special section/progress-e

2012

ALSOINSIDE

Drop boxesFor more than just plasticshopping bags

PAGE 2E

Solar energyJacobetti laptops goinggreen with solar power

PAGE 2E

Presque IslePower PlantMay now have a brighterfuture

PAGE 3E

Alger EnergySaversConserving energy

PAGE 4E

Tourist ParkBasinPartially refilled

PAGE 5E

Suicide HillExpanding with fifth jump

PAGE 6E

Resale TherapyHelping clean out closets

PAGE 7E

Elements OfFurnishing consignment shop

PAGE 8E

Area GardensCommunity gardens growing

PAGE 9E

Iron Ore Heritage TrailWork continues

PAGE 11E

GREEN LIVING & RECREATION — SECTION EMONDAY, MARCH 26

PROGRESSA SPECIAL SECTION OF THE MINING JOURNAL

By JOHANNA BOYLEJournal Ishpeming Bureau

MARQUETTE — Over the past year, localstudents have gotten into the act of growingtheir own food, thanks to the construction ofhoop houses for several area districts.

At the Negaunee High School, studentsworked together to construct and plant asmall hoop house on the school’s property,producing a variety of vegetables from toma-toes to pumpkins, plus herbs like basil.

The groups, led by teachers Helen Gross-man and Sherri Holmgren, are waiting fortheir final pumpkins to ripen before putting ina winter crop.

During the first few months of school, stu-dents who were involved in the hoop housegot to sample their produce in salads andother dishes, prepared by Grossman forevents like club meetings.

Then, in the fall of 2011, NICE CommunitySchools teacher Libby Nelson helped to or-ganize and construct a hoop house at theAspen Ridge School, for use by all of the dis-trict’s students.

“They’ve planted crops on Farmville (a

computer game connected with Facebook),but they’ve never planted a real seed,” Nel-son said of young people today.

With the hope of not only helping kids to re-connect with nature, but also helping themlearn more about what it takes to producefood, Nelson submitted a grant proposal tothe Marquette County Health Department fora hoop house, which was constructed overthe summer. Cooperation between thehealth department and the Marquette Com-munity Foundation is helping to fund hoophouses around the county.

Besides learning about growing vegetablesand other plants, students also got thechance to learn about proper soil conditions.At the NICE hoop house, students and com-munity volunteers began working to prep thesoil for planting, first aerating it and then lay-ing down layers of compost (donated by lo-cal community members), newspaper andhay, which will help put nutrients into the soil.

“We want to teach kids how plants grow,where food comes from,” Nelson said.

Working with the hoop house has allowedthe students to become more connected to

the food they eat, and to recognize the envi-ronmental impact of their food. Besides be-ing fresh and healthy, and often organic, lo-cally grown food does not require fossil fuelsto be transported thousands of miles fromwhere it is grown to where it is consumed.

During the summer months, Nelson saidshe envisioned the hoop house being usedas a community garden.

“I think it’s going to be good for the commu-nity,” said eighth grade student Andrew Man-zoline, who said he has never gardened be-fore. “We need to learn it’s a lot of hard workto grow food.”

Even if the students don’t decide to go intoa field involving agriculture, Nelson said shefelt working in the garden would give themskills they can use later in life.

“A bigger idea for me is the idea of sustain-ability and food and where it comes from,”she said. “We don’t even think about it...They’re more aware and more resilient.”

Johanna Boyle can be reached at 906-

486-4401. Her email address is

[email protected].

Area schools get students into gardening

Hoop house hoopla


ISHPEMING — You’reat the grocery store pick-ing up some ingredientsfor dinner. Chances are,even if you opt for paperbags at the checkout line,you’ll still come awaywith a number of plasticbags, such as the small-er produce bags or thoseused to package bread.

Instead of ending up inthe trash, those seeming-ly-useless plastic bagscan be recycled.

With many grocerystores and shopping cen-ters offering drop boxesfor plastic grocery bags,consumers may not real-ize that more can bedropped off than just theplastic bag you get at thecheckout lane.

According to The Amer-ican Chemistry Council,which operateswww.p las t icbagrecy-cling.org, those drop-offlocations may also ac-cept plastic dry cleaningbags, produce bags,plastic wrap from toiletpaper and paper towelpackaging, wrap fromelectronics or furniture,plastic food storagebags, plastic cereal boxliners, Tyvek free of glueand labels and case wrapfrom snack or water bot-tles.

Plastics marked No. 2

or No. 4 are also general-ly accepted.

Plastics must be cleanand dry. Cling wrap,prepackaged food bags(such as pre-washed sal-ad bags), bags with paintor glue on them and com-postable bags are not ac-cepted.

