried to get her rest and some fresh air and sun outside the den. She always seemed very patient, even when they simply laid on top of her. The pups also began wandering around the clearing where their den entrances were, first under the eye of an observant parent, and eventually over shorter distances away from the den when both parents were out hunting.

All the time adults and pups alike kept a watchful eye on humans watching from a tolerable distance, and for other possible dangers. Barking dogs and loud crows put them on high alert.

With a quick cue from their mom, or a threatening sound or motion when they were alone, they moved as though a vacuum cleaner was sucking them back into the den. They were gone in seconds. Occasionally a fuzzy head would peak back out, but most of the time the decision was to stay put, well out of sight.

The parents seemed to take great care in overseeing the pups and providing for them. Although signs of

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hunts were sparse during the daytime, most hunting by foxes is after dark when few were there to check on their success. Throughout the entire time the foxes were at their den site, all seven pups were there.

“The family is one of nature’s masterpieces.” — George Santayana All good things must come to an end. Around May 11 or 12, some of the pups were seen across a road from the den. It appeared they were either out hunting with the adults or moving to a new site. As pups get older, den sites can become littered with the remains of prey and sometimes become infested with fleas and other parasites. The den also gets a bit small for a family with seven pups, although litters with as many as 12 pups are known. When the signs of occupation become apparent, or the den is just outgrown, the family can be moved. In the wild, stashed food can attract other animals like coyotes, bears and badgers who all pose a danger to pups, especially in a den. The young will remain close to the adults throughout the spring while they learn to hunt small animals, like mice, in the grass.

After the pups seemed to have

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moved from the den site, they were seen for several days around a nearby storage building with gaps under the flooring. Because the shed was in a stand of trees it was difficult to check its perimeter without getting out of a vehicle to look, and not disturb any foxes, so it’s not clear just how much time the adults and pups spent there. They did return a few times to the original den and spent some hours there, but spring blossomed and while a few individuals checked back, little more was seen of the family. Sighting of an adult and some pups were reported but foxes are solitary hunters, and as the pups continued to grow, they began to look more and more like adults.

Families will split up when the pups are about three months old as the challenges for food become more evident, and young seek out their own territories. Young males can travel widely — up to 150 miles in search of a new place to live.

This winter there was lots of activity around the den while the snow depth was minimal. Occasionally a fox was seen resting near the main den mouth at the den in north Marquette.

The big storm at the end of February seemed to erase all the tracks around the den, and even the den entrance

April 2022

An adult fox, which is a little easier to spot against the snow. (Photo by Scot Stewart)

disappeared. Dens are reused, but if human activity, prey availability or other conditions change, the den may be abandoned, though it could potentially be used for many years.

The new snow depth definitely made travel more of a challenge for the foxes in the area. Snowplows made travel and visibility even tougher. A week after the big February snowstorm, the den was open again and many tracks marked up the snow around the den mouth. A fox was

again observed resting outside the den. Whatever happens, the foxes will be around, and finding them out hunting or exploring will be a challenge for the observant eye.

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.

No. 0327

BODY LANGUAGE

Reprinted from the New York Times

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By C hristina I verson & K atie H ale /Edited by Will Shortz 4

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ACROSS 1 Almost 5 Oven setting 10 Portrayer of the boxer Clubber Lang in ‘‘Rocky III’’ 13 In case 17 When repeated, oldtime call to listen 18 Part of a prank 20 Govt. organization with a two-syllable acronym 22 Kind of clarinet 23 Came to know, oldstyle 24 It empties into the Bay of Bengal 26 Radar spot 27 Bringing in, as income 29 ‘‘Keen!’’

30 With 12-Down, spend much more than a fair price 31 Department-store department 32 Lay ____ to 34 Question that’s not one of the five W’s 35 Big consideration for the expecting 37 Ticket fig.

40 Wisteria and honeysuckle 42 Video game character in a hit 2020 film 43 Educator/writer ____ Johnson McDougald, first African American female principal in New York City public schools 45 Belief of roughly 25 percent of the world’s population 46 Director Craven 47 Downstairs 51 Kept in 53 Lets out 55 Vape’s lack 56 Martini & Rossi product, familiarly 57 Emmy-winning Ward 58 Took down, in a way 59 Fly around Africa 62 Doughy dinner item

93 97 102

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seizure 65 Deseret News reader, typically 66 Did nothing 67 Professor ____ 69 With 74-Across, gesture of approval 70 On fire 73 Champing at the bit 74 See 69-Across 78 One cutting down, so to speak 79 What babies do faster than college students 80 Feudal land 81 O’s, but not P’s or Q’s 83 Petty 84 Some posers 86 Self-titled rock album of 1958 88 Quaint contraction 91 Smoking spot, for short?

92 Former baseball commissioner Bud 93 Sound, e.g.

94 Moves like muck 96 I.T. help center, often 98 Ending with bear or bull 99 ‘‘Uncle!’’

101 Rocker Rose 102 Heard in court 104 Promotion 105 Letters that might change your mind?

107 Prepare, in a way, as eggs 109 Irritable 112 En voz ____ (aloud: Sp.) 113 Insincere, as a remark 116 Kristen of ‘‘Bridesmaids’’ 118 Jaunty 119 Counterpart of ‘‘adios’’

Answer Key To check your answers, see Page 13.

No cheating!

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follower 121 Old Icelandic work 122 Fivers 123 Idiosyncrasy 124 Greek performance venue 125 Alternative to Wranglers DOWN 1 Blues group, for short?

2 Fully ready to listen 3 Loretta who sang ‘‘You Ain’t Woman Enough (To Take My Man)’’ 4 Cold climate cryptids 5 ‘‘The ____ they are . . . ’’ 6 Messenger ____ 7 Walk around at a rest stop, say 8 ‘‘Bus Stop’’ playwright 9 Be in store 10 ‘‘Who, me?’’

11 Invitation letters 12 See 30-Across 13 Subjects of some tests 14 Actress Burstyn 15 What some insects and insults can do 16 Primo 19 Bit of bad weather, on a weather map 21 Indo-____ languages 25 They’re numbered in Microsoft Excel 28 More agreeable 33 Theodor ____ a.k.a.

Dr. Seuss 36 Will Smith/Tommy Lee Jones film franchise, for short 37 Flat-earther?

38 Like many a stuffed toy 39 Aware of 41 Word that, fittingly, contains all four different letters of APPEAL 42 Question following

a clever trick

44 Shows scorn toward

46 Take by force 48 Wood strip 49 Peak in the

‘‘Odyssey’’

50 One of the five W’s 52 Arcane matters 53 Panache 54 Leave gobsmacked 58 Scatter 60 Sudden sharp pain 61 Have seconds and

thirds and fourths and . . .

63 Flatten 64 Lilies with bell-

shaped flowers

68 Rachel Zegler’s role

in 2021’s ‘‘West Side Story’’

70 Allow entry 71 Forehead mark on

Hindu women

72 City SW of York 75 Safe bettor 76 Instruments with

endpins

77 Some sources of

leafy greens

80 F on a gauge 82 It’s just not true!

85 Easy opportunity

for a basket

86 Vegas venue with

an iconic fountain

87 Who might be on

the trail

89 Candy bar fillings 90 Emergency request 92 Vikings’ foes 95 A goose egg 96 One reporting to an

underboss

97 Nauseate 99 Bankrupt 100 Bizarre 103 One holding things

together, perhaps

104 ‘‘____, Can You

Hear Me?’’ (Oscarnominated song from ‘‘Yentl’’) 106 Sub station?

108 Lemon or cheese product 110 & 111 In cooperation 114 Sea-____ Airport 115 Fair-hiring inits.

117 Option for a range

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home cinema Lost daughter a riddle; a son faces life Reviews by Leonard Heldreth The films this month are about family ties, both bad and good.

Belfast enneth Branagh first became famous for his productions of Shakespeare and other classical playwrights and for his acting, but in recent years he has moved to mysteries such as Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile. It’s easy to forget he was born in Ireland, but with Belfast Branagh provides an overview of his boyhood and of the seeds that grew into his theatrical, acting, and film successes.

In a scene late in the film, Buddy is seen reading a “Thor” comic book; Thor was the first film Branagh directed. Belfast opens with a color view of the contemporary city and then flashes back to a black-andwhite scene on Aug. 15, 1969, to the first of the Catholic/Protestant riots that became known as the “Irish troubles.”

Buddy, 9, sees the violence with wide-eyed amazement as his mother tries to move him to safety. Buddy (Jude Hill) lives with his father “Pa” (Jamie Doman), his mother “Ma” (Caitríona Balfe), and his older brother Will (Lewis McAskie). His grandfather “Pop” (Ciarán Hinds ) and his grandmother “Granny” (Judi Dench ) live nearby.

At first the rioters, led by Billy Clanton (Colin Morgan), are content with simple violence and looting, but soon they are expecting tribute for sparing houses and wanting to know whose side Pa is on.

A near shoot-out in the street (to the background music of “High Noon”) convinces Pa of the danger of the situation, and, over a period of time, he persuades a reluctant Ma that they must leave the familiar streets of Belfast and move to England where he has a job and has been offered a house as incentive to move.

