When you begin a project such as IronwoodInfo at the age of 64 you
know that the project will have a limited lifetime. And, as we have written
many times when reviewing regional concerts and performances "all good
things, must come to end", and so the same is true of IronwoodInfo
itself.
Publishing the regional news and events for the past four years has been
nothing less than a great adventure.
IronwoodInfo began publishing in October 2007, and now four years and a
half a million road miles later that great adventure has concluded.
Like most citizen's journals IronwoodInfo began with the purpose of
filling the void left by other local media. Another priority for
IronwoodInfo was to showcase the great talent and genius of our area,
especially that of its youth. As we said many times "We may be smaller
than other places, however that doesn't mean that we are less
intelligent nor are we less talented".
Occasionally we would add transparency to local politics where it
became necessary.
We believe that with a base of 13,000 daily readers that we must
have achieved some if not most of our goals.
We would like to thank the following people for assisted us during the
past four years.
First, we would like to thank Dan Rosandich who has provided the great
cartoon appearing daily on IronwoodInfo. Thanks Dan for beginning our
days with a laugh. Dan is a very talented individual and you can visit
his website: www.danscartoons.com.
We also would like to thank Melanie B. Fullman who has generously
contributed her great weekly column to IronwoodInfo. It is amazing that
Melanie has time to write a column. In addition to being the Ottawa
U.S. Forest Ranger, she is also a volunteer firefighter as well as a
member of the Gogebic County Search and Rescue Team.
Thanks also to Linda Graham who has provided the additional reporting
from Ontonagon County.
Thanks to Ironwood photographer Bob Severin, who shared his great
photos with IronwoodInfo. You can continue to enjoy Bob's photography at
www.somuchtocapture.com
Personally, I would be remiss in not acknowledging the important
role that Gogebic Community College has played in making IronwoodInfo
all that it has become. Three computer classes and a journalism class
have contributed greatly to the success of our website.
To our readers currently serving our nation in the Middle East, we thank
you for unselfish service and pray for your safe and speedy return home.
To all our readers thank you for your fantastic support!
Lou Bonagura Co-Publisher
Arvo Toolanen Co-Publisher
Ontonagon - August 31, 2008
Streets that just 12 hours earlier were filled with classic
cars and hundreds of spectators were now filled with flames, smoke and
water sprays. From celebration to tragedy in just 12 hours.
At 5:00 AM Ontonagon residents were awaken by a long loud siren
signaling that a fire had broken out. Within a short while fire
firefighters from Carp Lake and Silver City would join the Ontonagon
Fireman already battling the blaze threatening the entire downtown area.
By the end of the day firefighters from 8 additional fire departments
would be on the scene fighting the blaze that would consume 20% of
downtown Ontonagon.
At the scene were IronwoodInfo reporters documenting the horrific
event.
This was IronwoodInfo's first major story. While other news agencies
were off enjoying the long weekend, IronwoodInfo posted the photos and
story shortly after the start of the fire.
As a result, 134,000 people logged onto IronwoodInfo to read the only
account of the devastating fire.
LAMBEAU FIELD - December 5, 2010
Marty’s Goldenaires warmed things up during a half-time performance
Sunday afternoon.
While America’s best football fans waited for America’s favorite
football team to return to the field, the Goldenaire’s presented another
knock ‘em dead performance.
Two minutes before half-time the Goldenaire Drum and Bugle Corp. took
their positions along the visitor’s side of the field.
The Corps marched on to the field at the fifty yard line playing “God
Bless America”. As usual they were great. The nippy weather at Lambeau
failed to affect their playing and by the time the musicians finished
their first song they had endeared themselves to the Packer faithful.
Limited to a six minute performance the group played abbreviated
versions of songs that were in keeping with the Packer’s “Throw Back
Day” theme. Their performance included “In the Mood” , “Dancing in the
streets”, “Wipeout” and “Beer Barrel Polka.”
The performance went great and the fans loved it. The Goldenaires
received a fantastic ovation from the crowd.
The Goldenaire's performance at Lambeau Field was IronwoodInfo's most read event
ever. More than 230,000 readers viewed the story.
This was an amazing event for us to cover. Another great adventure that
began early in the morning and included driving through a U.P. blizzard
en route to Lambeau. Being on the field at half time covering our great
Goldenaire's was quite an awesome experience.
Ashland - July 19, 2009
They came, they sang, they conquered.
Yesterday afternoon, Heartland Music, held a Bay Days event, "Battle of
the Bands". It was truly a great staging of bands from Houghton to
Duluth. A genre' for everyone. It's now10 hours after the concert and
my ears are still ringing from loud, loud, performances. Loud enough to
satisfy the most demanding concert goers, including myself. The event
ended just moments before mid-night and in the end, Ironwood's Lowell
Street Band would be the favorite of both the audience and the
judges.
This event would be one of the most viewed of IronwoodInfo's
coverage. The story resulted in 134,000 hits.
Again this story confirmed how in spite of the area's small
population our residents are extremely talented.
