Home    Happenings

June 2005 Happenings -- August 2005 Happenings

July 2005 Happenings

Tour Gratiot Lake by kayak July 17

Posted 07/02/2005 

GRATIOT LAKE -- The Gratiot Lake Conservancy is planning a six-hour kayak tour of Gratiot Lake on July 17. If you would like to participate please call 906-337-5476 or e-mail belh@verizon.net  by July 8 for a reservation. Group size will be limited. Bring your own equipment or rent equipment at $60 per person through Keweenaw Adventure Company, who will outfit the tour and orient participants to kayaking techniques. Please contact Sam Raymond at 906-289-4303 to reserve a rental kayak. Children under the age of 18 must be accompanied by an adult. This paddling experience may be too strenuous for small children. 

Chamber Music Concert to feature Schumann, Schubert July 16

Posted 07/02/2005 

HOUGHTON -- The public is invited to a free Chamber Music Concert to be held at 5 p.m. on Saturday, July 16, at Trinity Episcopal Church, 205 E. Montezuma, Houghton. The program includes Robert Schumann's Piano Quartet in E flat, Opus 47, and the Piano Quintet in A, Opus Posthumous 114 (the "Trout Quintet") by Franz Schubert. Featured musicians are Neil Paynter, piano; Andrew McInnes, violin; Jonathan Poupore, viola; Patrick Quimby, cello; Michael Crawford, bass. For information call Mary Richards-Kallman at 482-5202.

Keweenaw Trail Running Festival welcomes Kenyan runners July 8-10

Posted 06/30/2005 

COPPER HARBOR -- The sixth annual Keweenaw Trail Running Festival (KTRF) -- to be held in Keweenaw County July 8, 9 and 10 -- will feature four runners from Kenya. Irene Chuma, Silas Soy, Edward Kitur and Julius Tarus will make the trip from the mountain village of Kitale, just north of Eldoret, in eastern Kenya to participate in the festival's three events: a 10-km run at Gratiot River North, near Ahmeek, along the Gratiot River and the rugged Lake Superior shoreline; a 5.8-km Hill Climb in Eagle Harbor, where runners will start at the beach in Eagle Harbor and run 5.8 km to the summit of Mt. Lookout; and a 25-km run on the trail network in Copper Harbor, with the Keweenaw Mountain Lodge serving as the festival's home base. more 
Photo: Irene Chuma (in blue) is one of four Kenyan runners who will compete in the 2005 Keweenaw Trail Running Festival. (Photo courtesy Jeff Crumbaugh. Reprinted with permission.)  

Thimbleberry Jam Fest to be July 23 in Mohawk

Posted 06/29/2005 

MOHAWK -- The Thimbleberry Jam Fest -- entertainment for the whole family -- will be from 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, July 23, at the Mohawk Park. Music groups to perform include Finn Street, Hannah and Wynter Bethel, The Augustine Family Band, The Bayou Mountain Band, The Polka Kings, The Fiddleheads and The Keweenaw Jazz Band. Besides the variety of live music, the festival offers food, art (to do and to purchase) and kids' activities. For details visit the Keweenaw Krayons Web site.
Photo: Gary Aho and Kelly Suvanto, members of the new Bayou Mountain Band, rehearse Cajun music for the July 23 Thimbleberry Jam Fest in Mohawk. Other members of the band, not pictured, are Craig Kurtz, Oren Tikkanen and Audrey Viola. Click here or on photo for larger version. (Photo © 2005 and courtesy Gary Aho) 

Heim Duo to present classical concert at Finlandia July 6

Posted 06/28/2005 

HANCOCK -- The Heim Duo of Mobile, Alabama, will present a concert of (mostly) Vintage Viennese Music for Classical Guitar and Flute at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, July 6, in Finlandia University's Chapel of St. Matthew. Annette Heim, flute, and Bret Heim, classical guitar, will play music of Anton Diabelli; toe-tapping waltzes and ländler by Franz Schubert and Johann Strauss, Jr.; and music based on Mozart’s infamous rascal, Don Giovanni. The Heim Duo will also showcase a fiery work by Bulgarian composer Atanas Ourkouzounov -- Sonatine, inspired by Bulgarian village festivals and the stillness of ancient Byzantine chant. The concert is free and open to the public. For more information: (906) 483-3754 or sacheney@chartermi.net. See also the Heim Duo's Web site.

Celebrate Lake Superior Day, July 17

Posted 06/27/2005 

ASHLAND, WIS. -- The largest freshwater lake in the world has its own day of recognition held annually on the third Sunday in July (July 17 this year). Communities, businesses, industries, civic and community groups and clubs, churches, schools and individuals or families are invited to hold activities or events that celebrate Lake Superior. Any one can organize an event or activity that symbolizes a connection to the Lake Superior basin. The Lake Superior Binational Forum is promoting this basin-wide event to highlight the personal, environmental, economic and spiritual connections people have to this unique world treasure. more
Photo: Lake Superior shoreline at Bete Grise South on the Keweenaw Peninsula. The "singing" sand at Bete Grise, as well as unique wetlands, will now be protected for future generations, thanks to a partnership organized by the Michigan Chapter of The Nature Conservancy. 

