Event success

To the editor:

Many thanks to the business sponsors who helped make the Sixth Annual High School Local History Smackdown a huge success.

Thanks to Range Bank, River Valley State Bank, Pat’s Foods & Festival Foods, Keweenaw Memorial Medical Center and Homestead Graphics for their enthusiastic support of this event. It is institutions such as these that foster community spirit and make the Keweenaw such a great place to live and work.

Thirteen high school teams from the four-county area competed in the competition, which took place on April 24 at the historic Calumet Theatre.

Together the students responded to 100 questions on a diverse range of Copper Country topics.

The Smackdown is a unique part of the Fourth Thursday in History program because it focuses on high school students and gives them an opportunity to showcase their knowledge and shine for the community.

Additional thanks to Mark Wilcox for his third stint as quizmaster extraordinaire and to the judges representing the four counties: Jim Ekdahl of Baraga, Larry Lankton of Michigan Technological University representing Houghton, Andrew Lockhart from Ontonagon and Virginia Jamieson from Keweenaw.

We also owe our thanks to the student participants and their coaches. Their interest and participation in the event shows that knowing our history, especially that of our own back yard, can be interesting, fun, and even rewarding.

JAMES CORLESS, ED JENICH

Keweenaw National

Historical Park