Why did you decide to move to Calumet?
Our story might be a bit unique.  We grew up in northern Wisconsin and had dated each other in high school. We lost touch with each other a couple of years out of school as we both went on to college and beyond.  We got back in touch 32 years later, and having found each other again, we dated and got married.  For a portion of our honeymoon road trip we drove to the Keweenaw - a place that each of our family's had visited regularly.  On a day that the entire Keweenaw had lost power, due to a powerful thunderstorm the previous night, we pulled into Calumet - and fell in love with the town and area.  We spent the entire day driving around the perimeter of the Keweenaw and that feeling just grew stronger.
  
By that time, I had been a “remote worker” for a major telecom company for several years.  When we got back together, we were living in Tennessee.  The area is beautiful, as we lived in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains, and had easy access to miles of hiking and mountain bike trails.  However, the summers were getting hotter and hotter, and the winters were wet without snow.  Each season felt like we were being forced inside, either by the heat or the wet coldness.  We thought about selling our house and moving north - and after much internal debate, decided to move forward with it.

How did you find a house?
We looked for homes online.  Once we’d narrowed down what looked good, and what had what we needed, we contacted a Keweenaw area agent.  We then drove north in February, and spent 3 days looking at 12 different homes.  We didn’t make an immediate decision, but again, once home, deliberated on which would be best until we decided.  At that point we put our home in Tennessee up for sale, and put an initial bid on the home here we liked.  The offer we placed was contingent upon the sale of our home in Tennessee.

How much did you have to spend to get your house improved? What did you do to your house? 
We can put it this way; The home we owned in Tennessee was a 1500 square foot 1930s English Cottage style in a very nice historic section of town.  Upon putting the house on the market, we immediately received 3 full price offers.  With the money we received from the sale of that home we could afford to buy a home here for 1/3 the price of the home in Tennessee.  However, we did need to invest a considerable amount, perhaps another 1/3 of the price of the home, to conduct some repairs to the roof and internally.  Upon moving into the home, we lived on the first floor, sleeping in the dining room for a month or more, while we updated the second floor. We did the painting, stripping and refinishing floors, updating the bathroom, and a number of other small repairs.  All this time I worked remotely.
 
The key to all this is that even though we did this work, our overall mortgage was much smaller, and we were able to save even more by performing a lot of the work ourselves. 
  
How do you like winter? Is it what you thought it'd be?
Summers and falls are very easy to love here - they are some of the best in the country.  However, we really love winter.  It isn’t an in-between winter; it’s a full on winter.  The snow is wonderful, the x-country skiing is world class, and the fat tire biking is great. What was even more surprising is the quiet - the snow dampens the sounds of everything.  We had been told, mostly by people that live in the south, that we would hate the winters and would soon be back to the warmer climate. Well, not a chance - this is everything we could want.

What's your favorite part about living here?
The area is so very unique - hiking, biking, skiing, camping.  If you even like the outdoors just a little, you could not find a better place to live.  And, there is that lake - it is awe inspiring each and every time you come over the crest of a hill and see it….
 
What's the hardest part about living here?
The hard part of living here can be the travel times if you have people that you want to go see, or if they want to come here.  We’re not on the way to somewhere else, you have to want to come here…It is important to know that at this time local flights are routed through Chicago.

Would you do anything different in regards to your transition to Calumet (would you have rented somewhere first, etc)?
If there was something to have done different, it would only be that we would have come here earlier.

What do you do for work?
 As mentioned, I work for a large, international telecom company.  My clients are very large multinational financial/banking companies.  I spend my days speaking and working with customers in all parts of the world (i.e. Hong Kong, Singapore, Hungary, the UK, Ireland, and of course the US and Canada).

Would you move to Calumet without a remote job?
If there were a job here comparable to what I do now, perhaps.  However, I’ve become very comfortable working from home.

After we moved here, we collected as many links as we could find that would have helped us make our move. You can find them at Main Street Calumet Living and Working.

And even more importantly, visit this site for tips on moving during a pandemic. 

Consider the Keweenaw!

