Photo by The Photom on Flickr

1. Why the Upper Peninsula is Not Part of Wisconsin
   Learning more about the Upper Peninsula’s history has been quite helpful. I couldn’t be happier about this post being the most popular post of 2009. What was particularly cool is that this same topic ended up being featured on NPR after they did a feature titled A Trip U.P. North. Was great having national exposure for the Upper Peninsula and was fun to do a small interview with them.
2. Upper Peninsula Twitter Accounts to Follow
   Twitter seemed to be one of the top news story across the entire year. Every day another celebrity’s Twitter feed is talked about, or a news breaks on Twitter, and of course the growth in social media as a whole.  The greatest thing… using Twitter to connect with Yoopers who are now dispersed all over the world.
3. 2009 Midwest Super Park - Marquette Mountain
   This past Sunday I was watching snowboard cross on NBC and sure enough there was Nick Baumgartner from Iron River, competing and hopeful for a shot at the 2010 Winter Olympics. Nick is seen in the 3rd photograph on this post pulling a rodeo flip. There is some serious talent always coming out of skiers, snowboarders and other winter sports in the Upper Peninsula.
4. How…? Questions About the Upper Peninsula Answered
   I was determined to answer as many user questions as possible, and there is still a big list of them to go. I hope everyone else learned as much reading this post as I did writing and researching it.  Feel free to leave your comment with some more questions and input.
5. Biggest April Snowstorm in 10 Years
   Over the course of three days it went from a beautiful 75 degree day to a 12-inch snowstorm.  Twelve inches of snow during January or February is to be expected, but even in the Upper Peninsula 12 inches of snow is a rare thing in April.  Thanks to my mom for supplying some great photos. You can share your Upper Peninsula photos on the Yooper Steez Flickr group.
6. Final Four Basketball Floor, Made in the Upper Peninsula
   As a Michigan State alum I was happy to see my alma mater playing for the national title.  But wow, it went a lot deeper than that this year.  They were playing in Detroit, coached by Yooper Tom Izzo and the floor they were playing on was assembled in the Upper Peninsula.
7. Another Map Missing the Upper Peninsula
   Nothing new here, we’re all familiar with maps missing the Upper Peninsula, or sometimes labeled incorrectly.  In fact I just saw a Biggby billboard that used the phrase “Michigan based”.  Too bad the graphic on the billboard only had the lower peninsula of Michigan.  But, at least the government won’t make that mistake anymore thanks to Mike Lahti.
8. NMU Closes Again Due to “Inclement” Weather, Really?
   C’mon NMU, this is the Upper Peninsula. In my opinion if it’s 1 degree with a windchill of -14, school better be open.  Sure, elementary schools should have a different set of rules.  But really, a college student in the Upper Peninsula should know how to dress for winter.  What’s your take?
9. Bird’s Eye View of the Upper Peninsula
   A look at the Upper Peninsula from Google Maps and the satellites. We’re used to seeing the beauty of the Upper Peninsula from ground level.  What most impresses me (especially after having been to the top) is how fragile the Mackinac Bridge looks from far above. From that angle it looks like it could be snapped like a twig.

Thanks for all the help in 2009 to everyone who submitted potential blog topics, articles to read, posted comments, ordered shirts, joined the Facebook page, subscribed to the blog, took photos, and all sorts of other things.  There are some great plans to grow Yooper Steez further in 2010.  Make it a great year.

Some classic Upper Peninsula Christmas cheer.

“Rusty Chevrolet” by Da Yoopers

From Da Yoopers 1987 release,
“Culture Shock”

C’mon, cmon!
C’mon, you can do it!
(car starts)
All right!

Dashing through the snow
in my Rusty Chevrolet
Down the road I go
Sliding all the way
I need new piston rings
I need some new snow tires
My car is held together
By a piece of chicken wire

CHORUS
Oh, rust and smoke, the heater’s broke
The door just blew away
I light a match to see the dash
And then I start to pray
The frame is bent, the muffler went
The radio, it’s okay
Oh what fun it is to drive
This Rusty Chevrolet

I went to the IGA
To get some Christmas cheer
I just passed up my left front tire
And it’s getting hard to steer
Speeding down the highway
Right past a county cop
I have to drag my swampers
Just to get the car to stop

(chorus)
(instrumental)

Bouncing through the snowdrifts
In a big blue cloud of smoke
People laugh as I drive by
And I wonder what’s the joke
Got to get to Wal-Mart
To pick up the lay-away
‘Cause Santa Claus is coming soon
In his big old rusty sleigh

(chorus)

This guest blog post was written by Bobb Haase and came my way via Megan Killian. The knob in the photo is called Bare Bluff, which is part of the course.

Bob Haase and his wife, Jan, started the Copperman Triathlon in Copper Harbor in 1992 and have since passed along these duties to other organizations. He decided to do his first triathlon at the age of 31 after watching the Ironman (Hawaii) on TV. His most memorable race is the Bud Light USTS Chicago Triathlon in 1986, where he got Dave Scott’s autograph and chatted with him after the race.

