WE MADE IT!–L’Anse High School’s Class of 2015 made it official Thursday, May 28, 2015. The graduates entered the gymnasium still students. Approximately two hours later they left as graduates. The crew lined up in the hallway for one last “casual” group shot. 1989 alumni Kurt Godlevske provided this year’s commencement address and was the 2015 Alumni of the Year recipient.
Execution, discipline and effort. 2015 L’Anse Area Schools Distinguished Alumni Award recipient and 1989 LHS graduate Kurt Godlevske told the 55 graduates sitting in the audience. “Highly successful people have mastered these three words,” Godlevske told the graduates and those in the audience. “No matter what you choose to do, if you master these three words, you too will reap its rewards,” Godlevske said. “Every day you will have some task to do and hopefully multiple tasks. To accomplish this at high level, you will have to execute some kind of a plan. . .” To read more, subscribe to the L’Anse Sentinel online, or buy a print copy at our local retailers..
Baraga Class of 2015 posed for a picture moments before graduation Friday.
“We all made it–not only graduation, but high school!” Baraga Valedictorian Sonja Welch told her classmates at commencement on Friday, May 22, 2015. “We’ve always had each other to depend on.” The Class of 2015 included 32 graduates who marched with the girls in purple and the boys in black, representing their class colors. Welch expressed her gratitude for teachers, parents and friends, including her mom, Baraga school board member Sarah Maki, who “without her I wouldn’t be the person I am today”. Welch stood out among her classmates with a perfect 4.0 grade point average. She was also active in sports and other school activities and the president of the National Honor Society. To read more, subscribe to the L’Anse Sentinel online, or buy a print copy at ourlocal retailers..
SAYING GOODBYE–Baraga students from kindergarten through the seniors enjoyed a time to reflect on the Pelkie School at a picnic last Thursday, May 14, 2015. The school will close at the end of this year due to declining enrollment in its K-2 classrooms. Although sad the event turned into a celebration of “coming together” as all the grades will be in Baraga next year. A show of hands revealed that the vast majority of students and community members had attended Pelkie School.
“Closed not forgotten” is the motto the Baraga school community is using to say goodbye to the Pelkie School. A well-attended community picnic drew people together for lunch, visiting and a formal program on the lawn in front of the historic 1932 building. How well-attended was the picnic? Beth Reynolds and crew in the Pelkie kitchen served up almost 700 hot dogs! The Pelkie kindergartners, first and second graders and staff played host as six busloads of third through 12th grade students came from the Baraga campus for the festive yet somewhat sad ceremony. To read more, subscribe to the L’Anse Sentinel online, or buy a print copy at our local retailers..
KBOCC GRADUATES–Earning associate degrees, l-r, were Danielle Hueckstaedt, Lindsey Loonsfoot, WabaNunGoQuay Alakayak, Nancy Pawlowski, Terri Curtis, Dylan Friisvall, Dawn Gauthier, and Veronica Adams. Photos by Lauri Denomie.
Eight individuals received associate degrees Saturday, May 2, 2015 as the Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa Community College (KBOCC) held its honors and commencement ceremony at the Niiwin Akeaa Center in Baraga. KBOCC Board of Regents chair Kathleen Mayo served as master of ceremonies for the event. Lynn Aho, dean of instruction, presented graduates with their diplomas. KBOCC president Debra Parrish and Elizabeth Veker-King, dean of student services, presented a number of special awards. Faculty members Megan Haataja, Jesse Koenig, Andrew Kozich and Cheryl LaRose handed out departmental awards. To read more, subscribe to the L’Anse Sentinel online, or buy a print copy at our local retailers..
GRINDING TIES–The burning of treated railroad ties at the L’Anse Warden Electric Plant has raised concerns in the community for years. Plant officials offered a tour of the “Fuel Aggregate Facility” last Friday to members of the Warden Citizen Advisory Panel. They watched an industrial grinder shredding ties, above, which are scooped into a covered building before being sent to the plant in the fuel mix.
L’Anse Warden Electric Company (LWEC) officials provided an hour-long tour of the biomass electric generating plant’s Fuel Aggregate Facility on Friday, May 1, 2015. Only four people attended. Some members of the Warden Citizen Advisory Panel (CAP) were unable to attend due to the one-day notice they received for the tour. Conducting the tour were Traxys CEO Steve Walsh, Warden Plant and Fuel Manager John Polkky and Warden Technical and Safety Manager J.R. Richardson. The fuel facility is where the wood chips and railroad ties are stockpiled and prepared to be burned in the Warden plant. The ties have long been a source of environmental concern in the community, for possible leaching into the soil and ultimately, Lake Superior; for airborne particles of ground ties that fall out nearby; and for possible air pollution after the material (along with ground tire fuel and wood chips) is burned. To read more, subscribe to the L’Anse Sentinel online, or buy a print copy at our local retailers..
COMMUNITY FUNCTIONS–The L’Anse Library serves for a variety of programs and events. Backers hope to bring a steady stream of programs and activities, such as Story Time, above, on the first and third Thursdays.