​What's your name? 
Barbara Flanagin
What's your Calumet connection?
I've lived in Laurium since 2006.
How can people see/ buy your work? Please provide a social media handle, website, or other location where people can follow you/find your work?
Cross Country Sports has some of my prints and cards and the Art Center has a tile or two.
How long have you been creative? Did you have any formal training?
I've enjoyed drawing since I was a child, and took various classes growing up. The Botanical Art Certificate Program from the Morton Arboretum was the most formal training I've had.
What type of art do you make and what's your preferred medium?
Two dimensional, usually, so painting or drawing, but also clay.
What have you been working on lately? What's been inspiring you?
Views from the edges of cliffs
Tell us whose work you've been admiring lately!
Mary Brodbeck, Jessica Steinhauser, Nick Cave

Main Street Calumet is proud of Calumet's "artsy" reputation.  #MixedMediaMonday is our way of sharing the tremendous human capital that our area has in the form of artists with everyone else. Almost every week you will see a different artist featured here! 
What's your name? 
Melissa Beth Johnson

What's your Calumet connection?
Hancock-born and Wisconsin-raised, I came back to the U.P every summer. Enamored with the remnants of the copper boom, I knew the Copper Country was home. After moving back to the area in 2016, I made it my personal quest to explore the Keweenaw Peninsula whenever possible, while capturing my adventures to share with others.

How can people see/ buy your work? Please provide a social media handle, website, or other location where people can follow you/find your work?
Currently, my photos can be seen on instagram: _yoopy_ . I currently have about 300 matted prints of all sizes, as well as canvas, metal and glass prints in larger sizes just waiting to be sold. I currently do sales through my instagram, however, I also have an Etsy page in the works which should be up and running in a couple of weeks. My Etsy store is named "yoopnative".

Mary Swetich was the queen of fudge making.  She was the one who created all of the 30 plus  flavors we offer today.  As time went on, she perfected her fudge making skills and turned her fudge into an art.  She loved coming in to make it after a busy weekend.  Throughout the years she won many awards for her fudge.  Mary made fudge for the Calumet Mercantile until she passed away In 2017.​

Joyce Bausano took over the kitchen in 2017 and has continued the tradition of fudge making.  She had big shoes to fill.  As the years have gone by, she has perfected her own techniques and has kept the tradition alive.  We do believe Mary would be proud!  The fudge tastes and looks almost the same as if she was still behind the kettle.

What's your name? 
Donna Lenard

What's your Calumet connection?
I work at Insight Eyecare in Calumet. I’ve been an optician for 35 years. I also show my watercolors at the Calumet Art Center. I teach my watercolor techniques at the center as well.

How can people see/ buy your work? Please provide a social media handle, website, or other location where people can follow you/find your work?
My work is available at the Calumet Art Center and I regularly show at the Poor Artist Sale at Calumet High every December . I have a page on Facebook Donna Lenard Watercolors with videos I’ve been developing for the last few weeks. I also have a booth every year at the Keweenaw Art Affair and Art in the Park in Copper Harbor.

How long have you been creative? Did you have any formal training?
I have been exploring watercolor for 20 years. I am self-taught. I moved to Alaska when I first started watercolor and had good guidance from the Fairbanks Watercolor Society. I showed my work at every First Friday event and had a few solo shows at local galleries.

What type of art do you make and what's your preferred medium?
I am a watercolorist. I love wet on wet techniques to create dreamy effects. I paint mostly landscapes and enjoy making northern lights pop off the page. I also paint the illusion of flowers. It’s all an illusion! Simplicity is key to inviting the viewer’s imagination to enjoy the work.

What have you been working on lately? What's been inspiring you?
I have been creating short watercolor tutorials to engage everyone at home right now. They are my inspiration and seems to be helpful to get folks through this time. I have them all on my Facebook page as well as on YouTube.

Tell us whose work you've been admiring lately!
There are some local artists that I admire and love talking to them about their process. Bob Dawson, Clyde Mikkola and Jennifer Slack to name a few.

This interview is part of #MixedMediaMondays, a way Main Street Calumet is highlighting the human capital of artists in our area. Artists who live and work in Calumet (or have in the past) are welcome to complete a survey style interview to be featured. 

What's your name? *
Katie Jo Wright

What's your Calumet connection?
I moved to Calumet, MI in 2007 from Twin Peaks, California with my then-boyfriend. I was just a youngin' really. I helped launch 5th & Elm Coffeehouse and later went on to be involved with other businesses and organizations in and around Calumet. I use to live above Cross Country Sports in the cutest apartment and worked at the Michigan House for many years as a bartender as well. Calumet holds a dear place in my heart. I've been a member of the Copper Country Curling Club for many years, and I am proud to say that I helped organize and played the first-ever roller derby games at the Calumet Colosseum.

How can people see/ buy your work? Please provide a social media handle, website, or other location where people can follow you/find your work?
www.katiejowright.com is my website - instagram handle is @artbykatiejo - I have a little shop on my website that has a couple print items patrons can purchase. I use my website and instagram as a way to promote what and where my artwork is about.

How long have you been creative? Did you have any formal training?
I have been creating doodles, color, and doing fiber work since I was very young. I took art classes throughout my elementary and high school years, but have no "formal" training besides that. I learn by hanging out with other creatives and supporting them.