As this process of decisionmaking occurs over several months, other side plots and scenes take place. Buddy becomes infatuated with a Catholic girl at his school and solicits some humorous advice from

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his grandfather on how to approach the opposite sex; the advice produces some smirks from Granny. Granny and Pop obviously still care for each other, and a little dance they do is quite touching. Other incidents involve Buddy’s learning not to take advice from his cousin Moira, especially about stealing candy and looting grocery stores.

The acting is extraordinarily good. Jude Hill is a scene-stealer as Buddy, and his smile brightens every scene he’s in. Judi Dench was nominated for Best Supporting Actress and Ciarán Hinds received a Best Supporting Actor nomination.

One of Van Morrison’s soundtrack songs received an Oscar nomination, Branagh won a Best Director nod, and the film was nominated for Best Picture.

While the Northern Ireland violence intrudes somewhat into the story, the film is essentially about family connections and the strength they bring to their members. At the end of the film, as the bus pulls away down the street with her family, Granny tells herself, “Don’t look back.” The closing credits dedicate the film to those who stayed, those who left, and those who were lost.

The Lost Daughter udging from the title of The Lost Daughter, a casual viewer might expect a thriller about finding a stolen child, but the viewer would be sadly mistaken. This viewer is not even certain about the identity of the lost child — is it one of the daughters shown as a child (or is it her doll), or is it one of the other daughters abandoned 20 years ago but later found?

Fortunately, it doesn’t seem to matter — the focus is on the relationships between mothers and daughters, although even that is ambiguous.

The film was written by Maggie Gyllenhaal in her feature directorial debut, and is based on the 2006 novel of the same name by Elena Ferrante. Leda Caruso, a 48-year-old divorced academic from Cambridge,

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April 2022

In “Belfast,” famed producer Kenneth Branagh tells the story of 9-year-old Buddy growing up through the troubled 1960s in Northern Ireland.

goes to the Greek isle of Spetses for a working vacation away from the pressures of work, family, and social life.

At first she is happy with her location, a beautiful setting that is quiet and conducive to the work she wants to do. Then a large family of

boisterous Americans arrive and ask her to move to another part of the beach so they can be together to celebrate the birthday of the very pregnant matriarch, Callie (Dagmara Dominczyk).

Leda refuses but offers no reason for her decision. Shortly thereafter

Nina (Dakota Johnson), a young mother and sister-in-law to Callie, finds that her 3-year-old daughter Elena is missing. People fan out across the beach to search for the girl, and Leda finds her nearby, thereby earning the gratitude of the Americans.

Callie brings Leda a piece of birthday cake as a peace offering, and Leda accepts, but Elena’s doll is still missing, although the audience knows that Leda has taken it. Later, she admits that she had no reason for stealing the doll. Leda is fascinated

by Nina and sees in the young girl many of her own characteristics at that age.

Nina confesses to Leda that taking care of Elena is almost more than she can handle, and Leda assures her that raising children is very demanding.

In flashbacks, with Jessie Buckley playing the younger Leda, she reveals how she left her daughters (Bianca and Martha) with her husband for three years while she pursued her career and had an affair with an academic admirer (Peter Sarsgaard).

She came back to claim the girls and divorce her husband only because she was selfish and missed the girls, although she admits it was “amazing” to be free of them for a

while.

Later, Nina and Leda talk in Leda’s apartment, and Leda warns the other mother that the depression that is haunting her now will only get worse. She also confesses that she took Elena’s doll, but she was only “just playing.” Angry over the frustration Leda has put her through with the doll, Nina stabs her with a hatpin and storms out of the apartment. That night Leda packs her bags and sets out in her car, but the pain of the wound causes her to run off the road and to stagger down to the water where she collapses in a scene identical to one that opened the movie.

When she awakens on the beach the next morning, she calls her daughters and assures them she is fine, as she peels an orange in one long strip “like a snake.” In the film she assures the daughters that she is alive, but in the novel she tells them, “I’m dead, but I’m fine.” Ambiguity, either way.

Leda’s name is no accident. In the film she is a translator, and she translates William Butler Yeats’s poem, “Leda and the Swan,” about the rape of Helen of Troy’s mother, an act which engenders the 10-year Trojan war and all of the carnage and

disasters that follow the burning of Troy. The implication is that violence, especially sexual violence, may echo across the generations in ways no one could foresee or anticipate.

One of the major themes of the film is that women must make an unavoidable choice between children and a career, and the implications of either choice can never be known at the time. Even more dismaying is the assertion that some people should never have children at all, being psychologically unequipped to care for them.

In graduate school I had a friend who had decided not to have children, but then he adopted a cat. When it became clear that he was incapable of taking care of it, he returned it to the shelter. He wasn’t a bad person; he simply lacked the patience and empathy to care for another creature, and, fortunately, he realized it.

Leda in the film acknowledges that she is an “unnatural” mother, and she refuses to admit to guilt for leaving her daughters when they were young. Curiously, little is said about how their father took care of his daughters while Leda went on her three-year vacation. Did their trauma lead to the fall of cities, as Helen’s did, or just to lesser disasters, if any?

April 2022

Somehow, the mother and daughters have become reconciled at the time of the film.

Clearly, The Lost Daughter, whomever its title refers to, is not a feel-good movie but one that will linger for having touched the darker parts of human existence. It’s a complex film about complicated people, and raises lots of interesting questions for discussion. The Lost Daughter was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Actress (Olivia Colman), Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Supporting Actress (Jessie Buckley).

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 over 30 years.

Editor’s note: All films reviewed are available as DVDs or on streaming video.

Marquette Monthly

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lookout point Offering a path to success

New program helps students struggling as a result of COVID-19 pandemic

By Pam Christensen

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Promotional materials for the newly formed Student Success Project are shown. The project aims to re-engage students who are struggling in school as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo by Pam Christensen)

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April 2022

obert Frost, one of the most beloved poets of all time, was expelled from school due to chronic daydreaming.

Albert Einstein experienced educational delays — he did not speak until the age of 4 and did not read until he was 7. Thomas Edison was expelled from school at the age of 12 because he was terrible at math and could not focus while in class.

Most students struggle at one time or another, but the past two school years have been especially hard for students.

“COVID-19 had a detrimental effect on students beginning in March 2020,” said Jennine Frasier of Marquette Alger Resolution Service. “Not only did students and parents have to navigate school closures, interruption of their daily routines and lose the school safety net, they also had to overcome connectivity and technology issues.”

When Michigan schools were forced to suspend the school year early in 2020, everyone was confronted with an overwhelming number of obstacles. School administrators and teachers struggled to transition to an online environment. Besides needing to address the lack of internet access and computer equipment for families, they also struggled to bring classroom resources into the home environment. Teachers were forced to develop remote teaching skills and lesson plans. Juggling technology, bandwidth and a new educational environment was difficult, and teachers and students suffered.

The Marquette-Alger Regional Educational Service Agency estimates that one in nine students has become disengaged in school and learning over the past two years.

The agency serves schools and students in Marquette and Alger counties. There are 8,838 students in the two counties. By these calculations, almost 1,000 students are encountering educational issues.

Recognizing the many hurdles educators, parents and students experienced over the past two years due to the pandemic and resulting school closures led to the creation of the Marquette Alger Student Success Project, a partnership between MARS and MARESA. Funded in part by a $25,000 grant from the Superior Health Foundation, this program can be used by any K-12 student in one of the 14 school districts in Marquette and Alger counties.

The goal of the project is to reengage

students and families whose learning was negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic through the coordination of services between school personnel, Engage MI, NMU, local agencies, MARS and MARESA. The program is intended to augment school services and build a team that works together to give students a plan for success.

Students can be referred to the program if they require additional support, are disengaged, have truancy or attendance issues, experience transportation problems, have fallen behind and need to work with tutors to catch up, need help developing bedtime and morning routines, are not making academic progress, have physical health or safety concerns, have mental, social, or emotional health issues, or are experiencing housing instability. The program can also help support parents who need help with challenging situations, special needs or help with a student’s Individualized Educational Program (IEP). Parents can also use the program to find support groups that help them address difficult parenting situations.

Students and parents can be self-referred to the program or a referral can be made by school personnel.

“We help families experiencing transportation, housing, internet, mental health, food security, attendance, academic and employment issues,” Frazier said. “There is really no limit to the way the Student Success Advocate can help a family. When schools were closed abruptly, we found that many families needed help navigating the technology issues required to attend classes virtually. Students were falling behind just because they weren’t set up at home with a computer or internet access. Since the program’s inception in June 2021, we have served over 75 families, and our referrals continue to grow.”

Frazier added that during the course of the program, it has helped students and families overcome many obstacles. A few of the early successes of the program are reflected by an elementary-aged child who improved her math score on the NWEA through tutoring.

Another student and family created a plan with school staff to address anxiety in the morning before school. This plan is working, and the child’s attendance has improved.

A junior in high school worked with the

program to address his concerns that poor academic performance his freshman year would impact his graduation date. His participation in the program has been a success, and he will be graduating with his class.

This innovative program is coordinated by a student success advocate.