Baraga County voters will have more than just the statewide Proposal 15-1 to decide when heading to the polls Tuesday, May 5, 2015. The ballot will also contain a county-wide library millage proposal. Covington Township constituents will also decide on the renewal of both a fire and ambulance question as well as the renewal of a recreation proposition (see separate story). Backers of the Baraga County Public Library are asking the electorate to support a half-mill, five-year proposal–2015-2019 inclusive, with funds specifically earmarked for general operation and maintenance of the existing public library. The generated revenue is estimated at approximately $121,400 for the first year. To read more, subscribe to the L’Anse Sentinel online, or buy a print copy at our local retailers..
HELPING OUT–Polly Schaefer of Plum Creek presented L’Anse Superintendent Carrie Meyer a check last week. The $8,150 donation will help fund a new fence around Volunteer Field to be installed by fall.
By the start of the 2015 Hornet football season, Volunteer Field will have a new addition. With help from a Plum Creek Foundation grant, the field will be surrounded by a chain-linked fence and gates. Last week, Plum Creek representative Polly Schaefer dropped off an $8,150 check to L’Anse Area Schools’ Superintendent Carrie Meyer. Meyer said she, district athletic director Darrin Voskuhl and maintenance-transportation supervisor John Juntunen surveyed the field, drew up project specifications and placed the project out on bids. Final day for submitting bids is today, April 22, 2015. Meyer said the fencing will be installed over the summer. Putting up fencing has several benefits. The first is that it meets Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) guidelines allowing the school to host playoff football games and, down the road, track and field events. The second is that it provides field security.
SPRING DAY FUN–Not only was the weather outside enjoyable on Saturday, April 11, things inside the Niiwin Akeaa Center were just as fun. More than 350youth and family members gathered to participate in the activities included in the third annual Baraga County Spring Fling.
Things just keep getting better for the annual Baraga County Spring Fling, according to Baraga Great Explor-
ation Site Coordinator Heather Jahfetson. This year’s marked the third and was held Saturday, April 11, 2015, at the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community’s (KBIC) Niiwin Akeaa Center. Cathy Benda, director of the Copper Country Great Start Collaborative (CCGSC) said more than 225 children and 125 adults attended the event. “Families and children had an opportunity to receive free books and tote bags courtesy of the Baraga County Community Foundation,” Benda said. “(They) had the opportunity to play in the Bouncy House, attend a teddy bear clinic and participate in hearing and vision screenings provided by the Chassell Lions Club.” Heather Jahfetson, Baraga Great Explorations site coordinator, said numbers were upsubstantially over last year and have increased since the inaugural event in 2013. “Last year we had approximately 300 participants and the year before we had approximately 250,” Jahfetson said
EXCITING OPPORTUNITY–New Sacred Heart School principal Christy Miron will continue with her coordination of the Faith Formation program, doing both jobs on a part-time basis. She replaces Dr. Eric Grekowicz who resigned recently after bringing technology, innovation and new curriculum to Sacred Heart School. Enrollment doubled during “Dr. G’s” tenure.
When Dr. Eric Grekowicz unexpectedly stepped down as Sacred Heart School’s principal, it didn’t take the pastor and the Diocese of Marquette long to find a replacement. Christy Miron was already well known for her work and commitment as the Faith Formation Coordinator in the local Catholic community. Miron has been approved as Sacred Heart’s new principal by Bishop John Doerfler. She will work in that position part-time and continue as the Faith Formation Coordinator, also a part-time position. Grekowicz had been a principal and fifth and sixth grade teacher. Sacred Heart has a long-term substitute teacher on board, and will hire a teacher in the summer. The staff will have four teachers and an aide. Amber Johnson will continue in her role as the school secretary, and she will serve part-time as the Faith Formation secretary. Although the changes have the Sacred Heart community looking ahead, most are also taking time to look back on the accomplishments of “Dr. G”. In two and a half years as principal Dr. G led efforts to double Sacred Heart School’s enrollment, which is now 55 students. He was a successful grant writer and he brought SHS up to current standards with classroom equipment, smart boards and student computers.
2015 ESTIMATE–Every two years the DNR does an aerial survey to estimate UP moose numbers. Specific grids are flown and sitings recorded. The numbers are then used to estimate the herd. There has a been a drop from an estimated 451 moose in 2013 to 328 in 2015. DNR pilot Neil Harri provided this photo of two bull moose taken during the winter count.
The UP moose herd has taken a hit, down an estimated 128 animals since 2013. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has released its 2015 moose population survey which estimates the herd at 323 animals. In 2013, the herd was estimated at 451. Potential factors range from climate change to a possible increase in wolf predation. “We do a core range survey in the Western UP, in Iron, Baraga and Marquette counties where we did the reintroductions,” said Chad Stewart, deer, elk and moose management specialist for the DNR. “There’s a smaller population in the eastern UP as well.” The moose range in the Western UP covers roughly 1,400 square miles. Every other year DNR staff survey most of that area from above. In 2015 flights covered all survey plots within the core moose area, where 80-90 percent of the Western UP moose population is located.