What type of art do you make and what's your preferred medium?
I like the pen to paper medium most, and the digital versions I do are quite similar to the nuts and bolts way of drawing and doodling, except for the awesomeness of ctrl+z. Most of my subject matter are things related to nature and people, often humorous and whimsical. I make comics and illustrations, publication spots, and sometimes fun logos for regional small businesses and organizations. I have painted extensively as well and from time to time embark on large scale murals. 

What have you been working on lately? What's been inspiring you?
I am inspired by illustrators who draw in my style that have "made it." Often I think my whimsy child-like style of illustrating can't be used in business or taken seriously or given value, but as I learn and come to meet other illustrators I am encouraged that there is no wrong way to "art" and all successful artists have one main thing in common, "stickwithitness."

I have been focusing on "re-booting" older works to improve them and be re-inspired by them as well. It has been good practice for when I'm not sure "what to do" but know I need to work on "me" art. Finding the balance between self-investment, and client-investment is important. I'd like to bring into fruition this children's book my friend and I have been working on for several years which has had many starts and stops, so that's where my attention has been lately. 

Tell us whose work you've been admiring lately!
I really admire Andy J Pizza, and illustrator from Ohio who also has a podcast dedicated to "Creative Pep Talk." He speaks a lot in analogies, and I find that way of explaining things very similar to the way I think and teach. 
​
Please provide an image or video of your work and tell us about it.
I made this large scale color-me poster comprised of birds found in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (for sale on my website). Birds are one of my favorite totems and symbols. I'd like to be better and identifying the birds found up here where we live so I started by drawing them one by one in this large poster until I couldn't fit anymore. With birds, coloring is so important for identifying them, but with this color-me poster, you can make them your own, too.

This interview is part of our #mixedmediamondays series that highlights the significant human capital that exists in Calumet in the form of artists. We ask creative types that live or work in the Calumet area (or have lived or worked in the Calumet area) from any genre to participate! Questions from Main Street Calumet are in bold below, artist answers in italics. 

​Fire Tower Engineered Timber (FTET), a company that has been located in Calumet for several years relocated to  104 5th Street (the former Cafe Rosetta space) this fall. Read on to learn more about the company from one of it's owners, Joe Miller. 

1. What does FTET do and what is your involvement and title with the company?  FTET is a structural engineering firm, specializing in the design and engineering of heavy timber structures.  We work on a mix of residential and commercial projects either as the sole engineer of record, or more commonly as a specialty engineer who focuses on the timber components, while a local engineer handles everything else.  We’ve worked on projects everywhere from the Yukon to the south Caribbean and from Germany to Thailand.  Most of our projects our in North America though - with an occasional one in the UP as well.  All have the common theme of having a heavy timber component, whether that is new construction of CLT projects or restoration of traditional timber framing.


2. What's your favorite part about what you do?  Our unofficial motto is “anything but boring”, and, while there are exceptions, we do tend to have more interesting work than a regular structural engineering clients.  And, you never know on any given week, whether it may be the clients that are the more interesting part, or the work.  A big appeal for me is FTET regularly works with the same timber framers and fabricators, so we build long term relationships that in a small industry like ours, are what matter most.


3. Why Calumet? What do you like about our community?  Short answer - I earned my PhD at MTU - and I wanted to stay in the area.  Longer answer…  I’ve lived in a lot of different states for school and work within the timber frame industry so when I finished at Tech - and realized I could work from anywhere, staying in the Keweenaw appealed most; the people, history, and snow, all appealed to us.  My wife and I found a spot on a dead end road in Keweenaw County to call home, and, we’ve been here ever since.   As far as why Calumet - I’d be lying if I didn’t say it was more convenient of a commute than Houghton/Hancock - but, that is really only a small part of it.  We like the schools for our kids, church, shopping, and all of that - I’ll go weeks without crossing the bridge.  Professionally, as ones who engineer almost entirely within the private sector (we, by intention, try and stay away from public projects), a bit of distance from the university actually fits our mindset a bit better.  Timber frame engineering requires you to be confident in your own direction, as there are limited building codes or guidance for what we do - and when you follow the little there is - you tend to end up with dull and lifeless structures.  So our independent mindset meshes better with Calumet than elsewhere.  We have an annual copper dog party as well - so, the appeal of 5th street is strong.


