MacArthur Lock No. 4, photo by Ralph Krawczyk Jr.
With apologies to Richard Harris, Donna Summer and pretty much everyone…
The captain took the Spruceglen, through the Soo
Ralph has a Holga, on trips he often takes it
It uses film and doesn’t fake it
Which isn’t always the easiest thing to do
Check it out bigger and in Ralph’s The U.P. – Autumn 2007 set (slideshow).
Iron Mountain MI UP Olympic Ski Jump Slide 1930s RPPC LL Cook C-1693 Unsent, photo by UpNorth Memories – Donald (Don) Harrison.
With the Winter Olympics just around the corner, it’s a good time to look back on the history of skiing. I’m guessing many folks aren’t aware of the pivotal role that Michigan has played in the history of skiing.
A great place to start is the U.S. National Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame and Museum in Ishpeming. It’s the only hall of fame in America dedicated exclusively to skiing and boasts 20,000 square feet that are packed with cross-country, downhill and snowboarding exbibits and memorabilia to take you from the founding of skiing to the latest innovations.
The core of the hall are the 368 inductees who represent some of the great names in skiing history. Included in their ranks are a number of Michiganians from one of the most influential ski resort owners in the nation, Everett Kircher (who developed the double and triple chair and made numerous other innovations at Boyne Mountain) to Lansing native and world class racer Cary Adgate (whose daughter is currently tearing up the slopes in Northern Michigan).
At this point, you may be asking yourself the same question that I did: “Why Ishpeming?”
About a century ago, a group of Ishpeming businessmen and skiing enthusiasts took the first steps to organize the National Skiing Association, now known as the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association. USSA is the national governing body for Olympic skiing and snowboarding and the entity behind the US Ski Team and US Snowboarding Team. For the story on why that happened in Ishpeming, we have to turn to the International Skiing History Association who explain that:
…The first actual recorded tournament in the Midwest took place in St. Paul, Minnesota, January 25, 1887. Starting from a tower all of twenty feet high, the Norwegian champion Mikkel Hemmestveit went 60 feet in the air to win. Then Hemmestvedt and his brother Torjus took the sport west to Red Wing, Minnesota with an exhibition tourney on February 8, 1887, sponsored by the year-old Aurora Ski Club of Red Wing. That very year, the idea of jumping spread to the Upper Peninsula and Ishpeming soon became a particular hotbed of jumping culture. In the Upper Peninsula after 1900, any town aiming to rank as a place worth living in had at least one big jump trestle. It became a matter of civic pride. The movement was supported by generous donations from the Upper Peninsula mining companies. Along the entire peninsula, ski clubs were founded, copying the organization of earlier Norwegian ski clubs the immigrants had known in their homeland. In Ishpeming, dozens of small backyard jumps were fashioned out of the plentiful snow and a few larger ones were built from trusses of native iron.
The Ishpeming Ski Club was organized in 1887 as the Norden Ski Club. A year later, it changed its name to Den Nordiske Ski Club (the Nordic Ski Club) to reflect its ethnic makeup. Business during club meetings was mostly transacted in Norwegian. Then diversity set in. With the arrival of Finns, the name was changed in 1901 to the Ishpeming Ski Club and meetings were thenceforth conducted in English. From that came a gradual growth toward the birth of organized skiing and, eventually, the founding of the U.S. National Ski Hall of Fame.
Definitely click through to their homepage – there’s an awesome ski history video there – and if you want to know more about ski jumping in Michigan, the Detroit News Rearview Mirror has a cool feature on Michigan’s long history of ski jumping with some great old photos!
The photo above from Pine Mountain is one of countless postcards featuring Michigan’s rich history available from Don Harrison. Be sure to check it out bigger or in his ski slideshow (which leads off with a postcard of the jump they had in Ishpeming).
A “Splash-tacular” shot., photo by Nicksnottoshabby.
Absolute Michigan is ready to help you Celebrate Valentine’s Day the Michigan Way featuring Valentine’s Day recipes from Michigan B&Bs and all kinds of links and info about how to do Valentine’s Day right.
Because Monday is President’s Day, there’s a slew of events from all across the state (check them out via Pure Michigan) including the first-ever Traverse City Wine & Art Festival Winter Wine Wonderland that I’m working on.
About this photo, Nick writes:
This is what I get into when my parents say I can’t go to the skatepark with all my friends… Luckily nothing really went to waste, the Cran juice was drunk, the strawberry devoured, and the newspaper recycled. My flashes are even powered by recharge batteries. What a smart, and Eco friendly kid I am.
Check it out bigger or in Nick’s slideshow.
