Section J - The Mining Journal

2016
TOURISM & RECREATION
SECTION J
PROGRESS
Wednesday, March 30
A SPECIAL SECTION OF THE MINING JOURNAL
ALSO
INSIDE
PAGE 2J
Bold biking
PAGE 3J
Snowy trails
Images of last years Italian Fest celebration
in Ishpeming. (Journal file photos)
PAGE 6J
Marching on
PAGE 7J
Ice paradise
PAGE 8J
Snowy rollers
An evolution of St. Rocco’s day
celebrated in Ishpeming
By RENEE PRUSI
Journal Staff Writer
MARQUETTE — You dont have to be
Italian to take part in Ishpemings annual
Italian Fest celebration.
“Its all about family,” said Jim Bertucci,
president of the St. Rocco/St. Anthony Society, the organization that has been
putting on what has become Italian Fest
for more than 100 years.
Originally the event was called St. Roccos Day and was celebrated on Aug. 16
annually. The full name of the organizing
group actually is The Italian American Mutual Aid Society of St. Rocco and St. Anthony of Padua. The organizations original purpose was to be an aid society for
Italian Americans. And while Italian Fest is
the most visible event, the society — comprised of more than 100 Catholic men of
Italian descent — provides various works
of charity to the community.
St. Roccos Day evolved into Italian Fest
in the late 1990s, Bertucci said.
“We were gearing up for the 100th anniversary, which was going to be in 1999,”
he said. “We wanted the 100th to be a big
celebration. So in 1997, we moved things
to Al Quaal (Recreation Area from downtown) and had a parade in town and then
the picnic in 1997, 1998 and 1999. In
1999, we had fireworks at the end of the
night to mark the centennial.”
The move proved to be a hit with the
community, so Al Quaal became the
events home.
“St. Roccos Day is Aug. 16, but we
moved the celebration to the end of July,”
Bertucci said. “The weather is better and
having it in the middle of summer was better for people.”
For those who havent attended before,
Bertucci offered a glimpse of what Italian
Fest is about.
“There are kids games all day long and
free pony rides,” he said. “We have a big
slide and an obstacle course. The sawdust
pile (in which money is hidden) is always
a big hit, too.”
Food of course, is an important part of
Italian Fest. For years, the Valela sisters
did most of the cooking.
“There were four sisters for years, but
now there is only one left,” Bertucci said.
His mother was one of the three who have
passed away in recent years.
“Were keeping the food booth going for
their sake, in their memory,” he said. That
booth will sell mostaccioli with meatballs,
salad and garlic bread.
Another booth the Valela crew will run
will have cudighis using product from
Ralphs Italian Deli in Ishpeming.
“They we have vendors come in to do
other booths, like Taste of Chicago,”
Bertucci said.
A greased pole with a $100 bill at the top
will attract those willing to climb to get it.
“Most years, someone gets it,” Bertucci
said. “Then we put a $50 bill up there for
others to try to get.”
Music fills the air most of the day, with
Ray and Dan Adamini opening the action
at noon, strolling around the park to play.
Then the Sands of Time will be performing
See Italian Fest
Continued on 8J
2J -— The Mining Journal, Wednesday, March 30
PROGRESS2016
Bold biking
Ore to Shore Mountain Bike Epic
a spectacle in Marquette
ByJournal Staff
MARQUETTE — Aug.
9s Ore to Shore bike
race took place on a
pleasant, sunny day, but
most of the racers came
across the finish line
caked in mud thanks to
rain the night before.
Nevertheless, smiles
were all over the finish
line as racers seemed to
enjoy the experience and
were pleased with their
times.
In the main event, the
48-mile Hard Rock, Cole
House of Oneida, Wisconsin, took the title for
the fourth year in a row
with a time of 2:25:56.
“Part of me expected to
win today and part of me
no. You never know because its a long race,”
House said. “Its a great
race and I have to come
back every year, especially when Im defending
champion.”
House got into cycling
at a young age and soon
after started racing.
“I always liked bikes
when I was younger. My
dad started to get me into BMX racing and I kept
it going from there,” he
said. “Its fun and Im going to do it as long as I
can.”
Tyler Gauthier of Ishpeming finished second
at 2:27:01 and Nathan
Guerra of Oconomowoc,
Wisconsin, took third
place at 2:27:15.
On the womens side,
Kaitlyn Patterson of Traverse City tied Mindy McCutcheon of Salt Lake
City, Utah, at 2:42:32 for
first place with both rac-
ers bumping bikes as
they crossed the finish
line.