Almost 20 Northern Michigan University students from the social work and education departments volunteer for the program and deliver one-onone services. Students get to combine their classroom learning with handson experience with clients. All meetings and tutoring sessions are held virtually via Zoom video conferencing. Tutoring sessions are valuable for students who have fallen behind or are struggling academically. Sessions can be used for a limited time until the student overcomes academic challenges or on an ongoing basis to assure the student is successful.

Each student’s program is individualized and developed for them. The advocate can be reached via email at sspadvocate@marsmediation.org or by phone at (906) 226-8600.

The student success advocate and tutors all have a background check prior to working in the program. In addition, they sign a code of conduct and confidentiality agreements. Program staff and volunteers meet the same stringent requirement as school personnel.

The student success advocate works with students and their families to develop a student success plan that covers one year. The advocate works with the student, family and school personnel to provide access to programs and services that are needed to ensure the student’s success in school.

The advocate maintains regular contact with the student and school personnel to assess how the plan is being implemented, monitor progress and update the family and school about student progress. The program offers a hotline for caregivers, connects each family with appropriate services and holds necessary meetings to monitor success. Once initial contact has been made with the student success advocate via phone or email, the goal is to respond within 72 hours.

“Not all parents are comfortable communicating with teachers or school officials,” Frazier said, “or if a family’s situation has negatively affected more than one student, it can be difficult to communicate with multiple teachers, schools and school personnel. Just trying to understand the needs of each student, where the student needs help and how to overcome school issues can be an overwhelming task for a parent or caregiver.”

The program website https://sites. google.com/maresa.org/studentsuccessproject/home features local educators and notables talking about how they struggled in school and resources they used to improve their academic performance.

Connie Sather, lead teacher at Gwinn’s Sawyer Elementary offered encouraging words.

“I want students to know that I had a hard time in school and often needed tutoring,” Sather said. “Sometimes my parents would help, or a teacher would help. If you are struggling, please contact your school and they will find someone to help.”

Grant Potulny, NMU men’s hockey coach, spoke about his struggle to attend classes following back surgery at the age of 12.

“Academics were important to me, because it allowed me to play athletics,” he said.

After an extended absence Potulny returned to the classroom but had to sit in a lawn chair. He wants all students to know that the Student Success Project offers help and nobody should be ashamed of the obstacles they encounter.

Elementary school teacher Melissa Polkinghorn dreamed of becoming a first-grade teacher as a first-grader, because “school was where I was happy, I felt safe and where I was loved.”

She said she tries to create that same atmosphere for her students and sees the School Success Project as one way to do that.

The Student Success Project supports the educational environment by providing school personnel with one point of contact, regular progress reporting, and coordination of the student support network. Services are free of charge and open to any student in Marquette or Alger Counties. The program has been funded by the Superior Health Foundation, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, MARESA, MARS, NMU Education and Social Work Departments, WLUC TV 6, McKinney Vento and Marquette West Rotary Club Foundation.

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.

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arts MTU’s pep band performs during a Homecoming football game. (Photo courtesy of MTU)

Providing the pep

MTU’s pep band brings it with every performance

By Joyce Wiswell

A

t first glance they may seem like just a bunch of ragtag performers, but listen closely and you’ll realize that under those goofy black and gold-striped bib overalls and ridiculous hats, Michigan Tech’s Pep Band is one well-honed unit.

With more than 200 members, it’s also the university’s largest student group. At least, that’s what Michael Christianson, MTU’s director of bands, thinks.

“We don’t necessarily count too often or too carefully,” he admitted, revealing an attitude that pretty much sums up the pep bind’s vibe in a few short notes. (As its website declares, “we are more effective when we are adorable.”)

Most spectators consider them just that as they make their buoyant presence known at Tech home games of hockey, football, women’s volleyball and women’s and men’s basketball. The band also pops up at parades and special events around Houghton and Hancock.

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But don’t be fooled by the cavalier attitude, the occasional bare-chested drummer (even in the dead of winter) or fluorescent beer-dispensing helmet — these students are playing real music, and they take their responsibility to silliness quite seriously. It’s especially impressive since Tech does not offer a music major.

“Sometimes because of the way we behave people leap to the conclusion that we can’t read music,” Christianson said. “But we are playing college-level music just like any other band at any other athletic competition. We practice 100 different tunes a year, because we don’t want to get bored.”

Their repertoire ranges from classic rock to chestnuts like “Roll Out the Barrel” to newer hits like Billie Eilish’s “Bad Guy.” A fan favorite is the “Copper Country Anthem” (aka “Blue Skirt Waltz”), which gets everyone on their feet and swaying back and forth with linked arms.

Not unlike a mother hiding healthy vegetables in

April 2022

her children’s mac and cheese, Christianson sneaks in professional musicianship as much as he can.

“I don’t say this out loud much,” he admitted, “but I am trying to get them to read as much music as possible.”

Thomas Fleming, a junior from Jackson majoring in mechanical engineering, is the organization’s student president.

“I was in band in high school and still wanted to be involved with music, have some fun and make some friends,” he said. “I saw that Pep Band wasn’t a huge time commitment and that was what I was looking for — a fun break from classes.”

Fleming, who plays both alto and baritone saxophone, said the welcome mat is out for students of all musical abilities.

“We are very inclusive, so don’t be afraid that you are not good enough. We have people who have never even played before,” Fleming said.

That attitude helps attract students who appreci-

“

THESE STUDENTS ARE PLAYING REAL MUSIC, AND THEY TAKE THEIR RESPONSIBILITY TO SILLINESS QUITE SERIOUSLY.

MTU’s pep band has been entertaining audiences for decades, with signature style. (Photo courtesy of MTU)

ate that there is no audition process, unlike Tech’s orchestra, jazz and wind ensembles.

“Great musicianship is not necessarily a requirement, but we do sneak in the ability to play better because we play so much music,” Christianson said.

Rehearsals are held twice weekly in the fall and once a week in the spring. The band is broken up into three platoons to keep the commitment manageable.

“They would die if they each had to play all the games, but you still might be asked to play at 40 to 60 games over the year,” Christianson said.

“The degrees from Tech are very dif-

ficult, in my view, and that one-hour, 15-minute rehearsal may be the most physically enjoyable part of their day.

They get to hit up that other side of their brain.”

The band has come a long way from its roots as a formal ROTC band in 1928. The modern striped version dates to about 1967. The Pep Band relishes Tech’s famed rivalry with Northern Michigan University, and its website gleefully rehashes how it has been banned from NMU’s football dome since the 1980s because Northern’s athletic director maintained they took away the home advantage. In reality though, “band to band we are nice to each other,” Fleming said.

“Typically 20 or 30 kids from the Pep Band show up at Northern hockey games and we wear our stripes and hats but we don’t bring our instruments,” he said. “When the Northern band comes out after the games, we tell them what a good job they did.

“Northern is more serious, because they have music majors,” added Christianson.

Hockey season ticket holder Joanne Moros sits right across the ice from the Pep Band and loves their rowdy energy.

“They are one of the best parts of the games,” she said. “They have a lot of enthusiasm and they sound as good as a school with a music major. They

April 2022

add such flavor.”

When a customer at her Portage Quilt House stopped in to buy some MTU fabric, she told Moros that her son was torn between two colleges but chose Tech so he could join the Pep Band.

Fleming said the group offers a nice alternative to his demanding engineering courses.

“It’s nice to step away,” he said.

“I would so much rather put on my stripes than finish my homework.”

MM About the Author: Joyce Wiswell is a freelance writer and editor in Hancock

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in the outdoors

A trail sign notifying hikers of what is ahead on a section of the North Country Trail in Marquette County, along with a signature blue blaze trail marker nailed to a tree. (Photo by Kristi Evans)

One step at a time Challenge gets hikers onto North Country Trail

By Kristi Evans

T

he Upper Peninsula’s pristine natural beauty is represented by diverse terrain ranging from rugged wilderness and scenic waterfalls to the sand dunes and rocky shorelines that rim the Great Lakes it touches. The North Country Trail is one of the most rewarding ways for U.P. residents or visitors to experience all of these views. It is also the easiest to navigate, with uniquely identifiable blue blazes lining virtually all of the path and consistent signage indicating access points.

The NCT is the longest of America’ National Scenic Trails. It spans 4,800 miles across eight states, from North Dakota to Vermont. The Upper Peninsula is fortunate to host about 548 of those miles, which begin at the western border with Wisconsin and traverse through Porcupine Mountains and Craig Lake State Parks, the city of Marquette, the iconic Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Tahquamenon Falls and St. Ignace, before crossing the Mackinac Bridge. The mileage numbers may seem daunting, but there is no cause for intimidation. The beauty of the trail is the flexible options it offers — from brief

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hikes or snowshoes a couple miles in length to extended backpacking adventures.

The North Country Trail Association, based in Lowell, Mich., devised an annual Hike 100 Challenge to motivate individuals and families to explore the outdoors, with the likely value-added benefit of enhanced physical and mental health. The challenge is simple: hike 100 miles specifically on the NCT over the calendar year ending Dec. 31. The pacing can be as casual as preferred and it does not matter whether one revisits the same mile 100 times over or covers 100 unique miles.