Megan is a graduate student with a running problem. She found her love for endurance sports in the heart of the Keweenaw, where she now lives with her boyfriend, Adam, and cat, Abbie. You can follow Megan on Twitter.

Some artists can visualize their finished sculpture in a block of raw granite. I think that I can visualize a triathlon race course in a particular setting. Well, okay, that may not be true, but some places just cry out for a race, don’t they?

In 1992 my wife, Jan, and I saw the possibility of staging a triathlon in Copper Harbor. We made the mistake of telling someone that “Copper Harbor would be the perfect place for a triathlon,” and the next thing you knew, we were putting on the Copperman, an Olympic-length race in Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula.

We put on the race for several years and then passed the race on to someone new. Last year the race sold out under the new management. A few years ago, I started to see the possibility of staging a long-course race in the Keweenaw. This past summer I made the mistake of telling someone, and guess what? The race is on!

The ”someone” I told was Megan Killian. We were at the Liberty Triathlon and I was talking about my favorite subject, what I was calling the Copperman Half. My idea was to put on a half iron distance race using the same venue as the Copperman, maybe even on the same weekend. Megan was very interested, but I didn’t really expect anything to happen. Then I got this email in August. “Hey Bob, it’s Megan. Did you really want to put on a race?”

Since then, Megan and I (but mostly Megan) have been busy. We agreed on staging the race in Lac LaBelle instead of Copper Harbor, especially after I saw the State marina and dock in Lac LaBelle. It is absolutely the perfect place to put a transition area. And then the rest of the course just fell into place.

I don’t know about you, but I REALLY like loops for biking! From the transition area, there is a 56-mile loop on smooth paved roads with very little traffic. The first twenty-five miles are fairly flat, so don’t forget to HAMMER! Then there is about a four hundred-foot climb to wake you up. From then on it’s a rolling course until the last SCREAMING downhill. Be grateful that the bike course travels clockwise, or you’d be climbing this Category 3 climb instead of rocketing down it to the transition.

Expect a challenging run. With so much two-track in the area, racers are bound to end up with some extraordinary views of Lake Superior, not necessarily at lakeshore level. We’re finalizing the course, and it may include surrounding scenic outlooks that offer potentially breathtaking (both from beauty and effort) such as Bear Bluff and Mount Houghton. The run will also include some of Lake Superior shore on one of the prettiest sand beaches in the world.

Feel free to just give ‘er, as we say in up here in da UP, hey!

————

Stay tuned for more! Bob and Megan will be launching a Web site and blog for the triathlon. But if you plan on racing, it’s never too early to start training, which is why we wanted to help get the word out early. Follow Megan on Twitter for additional updates.

Here are some Upper Peninsula nonprofit organizations to consider giving to this holiday season.  And remember, giving monetary donations is only one way to give back.  If you don’t have a few bucks lying around to donate consider donating some time, in-kind services, or perhaps donating some things around the house/office that aren’t in use any longer.

Please comment and list some other charities that I can include on this post.

Marquette County Habitat for Humanity

www.mqthabitat.org
The Marquette County HFH is a branch of the international non-profit organization focusing on ecumenical Christian housing. Habitat for Humanity works in partnership with people in need to build and renovate decent, affordable housing. The houses then are sold to those in need at no profit and with no interest charged. Volunteers provide most of the labor, and individual, church and corporate donors provide money and materials to build Habitat houses. Partner families themselves invest hundreds of hours of labor - sweat equity - into building their homes and the homes of others. Their mortgage payments go into a revolving Fund for Humanity that is used to build more houses.

Girl Scouts of Peninsula Waters

www.gsnwgl.org
Since 1969 the Girl Scouts of Peninsula Waters have extended from the “territory surrounded by Lake Michigan to the south, Lake Huron to the east and Lake Superior to the North” with their office in Marquette. Girl Scouts of Peninsula Waters serves approximately 2,300 girls with the support of nearly 800 adult volunteers. The council has 15 service areas served by 7 full-time and 2 part-time staff. Girls have the opportunity to participate in programs at three council-owned properties. The main camp, PowLow, is located in Marquette County. Camp Hy-da-way in Manistique. And Camp Blueberry Knoll in the Keweenaw.

Save The Wild UP

www.savethewildup.org
Save the Wild UP is a non-profit organization involved primarily with the impacts of nonferrous mining on the economy, society, and environment of the Upper Peninsula. They have grown as a grassroots organization and are headquartered in Marquette.

Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve

www.yellowdogwatershed.org
The Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve is an environmental organization to also grow out of grassroots effort. They conduct science in the area and sek to protect the watershed’s resources from threats, particularly sulfide mining. The watershed is located in Baraga and Marquette counties in the Huron Peninsula.

Alger-Marquette Community Action Board

www.amcab.org
The mission of AMCAB is to support families and individuals in improving their quality of life. They work with services including preschool programs, affordable housing programs, outreach services, commodity foods and senior meals. AMCAB strives to help people become self-sufficient and to help our communities grow stronger. Their services are funded in part by local, state, and federal governments as well as private and corporate contributions.

