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February 2007 Happenings

Library Media Event to include music, family fun Feb. 24

Posted 02/23/2007 

HOUGHTON -- Bring your family and friends to listen and dance to the music of six different musical groups at the Houghton Public Library's Media Event, to be held from 5 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 24, at the South Range Community Hall. The evening will include a potluck (beverages and table service provided), a silent auction, a kids' hour from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. with the Sugar Maple Folk entertaining with French Canadian Music and Dance, games and activities, easy folk dances, singing, piñatas and more. Other musical groups and performers include The Swedetown Irregulars, Crawfish Moyakka, Moon Dogs, Erin Smith and Lori Honrath. Juggler extraordinaire, Jason Cattelino, will perform throughout the evening. Proceeds from this event will purchase media related items for the library: music CDs, audio books for all ages, DVDs, etc. Proceeds from last year's event will purchase a listening station for kids.
Photo: "Je te plumerai le cou!" -- At the French Canadian music event in Lake Linden last December, Wellesley Pereira and his son Christian lead the chorus, band members and audience in singing the French Canadian favorite, "Alouette." Members of the group will again perform and teach songs and folk dances at the Houghton Public Library Media Event Feb. 24. (Click on photo for larger version.) (Photo © 2006 Michele Anderson)

Keweenaw Krayons to hold Third Annual Mardi Gras in Mohawk Feb. 20

Posted 02/17/2007 

MOHAWK --  The Mohawk School is a bustle of activity as Keweenaw Krayons enters the final stages of preparation for the Third Annual Mardi Gras Celebration to be held from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Fat Tuesday, February 20. The event, which will be held in the school gym and adjoining rooms, features a Cajun dinner, music, mask making, an art sale and a silent auction. Tickets for the dinner are $8 if purchased in advance, $12 at the door. Pre-schoolers are free, and family discounts are available. Rich Simpson is the head chef, assisted by Keweenaw Krayons volunteers, staff and youth. Horizons High School Culinary Class will be making King Cakes and assisting with other preparations. Music for the night will be provided by the Swedetown Irregulars, Crawfish Moiakka, and Ariel Lake on the harp. more
Photo: Crawfish Moiakka, a local Cajun band, will be among the musical groups performing at Keweenaw Krayons' Third Annual Mardi Gras Celebration to be held from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Feb. 20 at the Mohawk School. Pictured, from left, standing, are Audrey Viola, bass and vocal; Oren Tikkanen, guitar, mandolin, flute; Kelly Suvanto, fiddle; Gary Aho, fiddle, guitar, vocal; and, front, Randy Seppala, percussion. (Photo © 2007 Keweenaw Krayons. Reprinted with permission.)

Ski For Heart fundraiser to be held at Swedetown Trails Feb. 10

Posted 02/08/2007 

CALUMET -- The annual “Ski for the Heart of Our Community” fundraiser, which includes cross country skiing and snowshoeing, will be held at Calumet's Swedetown Ski Trails on Saturday, Feb. 10, 2007. The money raised will benefit two local non-profits, Omega House and, new this year, the Copper Island Cross Country Ski Club. The ski club is raising money to make a 25% match for a state grant which will allow them to keep some portions of the already established Bearchase Trail and to expand their trails as well. Omega House funds will continue to provide much needed hospice care to local residents at the Upper Peninsula’s only hospice home, located in Houghton. “We have tons of food and drinks for participants, along with t-shirts and door prizes," said Lois Berg, one of the event organizers. "On top of all that, there is great skiing or snowshoeing on the Swedetown Trails." Participants of all ages can cross country ski or snowshoe individually or join a team. Donations are collected in advance and turned in during registration the day of the event. For more information and registration materials call Omega House at 906-482-4438 or ask at the Swedetown Chalet, open from 12 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday.
Photo: Members of the Planning Committee for the "Ski for the Heart of Our Community" fundraiser, to be held at Swedetown Trails Feb. 10, are pictured here, from left, front row, Crystal Holzberger, Colleen Rowe, Diane Tiberg, Joni Moore, and, back row, Lois Berg, Ken Pepin, Ross Cooney, Ed Kraai and Mark Jindrich. Click on photo for larger version. (Photo courtesy Omega House).