4. What are the plans for FTET's future (if you are able to share that info)? Timber frame empire?  FTET started in 2006 in New Hampshire, with several timber frame engineers wanting to detach from the business of cutting timbers and rather focus on the engineering and design (most of us worked directly for timber frame fabricators in various forms before joining Fire Tower) - so, our primary focus has been, and will continue to be the engineering of heavy timber structures.  As a lot of our clientele are the fabricators, and most of our projects are a fair distance away from the Keweenaw - we haven’t any intention of going into the business of fabricating.  As  our projects are spread out throughout north America and beyond - having a centralized location isn’t a primary concern.  For a long time, FTET was based out of Rhode Island (since the most employees lived there), but, now we are based out of MI - with employees in NJ, MA, VT, WY, and here.  Barring any unforeseen changes - we plan to continue growing as our clients grow - but remaining a small focused firm.  Large commercial projects hold little appeal (they don’t tend to fit into the “anything but boring” category), so growing much larger doesn’t open up many additional opportunities for us - and, frankly, means I have to manage more, and engineer less. 


5. Tell us something interesting about yourself.  My interest in timber stems from an old family homestead in southern Indiana.  Growing up, my dad and I would travel down there on weekends, and, fix up the old timber frame barn, and tried our hand at hewing a few logs, and, ended up completely rebuilding the original log cabin using mostly period tooling.  I went off to college, and, the first week my freshman year, my now business partner came and gave a talk about timber frame engineering for the a project he was building close by.  And, I’ve been hooked ever since.  While most of my experience is on the design/engineering side, I’ve spent some time cutting timber frames in a commercial shop, so have a bit of hands on experience - enough to know I make a better engineer than I do timber framer, at least.  I’m also an active member in the Timber Framers Guild (TFG), a non-profit trade group that includes in its mission partnering with local communities to build timber frame structures with volunteer labor (think farmers market pavilions, restoring old buildings, covered bridges, and the like) - so I get out of the office for a few weeks a year getting to build some interesting structures with some interesting people.  Who knows - maybe we can make a TFG based project happen here in the Copper Country sometime in the future.


6. Where are you from and how did you get to the Copper Country?  I’m grew up on a small farm in northern Indiana, but growing up, I made the trip to the UP on occasion (a friend’s deer camp…), so I’ve enjoyed the place for a long time.  Later on, I was living in central IL working for a timber frame company - and, while I enjoyed the rural farming community, the deafening sound of the corn growing and everything covered in corn pollen each morning was a bit overwhelming.  One fall day, when we were claustrophobic from all of the crops encroaching, we decided to take a long weekend and head north - and, somehow ended up in the Keweenaw.  It was October.  There was the refreshing smell of everything but corn smut.  There weren’t many people.  It was snowing.  Lake Superior was grey and angry.  How could we NOT love it?  Upon returning to the grey sullen clouds and brown muddy fields of an IL winter, and having long threatened my wife I was going to go get a PhD, I somehow convinced MTU to let me do research on heavy timber and give me a teaching stipend.  Over a dozen years later, with a house and kids in school and all of that - we’ve not looked back.   

The 16th Annual Pasty Fest was great success, a wonderful celebration of the Copper Country, pasties and the beautiful weather we were lucky to have on Saturday, August 17th. Our vendors sold over 1400 full size pasties, plus 400 minis that were part of our Bake-Off event, Jon Ziemba ate 3 pasties in 5 minutes in the Eating Competition and hundreds of kids got soaked in the foam machine. It was a great day.

After all the fun is over, and every tent, tote and banner is stowed you realize that community events are not just for a community, they are about community. Pasty Fest is an event that is dependent on good weather (and boy have we had some bad weather) and lots of cooperation from lots of people.  In a political environment where no one seems to be able to agree on anything; immigration, insurance reform, international trade, etc, it is refreshing to see a community come together over something as simple as a pasty. Many, many people worked across the aisle to make this event happen and we appreciate all of their commitment, effort, patience and willingness to work together. 

The following is a list of all the people  and organizations who came together to create this great event;
Volunteers;  Sharon Turovaara, Candy Pham, Brendan Clark, Marshall Weidenhammer and family, Caleb Catz, Heather Grundy, Jim Dee, Diane Teddy, Deb and Lew Lambert, Ed Hallquist, Krissy Kovachich, Sara Heikkila, Joan and Dennis Polzien, Phil Roberts, Rev, Robert Langseth, Andrew Reed, Al Ayotte, Debbie Polis, Kathie Dianda, Pete Hahn, David Crowley, Tom Cash,  Brenda Bonen, Sue Dana, Laura Cooley, George Siira, Jared Howard, Jaime Jams, Sue and Lee Peterson, Ernie Tepsa, Tom Bowles, Joe Locatelli, and Keweenaw National Historical Park Staff; Lynette Weber, Valerie Newman, Katie Keller, Nick Clark, Ian Ochoa, Summer Thorsten, Georgann Larson, and Karl Larson.