Upper Peninsula Health Access Coalition

www.uphealthaccess.org
Since 2004 the UPHAC has sought to provide access to quality health care for all residents of the Upper Peninsula. Their mission is to, “mobilize, support and be a unified voice for the Local Access Coalitions through collaboration, education and advocacy”. They now serve all 15 U.P. counties, representing more than 15,600 persons without insurance whose incomes fall below 200% of the federal poverty level.

Upper Peninsula Children’s Museum

www.upcmkids.org
The Upper Peninsula Children’s Musem is located on Baraga Avenue in Marquette (just down the street from the current Yooper Steez headquarters). The museum features regular exhibits and programs for children of all ages including vacation packages, after hour parties, sleepovers, and birthday parties. Their 8-18 Media is an award winning news bureau put together by 8 to 18 year olds in the area. You can hear their programs regularly on WMQT and WNMU. They have covered such events as the 2008 Democratic and Republican National Conventions. When you stop by don’t forget to check out their classic Bunny Bread sign in the entrance.

Copper Country Humane Society

www.cchumanesociety.com
The Copper Country Humane Society has been taking care of and finding homes for pets since 1972. The shelter receives animals from animal control and private citizens. CCHS works to return lost animals to their owners and to identify suitable homes for the remaining animals. And of course, you can see all their cute dogs and cats online.

And finally, I’ll leave you with a few thoughts from The Grinch

“And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow,
stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so?
It came without ribbons. It came without tags.
It came without packages, boxes or bags.
And he puzzled and puzzled ’till his puzzler was sore.
Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before.
What if Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store.
What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.”

–The Grinch

If you have additional non-profits you would like to see on the list please let me know!

New shirts, four different colors, get yours to represent the Upper Peninsula or get a couple as holiday gifts this season.

The SS Edmund Fitzgerald in the St. Mary’s River in May, 1975.  Courtesy of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, by Bob Campbell, Grand Ledge, Michigan.

Thirty-four years the Edmund Fitzgerald foundered on Lake Superior, about 17 miles from the entrance of Whitefish Bay.  All 29 crew members passed away.

The Edmund Fitzgerald was christened on June 8, 1958 where more than 15,000 people attended its launch.  The ship made regular routes between Duluth, Detroit, Toledo and other ports carrying up to 24,000 tons of taconite.

On Sunday, November 9, 1975 the Edmund Fitzgerald left from Superior, Wisconsin heading for Zug Island, near Detroit.  The following day across Lake Superior there were reported winds of 60mph and waves of 35 feet.  The Soo Locks had already closed.  The Arthur M. Anderson had been trailing the Fitzgerald across Lake Superior and would eventually lose radio contact with the Fitzgerald.

Though my parents can recall the day the Fitzgerald sank, it was long before my life had begun.  It became Godon Lightfoot’s “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” that would leave a memory in my mind.  The song was released in August 1976, not yet a year since the Edmund Fitzgerald sank.  The song was supposedly influenced by a Newsweek article titled “The Cruelest Month”,  which reported on the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald

by Gordon Lightfoot

The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they call Gitche Gumee
The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead
When the skies of November turn gloomy.

With a load of iron ore - 26,000 tons more
Than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty
That good ship and true was a bone to be chewed
When the gales of November came early

The ship was the pride of the American side
Coming back from some mill in Wisconson
As the big freighters go it was bigger than most
With a crew and the Captain well seasoned.

Concluding some terms with a couple of steel firms
When they left fully loaded for Cleveland
And later that night when the ships bell rang
Could it be the North Wind they’d been feeling.

The wind in the wires made a tattletale sound
And a wave broke over the railing
And every man knew, as the Captain did, too,
T’was the witch of November come stealing.

The dawn came late and the breakfast had to wait
When the gales of November came slashing
When afternoon came it was freezing rain
In the face of a hurricane West Wind

When supper time came the old cook came on deck
Saying fellows it’s too rough to feed ya
At 7PM a main hatchway caved in
He said fellas it’s been good to know ya.

The Captain wired in he had water coming in
And the good ship and crew was in peril
And later that night when his lights went out of sight
Came the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

Does anyone know where the love of God goes
When the words turn the minutes to hours
The searchers all say they’d have made Whitefish Bay
If they’d fifteen more miles behind her.

They might have split up or they might have capsized
They may have broke deep and took water
And all that remains is the faces and the names
Of the wives and the sons and the daughters.

Lake Huron rolls, Superior sings
In the ruins of her ice water mansion
Old Michigan steams like a young man’s dreams,
The islands and bays are for sportsmen.

And farther below Lake Ontario
Takes in what Lake Erie can send her
And the iron boats go as the mariners all know
With the gales of November remembered.

In a musty old hall in Detroit they prayed
In the Maritime Sailors’ Cathedral
The church bell chimed, ’til it rang 29 times
For each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald.

The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they call Gitche Gumee
Superior, they say, never gives up her dead
When the gales of November come early.