There is no cost to participate in the NCT Hike 100 Challenge. With a quick online registration upfront at northcountrytrail.org/hike-100challenge, individuals can begin logging their miles on the honor system. Once they return online to indicate the challenge was completed, the national association will mail them a patch and certificate to mark the achievement. Even furry family members qualify for a collar tag after 100 miles.

“Those are nice incentives for par-

A journey of 100 miles, courtesy of the North Country Trail

F

or the past two years, I have Nancy. It was through a story on completed the North Country the Hike 100 Challenge that I Trail Hike 100 Challenge with one wrote several years ago for this of my dear friends and outdoor adpublication. I conducted two inventure buddies, Nancy Kreft. The terviews: one with Brad Slagle, challenge has proved to be a wona participant who now serves as derful way to pass the long winter an at-large board member for and kick off a new calendar year; both the North Country Trail the only resolution I can fully get Association and the Marquette behind and maintain. It has also Area Chapter; and another with been the invigorating, peaceful former local chapter president distraction I crave from tumultuLorana Jinkerson, who was reous times associated with the pancently honored by the National demic, divisiveness in our country, Park Service for tirelessly conand instability overseas. tributing 10,000 volunteer hours Nancy and I were “all in” for to the trail. She is enjoying a the 2021 challenge, accumulating well-earned retirement from acour 100 miles between Jan. 1 and tive volunteer duty.

Feb. 17 through a combination of Following the interview, Lolonger-distance weekend snowrana not so subtly convinced me shoes or hikes and occasional afto become a member of the local ter-work treks. We made a deliberchapter after I realized that some ate effort to cover as much original Kristi Evans (author) with friend and hiking partner Nancy Kreft, make a “100” of the favorite hiking locations I ground as possible, not the favored symbol after completing their North Country Trail 100 Miles Challenge at Tah- frequented with my kids and our segments that tend to attract us re- quamenon Falls on March 13. (Photo by Teresa Strandlie) Bottom right, a styl- dearly departed dog, Chance, peatedly. I appreciated the oppor- ish NCT blaze near Lake LaVasseur. (Photo by Kristi Evans) were part of the North Country tunity to visit places I had never Trail. Self-admittedly, I had been been to before. oblivious to the NCT up to that point, despite residing in the Marquette This year, a couple of interruptions pushed our completion date to area since 1996. I’m sure I must have seen the identifiable brown roadside March 13. But we hit the 100-mile mark in memorable fashion near Tah- signs and blue blazes, but never made the connection or gave them much quamenon Falls during a girls’ weekend. The trip took us beyond our thought. It was on a late summer group hike with Lorana and others that I usual comfort zone of segments falling within the Marquette Area Chap- finished my first Hike 100 Challenge. I became more intimately acquaintter (Nancy and I both serve on the board). We were joined by our friend, ed with the NCT during a four-night solo backpacking trip covering more Teresa Strandlie, who along with Nancy’s husband, Mike, often accom- than 40 miles through Pictured Rocks in May 2021. panies us on excursions. The Three Mooseketeers, as I dubbed our female Not that it’s a race, but my ability to complete the Hike 100 much eartrio, joined the Hiawatha Shore-to-Shore Chapter for a group hike near the lier the past two years is a credit to Nancy. Her trail name could easily be Two-Hearted River on the Saturday before we completed the challenge.

“Energizer Bunny” or “Cardio Queen,” two nicknames I have called her We traveled through some blowing snow on the Seney Stretch, but on occasion over several years and many outings together. She motivates were greeted by chapter members with a warm welcome, which helped to those around her to push harder and inspires us with speed and stamina counter the brisk headwind we confronted on the out portion of the out- that defy her age, which for Nancy is literally just a number. She also and-back snowshoe. We also saw lingering evidence of the Duck Lake personifies the notion that exercising with friends is beneficial because of fire, ignited by a May 2012 lightning strike and the third-largest wild- the added accountability and fun factor. fire in the state in modern history, according to the Michigan DNR. It Whether you prefer consistent companionship or the solitude of solo scorched more than 21,000 acres, exceeded only by the 25,000-acre Mack hiking, I highly encourage you to expeLake Fire in 1980 and the 72,000-acre Seney Fire in 1976. Our group rience the immensely rewarding North passed charred areas with little foliage to block the harsh wind, as well Country Trail through the Hike 100 as trees that bore the scars of the blaze but continued to thrive. All were Challenge. It’s not too late to register, eerily beautiful in their own way; a precursor to the splendid waterfalls and you have until the end of the year the next day. to complete it.

My first introduction to the North Country Trail did not originate with MM

ticipating, but the real reward is personally experiencing the North Country Trail, with its relative solitude, diverse and impressive landscapes, and occasional wildlife sightings,” said Lynn Meister-Thomas, president of the Marquette Area Chapter (formerly the NCT Hikers Chapter).

“The NCT is easily accessible, thanks to the generous cooperation of area landowners and partnerships with other entities. It is also well-

marked and maintained by dedicated crews of local volunteers who collaborate with volunteer trail segment adopters. We are so fortunate that this amazing National Scenic Trail passes through the Upper Peninsula. It is truly a treasure, and we hope residents take advantage of its close proximity.”

Marquette Area Chapter board members voted to adopt the new name to be more geographically

specific because the former North Country Trail Hikers moniker was vague enough that it created confusion. Meister-Thomas announced the change at the MAC Chapter general membership meeting in March.

“We did not enter into this decision lightly, especially given the NCT Hikers’ history as the first chartered chapter of the North Country Trail Association,”

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Nancy Kreft hikes along the North Country Trail on the Forestville segment, working to complete her hundred miles. (Photo by Kristi Evans)

she said. “But the NCTA supported our desire to transition to a new name that better clarifies where we are based for the benefit of those seeking specific information online or membership opportunities near them.”

Other agenda items included the screening of an inspiring film about hiking as a peaceful escape from the chaos and divisiveness of society; reports on trail conditions and maintenance projects; updates on committee activities; and opportunities for members to volunteer in a variety of capacities.

The Marquette Area Chapter is committed to increasing engagement among members and non-members alike through coordinated group hikes of some of the 29 sections within its purview. It also wants to offer more social opportunities off trail as well, such as the inaugural Trail and Ale trivia night at Drifa Brewing Co., which sits adjacent to the NCT segment that spans the city’s lakeshore bike path from the Welcome Center to Hawley Street. Other potential ideas include winter camping excursions, presentations on wilderness hiking topics and more.

Marquette is one of 29 Trail Towns across the entire NCT, according to the North Country Trail Association website. The designation implies that the community “supports hikers with services, promotes the trail to its citizens, and embraces the trail as a resource to be protected and celebrated. Trail Towns are built on a relationship between a town, the trail and its local volunteers.”

It is a helpful distinction for the growing number of long-distance hikers who tackle the National Sce-

nic Trails in their entirety over one or more seasons and need resupply and shipping options. Some who have passed through this area on the NCT during 2021-22 include: Ryan (trail name “Constantine”) Bunting and his partner, Dana “Magpie” Burkett, who on Nov. 3 set the fastest-known time for hiking the North Country Trail. They walked 4,833.4 miles in 186 days, 9 hours, 38 minutes and 21 seconds (the feat was officially accepted by fastestknowntime.net on Nov. 8). The couple posted YouTube videos documenting their experience, including their September journey through the Marquette area.

Arlette Laan (“Apple Pie”) completed her flip-flop hike of the entire North Country Trail, starting at opposite ends over two seasons, on Feb. 22. Marquette Area Chapter members joined her on a segment in the McCormick Wilderness in late November.

Marine veteran Josh Guerrero, who addressed the local chapter’s previous general membership meeting in September, had a goal of traversing the entire 1,160 NCT miles in Michigan as a fundraiser for veterans. He completed his Operation Wolverine Walk on Dec. 15.

Many regional chapters fall under the NCTA umbrella, including several within the three U.P. divisions identified on the association’s website: Western, from the Wisconsin/ Michigan state line to the eastern boundary of Craig Lake State Park; Central, which includes the Marquette Area Chapter and stretches from the Craig Lake boundary to the Luce/Alger County line; and Eastern, which extends to the Mackinac

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The North Country Trail offers plenty of Upper Peninsula views, including along the shorelines in Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore (above) and at Presque Isle in Marquette (below). (Photos by Kristi Evans)

Bridge.

The local chapter website can be linked from northcountrytrail.org, along with downloadable maps and other resources (it may still be identified as NCT Hikers until the changeover to the new name). Here are some descriptions of favorite hikes that fall within the Marquette Area Chapter.

All are out and back, so individual choice dictates the distance covered.

Segment 4: Rumely Road to Peter White Road with a spur to Laughing Whitefish Falls, 4 miles on the NCT and 2.3 miles on the spur trail, moderate.

Segment 7: Railroad grade near Sand River Road to Kawbawgam Pocket Park, 4 miles. Gently rolling sand hills include about 1 mile along Lake LaVasseur, which has hosted an eagle’s nest and a variety of waterfowl and wetlands plant species.

Segment 15: Wetmore Landing to Little Presque Isle Point along the beautiful Lake Superior shoreline:

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1.6 miles, easy to moderate with two sets of steps.