The Shopko Hometownstore in Ishpeming pro-vides a drop off box forthe recyclable plasticbags in the front of thestore.

“We rolled it out compa-ny-wide six months ago,”said Store Manager MattHoks last year. “It’s beenpretty successful.”

Once the bags aredropped off at participat-ing stores, Hoks saidthey are baled up andsent to a recycling centerwhere they are made in-to new products.

Before dropping bagsoff, the American Chem-istry Council adviseschecking with the partic-ular drop off center to seewhat is accepted.

For more information,go to www.plasticbagre-cycling.org.

Johanna Boyle can be

reached at 906-486-4401.

Her email address is

[email protected].

Besides plastic grocery bags, other plastics such as food storage bags, dry clean-ing bags and plastic wrap from electronics and furniture can be recycled in collec-tion boxes at local businesses, such as the Shopko Hometown store in Ishpeming.(Journal photo by Johanna Boyle)

2E -— The Mining Journal Monday, March 26 PROGRESS2012

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MARQUETTE — Ifyou’re a student with alaptop, finding a place tostudy on the campus ofNorthern Michigan Uni-versity usually involveslocating an electrical out-let. This spring, studentsin the Jacobetti Centerwill be able to use a differ-ent kind of energy torecharge their laptop bat-teries.

Thanks to grants fromthe Wisconsin EnergyFoundation and the NMUWildcat Innovation Fund,the university will be ableto use the energy that iscurrently being producedby a wind turbine and aseries of solar panels atthe Jacobetti Center.

“The solar panels andwind turbine have been onthe Jacobetti roof for sev-eral years, but they haveonly been connected tomonitoring equipment,”

said engineering technol-ogy professor MichaelMartin. “We really didn’thave any of the support-ing electronics to tie it intothe electrical grid. We on-ly had one part of the puz-zle.”

At the suggestion of stu-dents, however, Martinbegan pursing grants toallow the students tomake use of that energy.

“The students were say-ing it’s a shame we havethe power but we’re notusing it,” Martin said.

The new equipment,which was slightly delayedin installation by a roofrenovation on the building,will provide electrical out-lets in the Jacobetti Cen-ter commons area that willbe fed entirely from thesolar panels and wind tur-bine beginning this spring.

That area of the buildingtypically sees four to eightlaptops in use in the be-ginning of the semester,and up to 20 toward the

end. Martin said the out-put from the solar panelsand wind turbine are ex-pected to meet that need,with batteries collectingthe generated power onweekends or on schoolbreaks.

In addition to allowingstudents to charge theircomputers using renew-able energy, the newequipment also gives stu-dents in the renewableenergy classes a chanceto get hands-on experi-ence with that equipment,in addition to the solarpanels and wind turbinethat were already in place.

Although there aren’tcurrently plans to do thesame with other buildingson campus, Martin said ifexcess energy is generat-ed it could be put back in-to the electrical grid.


reached at 906-486-4401.


[email protected].

Melissa Hill, junior in Health at Northern Michigan University changes her classschedule around on her laptop using the wireless network system in the hallway ofthe Learning Resources Center on campus. (Journal file photo)

Local drop boxesare for more thanjust plastic bags

Jacobetti laptopsgoing green withsolar energy

We rolled it outcompany-wide sixmonths ago. It’s beenpretty successful.

“

- MATT HOKSStore Manager

”

@MiningJournal

WE TWEET! FOLLOW US

By Journal StaffMARQUETTE — From

Marquette to Lansingand Washington, D.C.,officials are praising arecent announcementdetailing the possibilityof a joint venture thatmay extend the life ofthe Presque Isle PowerPlant.

We Energies, whichowns the Presque Isleplant, and WolverinePower Cooperative an-nounced Jan. 11 that thetwo companies hadsigned a letter of intentand plan to work togeth-er over the next fewmonths to gauge thepracticality of retrofittingthe plant to meet im-pending environmentalregulations.

We Energies repre-sentatives had said inOctober that in order tocontend with federal en-vironmental pollutionregulations, they wouldlikely retire the plant by2017.

Marquette Mayor JohnKivela said he and othercity officials have beenin discussions about theplant’s future since evenbefore that announce-ment.

“We’ve been involved

since the beginning, try-ing to put pressure onWe Energies to come upwith some creative solu-tions,” he said.

He added that he hashigh hopes for a partner-ship, as Wolverine hasbeen interested in enter-ing the Upper Peninsulapower business for atime now.

“We’re very optimisticwith this partnership. Itmakes sense for a lot ofreasons,” Kivela said. “Ithink there’s a lot of rea-son to believe this isvery doable.”