CADILLAC MICH - March 20, 2011
The Polar Bear Squirts, the U.P. Champs, put an undefeated record on
the line at the state championship tournament this weekend. Now,
Michigan’s greatest Squirt team is coming home with the State
Championship trophy in hand; and an undefeated season intact.
The Bear's great coaching staff led their squirts on an amazing season
long quest for the state championship title and they have done it all!
The only question is what was the greater achievement, the championship
or the 42 wins, no losses and no ties?
The Championship Game was a real thriller. The Bear’s opponent was the Cadillac Squirts, who were playing on their ice in
front of a hometown crowd.
This story was many weeks and many tournaments in the making.
The very first time we saw the Ironwood Polar Bear Squirts play, we at
IronwoodInfo knew that this team was extraordinary.
They skated well; they handled their sticks well; They had
excellent coaching and most of all, they played as a team.
From the beginning they played with confidence and with each additional
game, with each additional win their confidence grew, but to their
credit they were never cocky. By the end of the long season the Bears
would make history, the only 42 and 0 Squirt team ever!
These third and fourth graders prove just how much talent we have in our
area. They beat tough teams from bigger U.P. cities and won the Upper
Peninsula Championship. Then they went downstate and beat the best of
the rest.
They gave our community a much needed lift and a moment of pride. And we
are proud to have provided the coverage throughout the season.
Congratulations one more time to the kids, their coaches and to their
supportive parents.
NOTE: The Championship Tournament was another milestone for us, in that
we broadcast the games live on the internet.
Community Art Installation
Workshop is Tuesday and
Wednesday, November 1 and 2
HANCOCK, MI –Artist Margaret
Parker will conduct a free
community art installation
workshop Tuesday and Wednesday,
November 1st and 2nd, at
Finlandia Hall, both days from
9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Finlandia Hall is the Finlandia
University residence hall on
Summit Street, Hancock.
The drop-in community workshop
will focus on constructing an
archway with woven re-purposed
t-shirts. The workshop is
sponsored by the Finlandia
Reflection Gallery and Campus
Enrichment Committee.
To
make this installation activity
possible, t-shirts … lots of
t-shirts …are needed, in any
condition.
T-shirts may
be dropped off by November 1 at
Finlandia’s Jutila Center
campus, 200 Michigan St.,
Hancock, or at Finlandia Hall
the first day of the workshop,
November 1.
The workshop
is presented in conjunction with
“Shirts and Skins,” an
installation by Margaret Parker
at the Finlandia Reflection
Gallery on display November 2 to
November 27, 2011.
An
opening reception for Parker
will take place at the
Reflection Gallery Thursday,
November 3, 12:30 to 1:30 p.m.
The reception is free and open
to the public; refreshments will
be served.
Parker’s
primary installation medium is
the t-shirt, which she cuts,
then weaves, to create her
installation pieces.
Viewer participation is
important to Parker’s intent.
She explains, “Once the viewer
sees the piece is made from a
T-shirt, they must figure out
how it was taken apart. I’m very
interested in that spatial
reasoning because it pulls the
viewer backwards into the
creative process, making an
image that reverberates in the
memory.”
The Reflection
Gallery is located on the second
level of Finlandia’s Jutila
Center campus, 200 Michigan St.,
Hancock.
o
Crew to install sanitary and
water services on Burt
o
Blasting work on alley north of
Kennedy, west of Burt
o
Ruotsala setting string for curb
on Thursday.Friday pour concrete curb
on
§Clemens/Southwest,
Southwest up to Bundy.
§
400 Blocks of Kennedy and Bundy
o
Northwoods Paving fine grading
gravel on Brogan (east of Van
Buskirk), continuingnorth on First National
and then on eastern blocks of
Jessieville.
·
Week of October 31 through
November 4th:
o
Northwoods Paving grading gravel
on Phase II areas Tuesday and
Wednesday.Paving binder layer later
in the week.
o
Pipe crew to continue installing
sewer and water main on Kennedy
on Monday through Wednesday.Later part of week -
install sanitary sewer in alley
north of Kennedy, west of Burt.
o
Crew to install storm sewer on
Burt:Monday - Thursday.
o
Crew to install services on
Kennedy Thursday and Friday.
o
Ruotsala to continue Phase I and
Phase II restoration work.
o
Alternative routes necessary due
to work on South West, Burt, and
Kennedy.
·
Week of November 7th
through 11th,
generally
o
Grading Burt Monday – Wednesday
o
Crew to install water and sewer
services on Kennedy Monday and
Tuesday.Services on Stevens
Wednesday
o
2nd half of week
clean up Jessieville
Also, Wagner Construction
personnel will be walking on
private property in the
Jessieville Area to determine
where water service lines exit
from homes, so they can set up
the temporary water supply
lines.Any questions should be directed
to Mike Foley at Coleman
Engineering Company, (906)
932-5048.