Segment 16: Little Presque Isle Point to Echo Lake Road: 3 miles.

Segments 15 and 16 together were featured in Ron Strickland’s The North Country Trail: The Best Walks, Hikes and Backpacking Trips on America’s Longest National Scenic Trail.

Resolve to venture out on one or more of these segments, or elsewhere on the NCT in 2022, to rack up some miles toward this year’s Hike 100 Challenge.

Visit northcountrytrail.org for more information on the trail or to become a member.

MM About the Author: Kristi Evans is a PR professional, writer and hobby photographer who spends much of her free time outdoors. She has served on the board of the Marquette Area Chapter of the NCTA since fall 2021.

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 May events by Sunday, April 10 to:

on the town ………… 66

calendar@marquettemonthly.com Marquette Monthly P.O. Box 109 Gwinn, MI 49841 phone: (906) 360-2180

art galleries ……… 68-69 musuems …………….. 71 support groups ……… 75

7th Annual Par-Tee | April 07 | Harris

end of march events 30 WEDNESDAY

sunrise 7:34 a.m.; sunset 8:15 p.m.

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.

• 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.

• 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 • Midweek Blues. Enjoy a night of blues music. Masks required. 7 p.m. Community Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4323.

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on the town

DayDreamers | April 8, Pine Grove Bar, Republic, April 15, The Cade, Palmer and April 29, Royal Pub, Ishpeming

Gwinn

• Hideaway Bar. - Mondays: The Hideaway All-Stars.

7 p.m.

741 M-35. 346-3178.

• Up North Lodge.

- Friday, the 8th: Adam Carpenter and the Upper Hand. 8 p.m.

215 S. CR-557. (906) 346-9815.

Ishpeming

• The Royal Pub. - Friday, April 1: Fast Eddie and the Bluesers.

- Saturday, the 2nd: Kblitz.

- Saturday, the 9th: Crunge.

- Friday, the 15th: Killing Rapunzel.

- Friday, the 22nd: Soulshine Band.

- Friday, the 29tth: DayDreamers.

205 E. Division St. (906) 486-4505.

Marquette

• Blackrocks Brewery.

- Mondays: Trivia. 7 to 9 p.m.

- Wednesdays: Open mic. 6 to 9 p.m.

- Thursday, March 31: Jim and Ray. 6 to 9 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.

- Friday, April 1: Iron Daisy acoustic.

6 to 9 p.m.

501 S. Lake St. 273-1300.

• Flanigan’s.

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

- Friday, the 15th: Iron Daisy Acoustic. 6:30 to 9:30 p.m.

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April 2022

Cover charge on weekends only.

429 W. Washington St. 228-8865.

• Northland Pub. - Thursday, April 7: Troy Graham.

- Thursday, the 28th: Troy Graham.

Music at 8 p.m. Inside the Landmark Inn. 230 N. Front St. (906) 315-8107.

• Ore Dock Brewing Company.

- Friday, April 1: Derrell Syria Project.

- Saturday, the 2nd: Groove MQT. -Friday, the 8th: Culture of Cult featuring Brother’s Quinn. 9 p.m.

- Wednesday, the 13th: Loud N Proud. $5.

- Friday, the 15th: Eddie and the Blusers.

- Saturday, the 16th: The Crunge.

- Wednesday, the 20th: Willie Nelson Tribute Concert. 9 p.m.

- Thursday, the 21st: Mark Hummel and the Blues Survivors with Zim and Flinn. 7 p.m.

- Friday, the 22nd and Saturday, the 23rd: Bumpus.

- Friday, the 29th and Saturday, the 30th: Chris Michaels Band.

- Saturday, the 30th: Palestras. 5 p.m.

All shows are free and begin at 8 p.m. unless noted.

114 W. Spring St. 228-8888.

• Superior Culture.

- Thursday, April 7: Electric Words and Music. 7 p.m.

713 Third Street. 273-0927 or superiorculturemqt.com • The Fold.

- Sundays: Acoustic Jam. 3 to 5 p.m.

1015 N. Third Street, #9. (906) 2268575.

Negaunee

• Pasquali’s Pizza and Pub. - Friday, April 8: Comedy night with comedian to be announced.

- Friday, the 22nd: Mike Marvel and Mike Mercury.

Comedy night starts at 8 p.m.

100 Cliff St. (906) 475-4466.

• Smarty’s Saloon.

- Wednesdays: Karaoke. 8 p.m.

Thursdays: Live acoustic music. 7 p.m.

212 Iron St. (906) 401-0438.

Palmer

• The Cade.

-Saturday, April 2: Diversion.

- Friday, the 15th: DayDreamers.

Music 9 p.m. to 1 a.m.

103 Snyder St. (906) 401-0060.

Republic

• Pine Grove Bar. - Friday, April 1: Toni Saari. 7 p.m.

- Saturday, the 2nd: DJ Ricky P/ Karaoke. 9 p.m.

- Friday, the 8th: DayDreamers Acoustic. 7 to 9 p.m.

- Saturday, the 9th: Derrell Syria Project. 8 p.m. to midnight.

- Friday, the 15th: Troy Graham. 8 to 11 p.m.

- Saturday, the 16th: S.E.T. 9 p.m. to 1 a.m.

- Friday, the 22nd: Danny and Ian. 7 to 10 p.m.

- Saturday, the 23rd: DJ Ricky P/ Karaoke. 9 p.m.

- Friday, the 29th: Swampberry Moonshine. 8 p.m. to midnight.

- Saturday, the 30th: Old Skol. 8 p.m. to midnight.

286 Front St. (906) 376-2234 MM

31 THURSDAY

sunrise 7:32 a.m.; sunset 8:16 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.

• 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.

• Registration Deadline: Civil Right – Why Birmingham? See Thursday the 7th.

april events 01 FRIDAY

sunrise 7:30 a.m.; sunset 8:17 p.m.

Escanaba

• Sports and Rec Show. Youth 12 and younger, $1; Youth 13 and older, and adults, $2. Noon to 9 p.m. Ruth Butler Building, U.P. State Fairgrounds, 2401 Twelfth Ave. N. radioresultsnetwork.com

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.

• 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.

• 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) 485-4844.

• 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.

02 SATURDAY

sunrise 7:28 a.m.; sunset 8:19 p.m.

Escanaba

• Sports and Rec Show. Youth 12 and younger, $1; Youth 13 and older, and adults, $2. 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Ruth Butler Building, U.P. State Fairgrounds, 2401 Twelfth Ave. N. radioresultsnetwork.com

Marquette

• 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) 226-

4323.

• Superiorland Duplicate Bridge Club.

Games open to all interested players.

Lessons, 10 a.m. Game, 11:30 a.m. $5 for games. Westwood Mall, 3020 US-41 West. superiorland_bridge.tripod.com or (906) 236-3173.

• Undergrad Open Mic. NMU undergraduates will share their creative work. 1 p.m. Community Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4322.

• NMU Percussion Ensemble Concert.

3 p.m. Reynolds Recital Hall, NMU. events. nmu.edu

03 SUNDAY

sunrise 7:26 a.m.; sunset 8:20 p.m.

Escanaba

• Sports and Rec Show. Youth 12 and younger, $1; Youth 13 and older, and adults, $2. 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Ruth Butler Building, U.P. State Fairgrounds, 2401 Twelfth Ave. N. radioresultsnetwork.com

Marquette

• Poetry Workshop with Marty Achatz.

U.P. Poet Laureate Marty Achatz will lead a poetry workshop for beginner and experienced poets. 7 p.m. Via Zoom. Visit pwpl.info for Zoom link.

04 MONDAY

sunrise 7:24 a.m.; sunset 8:21 p.m.

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

• Speak Up, I Didn’t Hear You. Audiologist Jacob Sommers will discuss new hearing aid technologies. 1 p.m.

Shiras Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-3186.

• Documentary Film. The documentary film Maya Angelou–And Still I Rise will be shown. 7 p.m. Community Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4322.

05 TUESDAY

sunrise 7:22 a.m.; sunset 8:23 p.m.

• Registration Deadline: Small Engine Maintenance. See Tuesday the 12th.

Marquette

• Genealogy Help. Those interested in family history are welcome to work individually with an experienced geologist. Bring your family documents with you. 10 a.m. Shiras Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4311.

• 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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art galleries Calumet

• Calumet Art Center. Works by local artists. Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., 57055 Fifth St. (906) 934-2228.

• Copper Country Associated Artist.

Works by members and workshop participants in watercolor and oil, drawings, photography, sculpture, quilting, wood, textile, clay, glass and other media. Thursday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. 205 Fifth St. (906) 337-1252 or ccaartists.org • Gallery on 5th. 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.

- Youth in Art will be on display through March 31.

- Disable the Label, an exhibition featuring works by artists with disabilities, will be on display April 7 to May 5.

Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Saturday, 10 a.m. to 3p.m. 700 First Avenue South. (906) 786-3833 or bonifasarts.org

Hancock

• Finlandia University Gallery.

Featuring works by local, regional and national artists.

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.

- Youth in Arts Month will be on display through April 2.

- Photography by Stefka Hristova will be on display April 5 through 30.

Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Saturday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Community Arts Center, 126 Quincy St. (906) 4822333 or coppercountryarts.com • Youth Gallery.

- Youth in Arts Month will be on display through April 2.

Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Saturday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Community Arts Center, 126 Quincy St. (906) 4822333 or coppercountryarts.com

Houghton

• A-Space Gallery. Featuring works by local, regional and national artists.

Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

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Lila Keranen | Darkest Part of the Desert | Community Arts Center, Hancock

Saturdays, 1 to 8 p.m. Rozsa Center, 1400 Townsend Dr. mtu.edu/rozsa • Gallery B. - Perpetual Motion Machine, featuring works by MTU students, will be on display April 15 through April 17, with an opening reception at 5 p.m. on the 15th.

Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Saturdays, 1 to 8 p.m. Rozsa Center, 1400 Townsend Dr. mtu.edu/rozsa

Marquette

• Art—U.P. Style. Art by Carol Papaleo, works by local artists, gifts, classes and more. Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, noon to 4 p.m. 130 W. Washington St. (906) 225-1993.

• DeVos Art Museum.

- Senior Exhibition, featuring works by graduating seniors from the School of Art and Design, will be on display April 14 through 29.

- 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. (continued on page 81) 69)

art galleries 555 E Michigan Street. gracigallery.com • Huron Mountain Club Gallery.

- My Lady and I, featuring fiber arts by Beth Jukuri, will be on display, April 1 through 30, with a public reception at 6 p.m. the 14th.

Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 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.

- NMU Ceramics, featuring ceramic works by NMU affiliated artists, will be on display, through April 14, with a public reception at 6 p.m. on the 14th.

Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 228-0472.

• Peter White Public Library Reception Area Gallery.

- Locally Sourced, a mixed media exhibit, featuring works by NMU art students, will be on display, April 1 through 30, with a public reception at 6 p.m. on the 14th.

Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 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.

- Works by Astrid will be on display April 2 through the 15.

- Birchwood baskets by Scott Schieler will be on display, April 16 through May 2, with a reception at 6 p.m. on the 16th with music by WhoDatBrass.

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.

Welcoming new artists with 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

• 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.

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• Beginning Genealogy. Joan Ball, researcher from the Marquette County Genealogical Society, will discuss how to find and organize your family history. The session will cover pedigree charts, family groups, census records and organizational techniques. 6:30 p.m. Shiras Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4311.

• U.P. Poets Laureate Reading. The reading will include works by past and current U.P. Poet Laureates. 7 p.m.

Community Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4322.

• 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 • NMU Faculty Recital. Patrick Booth will perform on the saxophone. 7:30 p.m.

Reynolds Recital Hall, NMU. events.nmu. edu

06 WEDNESDAY

sunrise 7:20 a.m.; sunset 8:24 p.m.

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.

• 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.

• Outword. LGBTQIA youth and allied students in grades 7 to 12 are invited.

Masks required. 4 p.m. Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4321.

• 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. Meeting may change to Zoom. Email dthomsona@gmail.com for the Zoom link.

• Marquette Regional History Center Trivia Night. Teams of four to five people will compete during this annual trivia contest. $5 per person. 6:30 p.m. Marquette Regional History Center, 145 W. Spring St. (906) 226-3571 or marquettehistory.org • Searching Vital Records. Joan Ball, researcher from the Marquette County Genealogical Society, will discuss how to verify information through available resources. 6:30 p.m. Shiras Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4311.

• 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 • Poetry Workshop with Ronnie Ferguson. Artist and poet Ronnie Ferguson will lead this workshop for beginner and experienced poets. 7 p.m.

Via Zoom. Visit pwpl.info for Zoom link • Wellness on Tap: Harvesting Health with Leanne Hatfield. Leanne Hatfield from Seeds and Spores Family Farm will discuss food as medicine and herbalism. 7 p.m. Ore Dock Brewing Company, 114 W. Spring St.

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• Registration Deadline: Informational Tour of Peter White Public Library. See Wednesday the 13th.

07 THURSDAY

sunrise 7:18 a.m.; sunset 8:25 p.m.

Escanaba

• Jazz on 78: Historic Jazz Recordings the Way They Were Meant to be Heard.

Musician and author Phil Lynch will lead this presentation. 4:30 p.m. Escanaba Public Library, 400 Ludington St. (906) 789-7323.

• Bay Film Series: Licorice Pizza. Bay students, $2; nonstudents, $5. 7 p.m. Besse Center Theater, Bay College. (906) 2174045 or baycollege.tix.edu

Harris

• 7th Annual Par-Tee. This fundraiser will benefit the Gary Abrahamson Jr. Memory Care Center and includes minigolf, dinner, prizes, raffles and a silent auction. 4 p.m. $50. Island Resort and Casino, W 399 US-2. deltami.org

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) 360-3056.

• Baby Bear. Kids and their parents are invited for music by Corrine Rockow, scavenger hunts, craft stations, stories, a costume contest and a bear cub parade. Costumes encouraged.

5:30 p.m. Community Room, Ore Dock Brewing Company, 114 W. Spring St. oredockbrewing.com • Registration Deadline: U.P. Land Conservancy and the Dead River Community Forest. See Thursday the 14th.

08 FRIDAY

sunrise 7:16 a.m.; sunset 8:27 p.m.

Marquette

• 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 • Documentary Film Matinee. The documentary film Maya Angelou–And Still I Rise 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) 485-4844.

• Civil Right – Why Birmingham?

Learn about Birmingham, Alabama’s role in modern Civil Rights Movement.

Register by March 31. NCLL members, $3; nonmembers, $10. 1:30 p.m. Shiras Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 486-9861.

• Culture of Cult Pop-up Art Show. 7 p.m. Ore Dock Brewing Company, 114 W. Spring St. • NMU Musical: The Producers. The Tony Award-winning musical will be performed. NMU students, $5; other students, $10; NMU faculty, senior and military, $12; general public, $17. 8 p.m.

Forest Roberts Theatre, NMU. nmu.edu/ tickets

museums Big Bay

• Big Bay Lighthouse. The grounds of the 1896 lighthouse are open yearround. 3 Lighthouse Rd. (906) 345-9957.

Calumet

• International Frisbee Hall of Fame and Museum. Learn about the history of Guts Frisbee. Days and hours vary.

Open when events are held. Second floor ballroom, Calumet Colosseum, Red Jacket Rd. (906) 281-7625.

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.

Michigan Iron Industry Museum | Negaunee

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.

- The Seventh Fire: A Decolonizing Experience, a multimedia exhibit, will be on display through April 9.

- UP3D, an exhibition of stereograph images from the collection of Jack Deo, will be on display April 23 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 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 investigation and creativity. By appointment. 123 W. Baraga Ave. (906) 226-3911 or upchildrenmuseum.org

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) 3874308.

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.

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09 SATURDAY

sunrise 7:14 a.m.; sunset 8:28 p.m.

Calumet

• Onagomingkway Chapter of NSDAR Meeting. Questions about genealogy and joining DAR will be answered following the meeting. Noon. The Hut Restaurant, 58540 Wolverine Street. (906) 226-7836.

Escanaba

• LEGOS Club Rebuild 2022. Bring your own LEGOS. 1 p.m. Escanaba Public Library, 400 Ludington St. (906) 789-7323.

L’Anse

• U.P. Authors Book Fair. Visit with U.P. authors as they will discuss and sell copies of their books. Noon to 4 p.m. L’Anse Public Library, 201 N. Fourth St. (906) 524-6113.

Marquette

• Superiorland Duplicate Bridge Club.

Games open to all interested players.

Lessons, 10 a.m. Game, 11:30 a.m. $5 for games. Westwood Mall, 3020 US-41 West. superiorland_bridge.tripod.com or (906) 236-3173.

• International Three-Day Chapbook Reading and Open Mic. The three winners of the completion will read, along with an open mic for all competition entrants. 1 p.m. Community Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4322.

• Chess Club. Youth age 7 to 12 are invited for chess. 2 p.m. Great Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4323.

• Festival of the Angry Bear. This festival features barrel-aged beers, music, food and more. 3 p.m. Ore Dock Brewing Company, 114 W. Spring St. oredockbrewing.com • NMU Musical: The Producers. The Tony Award-winning musical will be performed. NMU students, $5; other students, $10; NMU faculty, senior and military, $12; general public, $17. 8 p.m.

Forest Roberts Theatre, NMU. nmu.edu/ tickets

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.

• 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 documentary film Reflections of An American Sunrise will be shown. 6 p.m. George Shiras III Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4322.

• Registration Deadline: Celebrating National Park Week. See Monday the 18th.

12 TUESDAY

sunrise 7:09 a.m.; sunset 8:32 p.m.

Ishpeming

• Small Engine Maintenance. Learn how proper maintenance can prolong the life of small engine machines. Register by the 5th. NCLL members, $3; nonmembers, $10. 1:30 p.m. OK Rental and Sales, 605 Elm St. (734) 646-4443.

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.

• Tasty Reads Book Group. The group will discuss Tiny Hot Dogs by Mary Guiliani. Noon. Shiras Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 2264323.

• 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.

• Muggles for Potter. Youth in grades 2 and 3 are invited to make Monster Books.