Beyond power produc-tion, the plant is impor-tant to the city becauseit is the largest munici-pal taxpayer and em-ploys about 170 people.

Kivela said GovernorRick Snyder’s office,concerned about thepossible impact on theU.P. power grid, hasbeen directly involvedwith discussions aboutthe future of thePresque Isle plant.

Snyder released astatement after the an-nouncement, commend-ing the work by both WeEnergies and Wolverine.

“I want to thank every-one at both companieswho kept thinking andworking to find a solu-tion that is right for theU.P. — in terms of Michi-gan jobs, consumers,and businesses,” Sny-der said.

The Mining Journal, Monday, March 26 — 3EPROGRESS2012

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MARQUETTE — Whilethe smoking ban forrestaurants and bars mayhave cleared up the air inthe area’s businesses, ithas also had one unin-tended consequence —cigarette butts on Mar-quette’s beaches.

When beachgoers comeacross cigarette butts onsand of their favoriteswimming area they mightthink the litter comes fromthose who smoke on thebeach.

“Most of it is not,” saidVicki Baldini of the Superi-or Watershed Partnership.“It’s coming from the citystreets... through thestorm sewers.”

With smokers who were

previously able to smokeinside moving outside,there is often no place forthe cigarette butts to gobut into the street wherethey are washed awaythrough storm sewers andout into Lake Superiorwhere they wash up onbeaches, Baldini said.

To help cut down on theamount of litter on thebeaches in 2011, theSWP, through a grant fromthe Marquette CountyCommunity Foundation,provided red sand-filledbuckets at no charge toarea businesses and or-ganizations to provide aplace for patrons to dis-pose of their cigarettebutts.

“If you’re sitting in thestreet and you flick yourcigarette butt, it (seems

like it) shouldn’t make adifference, but it makes abig difference,” Baldinisaid.

Provided with the bucketis sand and a scoop sothat business owners canclean out the bucketswhen they get filled up.

“I think it follows up onthe Watershed Partner-ship’s campaign to get thecigarette butts off thebeaches,” said MauraDavenport, a board mem-ber for both the SWP andthe MCCF. “I think thiscampaign shows a collab-oration between commu-nity organizations to keepour beaches clean.”


reached at 906-486-4401.


[email protected].

Buckets placed along downtown Washington Street in an attempt to keep cigarettelitter down. (Journal file photo)

Above, the Presque Isle Power Plant is pictured. We Energies and Wolverine PowerCooperative announced Jan. 11 that the two companies signed a letter of intent andplan to work together over the next few months to gauge the practicality of retrofittingthe plant to meet impending environmental regulations. (Journal file photo)

Presque Isle PowerPlant may have abrighter future

We’re very opti-mistic with this part-nership. It makessense for a lot ofreasons. I thinkthere’s a lot of rea-son to believe this isvery doable.

“

- JOHN KIVELAMarquette Mayor

”


MUNISING — Goinggreen and reducing yourenvironmental impactmight seem like a bigchange for the typicalAmerican’s lifestyle, butit’s often small changesmade by entire commu-nities that can make abig impact.

In 2011, joint effort bythe Pictured Rocks Na-tional Lakeshore and theSuperior WatershedPartnership focused onhelping Alger Countyresidents become moreaware of their own im-pact on the environment.

That effort formed theAlger Energy Saversprogram, which workedto help county residentslearn more about howenergy efficiency cansave money, improvethe comfort of a home

and reduce the environ-mental impact of climatechange.

“It’s very important be-cause there’s a directlink between energyconservation and energy

savings and carbondioxide emissions,” saidGregg Bruff, chief of her-itage education at Pic-tured Rocks. “Whenpeople save energy,however they do it,

they’re helping to protectnational parks and na-tional forests.”

The Alger EnergySavers program wasfunded through a grantfrom the Great LakesRestoration Initiativeand was free for AlgerCounty residents. It ranthrough December of2011 and is on holdpending further funding.

In total, the programreached 350 residencesand 50 businesses, in-stalling over 4,200 differ-ent measures, such ascompact flourescentlight bulbs, low flow

shoerheads and pipewrap, and saving 2.24million kilowatt hours ofelectricity, saving 307tons of carbon dioxideannually from being ex-pelled into the environ-ment.

Residents who signedup for the program re-ceived an in-home ener-gy assessment fromMichigan Energy Op-tions, a non-profit orga-nization focused on en-ergy efficiency and sus-tainability.

Participating house-holds also received a$10 gift certificate to

help purchase items notincluded in the assess-ment, such as a pro-grammable thermostat,Bruff said.

