​Our Main Street Calumet business district is growing yet again with the relocation of Edward Jones Financial Advisor Shelly Larson. Formerly situated near Pat's Foods, it outgrew the space and found a new one at 217 Sixth Street in Calumet. Being right next to the Post Office, Supernova Yoga Studio, and across the street from Vertin Gallery, it backs up to Carmelita's and really fills in a growing block of the downtown. The "For Rent" sign is gone and they have moved in!

Shelly Larson, owner of the branch of Edward Jones, wanted to be closer to the Downtown area in order to be a part of events and the activities.

Shelly says that her favorite things about Calumet are "working with and getting to know the people." She also has appreciated "learning more about the history and culture of the area". 


Renovation of the building they've moved into was extensive. Jim Flood, their landlord, did a beautiful job helping them create an office and reception area that is spacious and welcoming. It is bright and has the character of the historic buildings that are so great about Calumet. Come and check it out!

Friday on June 1, from 2-4 pm Shelly, Kim, and Betty Rae will be hosting an open house to celebrate their Grand Opening. They welcome you to bring your family and friends to help them celebrate this occasion. Refreshments will be served."

Welcome to the Downtown, Shelly, Kim, and Betty Rae!

Have you wondered how the antiques and historical artifacts magically appear in the historical store fronts along 5th Street Calumet?

The store fronts are the ambitious projects of Lorri Oikarinen and Shelly Hahn, two merchants of downtown Calumet. Lorri and her husband Rick own Cross Country Sports, and Shelly and Peter Hahn are the creators of Hahn Hammered Copper. For several years they've been giving their time and creativity making the downtown unique, an important part of why Calumet is an interesting place to visit.

Lorri explains, “Shelly and I feel it really makes a difference to visitors and locals alike when the downtown has engaging window displays. We have seen so many visitors and locals stop and look in the windows on a Sunday or other times when shops are closed. It also celebrates the arts, history and architecture that is so much a part of our downtown.

“Windows Into the Past (created in 2013) was a collaborative effort between the Main Street Calumet Design Committee, the Keweenaw National Historic Park, and students at Calumet High School in conjunction with the centennial of the 1913 Italian Hall Disaster.

“We wanted to show what the downtown looked like during that time period, and so enlisted willing shop owners to have their buildings researched by high school students under the direction of KNHP Archivist Jeremiah Mason.

“The result was a poster with historical photos of their building and their history, especially highlighting what was happening in their building in 1913. The posters were printed by Marc Norton at Copper Island Printing, and mounted and laminated by Paul Grathoff of North End Framing. The intent was that they would be durable and could continue to be displayed in the windows even after the centennial. The merchants paid for the posters. Many of the shop owners created their own historic displays for the centennial as well.

“It turned out to be a great success, and many of the posters remain in windows today, giving a brief history of the building and a glimpse of what Red Jacket (Calumet's name at that time) looked like at the height of the copper mining era.

Shelly writes, “This all started when I first met Lorri and she mused out loud, “Wouldn’t it be nice if the storefronts looked like they used to, back in the day?” I replied, “Well, maybe they can!” Our first building was the Thurner building as it was DDA owned and easy to get access to. After that, my landlord gave us permission to do the windows in the JCP building and the building Hahn Hammered copper is in. And so it began...

“We do things on a shoestring, often using things that are loaned to us, but mostly using what we find inside the buildings. It would be great if we could do windows in more unoccupied spaces, but it’s difficult getting a building owner's permission.”

She adds, “We plan on doing something fresh in all of the windows we currently have displays in. We'd like to show more art and perhaps do a call for art pertaining to “Saving Calumet”. We’ve been doing this for several years now and have gotten to see first-hand the [interiors of] cool old buildings of Calumet.”
Thank you Shelly and Lorri for your hard work and for making our downtown such an attractive and educational experience!

Several years ago, a large effort went into making the planters that have been filled with flowers and placed in front of Calumet stores. They have been creating a unified and vibrant look to the downtown.

The planters spend each winter in the Village Warehouse. Each spring volunteers load them in a truck and place them in front of stores. Next they plant the peat pots that have been filled with annuals ordered by Amy Knight of Calumet Floral, who has been donating her time. Calumet owned a watering cart and a resident volunteer has been going to the dozens of planters to keep them watered with the help of the hosting retailers. At summers end, volunteers load them again for the warehouse.

However, about half of the planters have reached the end of their life span. After research and evaluation, the Calumet Main Street Design Committee concluded it is the best time to change to a new planter and watering system. (See our March post on hanging planters for downtown.)

The remaining, although they might need TLC at their corner joints, are in too good of condition to discard. Interior dimensions are 12" deep, by 16.5" wide by 24.5" long. Exteriors are approximately 30"wide x 16" high x 22"deep. At last count, there were 30 planters available for purchase.
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Main Street Calumet volunteer Stuart Baird is kindly donating his time to meet anyone at the Village Warehouse (the green building next to the Calumet Colosseum on Red Jacket Road) on May 19th from 10-noon. The suggested donation is $10/planter. Cash or checks made out to Main Street Calumet are both acceptable.

The planters are sold AS IS. Purchasers will also need to be able to transport the planters themselves, so bring a friend to help lift if necessary.

Here's your chance for an economical makeover for the front of your house or your garden! 

Read ahead to learn what's bringing hundreds of area 4th Graders to Calumet!

Next week, Keweenaw National Historical Park will be hosting the 3rd annual Copper TRACES event for area 4th grade students. Over the course of three days, from 9am to 2pm on May 15-17, students, educators, and chaperones from six U.P. counties will be spending the day in the park. They will be attending activity stations throughout the industrial core, downtown Calumet, and in the Calumet Visitor Center. Each day, there will be approximately 250 people visiting the park, some of them for the first time. 

This yearly event is part of the national Every Kid in a Park program that introduces 4th-grade students to public lands. Copper TRACES is the park's way of introducing students to local and national history through the TRACES acronym which stands for Technology, Research, Art and Music, Community, Environment, and Service. The event includes a series of engaging, hands-on activities and visits to historic buildings and landscapes.  Each of the 30-minute activity stations are hosted by a local community organization, park staff, or a park partner known as a Keweenaw Heritage Site. In total, there are over 50 volunteers working with the park to make this a fun and successful event. ​

Please be careful as you go through Calumet during these days as hundreds of students spend time walking throughout the community and the park. If you'd like to learn more or visit the event, please call Kathleen Harter at 483-3024. We'd love to have you join us and see the enthusiasm young people have for this area. You can also learn more about Copper TRACES by visiting the park website at this link  https://www.nps.gov/kewe/learn/education/classrooms/copper-traces.htm