4:30 p.m. Great Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4323.

• Searching Vital Records. Laurie Johnson, researcher from the Marquette County Genealogical Society, will lead an in-depth presentation of MyHeritage genealogy database. 6:30 p.m. Shiras Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4311.

• Maritime on Tap: Ghosts of the Marquette Lighthouse. Susan Hill and Trish Kautz will discuss their first-hand ghostly encounters in the lighthouse and view recorded evidence from their investigations. $5 suggested donation. 7 p.m. Ore Dock Brewing Company, 114 W. Spring St. (906) 226-2006.

• Thomas Lynch and Kathleen Heideman Reading. Poets Thomas Lynch and Kathleen Heideman will read, along with music by Esther Margaret Ayers. 7 p.m. Community Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4322.

• NMU Woodwind Studio Concert. 7:30 p.m. Reynolds Recital Hall, NMU. events. nmu.edu

13 WEDNESDAY

sunrise 7:07 a.m.; sunset 8:34 p.m.

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

10 SUNDAY

sunrise 7:13 a.m.; sunset 8:29 p.m.

Crystal Falls • The Linda Ronstadt Experience with Tristan McIntosh. This touring tribute will showcase songs by Linda Ronstadt.

Students, $5; Gem subscribers, $20; others, $25. 7 p.m. Crystal Theatre, 304 Superior Ave. (906) 875-3208 or thecrystaltheatre. org

Marquette

• NMU Symphonic Band and Wind Ensembles Concert. 3 p.m. Reynolds Recital Hall, NMU. events.nmu.edu • Poetry Workshop with Ronnie Ferguson. Artist and poet Ronnie Ferguson will lead this workshop for beginner and experienced poets. 7 p.m.

Via Zoom. Visit pwpl.info for Zoom link

14 THURSDAY

sunrise 7:05 a.m.; sunset 8:35 p.m.

Crystal Falls

11 MONDAY

sunrise 7:11 a.m.; sunset 8:31 p.m.

Marquette

• Wonder Babies. Newborns to age

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• 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.

• 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.

• Marquette Regional History Center History Awards Ceremony. The annual Helen Longyear Paul Award and the Peter White Award will be presented. 6 p.m. Marquette Regional History Center, 145 W. Spring St. (906) 226-3571 or marquettehistory.org • We Kept Our Towns Going. Author Phyllis Wong will discuss the history of the Gossard factories in Gwinn and Ishpeming. $5 suggested donation. 6:30 p.m. Marquette Regional History Center, 145 W. Spring St. (906) 226-3571 or marquettehistory.org • Informational Tour of Peter White Public Library. Register by the 6th. NCLL members, $3; nonmembers, $10. 6:30 p.m.

Shiras Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 458-5408.

• 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 • Poetry Workshop with Marty Achatz.

U.P. Poet Laureate Marty Achatz will lead a poetry workshop for beginner and experienced poets. 7 p.m. Via Zoom. Visit pwpl.info for Zoom link.

• NMU Musical: The Producers. The Tony Award-winning musical will be performed. NMU students, $5; other students, $10; NMU faculty, senior and military, $12; general public, $17. 8 p.m.

Forest Roberts Theatre, NMU. nmu.edu/ tickets • Registration Deadline: Concussions, Brain Injuries and Migraines. See Wednesday the 20th.

We Kept Our Towns Going | April 13 | Marquette

April 2022

• Virtual Q&A with U.P. Author Mikel B. Classen. Author Mikel B. Classen will discuss his book Discover Hidden Campgrounds, Natural Wonders and Waterways of the Upper Peninsula. 7 p.m.

ET. Call or email to register. (906) 8753344 or egathu@uproc.lib.mi.us

Escanaba

• The Influence of Landscapes-Georgia O’Keefe’s Art and Inspiration. Artist Gregg Bruff will lead this presentation.

4:30 p.m. Escanaba Public Library, 400 Ludington St. (906) 789-7323.

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.

• Second Thursday Creativity Series: Salamander Days. Celebrate springtime amphibians with frog poetry and salamander painting. 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 • 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.

• NCLL’s U.P. Land Conservancy and the Dead River Community Forest.

Learn about the work of the U.P. Land Conservancy and the proposed Dead River Community Forest. Register by the 7th. NCLL members, $3; nonmembers, $10. 6:30 p.m. Community Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 361-5370.

• NMU Musical: The Producers. The Tony Award-winning musical will be performed. NMU students, $5; other students, $10; NMU faculty, senior and military, $12; general public, $17. 8 p.m.

Forest Roberts Theatre, NMU. nmu.edu/ tickets

15 FRIDAY

sunrise 7:03 a.m.; sunset 8:36 p.m.

• NMU Musical: The Producers. The Tony Award-winning musical will be performed. NMU students, $5; other students, $10; NMU faculty, senior and military, $12; general public, $17. 8 p.m.

Forest Roberts Theatre, NMU. nmu.edu/ tickets

16 SATURDAY

sunrise 7:01 a.m.; sunset 8:38 p.m.

Houghton

• McArdle Theatre: She Kills Monsters.

Youth, $5; adults, $15. 7:30 p.m. McArdle Theatre, MTU. (906) 487-2073 or events. mtu.edu

Marquette

• 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.

• Superiorland Duplicate Bridge Club.

Games open to all interested players.

Lessons, 10 a.m. Game, 11:30 a.m. $5 for games. Westwood Mall, 3020 US-41 West. superiorland_bridge.tripod.com or (906) 236-3173.

• Brunch with the Easter Bunny. Eat brunch with the Easter Bunny before the Easter Egg Hunt. Prices to be determined.

11 a.m. Masonic Building, 128 W. Washington St. • Poetry Easter Egg Scavenger Hunt.

Children of all ages are welcome for the scavenger hunt, a poetry station, selfie booth and goodie bag. 1 to 3 p.m. Great Room, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 201 E. Ridge St. (906) 226-4322.

• Salamander Days: Habitat Hike. 6:30 p.m. MooseWood Nature Center, Presque Isle. (906) 228-6250.

• NMU Musical: The Producers. The Tony Award-winning musical will be performed. NMU students, $5; other students, $10; NMU faculty, senior and military, $12; general public, $17. 8 p.m.

Forest Roberts Theatre, NMU. nmu.edu/ tickets

17 SUNDAY

sunrise 7:00 a.m.; sunset 8:39 p.m.

Escanaba

• Friday Night Live. Bonifas members, $10; nonmembers, $15. 7 p.m. Bonifas Art Center, 700 First Ave. S. (906) 786-3833 or bonifasarts.org

Houghton

• McArdle Theatre: She Kills Monsters.

Youth, $5; adults, $15. 7:30 p.m. McArdle Theatre, MTU. (906) 487-2073 or events. mtu.edu

Marquette

• 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 • Documentary Film Matinee. The documentary film Reflections of An American Sunrise 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) 485-4844.

EASTER 18 MONDAY

sunrise 6:58 a.m.; sunset 8:40 p.m.

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.

• Global Geeks Book Club. The group will discuss The House of Spirits by NamIsabel Allende. 6 p.m. Dandelion Cottage Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4312.

• NCLL’s Celebrating National Park Week. Frida Waara will share clips from the documentary Return of the Wolves: Lessons From the Wilderness. Register by the 11th. NCLL members, $3; nonmembers, $10. 6:45 p.m. Community Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 228-8051.

• Documentary Film. The documentary film Moccasins and Microphones will be shown. 7 p.m. Heritage Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 2264322.

19 TUESDAY

sunrise 6:56 a.m.; sunset 8:42 p.m.

Gwinn

• Literature at the Lodge. The group will discuss The One Hundred Years of Lenni & Margot by Marianne Cronin. 7 p.m. Up North Lodge, 215 S. CR-557. (906) 3463433.

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.

• NCLL Curriculum Planning. Help plan the July through October program term. 10 a.m. Room 404A, Cohodas Building, NMU. • 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• Keith Taylor and Milton Bates Reading. Poets Keith Taylor and Milton Bates will read, along with music by Noah Bauer. 7 p.m. Community Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4322.

• NMU Orchestra Concert. 7:30 p.m.

Reynolds Recital Hall, NMU. events.nmu. edu • Registration Deadline: What Makes a Good Guitar. See Tuesday the 26th.

20 WEDNESDAY

sunrise 6:54 a.m.; sunset 8:43 p.m.

Gwinn

• Gwinn Seed Library. Learn about the heirloom, rare and organic seeds that are good for growing in the U.P. Grace AltoRosenbaum will share five of her favorite seeds from. 4 to 6 p.m. Forsyth Township Library, 180 W. Flint St. (906) 346-3433.

Marquette

• Wonder Babies. Newborns to age

April 2022

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.

• 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.

• NCLL’s Concussions, Brain Injuries and Migraines. Dr. Marguerite Moore will discuss concussions, brain injuries, migraines, as well as research and services available in the Marquette area. Register by the 13th. 3 p.m. Room B101, Superior Dome, NMU. (906) 226-8347.

• 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.