In addition to the ener-gy assessment, Michi-gan Energy Options alsosat down with residentsin a “kitchen table chat”to discuss how they canreduce their energy con-sumption, individualizingthe program for eachhousehold.


reached at 906-486-4401.


[email protected].

4E — The Mining Journal, Monday, March 26 PROGRESS2012

Alger Energy Savers focuseson energy conservation

WPPI Customer and Renewable Programs Coordinator Mike Hodges gave an informal presentation to Negaunee residents to inform them about some energy saving op-tions they can pursue to lower their utility costs. (Journal file photo)

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By KYLE WHITNEYJournal Staff Writer

MARQUETTE — Afterdebating the issue forweeks, the MarquetteCity Commission sold aportion of the formerHeartwood Forestlandproperty last fall.

The commissionagreed in late Novemberto sell 100 acres of the2,400-acre property tothe Marquette CountySolid Waste Manage-ment Authority for$180,000.

MCSWMA officialswant to extract sandfrom some of the 100acres. When creating acell at the landfill, au-thority workers dump alayer of screen sand be-fore laying down a high-density polyethylene lin-er. Several feet ofdrainage sand is thendumped on top to pro-tect and preserve the in-tegrity of the liner.

The property’s proxim-ity to the landfill willgreatly reduce sandtransportation costs,they said.

Two months prior tothe sale, the MCSWMAoffered to purchase thesame parcel for$160,000. The vote tosell the land carried 6-1,but ultimately failed, as

the city’s real estatesales policy requires aunanimous vote of thecommissioners presentwhen responding to asale request from a spe-cific party.

After the first purchasewas shot down, the cityput out a request for pro-posals on the land.Unanimous votes arenot required if a biddingprocess is utilized.

Marquette is also ex-ploring plans for the fu-ture of the remainder ofthe property. The city’sfive-year parks andrecreation plan present-ed in October places ahigh priority on commis-sioning a study — atthe cost of $10,000 —to look at establishing aconservation area inthe Heartwood Forest-land.

The city first boughtthe property — locatedin the city of Marquette,Marquette Township andSands Township — inMarch 2005 for $5 mil-lion from the ForestlandGroup of Chapel Hill,N.C.

Kyle Whitney can be

reached at 906-228-2500,

ext. 250. His email ad-

dress is kwhitney@min-

ingjournal.net.

Above, Mountain bikers ride a section of the Heartwood Forestland trails in Mar-quette. Below, a section of the Heartwood trail. (Journal file photos)

Tourist Park Basinpartially refilled

By Journal StaffMARQUETTE — Wet-

land planting and beachrestoration is scheduledto be completed by Juneas the Marquette Boardof Light and Power con-tinues to rebuild theTourist Park Dam.

Water from the DeadRiver had risen at least 9feet this summer in theTourist Park Basin sincecompletion of a cofferdam at the former damsite.

Workers cleaned andthe dewatered channelbed below the dam wherethe new spillway will bebuilt. Once constructionof the permanent dam iscompleted, the top of thecoffer dam will be re-moved.

Some water is now able

to bypass the dam andflow downstream by wayof the tainter gates, alsoknown as floodgates.

The water level will re-main at about the sameelevation until after wet-land planting and beachrestoration.

Erik Booth, project man-ager with the MarquetteBoard of Light and Pow-er, said construction hasgone smoothly and is onschedule.

“We saw an almost im-mediate increase in wa-terfowl population and ac-tivity after the water filledbehind the coffer dam,”Booth said. “We’ve alsowitnessed people launch-ing their canoes andkayaks in the water to ex-plore and investigate thenew environment.”

The construction of thedam also meant an endto the popular waterfallunearthed after the May2003 Dead River flooddestroyed the originaldam.

The $4.8 millionrestoration project will al-so restore a swimmingbeach adjacent to the cityowned Tourist Parkcampground and create13 acres of wetlandswhen the basin is refilled,according to BLP offi-cials.

“This project representsa new chapter in the his-tory of the Board of Lightand Power,” Booth said.“Knowing what thismeans to our community,it’s satisfying from both aprofessional and person-al perspective.”

The Mining Journal, Monday, March 26 — 5EPROGRESS2012

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With the coffer dam in place construction crews clear the exposed channel bed,preparing for construction of the new dam spillway. (Board of Light and Power photo)


ISHPEMING — To helpnew jumpers move moreeasily to bigger hills, vol-unteers and members ofthe Ishpeming Ski Clubcompleted construction afifth ski jump at SuicideHill in October andNovember.

Although the ski jumparea’s 90-meter jump maybe the most recognizable,the area also houses 13-,40- and 60-meter jumps,which jumpers use to buildup to being able to jumpthe largest.

