by Porter Davis
“I considered it just an act of human kindness”. That was the very first thing that Baraga Area Schools’ Teacher Mariah Dunham said when she was asked to share her daring rescue of a dog trapped on the ice. Risking life and limb (literally) to save another, Dunham  attributed her actions to just being in the right place at the right time, but her story proves otherwise. Wednesday, Jan. 3, was just any other day for Dunham, a walk by the pow wow grounds with her dog, enjoying the decent weather before last weekend’s snowstorm. A friend had suggested Dunham go on the road towards the beach, and she met some people walking their own dogs along the path. The dogs all greeted each other, and the walkers went on their way. Dunham kept on walking and was nearly to her vehicle when she heard
screaming from behind and felt a compulsion to run back. Before she did, she secured her dog in a vehicle and spotted a tow strap. Dunham felt an intuition that she couldn’t entirely explain, saying it was, “Just some divine intervention. We never go down that path and we just happened to be there, and something told me to grab that tow strap and put my dog away.” To read more, subscribe to the L’Anse Sentinel online, or buy a print copy at our local retailers.

by Melissa Newland

With the year almost halfway over, Keweenaw Bay Indian Community College’s (KBOCC) Little Eagles, Migiziinsag, staff, students and their families continue to prepare for next year when the students attend kindergarten. “It’s crazy that our year is almost at the halfway
mark,” noted teacher Melissa Paulson. She stated the Little Eagles program continues
to partner with each family to help their child prepare for kindergarten, with  social/emotional skills being a crucial element of a child’s growth. To read more, subscribe to the L’Anse Sentinel online, or buy a print copy at our local retailers.

To read more, subscribe to the L’Anse Sentinel online, or buy a print copy at our local retailers.

by Porter Davis
The annual celebration of the holiday season known as ‘Light Up Baraga County’ turned into another great night in town. Nearly the entire afternoon was devoted to Christmas festivities. Businesses from all over the county took part in building floats and walking in the parade, passing out candy to kids along their route. The Light Up Baraga County events ran from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 9, 2023, covering the skating show at  Meadowbrook Arena, a visit from Santa at the American Legion in L’Anse, and the parade
from the skating rink to the intersection at North Main and Broad Street. After the parade, the Christmas tree was lit up by Mr. and Mrs. Claus. The weather was unseasonably warm, with many remarking on the previous years’ snowy weather as the norm, when it had in fact rained early in the morning. Several cautious people brought umbrellas instead of winter boots this time, though the rain held off all evening. Regardless of the conditions,  yoopers are famously ready for anything, and still showed up in droves to watch the parade. To read more, subscribe to the L’Anse Sentinel online, or buy a print copy at our local retailers.

by Melissa Newland
Giving never gets old for the volunteers who planned, prepared, and presented the free
Thanksgiving meals at the L’Anse Methodist Church (LMC) on Thanksgiving Day. The dinner takes many months of preparation beforehand by volunteers, along with generous donations given by businesses, organizations and individuals, and organizer Sally Klaasen stated 380 fullcourse  turkey dinner meals went out to those in need this year. “Operations commenced at 7 a.m., and with a crew of about twenty wonderful people from the church and the community, meals were cooked, boxed, bagged, and picked up from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.,” said Klaasen about the operation. “Meals were also delivered to area businesses and organizations such as law enforcement, gas
stations, and hospital ER, to provide meals to working employees who might otherwise miss a holiday meal.” To read more, subscribe to the L’Anse Sentinel online, or buy a print copy at our local retailers.

by John Raffel
Elizabeth “Betty” Mae Adams Hansel celebrated 100 years of life on Nov. 18, Bayside Activites director Deb Merrill announced. Hansel is from downstate Michigan. Her early years were spent in Midland and Detroit area, but her adult married life, she spent living in her beloved Port Hope Michigan, “the little town with the BIG welcome,” according to Bayside’s announcement. Hansel now resides at Bayside Village in L’Anse for the past 10 and a half years to be near her daughter Marie Stiebe and family. To read more, subscribe to the L’Anse Sentinel online, or buy a print copy at our local retailers.

by Melissa Newland
“It was a surreal experience” was the response from local teen Natalie Laramore as a tear slid down her cheek when she was asked what she thought about her recent trip to Walt Disney World in Florida through the MakeA-Wish Michigan program. But it was a tear of joy
and thankfulness-not only for the fully paid luxurious trip of a lifetime, but also because she was given the news after 22 different chemotherapy cocktails and 17 specific radiation
located treatments that she has now been declared to have “no active disease throughout her whole body” after her last PET scan for any recurrence of Stage II Hodgkin Lymphoma.
Mom Kristy Laramore also had some tears in her eyes during the interview when speaking about the Make-A-Wish program and all the local Baraga County support the family has
received during this difficult time. To read more, subscribe to the L’Anse Sentinel online, or buy a print copy at our local retailers.

by Melissa Newland
Costume-clad staff and students from Arvon Township School (ATS) brought the party to
Bayside Village staff and residents during the day on Halloween. According to Head Teacher Kristina Waara, the ATS bus arrived at Bayside on the afternoon of the 31st of October with all occupants dressed in their desired Halloween attire. Staff and residents greeted them in the common area, with Bayside staff also donning costumes to celebrate the occasion. While there, students performed Halloween themed songs with actions for residents and the teachers read “The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything,” by Linda Williams, which involved audience participation by using clue words and repetitious sentences. To read more, subscribe to the L’Anse Sentinel online, or buy a print copy at our local retailers.

by Porter Davis
The Lt. Governor has gone on a tour of the upper peninsula this past weekend to visit small businesses and talk with local manufacturers. From Houghton to Marquette and everywhere in between, Lt. Governor Gilchrist’s tour aims to connect with vital manufacturing  businesses of Michigan. Here in L’Anse, Gilchrist stopped at the Hilltop Restaurant for the
famous sweet rolls with his staff and entourage before heading up the road to L’Anse Manufacturing. The visit took place in the early morning and afternoon of Oct. 22, 2023.
Gilchrist was asked several questions concerning the ongoing labor shortage which is felt especially severely in our small town. Gilchrist said that the way to tackle the issue was
through first talking with business owners and seeing what they need to get employees certified and ready to enter more specialized fields, while continuing to work with “UP
Michigan Works!” in the smallest businesses in communities. To read more, subscribe to the L’Anse Sentinel online, or buy a print copy at our local retailers.

by Porter Davis
With heavy hearts and hopeful prospects, rally drivers from all over the Upper Peninsula and beyond arrived in downtown L’Anse for the Lake Superior Performance Rally (LSPR). The annual rally was held in memorial for the late driver Al Dantes, who died in the early morning of the 2022 season. Holding the Parc Exposé at the L’Anse Waterfront Park, drivers
gathered, volunteers met, and spectators socialized and checked out the cars on the  overcast morning. Despite the dreary weather and loss of a fellow driver, participants and teams were determined to have a good time in memory of Dantes. A similar sentiment was held the morning that Dantes died, and everyone who knew him would say that the best
thing to do would be to ‘press on’. Saturday, Oct. 14, 2023, was the second day of the
rally, the first having begun in Sidnaw. The Parc Exposé ran from roughly 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. where rally enthusiasts were able to talk with drivers and take pictures of their cars. To read more, subscribe to the L’Anse Sentinel online, or buy a print copy at our local retailers.