• Hiawatha Music Co-op Concert. Papa Crow and Friends will perform. Hiawatha Music Co-op members, $5; nonmembers, $7. 6 p.m.. Ore Dock Brewing Company, 114 W. Spring St. • Marquette Choral Society 50th Anniversary Gala. Celebrate 50 years of choral music with members, supporters and the community. Enjoy hors d’oeuvres, a cash bar, music and awards. Proceeds benefit the Marquette Choral Society. $35. 6 p.m. Northern Center, NMU. tickets. nmu.edu • Visiting Scholar Series. Vince Schleitwiler, a lecturer in American ethnic studies at the University of Washington and author of Strange Fruit of the Black Pacific: Imperialism’s Racial Justice and Its Fugitives, will speak. 6 p.m. Mead Auditorium, NMU. events.nmu.edu • Marquette Area Blues Society Board Meeting. 6:30 p.m. Location to be determined. marquetteareabluessociety.org • 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 • Poetry Workshop with Ronnie Ferguson. Artist and poet Ronnie Ferguson will lead this workshop for beginner and experienced poets. 7 p.m.

Via Zoom. Visit pwpl.info for Zoom link

Rapid River

• Rapid River Knifeworks Tour. See Thursday the 28th.

21 THURSDAY

sunrise 6:52 a.m.; sunset 8:44 p.m.

Houghton

• Trombone Choir. 6 p.m. Rozsa Center, MTU. events.mtu.edu

Marquette

• Foot Clinic. This clinic is for people age 55 and older. Appointments necessary. $25. 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Marquette Senior

Marquette Monthly

73

Center, 300 W. Spring St. (906) 228-0456.

• 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.

• PWPL Kindness Club. Participate in activities that encourage teambuilding and self-confidence. 4:30 p.m. Great Room, 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.

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

• 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.

• 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 documentary film Bigfoot and Marty will be shown. 7 p.m. Community Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4322.

22 FRIDAY

• 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.

• 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.

• NCLL’s What Makes a Good Guitar?

Jacob Kuhlman will discuss guitars and answer questions. Register by the 19th.

NCLL members, $3; nonmembers, $10.

1:30 p.m. Room 404A, Cohodas Building, NMU. (734) 646-4443.

• Bluesday Tuesday. Enjoy a night of blues music. 7 p.m. Community Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4323.

26 TUESDAY

sunrise 6:44 a.m.; sunset 8:51 p.m.

Marquette

sunrise 6:51 a.m.; sunset 8:46 p.m.

Escanaba

• Players de Noc: James and the Giant Peach. $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.

• 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.

• Free Blood Pressure/Blood Sugar Clinic. This clinic is free to residents 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 Moccasins and Microphones 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) 485-4844.

• 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.

• U.P. Home and Garden Show. Age 12 and younger, free; Age 65 and older, $4; others, $5. 5 to 9 p.m. Superior Dome, NMU. uphomeandgardenshow.org • Genealogy Lock-In. Katherine Willson, professional genealogist, will present Using Maps in Genealogy. 6:30 p.m. Shiras Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4311.

23 SATURDAY

sunrise 6:49 a.m.; sunset 8:47 p.m.

74

Marquette Monthly

James and the Giant Peach | April 22 - 24 and 27 - 30 | Escanaba

Calumet

• April Market. 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Calumet Art Center, 57055 Fifth St. (906) 934-2228 or calumetartcenter.com

Escanaba

• Players de Noc: James and the Giant Peach. $15. 7:30 p.m. Bonifas Art Center, 700 First Ave. S. (906) 786-3833 or playersdenoc.org

Houghton

• Keweenaw Symphony Orchestra and Michigan Tech Choirs: Carmina Burana. Youth, $6; adults, $19. 7:30 p.m.

Rozsa Center, MTU. (906) 487-2073 or events.mtu.edu

Marquette

• U.P. Home and Garden Show. Age 12 and younger, free; Age 65 and older, $4; others, $5. 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Superior Dome, NMU. uphomeandgardenshow.org • 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.

• Bike and Kayak Swap. Shop for used bikes, kayaks and related equipment. 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Lakeview Arena, 401 E. Fair Ave. (906) 362-0809.

• Superiorland Duplicate Bridge Club.

Games open to all interested players.

Lessons, 10 a.m. Game, 11:30 a.m. $5 for games. Westwood Mall, 3020 US-41 West. superiorland_bridge.tripod.com or (906) 236-3173.

• Teen Reading/Poetry Contest. Listen to the winners and participants from the Great Lakes Teen Poetry Contest. 1 p.m.

Community Room, Peter White Public Library, 217 N. Front St. (906) 226-4322.

• Marquette Choral Society Concert.

This concert will feature Carl Orff ’s

April 2022

Carmina Burana. Students, $10; seniors, $15; adults, $20. 7:30 p.m. Kaufman Auditorium, 611 N. Front St. tickets.nmu. edu

24 SUNDAY

sunrise 6:47 a.m.; sunset 8:48 p.m.

Escanaba

• Players de Noc: James and the Giant Peach. $15.1:30 p.m. Bonifas Art Center, 700 First Ave. S. (906) 786-3833 or playersdenoc.org

Houghton

• Superior Winds Symphony and Campus Concert Band: A Tale of Two Franklins. Youth, $5; adults, $15. 3 p.m.

Rozsa Center, MTU. (906) 487-2073 or events.mtu.edu

Marquette

• U.P. Home and Garden Show. Age 12 and younger, free; Age 65 and older, $4; others, $5. 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Superior Dome, NMU. uphomeandgardenshow.org • Cindy Hunter Morgan and Lynn Domina Reading. Poets Cindy Hunter Morgan and Lynn Domina will read, along with music by Kerry Yost. 7 p.m.

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, address. (906) 226-4322.

• Marquette Choral Society Concert.

This concert will feature Carl Orff ’s Carmina Burana. .Students, $10; seniors, $15; adults, $20. 7:30 p.m. Kaufman Auditorium, 611 N. Front St. tickets.nmu. edu

25 MONDAY

sunrise 6:46 a.m.; sunset 8:50 p.m.

Marquette

27 WEDNESDAY

sunrise 76:42 a.m.; sunset 8:52 p.m.

Escanaba

• Players de Noc: James and the Giant Peach. $15. 7:30 p.m. Bonifas Art Center, 700 First Ave. S. (906) 786-3833 or playersdenoc.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

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. al-alon.org or (888) 425-2666.

• Alcoholics Anonymous. Meetings throughout Marquette County, open daily, at many locations and times.

Twenty-four-hour answering service, aamarquettecounty.org or (800) 605-5043.

• ALZConnected. This is a free, online community for everyone affected by Alzheimer’s disease and other memory loss diseases. alzconnected.org • American Legacy Foundation.

Smoking quit line for expectant mothers and cessation information for women.

(800) 668-8278.

• Amputee Social Group. This peer support group is for amputees, friends and families to share resources, life experiences and create relationships.

April 12. 6 p.m. SAIL, 1200 Wright St. (906) 273-2444.

• Blood Pressure, Blood Sugar and Cholesterol Checks. Cholesterol checks are $5. Call for Marquette County schedule. (906) 225-4545.

• Caregiver Support Group— Marquette. All caregivers are welcome.

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.

• 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. $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-

Learn about cyber security tips and information on how to avoid being scammed. April 21. 2 p.m. Mill Creek Clubhouse,1728 Windstone Dr. (906) 225-7760 or lakesuperiorhospice.org • 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. April 13. 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. April 20. 5:30 p.m. Lake Superior Hospice, 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 hand-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.

Escanaba

• Players de Noc: James and the Giant Peach. $15. 7:30 p.m. Bonifas Art Center, 700 First Ave. S. (906) 786-3833 or playersdenoc.org

Marquette

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. April 21. 3 p.m.

Negaunee Senior Center, 410 Jackson St. lakesuperiorhospice.org or (906) 4756266.

• 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. April 11 and 21. 7 p.m. Call (906) 360-7107 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) 7500328 or www.nicotine-anonymous.org • Sexual Health and Addiction Therapy Group. Call Great Lakes Recovery Centers for more details.

Dates, times and locations vary. (906) 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) 485-4844.

• 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.

• Toddler Storytime. Stories, songs,

April 2022

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.

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30 SATURDAY

sunrise 6:37 a.m.; sunset 8:56 p.m.

Escanaba

• Players de Noc: James and the Giant Peach. $15. 7:30 p.m. Bonifas Art Center, 700 First Ave. S. (906) 786-3833.

Gwinn

• U.P. Pink Power Annual 17-mile Fundraising Walk. This annual walk raises money for U.P. Pink Power. Shuttles will transport walkers to the start at the Knotty Pine. Donations appreciated.

Registration, 8 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. at the Knotty Pine and Up North Lodge. Shuttles depart, 7:45 and 8:15 a.m. Up North Lodge, 215 S. CR-557. Walk begins at 10 a.m. at the Knotty Pine, 47236 CR-426. uppinkpower.com

Marquette

• 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.

• Superiorland Duplicate Bridge Club.

Games open to all interested players.

Lessons, 10 a.m. Game, 11:30 a.m. $5 for games. Westwood Mall, 3020 US-41 West. superiorland_bridge.tripod.com or (906) 236-3173.

• 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.

Marquette Monthly

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75

76

Marquette Monthly

April 2022