“You have to go throughthose progressions to getyour head wrappedaround it,” said club VicePresident Bob Hendrick-son.

Previously jumpers hadto go from jumping the 13-meter hill to the 40-meter.

In October, however, con-struction was underwayfor a new 25-meter jump,placed near the 13-meterhill, which will allow a moregradual progression to thelarger hills, Hendricksonsaid.

The new scaffolded hillreplaces an old 20-meterhill that had been built intothe ground and had dete-riorated due to erosionand other factors.

Completed for the win-ter jumping season, thenew hill is also targetedto eventually be set upfor summer jumping, us-ing the same plastic sys-tem that has been in-stalled on the 13- and40-meter hills.

Thanks to donated timeand work by volunteersand Lindberg and Associ-ates for the moving ofearth for the constructionof the jump, as well as pro-

ceeds from a croatianchicken fundraiser held bythe club which covered thecost of materials, the jumpwas completed.

Also in the past year, theclub and volunteers haveworked to repair the Sui-cide Bowl facilities, includ-ing putting a new rubberroof on the 90-meter hilljudges box, and the addi-tion of 12 new startinggates on the 90 meter hill,which required the exten-sion of part of the hill’sscaffold.

In February, the clubhosted its 125th annualSki Jumping Tournament.

For more information onthe ski club and trainingopportunities for youth,visit www.ishskiclub.com.


reached at 906-486-4401.


[email protected].


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A ski jumper launches off from the 90-meter jump during the 2011 junior ski jumpingcompetition at the Suicide Bowl in Ishpeming. (Journal file photos by Johanna Boyle)

By JACKIE STARKJournal Staff Writer

MARQUETTE — Anew consignment shopin Marquette Townshipoffers area residents away to clean out theirclosets and still earn alittle cash.

Resale Therapy byDeb, owned and operat-ed by Deb Parker, firstopened its doors in Oc-tober 2010, and hascontinued to grow itsclientele since then. Thestore is located at 325Erickson St.

Parker said she spent17 years working at theretail store in the Mar-quette Women’s Centerbefore moving on toopen up her own shop.

“One of the things I didwas help start the retailshop there. It ran itscourse for me and I de-cided it was time to dosomething on my ownwith this experience,”Parker said. “I decidedto open up my own con-signment shop for menand women and youngadults.”

Parker said customerscan make an appoint-ment and bring in up to20 items to put on con-signment. She displaysthe items — which caninclude men’s, women’s

and young adults’ cloth-ing, as well as shoes,purses and other acces-sories — for 60 days. Ifthere are any unsolditems after those 60days, the owner of theitems has the option ofdonating them or takingthem back.

Proceeds from allsales on consignmentare split 50-50.

“I’m not a big store, soI try to fit as much as Ican in the space that Ihave. I started takingsome more men’sthings, especially youngadult items,” Parkersaid. “Some of thebrands that really go arethe Hollister and Aber-crombie and J. Crew.I’ve done really well withthe younger, trendierstyles.”

Parker said thoughshe does have a loyalclientele, she’s alwayslooking for new peopleto stop by the shop.

“I’m always looking formore people to come inand bring items in,”Parker said. “And I justwant to thank everybodyfor being such a greatsupport to my store.”

Store hours are 10a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Tues-day through Friday and11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Satur-

day.

Jackie Stark can be

reached at 906-228-2500,

ext. 242. Her email address

is [email protected].

By KYLE WHITNEYJournal Staff Writer

MARQUETTE — A rep-resentative group of localofficials formed in 2011 ismoving steadily toward thecreation of a regionalrecreation authority.

The 11 members of thead-hoc committee, whichrepresent the MarquetteCity Commission, as wellas the Chocolay, Sandsand Marquette townshipboards, are tasked with de-termining whether an inter-jurisdictional recreation au-thority should be created.

If an authority is crafted,the entities involved wouldcede control of identifiedrecreational properties tothe authority, which wouldreserve the ability to buy,sell and lease property,apply for grants, hire em-ployees, assess fees, col-lect revenues, levy taxesand issue bonds.

The committee at itsJanuary meeting dis-cussed the possibility of

placing a number of prop-erties under the control ofan authority, including theformer Heartwood Forest-land Property and Mar-quette Township’s LionsField, as well as LakeviewArena and the PresqueIsle and Cinder Pond mari-nas in the city.