Grandmothers for peace gather at Veterans' Park on Saturdays

Posted 06/26/2005 

HOUGHTON -- Inspired by Sharon Mehdi's book, The Great Silent Grandmother Gathering, local grandmothers and others interested in change, peace and new directions are gathering from noon to 1 p. m. on Saturdays at Veterans' Park in Houghton. Written as a gift for her grandchild, Mehdi's book has traveled across the country and around the world. Grandmothers and others are invited to join the Saturday gathering. For more information call 482-3270. The book is available locally at B. Dalton and Book World.

Reading the Landscape Keweenaw field trips to focus on Fresh Water Studies
Posted 06/21/2005 

EAGLE HARBOR -- The July 2 - Aug. 13, 2005, Reading the Landscape art and natural history field trips will focus on Fresh Water Studies, bringing together Upper Peninsula scientists and artists who will share a Saturday with program participants in various Keweenaw County locations. Beginning with satellite remote sensing and a short hike on Brockway Mountain to create a large-scale perspective of Lake Superior, the program moves to the ecology and geology of wet and sandy Lake Superior shoreline areas and goes on to examine fish and water bugs in Keweenaw streams. Michigan artists will help participants capture their ideas in graph paper journals. Visit the Gratiot Lake Conservancy Web site to read the brochure and register or call 906-289-4514. $15 per session. 
Photo: Participants in "Water Reflections," a 2004 Reading the Landscape session held at Gratiot Lake, experienced both watercolor painting and aquatic testing. Click here or on photo for larger version. (Photo © 2004 and courtesy Gratiot Lake Conservancy. Reprinted with permission.)

Calumet Players to hold auditions for Pajama Game July 5, 6, 7

Posted 06/20/2005 

CALUMET -- The Calumet Players will hold auditions for the stage musical The Pajama Game at 7 p.m. Tues., Wed. and Thurs., July 5, 6 and 7, in the Calumet Players' building (across the street from the Calumet Theatre. These are open auditions for all roles including chorus parts (no speaking roles for young children). If you are interested in playing in the orchestra, please contact the Music Director, Tom, at 337-2250 or stop in at auditions. You may also stop in at auditions if you are interested in support positions: stage manager, running crew, lighting and sound design and/or operators, building sets, costuming, props crew or fly crew. For more information contact Deb at 337-0872 or email daubin3@excite.com. Performances are scheduled for Sept. 9, 10, 15, 16 and 17. 

Bete Grise Preserve to be dedicated at July 9 Celebration
Posted 06/20/2005 

HOUGHTON -- The Dedication of the Bete Grise Preserve, open to the public, will be held at 2 p.m on Saturday, July 9, 2005, on the Gay Lac La Belle Road between Point Isabelle and Lac La Belle. The Preserve includes 1,104 acres of pristine dune-swale wetlands and 7,500 feet of Lake Superior shoreline, which will be permanently preserved and open to the public for noninvasive recreation, research and education. The Houghton Keweenaw Conservation District and their Partners -- The Nature Conservancy, Keweenaw Land Trust, South Shore Association, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and many concerned individuals -- made possible the purchase of this area from International Paper/Lake Superior Land Co. more
Photo: This aerial photo shows the wetlands and beach at Bete Grise South in relation to the Gay-Lac La Belle Road. Lac La Belle and some Lac La Belle sloughs are in the background. (Photo © 2003 Michael Jordan. Reprinted with permission.)

Omega House seeks landscaping donations
Posted 06/17/2005 

HANCOCK -- With the opening of the Omega House Community Hospice Project just weeks away, donations of money are being sought to cover the cost of plants and shrubs for landscaping. "An anonymous donor has offered a match up to $1,000 to all monies donated to pay for our landscaping costs," explained Linda Gagnon, volunteer Landscaping Committee chairperson. "With additional donations from the community we will be able to cover all the financial needs of this project." The money must be raised by early July. A planting event will be held at 9 a.m. on Saturday, June 18, at the house site (2211 Maureen Lane, Houghton, off West Sharon Avenue). If you wish to help, please call the office at 482-4438 and bring shovels, rakes and wheelbarrows.

Oriental dance workshops available in June, July 

Posted 05/24/2005

HOUGHTON -- Instruction in Oriental dance, or Near-Eastern dance, is now available in the Copper Country for both adults and youth, through upcoming workshops. Anyone is welcome to learn “the ancient and enduring art” of Oriental dance at a workshop with Barbara McLean from 12:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, June 4, at Trinity Episcopal Church, Montezuma Ave., Houghton. Cost: $25. McLean has been a performing member of the Near East Dance Theatre of Boston. Michigan Tech's 2005 Summer Youth Program (SYP) offers students entering grades 7-12 an opportunity to attend an Oriental Dance Workshop with Elena Lentini, New York City performing artist, choreographer and dance company director. The SYP workshop, to be held the week of July 17-23, 2005, has a registration deadline of June 3, 2005. more
Photo: Barbara McLean demonstrates Near-Eastern dance, also known as Oriental or "Belly Dance." (Photo © 2005 Joe Kirkish. Reprinted with permission.)

MTU to host "Affirming diversity" Conference Oct. 5-8, 2005

Posted 03/28/2005  Updated 03/29/2005

HOUGHTON -- The Department of Humanities at Michigan Technological University will host the fifth Biennial Feminism(s) and Rhetoric(s) Conference, Oct. 5-8, 2005, sponsored by the Coalition of Women Scholars and Rhetoricians. This interdisciplinary conference affirms various aspects of diversity -- from language use to communication practices of women from different races, classes, cultures and historical eras. Proposals for papers, presentations or performances are due by April 1, 2005. more

June 2005 Happenings -- August 2005 Happenings