IronwoodInfo News Magazine

Wastewater Authority Holds May Meeting

Ironwood - May 27, 2009

The Gogebic-Iron Waste Water Board and Gogebic-Iron County Wastewater Authority held its regular monthly meeting Tuesday. The meeting was moved ahead in order to facilitate combining the regular meeting with a Budget Workshop.

After the standard business was conducted the Board/Authority tended to several issues including the matter of who is responsible for the calibration of the Hurley Flow Meter. This is the meter that serves as the numerator in the annual rate promulgations.

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Sunday Fundraiser at Covington

Covington - May 26, 2009

On Sunday, May 24th, a dance/fundraiser was held at the Covington Multipurpose Building on M-28 from 1:00 to 5:00pm. The attendees enjoyed and danced to the music of Wil Kilpela, Tanja Stanaway, Les Ross Sr, Oren Tikkanen, and Hjalmer Torres.

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Ironwood Remembers

Ironwood - May 25, 2009

Following an early morning Memorial Service at the Ironwood Memorial Building. Participants of the service were joined by other members of the community in a parade that would terminate at Riverside Cemetery.

Parade viewers came by bike (above) and others came by bike (below). The number of parade watchers was small, but the numbers were greatly augmented later at the cemetery.

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Ontonagon Remembers

Story and photos by Linda Graham

Ontonagon - May 25, 2009

Members of the Ontonagon VFW Post held a remembrance ceremony at he downtown Veterans Memorial. Pictured above - Brian Amos (in uniform) gave invocation, middle Jim Holmes, VFW Post Commander, Jodie Killoran on left.

above - providing the music for Monday's ceremony was the Ontonagon Area High School Band, under the direction of Ben Mayer, band director. It's been a busy weekend for the Gladiator band, which also performed for the Pamida anniversary event.

above - color guard and 21 gun salute by members of the VFW.

above - Flags on servicemen's graves at Riverside Cemetery, Ontonagon

Pamida Celebrates 1st Anniversary

Ontonagon - May 25, 2009

It has been one year since Pamida opened for business in Ontonagon and the store held an anniversary celebration event this past Saturday. In addition to store specials, there was music provided by the Ontonagon High School Band. Ben Mayer, band director of the Gladiators, was also on hand with the kids at the store's grand opening.

2009 Iron County Poker Run Has Begun

Hurley May 22, 2009

Iron County once again is hosting the Memorial Weekend ATV Rally. The 24th annual ATV rally is being, co-sponsored by the Hurley Area & Mercer Chambers of Commerce.

There was an ATV Rally Parade on Friday evening with hundreds of All Terrain Vehicles participating in the event..

This year's event included a very large number of kids, who were either riding with their parents or driving solo. A strong indicator of how ATV riding is rapidly growing as a family sport.

Friday night's Poker Run was considered a warm up for the 2010 parade at which time Iron County hopes to once again recapture the world record for the largest All Terrain Vehicle Parade.

A Pre-Parade Party took place in the field by Cary Mine Convenience. After the parade live entertainment at The Mad Trapper's was provide courtesy of the Hurley Fire Department.

Both the Hurley and Kimball Fire Departments had vehicles participating in the parade.

Another of the "main events" will again be the famous "Mud Pit" Run on Sunday, sponsored by the Hurley Volunteer Fire Department. A 25-yard mud pit will be located just off Hwy 77 alongside the Iron Horse trail. Contestants pay a minimal fee for the "privilege" of plowing through the pit and a chance for cash and fun participation prizes. In past years the pit has drawn between 500 and 1,000 spectators.

On Sunday evening, the Poker Run concludes at 8:00 pm with the final poker hand drawings and the event 50/50 raffle drawing at the Rally Wrap Up party, sponsored this year by Spiders' in Hurley. Poker Run winners will be notified bymail following the close of the event.

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Bessemer 2009 Jr. High
Track and Field Meet

Bessemer May 23, 2009

Junior High students from six local schools came together Friday to compete in the Bessemer Jr. High Track Meet. The schools competing were Bessemer, Hurley, Ironwood, Mercer, Wakefield-Marenisco and Watersmeet. The weather was perfect and so was the young athletes' performance. Great weather, great athletes coming together to make a great day sport. The event was well organized and ran as smooth as your stop watch. The young athletes were on their school buses a half hour before their anticipated departure time.

Though the kids were young it didn't diminish from the energy and enthusiasm that they put into their individual and team efforts. Total team scores and standings are not kept at the Jr. High level, however, there are scores for the individual and team events

You will easily tell from the photos that the young athletes to their events seriously but, had a great time none-the-less. The event typified what student athletics is suppose to be about. Great job everyone!

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Scouts Plant 500 Trees

Bessemer - May 21, 2009

Bruce Jendrusina, Scoutmaster of troop 337 was contacted by Luke Whitfield about the possibility of planting 500 red pine trees out on his family's property on Henry Lake road.
Luke told Bruce that the land has been in his family for over a hundred years. There were remnants of the original homestead when they arrived there.

It was time for a service project, so the scouts planted over 500 trees. It did not go as easily as it was first thought. The Troop ended up having to use an adze to get the trees planted as the soil was full of rocks.

The troop has applied for the Hornaby Conservation Unit award for their efforts and with any luck they will be awarded this honor.