During a February meet-ing of the Marquette CityCommission, city repre-sentatives — commission-ers Robert Niemi, JasonSchneider and JohnnyDePetro — asked theboard to give them direc-tion by approving fourgoals for the ad hoc com-mittee. The list, which wasultimately approved, in-cluded the formation of anauthority responsible forall parks and recreation fa-cilities in the four jurisdic-tions and the suggestionthe city sell the portions ofthe former HeartwoodForestland located in adja-cent townships to thosetownships.

Marquette Mayor JohnKivela said he was lookingforward to seeing discus-sions about a recreationauthority finally move for-ward after more than sixyears of hoping for such abody.

Prior to joining a recre-ation authority, each juris-diction would need to haveapproval from its board.

Conceptually, the groupsare all on board, but manyfeel there is still a long wayto go.

“(Discussions are) veryloose and generic be-cause we still have a longway to go,” MarquetteTownship Supervisor Den-nis Liimatta said. “It’s notthat we don’t support theconcept of a recreation au-thority, but we need toknow what that looks like.”

Kyle Whitney can be

reached at 906-228-2500,

ext. 250. His email ad-

dress is kwhitney@min-

ingjournal.net.

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Above, the Resale Therapy store and various merchandise is pictured. (Journalphotos by Matthew Keiser)


Elements Of, furnishing consignment shopBy JOHANNA BOYLEJournal Ishpeming Bureau

MARQUETTE — Fur-nishing your home proba-bly means finding newcouches, chairs, dressersor artwork to fill the roomsyou live in. But that does-n’t necessarily mean ev-ery item has to be brandnew.

Thanks to consignmentshops, those in the marketfor home furnishings cannot only save some mon-ey, but also cut down onthe amount of waste pro-duced by the industry byreusing items.

“The things we get arefairly unique,” saidHeather Paananen, own-

er of Elements Of, a fur-nishings consignmentshop located in the Ma-sonic Square in downtownMarquette.

Paananen originallyowned Superior Lighting,a shop located on Wash-ington Street, near the in-tersection with McClellanAvenue. At that location,she began operating aconsignment shop in addi-tion to the lighting. In Au-gust 2011, however, shechanged location and puther focus entirely on con-signment.

“It’s all furniture andhome decor,” Paananensaid. “I was looking forsomething new and it wasa need in the area.”

Now Elements Of offerseverything from couchesto chairs to tables to art-work, all gently used andready to be reused.

Sellers first bring anitem, or a picture if theitem is too large to easilytransport. Paananen thenis able to give a pricerange and if that is agree-able to the seller, the itemis put on display.

“We limit it to gentlyused stuff that’s in goodcondition. Age doesn’tmake a difference,” shesaid.

The shop usually hasaround 30 different sellersplacing items, andturnover is typically quick.

For those hoping to do

some consignment shop-ping, Paananen suggest-ed some tips to make theexperience easier.

“Bring your measure-ments,” she said. “It’s al-ways smaller in the store.”

In addition, if customersare attempting to find apiece that matches otheritems in their home, bringa paint or fabric sample,she said. If a customer isinterested in a piece, theyshould consider buying itimmediately, as the itemsare one-of-a-kind.

Finally, the most impor-tant point to remember isflexibility.

“You never know whatyou’ll find,” Paananensaid.

Heather Paananen stands at the doors of her storecalled Elements Of, furnishing consignment shop.(Journal photo by Johanna Boyle)

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MARQUETTE —There may still be signsof winter outside, butthoughts of many arebeginning to turn to areacommunity gardens.

“Our sign-up was inFebruary, and gardenershave been able to be attheir beds since,” Mar-quette Community Gar-den board member EllenWeingarten said. “Ourfirst official work day isin May and the seasonruns until Oct. 31.

Marquette has two gar-dens, one between theFit Strip and Park Ceme-tery, the other near theMoosewood NatureCenter at Presque Isle.

“They’re for city resi-dents only, with 73 bedsin all,” Weingarten said.“The beds are either 6-by-12 feet or 6-by-25.The cost to use each is$15-$25 depending onthe size.”

The rental fee includeswater access and sometools. Members mustprovide their own seedsor plants and are en-couraged to use organicfertilizers.

She said all the bedsare rented out eachgrowing year and there’sa waiting list.

Some of the beds arededicated to growingvegetables for area foodpantries, others producevegetables for garden-ers to eat at home.

In Marquette, eachmember must volunteertwo days per growingyear to help maintain thebeds.

She added communitygardens are an expand-ing trend locally.

“The last 1-2 years, ithas really grown,” Wein-garten said. “People areinterested in savingmoney and finding waysto help themselves.”

So much so that com-munity gardens are alsobeing kept in Ishpemingand K.I. Sawyer.

“Marquette Townshipand Chocolay Townshiphave been talking abouthaving gardens (too),”she said.