Epiphany, photo by Matt Burrows.
Matt writes:
The simplicity of the photo and the “light” were the inspiration for this title, as some of the best epiphanies occur when we simplify our lives. However, this is often easier said than done. ;-)
Hope your weekend offers some simple pleasures.
Check it out bigger and in his iPhoneography set (slideshow).
HuronFeb1-3, photo by richwyllis.
Looks like a cool campground in warmer times.
Check it out bigger or in Rich’s slideshow.
Picture Rocks, photo by David :0).
The state of Michigan offers some amazing travel options and has been trying to share them with the nation through the Pure Michigan campaign. Unfortunately, our budgetary death spiral is jeopardizing a campaign that reportedly brings in nearly $3 in taxes for every dollar spent.
Whatever Lansing does, it strikes me that all of us can share scenes like the one above from the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore with our family and friends and when the time comes for our own travels, make it a Michigan vacation when we can and act as a sort of virtual tourism bureau.
This photo is one of a number of gorgeous shots in David’s Pictured Rocks set (slideshow) and check out lots more from the Pictured Rocks on Michigan in Pictures.
Winter Service, photo courtesy Mackinac Bridge Authority
The Michigan State Ferry Album says:
Winter service began in 1931 when the Highway Department arranged with the Mackinaw Transportation Company to carry cars across the Straits on a railroad icebreaker during the cold months. This arrangement turned out to be poor business for the State, so in 1936 the Highway Department leased the railroad icebreaker “Sainte Marie” for winter operations on a regular schedule.Winter service began in 1931 when the Highway Department arranged with the Mackinaw Transportation Company to carry cars across the Straits on a railroad icebreaker during the cold months. This arrangement turned out to be poor business for the State, so in 1936 the Highway Department leased the railroad icebreaker “Sainte Marie” for winter operations on a regular schedule.
In case you’re wondering, the ice on the Straits of Mackinaw hasn’t changed a whole lot in 80 years, as this photo from February of 2008 titled Triangles by Dominique shows. See it bigger in her Snow/Ice slideshow or check out the whole set.
Worlds (3rd) Largest Cherry Pie, photo by Allen Gathman.
February is National Cherry Month and there’s nothing more cherry than the cherry pie. The folks at Roadside America (who keep track of stuff like this) have this to say about the titanic battle for the World’s Largest Cherry Pie:
Charlevoix was the first into the mix. In 1976 a man named Dave Phillips, in a burst of bicentennial fervor, convinced local businesses in Charlevoix to bake the World’s Largest Cherry Pie as part of the town’s annual cherry festival. A giant pan was built, along with an equally titanic oven. Local farmers supplied the ingredients. The result: a cherry pie weighing 17,420 pounds. It was a world record.
Further south, the town of Traverse City had its own cherry festival. It had perhaps heard one too many boasts from Charlevoix, and in 1987 it decided to do something about it…
The Chef Pierre Bakeries went to work, and on July 25 it baked a cherry pie that put Charlevoix to shame: 28,350 pounds; 17 feet, 6 inches in diameter. As an added snub, the town had Guinness Book of World’s Records certify its pie as the largest ever. Charlevoix’s days in the spotlight were ended after only 11 years.
But time has a way of humbling the proud. The Chef Pierre Bakeries were bought out by Sara Lee. The cherry farms around Traverse City were turned into golf courses. Yuppies from downstate began invading the town, as they were invading Charlevoix. And in 1992, after only five years, Traverse City’s cherry pie crown was knocked clear into Canada when the tiny town of Oliver, British Columbia, baked a cherry pie for the ages — 39,683 pounds.
For some reason Oliver failed to save its pan, so you can still see the largest cherry pie pan in Traverse City here and get a sense of the scale right here.
Check Allen’s photo out bigger.
“Winter, a lingering season, is a time to gather golden moments, embark upon a sentimental journey, and enjoy every idle hour.”
~ John Boswell
Our Michigan February Event Calendar shows that from outdoor celebrations like Houghton’s Winter Carnival, the North American Snow Festival in Cadillac, the International 500 Snowmobile Race in the Soo, Detroit’s Winter Blast and the UP 200, Midnight Run Sled-Dog Championships in Marquette to indoor celebrations like the Taste the Passion wine tour in Leelanau, the Michigan International Auto Show in Grand Rapids, the Detroit Boat Show and the Winter Wine Wonderland in Traverse City, February is the month where Michiganders throw a snowball in winter’s face and head out to enjoy Michigan!
Check this photo of one of those golden February moments along the Grand River out bigger and in Jon’s My World Set (slideshow).
Michigan in Pictures 