"Reducing Home Energy Costs" to be topic of Town Hall Forum Feb. 15 

Posted 02/07/2007 

HANCOCK -- "Reducing Home Energy Costs" will be the topic of a Town Hall Forum to be held at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 15, at Lakeview Manor, 1401 W. Quincy St., Hancock. Practical information based on personal experiences will be offered by Terry McNinch on home off-grid solar systems, by Jerry Mitchell and Melissa Davis on home wind power operation and by Dave Bach on retro-fitting older homes. Mike Schira of the Michigan State University Extension Service will be the moderator. The Keweenaw Sustainability Project is sponsoring the forum, which is free and open to the public. For more information on the forum call 482-3270.

Finnish film set in 1868 gold rush to be shown Feb. 8, 17

Posted 02/07/2007 

HANCOCK -- The Finlandia University Finnish American Heritage Center (FAHC) continues its Nordic Film Series with The Glitter of Lappish Gold (Lapin Kullan Kimallus) at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 8. A repeat showing of the film will take place at 11 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 17. Released in 1999 and directed by Åke Lindman, The Glitter of Lappish Gold is a drama about the discovery of gold in Northern Finland in the famine year of 1868. Hundreds of prospectors, Finnish and foreign, swarmed into the region -- some of them hard workers, others swindlers and fortune hunters. Partly based on true events and real-life characters, the film explores how friendships were put to test by extreme conditions as man’s greed met the cruel nature of Lapland. The film is in Finnish with English subtitles. There is no admission charge, but donations are gratefully accepted. The FAHC is located at 435 Quincy Street in downtown Hancock. For additional information, please contact 906-487-7505.

Online Houghton Bike Commuting Survey to assist planning for city bike routes

Posted 01/26/2007 

HOUGHTON -- Do you commute on a bike from, through, or to Houghton -- or would you like to? Do you want to add your voice to the Houghton bike commuter planning process? Take the Houghton Bike Commuting Survey by Feb. 16, online at: http://tinyurl.com/y5ycu3. The Houghton Bike Commuting Task Force was formed after the Oct. 25, 2006, City Council meeting in response to community interest in supporting and encouraging biking in the City of Houghton and making it a more bike-friendly community. The task force is studying current bike routes and would like to understand how the community uses or wants to use bikes as utilitarian (not recreational) transportation. They are now seeking your input about how you bike commute and, if you don’t, what would help you start. The task force is comprised of representatives of city government, members of the biking community and members of the student bike club. For more information, contact citymanager@cityofhoughton.com.

Finlandia exhibits art of Akseli Gallen-Kallela, Finland’s National Artist (1865-1931)

Posted 01/19/2007 

HANCOCK -- In coordination with the City of Hancock’s annual Heikinpäivä Celebration, the Finlandia University Gallery in the Finnish American Heritage Center is hosting an exhibit of prints and paintings by Finland ’s national artist Akseli Gallen-Kallela (1865-1931) Jan. 19 through Feb. 16, 2007. Akseli Gallen-Kallela, widely known as the most prominent figure in turn of the 20th century pictorial art of Finland, lived in the United States from October 1924 until May 1926. In 1924, he visited Suomi College to work with students and hold a public exhibit and sale of his artwork. During that exhibition, Gallen-Kallela displayed, among other work, a print of the front-page illustration for his planned, but unfinished, book, Great Kalevala, which would have illustrated the complete Kalevala (Finnish epic). At the conclusion of the 1924 exhibit, Gallen-Kallela presented the illustration, along with 38 additional heliogravure prints, to Suomi College. These 39 prints, and two oil paintings from the collections of Finlandia University and Michigan Technological University, comprise the current exhibit.
Photo: Self Portrait by Akseli Gallen-Kallela, Finland's National Artist. Click on image for larger version. (Photo courtesy Finlandia University. Reprinted with permission.)

January 2007 Happenings -- March 2007 Happenings