Jennifer Thum,spokeswoman for theChocolay Township gar-den initiative, confirmedplans for a plot locatednear the soccer field atthe Silver Creek Recre-ation Area in Harvey.

“The Rotary Club gaveus funds to kick off theproject,” she said.“We’re looking at having30 beds, but we don’tknow if all will be builtthis season.”

Preliminary plans callfor a couple of the bedsbeing handicapped ac-cessible and a couple

more just for kids, shesaid.

“This has been on theback burner for a whileto help people grow theirown food,” Thum said.“The township wanted totake the initiative andwe’ve had an over-whelming amount ofsupport from people whowant to volunteer.”

Thum, who was to turnover the project to town-ship community devel-

opment coordinator DaleThroenle this spring,added she hoped theproject could begin witha couple of work days atthe end of this month orthe beginning of April,depending on the weath-er.

Craig Remsburg can

be reached at 906-228-

2500, ext. 251. His email

address is crems-

[email protected].


Area community gardens

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90

Left, recent volunteers, from left, Jeff Martin, Kevin Val Johnston and RandyTryan work on beds at the K.I. Sawyer Community Garden during a recent workbee. (Photo courtesy of K.I. Sawyer Community Garden) Right, Marquette Com-munity Gardens members work in May to get the Park Cemetery garden readyfor planting. (Photo by Ellen Weingarten)


MARQUETTE —Al-though no new construc-tion occurred on the IronOre Heritage Trail in 2011,it was a big year of behind-the-scenes work, with or-ganizers planning to startconstruction on the 13-mile Negaunee to Mar-quette portion of the trailthis year.

Carol Fulsher, adminis-trator for the Iron Ore Her-itage Recreation Authority,the trail received commit-ments from two largegrants — $360,000 fromthe Michigan Natural Re-sources Trust Fund and$740,000 from a MichiganDepartment of Transporta-tion Transportation En-hancement Grant.

Although the authorityhas been working throughissues surrounding landcontrol, once those issuesare resolved, it will be ableto sign for those grantsand get the 13-mile seg-ment out for bids later thisspring.

“That was what stalledus for last year,” Fulshersaid. “It’s been a 20-monthprocess.”

In particular is a 350-acre parcel in Negauneeand Negaunee Townshipthat is privately owned thatthe authority will have con-trol over after a land swapwith the state goesthrough.

Once approved, the au-thority will have the fullroute of either publicly-held land or long-termleases with the owners, al-lowing the trail to gothrough, hopefully startingconstruction this summer.

That 13-mile portion willconnect the far westernend of the completed trailin Ishpeming through tothe end of the trail inChocolay Township, com-pleting a significant portionof the 48-mile trail that willone day connect RepublicTownship and Chocolay.

From Negaunee to Mar-quette, the trail will travelfrom near the NegauneeSenior Center, past theUnion Station, and up RailStreet before crossing upto County Road 492 andthen paralleling that roadinto Marquette where it willconnect with the Soo LineBridge over U.S. 41.

“It’s going to be a prettycool trail,” Fulsher said,adding that the trail will gofrom being in the cities,giving access to business-

es, to running through theforests and past wetlandsbetween Negaunee andMarquette near the CarpRiver.

A spur trail is alsoplanned to connect thetrail with the Michigan IronIndustry Museum in Ne-gaunee Township.

The 13-mile segment oftrail will be mostly crushedlimestone, with a portion ofthe Marquette end beingpaved out to NorthwoodsRoad, depending on howcosts come in, Fulsher said.

The total cost of the trailsegment is $1.5-1.6 mil-lion, with $1.1 million ingrant funding alreadyidentified, thanks to mil-lage dollars being lever-aged, Fulsher said.

The next segment forcompletion will be a three-mile portion of the trailheading west from Ish-peming along the Green-wood Grade. Although thegrade runs through to Re-public, Fulsher said Elyand Humboldt Townshipsneed to join the recreationauthority before the trailcan be run through thosetownships using the mil-lage funding.

West of Ishpeming, thetrail will be fully multi-use,including non-motorizedtraffic, ATVs and snowmo-biles in the winter. Fulshersaid where possible thetrail will run in two parallelsegments to separate thetraffic.

The authority is currentlyin the process of applyingfor a Natural ResourcesTrust Fund grant to helpfund that portion of thetrail, with construction pos-sibly starting in 2013.

“We’re working reallyhard to make sure the tax-payers get what the tax-payers wanted,” Fulshersaid. “People really wantthis to happen.”

In the meantime, the au-thority is working to put 10additional interpretive signson the Ishpeming-Ne-gaunee portion of the trail,as well as revamping itswebsite to include more us-er-friendly maps of the trail.