Parade Participants; Ken Bracco, CLK Marching Band,  CLK JR ROTC, Copper Country Paranormal Investigations, Calumet Laurium Community Center, Calumet Copperbots, Howard Junkin and family,  31 Backpacks, River Valley Bank,  Copper Tips 4-H Archery Club, Calumet Hockeyville, Calumet Floral, North Shore Cottages, Calumet Figure Skating Club, Kingsford Marching Band, Calumet Laurium Senior Center,  Keweenaw National Historical Park, Keweenaw Chevrolet Buick GMC, Carmelita's, Calumet Floral, Laurium Manor Inn, Little Brothers Friends of the Elderly, Houghton Community Broadcasting,  4-H group that came with the goats, Spider Man,  owners of the 1969 Oldsmobile, and Santa Claus. 

Sponsors;  Houghton Community Broadcasting - the Voice of Pasty Fest and Main Street Calumet,  2nd Sandbar - Official Videographer of Pasty Fest 2019, Copper Island Printing, Pats IGA, 
River Valley Bank / Incredible Bank, Keweenaw Heritage Center, Keweenaw National Historical Park, Calumet Floral, Bucko's Party Store, Ace Hardware, Calumet Electronics, Reeves Painting, Hahn Hammered Copper, Michigan American Water Company, Michigan House Cafe, Farmers & Merchants Fire Insurance, Mike Lahti Properties, Universal Metal Works, Carmelita's, Copper World, Copper Island Chiropractic, Shelly Larson Edward Jones, Amora Wellness & Gifts, High Rock Designs, Dave Geisler, Aalto Woodworking, North Shore Cottages, Fire Tower Engineered Timber, 2nd Sandbar Productions, Faith Lutheran Church, Miners Cafe, and Brick Restoration Specialists.

Car Show Sponsors; Peninsula Auto, North Star BP, North Side Auto Sale, Auto Value, Harter's Auto Supply, Superior Auto Tech, JP's Fast Track, Ace Hardware. 

Service Providers; A1 Toilets, Universal Metals, Copper Island Printing, Toni’s Country Kitchen, Bob Hiltunen, Dig Niddy, Jessica Kilpela, The Copper Country Clown Band, Jaime Jams, 2nd Sandbar Productions, and KML Woodsmith.

Vendors; Suomi Restaurant, Connie’s Country Kitchen, Lindell’s, Carmelita’s, The Matador, B Daddy’s Smoke N Grill, Tim Raymond, Copper Country Humane Society, Little Brothers Friends of the Elderly, Isle Royale National Park, Kraft Hockeyville, Copper Country Habitat for Humanity, Calumet Keweenaw Sportsmen’s Association, Finlandia University, Little Laurium Luxuries, The Scenic Route Publications, Yooper’s Love Tupperware, Life & Oils with Aryel Joyal, Mucked Up, Jade Enterprises, Doris Poshak Delightful Designs, Kel’s Krazy Bags, Country Wood and Leather Crafts, 2B Crafts, Steeped Tea, Circle Back Farm, North Harvest CSA, Boersma Family Roots, Charity’s Daily Bread, Annikakes, Kris and Michelle Southerland, Laura Moore, Taara Ryan, Jeanne Medlyn, Sandy Soring, Ashli Wells, Mark Cavis, David Harju, and Rebecca Ferrell.

Coordinating Municipalities & Utilities; Michigan American Water Company, Keweenaw National Historical Park, Calumet Township, Village of Calumet, Village of Calumet Fire Department, Village of Laurium, and the Houghton County Road Commission.

Demos; Kivajat Finnish Dancers, Supernova Yoga, and Cardio Drumming with Laura Hamlett

While we don't have names for all the people who entered cars in the Cool Cars From Near and Far Car Show or the people who played in the Horseshoe Tournament we'd like to thank them as well! 

​If you'd like to be a volunteer for Pasty Fest or any other Main Street Calumet event we'd love to hear from you! 

The Angel Mission Free Store will be open  for people needing assistance due to the flood. The store is also open to take donations.
If you would like to help, the following items are most urgently needed:
Water, cleaning supplies, brooms, mops, disinfectant cleaners, body wash, shampoo, deodorant, feminine products, toilet paper, paper towels, diapers, and wipes. But most anything is appreciated. At this time, however, they do NOT need clothing, due to a large shipment they received last night from donors in another part of Michigan who responded to the emergency.
Watch their facebook page for updates at New Beginnings Angel Mission Calumet, Michigan or phone (906) 934-3602.