Patterson is listed first
on the website www.itiming.com, so it appears
she won the race.
“Im happy with how I
finished,” Patterson said.
“I was seventh last year
and Ive been riding better this year.
“But theres a lot of
things that need to go
right to put together a
good race with competitors of this caliber. Weve
got good people to race
against in Traverse City,
but not like this.” 
This was Pattersons
second time competing in
the Ore to Shore and enjoyed 2015s muddy conditions over last years
dust-ridden course.
“I came up last year for
my first time after I got a
mountain bike last year
and I came from a running background, so it
transferred over nicely,”
she said. “This is my perfect type of course.
“Today was muddy and
last year was dusty, but
Ill take this over the dust
cloud of last year.”
Sarah Kylander-Johnson of Duluth, Minnesota,
tied Kyia Anderson of St.
Cloud, Minnesota, with a
time of 2:47:25, with Kylander-Johnson
listed
first on itiming.com.
Cooper Dendel of Marquette was the top U.P.
finisher at 2:52:57.
In the 28-mile Soft Rock
race, teenager Caleb
Swartz of Madison, Wisconsin, won the mens
race with a time of
1:22.52, while Roy Kranz
of Midland took second
(1:23.22).
Casey
Abston
of
Louisville, Kentucky, finished third just three seconds behind Kranz, tied
with Samuel Hayden of
Duluth.
Craig Thomas of Marquette took fifth, five seconds after Abston and
Hayden.
The womens bracket
was won by Emma
Swartz of Madison at
1:25:15. She finished
well ahead of second
place finisher Kristina
Morse of Hayward, Wisconsin (1:31:49).
Hanna Derby of Ishpeming took third at
1:32:14).
A local racer, Ryan
Pizziola of Negaunee,
won the 10-mile Shore
Rock race with a time of
42:40.
Three young racers
took the next three spots,
with Ryan Durand of Interlochen taking second
(45:41), Douglas Wills of
Rochester Hills third
(00:45.55) and Camron
Kelly of Gladstone fourth
(46.53).
Another local, 12-yearold Ericka Asmus of Marquette, won the womens
title at 47:03.
A pair of teenagers
earned the next two
spots — Anni Skillicorn of
Winona, Minnesota, took
second (53.03) and Sofia
VanderEnde of Marquette finished third
(57:20).
The 2016 Ore to Shore
Mountain Bike Epic is set
for Aug. 13.
Mindy McCutcheon of Salt Lake City, Utah, and Kaitlyn Patterson of Traverse City,
Mich., cross the finish line after competing in the 48-mile Hard Rock course of the Ore
to Shore Mountain Bike Epic last year. The two finished with the same time. (Journal
photo by Elizabeth Bailey)
The Mining Journal, Wednesday, March 30 — 3J
PROGRESS2016
Snowy trails
Noquemanon Ski Marathon attracts
participants from all areas
By Journal Staff
MARQUETTE — A local skier won the Noquemenon 50K Classic Ski
Marathon in late January.
Not surprisingly, it was a
former Northern Michigan
University star. Kyle Bratrud took the title with a
time of 2:25:28.2, five
minutes ahead of second
place finisher Nick Power
of
Minneapolis
(2:30:47.5).
Bratrud, originally from
Eden Prairie, Minnesota,
now lives in Marquette after his NMU career finished up last spring. He
won the 15K Freestyle
U.S.
Cross
Country
Championships his senior
year at Northern.
At the Noque, he built a
solid lead toward the final
stretch of the course and
rode it to victory.
“My plan at the beginning was just to hang out
and let everyone else do
the leading,” he said. “Ive
been pretty sick the last
three weeks, so I wasnt
really sure how my body
would respond.
“It was a pretty chill
pace for 18K. At 32K, I
went to the front just to
see where everyone was
at. Nobody responded, so
I just went out on my own.
“It was great skiing out
there and my body felt
good,” Bratrud added.
He said the winning
purse of $1,000 will help
him as he continues his
skiing career with some
trips to Europe. He added
he wants to race the
Noque again next year
“The conditions were
great,” he said. “I heard
there was some concern
over lack of snow in certain areas, but I didnt feel
like there were any issues
out there. I thought it was
great skiing and most of
the trails were perfect. I
cant complain.
“It feels good to win,”
Bratrud added. “I was living up here this year, so it
was easy. Id like to come
back and try to defend my
title. I love the course, so
Id love to come back.”
Power was a little disappointed that Bratrud
passed him, but was happy with second place. He
finished just less than a
minute ahead of Chris
Pappathopoulus of Sun
Prairie,
Wisconsin
(2:31:43.9).