UPPCO Fire Update
May 21, 2009 Ishpeming Area Wildfire Update: UPPCO Restored Power East of County 581, West Side Still Out Ishpeming, MI – Upper Peninsula Power Company (UPPCO) has restored electric service for customers on the east side of County 581. That service had been shut off due to the wildfire in Ely and Tilden Townships. When customers who were evacuated from that area are allowed to return, they should have electricity. Customers on the west side of County 581 will remain without power until the fire is controlled and UPPCO is notified by the appropriate agency that it can restore electricity to the area. Currently, about 50 customers west of County 581 between Mail Route Road and County Highway CT are without power. UPPCO cannot estimate when service to those customers will be restored. For More Information, Contact: * Darlene Gendron Manager – Customer Service (906) 485-2416 * UPPCO Customer Service 800-562-7680

Boat Launch Closed For the Summer

Boat Launch at Boney Falls Campground not available this season

Houghton, MI – May 18, 2009

The boat launch at Boney Falls campground will not be useable this summer, because the reservoir will be 4.5 feet below normal elevation. The announcement was made recently by Upper Peninsula Power Company (UPPCO), a subsidiary of Integrys Energy Group (NYSE: TEG).

UPPCO lowered water levels in the reservoir in the fall of 2008 to continue seepage studies that began in 2007. Some seepage paths were identified during the studies, and as a precautionary dam safety measure, it was decided to maintain the reservoir below normal elevation until a plan of action is determined for correcting the seepage paths.

“Although there’s no evidence of an imminent problem, public safety is our primary concern,” said Jerry Pirkola, Superintendent Regional Generation – South MI. “We feel it’s prudent to take these precautionary measures until we have an approved plan to correct the seepage. We’re continuing to work with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on this issue,” he added.

Senior Class Clueless?

Not OnTheir Lives!

Wakefield - May 18, 2009

The Wakefield-Marenisco Senior Class performed "Clue" Thursday and Friday evenings in the school gymnasium. The play was produced and directed by Jessica Sanderson.

Clue is a laugh riot from start to finish. The cast is great. Clue is the perfect mixture of comedy and mystery.

Today films based on videogames are commonplace , but not a play based on a board game! Clue is a murder mystery that takes its ideas from the popular Parker Brothers board game of "Clue".

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I.V.F.D Holds Wet & Cold Fundraiser

Ironwood - May 18, 2009 Above, Danielle Sandmon (L) and Curtis VanDusen (R) point the way to the carwash held Saturday at the Ironwood Holiday Gas Station. The Volunteer Firemen held a car wash to raise money for new equipment and for support for children's projects in the area. The damp and freezing weather did not deter the volunteers from getting wet and very cold. They are truly are men and women of Fire and Ice.

While the action was slow in the beginning things did pickup for our Vols.

above - Chief Ken Jacobson giving the IronwoodInfo-Mobile a good going over.

Planning and Zoning
Tables Soil Ordinance

Ironwood Township - May 17, 2009

In a meeting in front of a less than expected audience, the township planning and zoning board once again took up the issue of the proposed Soil Ordinance. The ordinance was conceived due to complaints surrounding gravel hauling in the township. The trucks are alleged to create intolerable dust and noise.

A letter from Susan Carr, which alleges that trucks are ruining the lifestyle that they sought when they moved to their residence, was read into the record. The Carrs went so far as to blame illness and "death" on the hauling.

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UPPCO Plans Brief Outages
for White Pine and Silver City

Houghton MI - May 18, 2009

Electric service will be interrupted briefly in White Pine and Silver City twice in a week. The first outage will occur around noon on Tuesday, May 19. UPPCO is unable to pinpoint the exact time of the outage because of the number of procedural steps leading up to it. However, the outage itself is expected to last no more than five minutes.

Customers in White Pine, Silver City, M-64 from the old prison camp to Bergland tower, the south end of the L.P. Walsh Road, and all of M-107 toward the Porkies will be affected.

On Friday, May 22, service to these same customers will be interrupted again for up to five minutes as UPPCO completes the project. As before, UPPCO is unable to pinpoint the exact time the outage will occur.

These brief outages are needed to perform necessary work on the electrical system. The facilities must be de-energized for the work to be done.

"Because we don't know how long each of the procedural steps leading up to these outages will take to perform safely, we can't pinpoint the exact time the outages will occur," said Janet Wolfe, UPPCO's Communications Manager.

"We know they'll happen around noon and hope that because they're so brief, five minutes or less, they'll be more of a nuisance than a problem for our customers," Wolfe added. "We do apologize for any inconvenience and will work as quickly as possible to keep each outage at five minutes or less."

Clergy Conference Announces Baccalaureate

Ontonagon - May 18, 2009 The Ontonagon County Clergy Conference is pleased to announce the 2009 Ontonagon Area High School Baccalaureate Service. This year’s service, to honor our graduating seniors, will be held on Wednesday, May 20th, 7:30 PM at the Ontonagon Theater of Performing Arts. The service will feature music from the Ontonagon Gospel Choir directed by Mr. Jim Jessup. Student testimonies will be shared by Meredith Cleary and Amber Pence. A pastoral address will also be given. Graduates should report to the “voting room” at the Theater at 7:00 PM with their caps and gowns for line up instructions. This service is a joint effort between the Pastors’ and churches of the county. It is one of the important “rites of passage” at this time in the lives of the graduates. It will be a meaningful service as we wish them Godspeed as they enter the next step in their lives. Everyone is encouraged to attend.

Citizens Line Up for City Trash Day

Ironwood - May 17, 2009

A steady flow of cars lined up all day Saturday for the City Trash Day. One day each year is set a side for the purpose of collecting types of trash not normally picked up during regular collection days. This year there will also be a Fall cleanup day. The city recent signed a contract with JB Disposal Co., which now includes two cleanup days per year.

There is also a provision for dropping off metal items such as old appliances, which were collected and brought to Sam's salvage yard.

The turnout is usually quite good and Saturday was no exception. City volunteers helped to unload the trash from the vehicles and load it into the on site dumpsters.

City Manager, Scott Erickson starts up the grill in spite of the challenging wind. The volunteers would be treated to grilled hot dogs and Brats. Who brought the Hot Chocolate?