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Happenings in the Keweenaw Peninsula May 28, 2006  Updated June 1, 2006 Text © 2006 Wade Wainio. Photos © 2006 Wade Wainio and © 2005 Michele Anderson, as indicated..

Spring Art and Music Festival to offer family fun June 10

By Wade Wainio

HOUGHTON -- The 5th Annual Spring Art and Music Festival will take place from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, June 10, on the Houghton Waterfront (between the UPPCO building and the new Portage Lake District Library) and will coincide with a grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony for the new Library.

Sponsored by the City of Houghton and the Copper Country Community Arts Center (CCCAC), the festival will include an art fair with demonstrating artists, a Giant Puppet Parade, a lively variety of music by local and regional musicians, a brat roast and an extreme bake sale. Again this year the festival will be the occasion for Copper Country Suzuki's Striding for Strings, a family race fundraiser.

The festival is, according to Cynthia Coté, CCCAC staff member, "a celebration of Spring and of the broad variety of music we have in the area as well as the visual arts."  

Cynthia Coté, Copper Country Community Arts Center staff member, in her office in the Arts Center, describes events for the upcoming Spring Art and Music Festival. (Photo © 2006 Waide Wainio. Reprinted with permission.)

The festival also offers opportunities for volunteers to get involved, Coté added.

"The event is growing, and it takes a lot of people to make it happen. All of it is volunteer work," Coté said.

For the extreme bake sale, volunteers are invited to donate cookies, bars, cakes, pies, tarts or cheesecake by 3 p.m. on Friday, June 9. Others are needed to help with the CCCAC booth, the activities area and the Giant Puppet Parade.

"There are a number of groups involved in the festival, including Copper Country Suzuki, which will feature Striding for Strings, a family race fundraiser for Suzuki," Coté noted. "And of course we'll have the grand opening of the Portage Lake District Library -- a huge event -- and we're happy that we can coincide with that."

At the 2005 Spring Art and Music Festival Striding for Strings event, racers, ages 7 to 9, take off for their 1 km (0.62 mile) run. (Keweenaw Now file photo © 2005 Michele Anderson)

Events beginning at 10 a.m. include the Juried Art Fair, Copper Country Suzuki's Striding for Strings footrace, family art activities and CCCAC's extreme bake sale. The Portage Lake District Library Grand Opening is from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. The Copper Country Kiwanis will have a brat roast at the barbeque pit from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Beverages will be provided by Copper Country Suzuki. Music performances begin at noon, and the Giant Puppet Parade is at 1 p.m. The Dee Amphidrome Museum will be open to the public from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. 

"There's a long stretch of activities along the waterfront downtown," Coté said. "Of course, we want people to come and spend the day and enjoy the waterfront but also to enjoy downtown Houghton to celebrate what it has to offer."

The music starts at noon with Rhythm 203 -- Sue Ellen Kingsley and friends, followed by New Zeeland Jazz Apples featuring Jazz standards as well as original music by Mike Irish at 1 p.m., the eclectic style of PJ Olsson at 2 p.m., the Celtic sound of Fiddlehead at 3 p.m., Jazz by Steve Jones at 4 p.m., followed by rock and roll with The Blue Lips at 5 p.m.

Sue Ellen Kingsley, second from right, sings a Spanish song with the group Finn Street during the 2005 Art and Music Festival in Houghton. This year Rhythm 203 -- Sue Ellen Kingsley and Friends -- will be among the music groups performing at the festival. (Keweenaw Now file photo © 2005 Michele Anderson)

The sound system and engineering will be provided by The Shaft, a live music venue welcoming all genres of music and all ages. Copper Vein Records will record the live performances for an album to be released this fall. Copper Vein Records, an artist co-operative whose emphasis is musical diversity, is located in The Shaft at 416 Shelden Avenue, downtown Houghton.

Other participants and supporters include the Downtown Merchants Association, the Keweenaw Peninsula Chamber of Commerce and Brockit Solutions/Adam Johnson.

The application deadline for artist booths is Thursday, June 1. Those applications are available at the Community Arts Center, 126 Quincy Street in Hancock. For volunteer inquiries, contact the CCCAC at (906) 482-2333.

Editor's Notes: To learn about the Copper Country Community Arts Center, visit their Web site.

Guest columnist Wade Wainio of Atlantic Mine, a graduate of Finlandia University, is a musician and writer, as well as a photographer.