“It was a pretty good
race,” Power said. “The
hills were really steep, but
it was a good course.
“Kyle broke away early,
so I just decided to try to
see if I could hold onto
second. Im a little disappointed because I wish I
couldve stayed with Kyle
and I thought I had the
finish to do it, but second
is good.
“This is my first time doing the Noque, so I was
unfamiliar with the course
and I was a little hesitant,
so I tried to play it smart,”
he added. “Once he (Bratrud) broke away, there
was a pack with me, so I
decided to hold onto the
pack and then make my
move. If the scheduling is
right, Ill come back next
year and hopefully try to
do a little better.”
Eli Brown from downstate
Williamsburg
(2:32:23.4) and Andrew
Brown of St. Paul, Minnesota (2:32:37.9) rounded out the top five.
The next highest local
skier was Joe Bettendorf
of Marquette, who finished in sixth place
(2:37:10.9).
On the womens side,
Natalia Naryshkina from
Verona, Wisconsin, won
the title again with a time
of 2:50:25.1. She built as
much as a nine-minute
lead at one point, cruising
to the victory.
Two Minnesotans, Kim
Rudd of the St. Paul
metro area (3:02:35.8)
and Alice Flanders of
Crystal (3:03:36.0), finished second and third
respectively.
Rudd coaches skiing at
Robbinsdale Armstrong
High School in the Twin
Cities. Shes quite familiar
with the Noquemanon as
she won it back in 2013.
“It was a good race
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(Saturday),” Rudd said. “I
did it a couple of years
ago and I just love this
race. Its just awesome.
“Its like my little getaway from coaching.”
Flanders is a student at
Michigan Tech and was
on the Nordic ski team
there until she graduated.
She was asked to compete by the Central Cross
Country Ski Association
and was thrilled to finish
in the top three during her
Above and right,
Kyle Bratrude is seen
crossing the finish
line at the 2016 Noquemanon
Ski
Marathon outside of
the Superior Dome in
Marquette. (Journal
photos by Elizabeth
Bailey)
See Noquemanon
Continued on 8J
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PROGRESS2016
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The Mining Journal, Wednesday, March 30 — 5J
PROGRESS2016
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6J — The Mining Journal, Wednesday, March 30
PROGRESS2016
Marching on
Pioneer Days still going strong since 1979
By Journal Staff
NEGAUNEE — What
started as a centennial
event for the Negaunee
Public Schools in 1979
has continued as a community celebration every
year since.
Each July, Negaunee
welcomes back alumni
and friends for the Pioneer Days celebration.
The original celebration
was July 8-14, 1979 and
was billed as “Negaunee
High School, Centennial
Observance, 1879-1979”
honoring the 100th anniversary of the first graduating class. A committee
planned the original
event, but through the
years, what is now the
Negaunee Irontown Association has a hardworking core group that
is keeping Pioneer Days
going strong.
Since 1979, Pioneer
Days has been taking
place in July, including
class reunions, a parade,
kids activities and a large
fireworks display. For the
past 15-plus years, it has
included an alumni softball tournament as well.
A Pioneer Princess
pageant takes place in
Negaunee High Schools
auditorium every year.
Abbey Rexford is the
reigning pageant winner.
And the Night on the
Town activities on July 7
will draw hundreds of
people to the downtown
area for live music and
other activities.
In 2015, the Peninsula
Arts Appreciation Council
added its own special
event during Pioneer
Days, hosting the inaugural Mr. Upper Peninsula Pageant in the Historic
Vista Theater. That event
was such a hit, its going
to take place in 2016, on
July 8, again at the Vista.
Pioneer Days this year
goes from July 3-9, with a
host
of
community
events capped with a parade the afternoon of July 9 and one of the Upper
Peninsulas most popular
fireworks displays set for
that evening over Teal
Lake.
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(Journal photo by Elizabeth Bailey)
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The Mining Journal, Wednesday, March 30 — 7J
PROGRESS2016
Ice paradise
Munising Ice Fest now becoming more famous
By RYAN STIEG
Journal Staff Writer
MUNISING — The Munising Ice Fest has quickly gone from a fun local
event to a famous event.
Down Wind Sports
Todd King said that the
festival has grown steadily and that a film about it,
combined with word of
mouth, has helped sell it
to more people.
“Aaron Peterson did a
film on fat biking called
Cold Rolled and he also
did another one on ice
climbing,” he said. “Last
year, he threw out a
three-minute trailer online where he said, Hey
this is what Im working
on and its going to be
debuted at ice fest next
year.