Greetings from the Porcupine Mountain State Park Folk School
The Folk School Committee will be having it's first annual retreat on Friday, November 11 at 3pm. The retreat will take place at a local residence and is in lieu of a monthly meeting that would have been held on the 8th. Please call Angie at 906-884-4886 if you are interested in attending or serving on the Folk School Committee.
Folk School Student Turns a Weekly Assignment Into a Published Piece of Work
Local resident and lifetime member of Friends of the Porkies, Karen Berg, signed up for a writing class that turned her into a published author. The class was offered at the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park Folk School and was taught by Henry Kisor, retired book editor for the Chicago Sun Times and author of several books.
One of the assignments was to write about Dan’s Cabin, the Artist-in-Residence cabin that was built by the Friends of the Porkies. Karen had been on the Cabin construction crew from beginning to end and was delighted when she received this assignment. She had taken numerous photos throughout the building and thought she had the perfect opportunity and motivation to organize her photos and tell the story of the cabin construction process.
Upon receiving the first few pages of the assignment, Henry said the story had the makings of a book. He recognized the value in having a record of the 4 ½ years the cabin was under construction.
As in all projects related to the Porkies, this book was completed out of love and dedication for the Porcupine Mountains and in memory of Dan Urbanski, an award-winning photographer of the Porkies. You can learn more about Dan Urbanski, Dan's Cabin or our Artist-in-Residence Program by visiting our website at www.porkies.org.
Interested in ordering Dan's Cabin? A group order will be placed by November 14th. Orders will be coordinated by Karen Berg and you may reach her at 906-884-4340 or via e-mail at knberg@jamadots.com. Books will be $20 unless the order is less than 10. You may also order the book directly from blurb.com., and it's $27.49.
Please consider giving it as a gift or donating to your local library.
We are now reaching out to people who might be interested in being an instructor for one of our future classes. If you are interested, please contact us with information about what you would like to teach and when you would be available to teach at the Folk School. The spring/summer schedule goes from May 1 - August 31, 2012 and September will start our fall/winter schedule.
We look forward to hearing from you and hopefully welcoming you as a future Folk School Instructor or student.
It has been an interesting year for the Folk School. We have a new committee with both seasoned and new members. We have been very fortunate in the support that we have received from the local community, newspapers, radio station and businesses advertising our schedule. If you are interested in being a part of the Folk School Committee, please contact us.We are just finishing up our winter class schedule and beginning to plan our spring-summer class schedule. We had a varied selection of classes including such classes as copper bowl making, Lake Superior Sand Soap Demonstration, Star Fairy with mixed media, birch bark basket making and more. To find out more about our classes, you can see our schedule and class descriptions at www.porkies.org under the folk school tab.
Please contact our Programs Administrator if further information is needed. Angie Foley Friends of the Porkies Programs Administrator angie@porkies.org 906-884-4886 Folk School message phone # 906-885-5545
Please forward to anyone you know who may be interested in the Porcupine Mountains Folk School or the Friends of the Porkies. www.porkies.org
International Folk Dancing
in November and December
HANCOCK, MI – The Finlandia
University Campus Enrichment
committee will host Saturday
evening International Folk
Dancing and lessons in November
and December.
The
dances are on November 4,
November 11, November 18, and
December 2, 2011.
All
dances are from 7:00 to 9:00
p.m. in the former cafeteria at
Finlandia’s Mannerheim Hall on
Franklin Street, Hancock.
The dances and lessons are free
and open to the public.
Suddenly Sami, Uncovering
the Sami Connection, Is November
3
HANCOCK, MI – The Finlandia
University Finnish American
Heritage Center will present a
program titled “Uncovering the
Sámi Connection” on Thursday,
November 3, 2011, starting at
6:00 p.m.
The short
film, “Suddenly Saami,” will be
shown. The film is about a
Norwegian woman who learns as an
adult that her family is ethnic
Sámi.
Informal
discussion will follow, led by
Becky Hoekstra, James Kurtti,
and Eileen Sundquist. Discussion
topics will include the ways in
which Sámi heritage is
forgotten, even hidden, among
Nordic and Nordic-American
families, and how this heritage
is being rediscovered and
reclaimed today.
The
use of gakti, Sámi traditional
clothing, will be a key focus of
this group. Community members
are encouraged to share their
own stories of becoming
“suddenly Sami,” as well as
their own gakti, photos, and
other related items.
The
event is free and open to the
public. The Finnish American
Heritage Center is located on
the campus of Finlandia
University at 435 Quincy St.,
Hancock.
For additional
information, contact Hilary
Virtanen, coordinator of events
for the Finnish American
Heritage Center, at
906-487-7505.
Runway Fashion Show Is
November 17
HANCOCK, MI – The Finlandia
University International School
of Art & Design will present a
Student and Alumnae Fashion Show
Thursday, November 17, 2011, at
7:00 p.m., at the Finnish
American Heritage Center.
The runway show will feature
garments created by current
students and alumnae of
Finlandia’s Fiber and Fashion
Design program.
For
additional information, call
Phyllis Fredendall, professor of
fiber and fashion design, at
906-487-7376.