With the completion of30 miles of trail, Fulshersaid the Iron Ore HeritageTrail will become mar-ketable to those outsidethe area, as people arewilling to travel to accesslonger trail networks.


reached at 906-486-4401.


[email protected].


Busy year behind the scenesfor Iron Ore Heritage Trail

Marquette CountyHealth Department

Public Health Working To Keep You In Superior Health.

Services Available:

Call 475-7844 for more information.www.mqthealth.org

Environmental Health Division – 475-4195Clinic & Community Services – 475-7844Emergency Preparedness – 475-5649Administration – 475-9977

• Immunizations• WIC• Family Planning

• Breast & Cervical Cancer Screening• Communicable Disease Reporting• Parenting Classes• Tobacco Cessation

Don Schnurer of Payne and Dolan Inc. operates a steamroller on freshly laid asphalt along the Iron Ore Heritage Trail near Business 28 in Ishpeming last year. The trail willbe used for bicycle and foot-traffic as a scenic and historical trail between Ishpeming and Negaunee. (Journal file photos)

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Marquette and Alger Counties(906) 475-7801 www.bbbsmqt.org 101 S. Pioneer Ave. Negaunee

For 6 years, I’ve been matched with Mrs. Barb.

And those 6 years have been GREAT!! She’s one of

the nicest people I’ve met, and I’m happy to have

had her as a Big Sister. We’re always doing the

coolest things together. Everything from hanging

out at the beach to flying in her plane. We go to

the movies or just hang out and talk to each

other.

I love that she’s always asking me what I want

to do, or where I want to go, and trying to be

interested in the things that I am. She listens to

me talk about anything(whether it’s about some

TV show or complaining about school) and she

talks to me about what’s going on in her life,

too.

I always look forward to spending time with

her and I always have a good time with her, no

matter what’s happened that day. She’s the

constant in my life-people move, friends change

and others drift apart, but she’s always there, and

I like that. I can honestly say that I’m proud to

be Mrs. Barb’s Little Sister.

- LITTLE Jessica

I have been spending time with my

Big Brother Jake for the past year

and a half. We get together every

Wednesday evening and sometimes

on Saturday. Depending on the

time of the year, we like going

four-wheeling, snowmobiling,

fishing, hunting and downhill

skiing. It’s fun to go bowling

and to go out to eat. We even do

my homework together. Jake is

special because he has a lot of

hobbies and knows a lot. He is

smart and he always takes time to

talk with me and show me how to

do things. He is always positive

and happy. We have fun together.

Little Finn

I appreciate what life has given to me so after retiring, I wanted to be a mentor in the Big Brothers Big Sisters program and share my time with a “Little”.

On January 17, 2012 Jessica and I celebrated our 6th Anniversary. A friendship that has grown through the years to something very special. I feel comfortable with Jessica and we enjoy our time together. I have seen her grow from a shy 9 year to the unique stage in her life as a teenager. I feel any aspect of ones life can impact a young person.

We have a long list of annual outings: Bonfire/fireworks at Teal Lake, climbing Sugar Loaf Mountain with a picnic at the top, events at the Public Library especially at Christmas time. Kayaking, at the beach running and swimming with my dogs, taking pictures, carving pumpkins at the nursing home, the annual Big Brothers Big Sisters Christmas party, hay rides, making so, so many projects, sewing a poncho and baking way too many cookies. I was in the Young Eagle program and flew many “Little’s” for their first time, introducing them to the joy of flight. Jessica and I have flown to Mackinaw Island and other places in our plane. Jessica and I shared a lot of outings with my husband, Gary who was a Big Brother to Andy.

Jessica even got me hooked on country music! Opening ones heart for the sake of another is

very rewarding and the payback for me has been life-altering.

God willing, I hope to be a part of Jessica’s life for as long as we are on this great earth.

-BIG Barb Lewinski

Being a Big Brother within the BBBS pro-gram means making a positive impact in not only someone’s life, but also in our community. It’s a great experience that opens a lot of doors for our areas youth. As a volunteer, giving back to the com-munity in the form of a Big Brother, provid-ing a little encouragement and support in someone’s life and helping to build char-acter, is a selfless and rewarding feeling.

It’s amazing what you can learn from your Little while also learning a lot about yourself. Being a Big Brother, I have made many con-nections in our community, met a lot of peo-ple and made lifelong friends. I would rec-ommend this program to anyone that is look-ing to share their experiences and knowledge with the younger generation while having a great time!

-Big Brother Jake Colantonio

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Marquette and Alger Counties


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plant asmall hoop house

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allowedthe students

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