“Also, Conrad Anker,
who is a really famous
climber, hooked up with
the national park system.
They had a 100-year history of the national parks
and they were going to
go film this IMAX film in
Montana. They went to
Montana last year and
they had tons of ice but
no snow.
“Well then they see
this trailer (of Petersons) online and said,
Well, weve got to go to
Munising. They came
here and did an IMAX
film on Pictured Rocks.
“Conrad has 22 million
Twitter followers and
said that this is the best
ice climbing that no one
knows about.”
King said that they
had more than 600 people attend the festival
this year, about what
they were expecting.
That was a 200-person
increase from the year
before.
He also that there are
hundreds of areas to
climb around Munising
and that theres one
thing that helps set the
Ice Fest apart from other places.
“There are hundreds of
events around the country with one of the biggest
in Colorado and the oth-
er is in Bozeman, Montana,” he said. “They
cater to intermediate to
high-level ice climbers.
“What is interesting
about our event is that
(who) we really cater to
is the beginners and
never-evers. We get
people who have never
ever held an ice axe in
their hands and we get
them up on the ice.”
King says that it may
be a little nerve-racking
the first time you ice
climb, but thats just part
of the experience.
“Its intimidating at
first, but suck it up buttercup, you can do it,”
he said. “The learning
curve is pretty fast. You
have to be roped up and
sure-footed, but if you
come to a demo, we
can get you up on a
climb.”
“
Above and bottom left, ice climbers work their way up walls
of ice during a Michigan Ice Fest demo session Feb. 1, 2014, at
the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore near Munising. (Journal file photo)
It’s intimidating at first, but suck it up
buttercup, you can do it.”
— TODD KING, Down Wind Sports
”
Ryan Stieg can be
reached at 906-2282500, ext. 246. His email
address is rstieg@miningjournal.net.
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8J — The Mining Journal, Wednesday, March 30
PROGRESS2016
Italian Fest
Noquemanon
Continued from 1J
from 2-4 p.m. The Ishpeming Blue Notes will
offer a half-hour of stirring music, followed by
Diamanti, from Chicago,
offering traditional and
contemporary
Italian
and American music
from 5-7 p.m.
But thats not the end of
Italian Fest.
“After the bands are
done, we have the LaMora tournament,” Bertucci
said. LaMora is a tradi-
Continued from 3J
tional hand game which
seems a bit — maybe
very — confusing to
someone who hasnt
watched it before.
“Theres a lot of hollering and fingers are flying,” Bertucci said with a
laugh. “It gets pretty exciting. When we first
started,
not
many
played. Now we have 40
or 50 people playing to
start and let me tell you,
when we get to the last
two, you can hear a pin
drop.”
The 117th edition of the
event will be July 30 at Al
Quaal Recreation Area in
Ishpeming. There is no
admission charge and everyone is welcome.
Renee Prusi can be
contacted at 906-2282500, ext. 240. Her
email
address
is
rprusi@miningjournal.net.
Snowy rollers
Snow biking continues to rise in popularity
Racers fly down the
hill at the Mattson
Lower Harbor Park to
complete the last leg
of the 2016 Polar Roll .
(Journal photo by
Valri Hanson)
By RYAN STIEG
Journal Staff Writer
MARQUETTE — Snow
biking has grown leaps
and bounds in Marquette
County and thats probably not going to stop.
Day and night all winter, you could spot at
least a few residents maneuvering their way
through high drifts of
snow. As the weather
has warmed up, most of
those bikers are probably getting ready for the
spring and summer season, but in the meantime, the increased popularity of the sport was
enough for them to be
featured in a February
expo.
The 906 Polar Roll also
occurred in February
and coincided with the
Northern Fatbike Summit. Two races took
place during the events,
one in Ishpeming and
the other in Marquette
with both concluding at
Marquettes
Mattson
Lower Harbor Park.
Down Wind Sports
Todd King said that this
year was the second
year of the Polar Roll
and had 400 people in
the second race.
“At the end of the race
and the next day, we
were part of a demo program where you can actually come out and try
out the bikes,” he said.
“We had probably between 75 and 100 people test-ride bikes over
the weekend. The people that demoed actually
knew what they were
looking for.
“They might have an
entry-level bike and were
looking to upgrade, but
out of the 400 racers,
there were a lot of neverevers.”
King said that snow
biking has been popular
in the area for about four
or five years and that the
Marquette area is a definite hotbed for it. He also
said that most people
who are into snow biking
are usually already into
regular biking.
“When you look at a fat
bike, its typically the
third bike in your
garage,” King said. “Its
not somebodys first
bike. You have to be kind
of committed to biking in
general before you invest into a fat-tire bike.”
King
said
when
choosing a bike, much
of the decision will be
about what how much
money you are willing
to spend. Down Wind
sells Borealis bikes,
and a Google search of
Borealis bikes shows
they range from $2,500
to $5,000.
“Its all a price comfort
level,” he said. “If youre
not comfortable investing into a bike more
than $2,000, then stick
with an entry-level
bike.”
If someone is interested in fat biking, King said
you have to experience it
to describe it.
“If you dont bike, its
hard to describe,” he
said. “Its pretty surreal
to ride on a ribbon of
snow through the woods
only with a headlamp on.
“Its for real. Its an incredible experience.”
Racers begin their snowy trek at the start of the Noquemanon last year. (Journal
photo by Elizabeth Bailey)
first year in the Noque.
“Im happy to be done,”
Flanders said with a
laugh. “Its always a good
goal to have, and its exciting to be able to
achieve it.”
Downstaters Ellen Wiitala of Ann Arbor
(3:13:25.5) and Kaitlyn
Patterson of Cadillac
(3:17:31.3) ended the
womens top five.
In the 50K Freestyle,
Michael Brothers (Monument, Colorado) won the
mens title (2:19:02.0),
while Marquettes Vicki
Asmus won the womens
championship for the second year in a row
(2:47:02.4).
Joan Rundman of Hancock took first in the womens
24K
Classic
(1:24:45.4) and Nick Petersen of Green Bay won
the
mens
title
(1:15:23.7).
A pair of Marquette residents won the 24K
Freestyle race. Dan
Dehlin finished first in the
mens
contest
(1:00:47.5), while Lindsey
Dehlin (1:03:40.8) won
the womens event.
Teenagers Lance Rambo
of
Marquette
(0:39:28.8) and Niki Roxbury of downstate Traverse City (0:42:27.9)
won the 12K Classic,
while teens Nikolai Huotari
of
Houghton
(0:34:35.4) and Kathryn
Clulo of Traverse City
Ryan Stieg can be
reached at 906-228-2500,
ext. 246. His email address is rstieg@miningjournal.net.
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1:31:14.3 and Jason Jilbert of Marquette fifth in
1:31:26.6.
For the women, Kyia
Anderson of St. Cloud,
Minnesota, was the winner in 1:40:15.0, almost
10 minutes ahead of second-place Eleanor Bacso
of Duluth, Minnesota.
Michele Basal of Marquette was third in
2:02:03.5, while Hanna
Derby of Marquette was
fourth in 2:04:34.2.
Out-of-state
racers
swept the Animoosh Skijor 10K races with divisions for one dog, which
had 10 entries, and two
dogs, which included four
entries.
Mike Christman of
Neenah,
Wisconsin,
took the one-dog race in
22:23.8, not quite two
minutes ahead of runner-up Adrian Swanson
of Minneapolis. Brent
Skaw of Marquette was
third in 26:30.3, while
the top woman and
fourth-place overall finisher
was
Bethany
Wright of Marquette in
26:34.7.
Sierra Anderson of Duluth, Minnesota, won the
two-dog division in
20:10.8. Another woman, Kristin Wodzinski of
Marquette, was the top
local finisher in third
place in 34:16.1.
The 2017 edition of the
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Jan. 28-29.
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(0:44:08.6) took first in
the 12K Freestyle.
By Journal Sports Staff
A trio of Marquette residents were the top mens
and womens finishers in
two of the Wild Side of the
Noque events.
All these races were
headquartered at the
Forestville Trailhead just
west of Marquette.
In the 10-kilometer
snowshoe event with 33
entrants, Andrew Rickauer of Marquette was
the top finisher in 56 minutes, 13.4 seconds, just
over a minute ahead of
runner-up Joe Lammers
of Oconomowoc, Wisconsin.
Andrew Grosvenor of
Marquette was third in
57:49.0, with Clive Rajala
of Ishpeming fifth in
1:10:26.1.
Kara Graci of Marquette
was the top womens finisher in 1:13:41.2, while
Jayne Szukalowski of Escanaba was next about 8
1/2 minutes back.
Nicole McMahon of
Marquette was third in
1:24:52.3, while Christine
Richards of Ishpeming
was sixth in 1:33:34.4.
In the 20K snow bike
with 40 entries, Evan
Simula of Marquette won
in 1:20:28.2, about 2 1/2
minutes ahead of runnerup Matthew Bloch of Marquettes 1:23:03.9.
Chris Lynch of Negaunee was fourth in
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