Americana Foundation director visits
By JANE NORDBERG, DMG WriterCENTRAL - Marty Fluharty says she doesn't know what it is about Copper Country volunteers that makes them so dedicated, but she tips her hat to them regardless.
"I'm always amazed when I come up here how much is being done with the local non-profits," Fluharty said. "It's an impressive bunch of people."
Fluharty, the executive director and sole employee of downstate Novi-based Americana Foundation, makes periodic trips to the western Upper Peninsula to check on the progress made by non-profit organizations it has awarded funding.
Established by Adolph H. and Ginger Meyer to support educational and advocacy programs that address the preservation of American agriculture, the conservation of natural resources and the protection and presentation of expressions of America's heritage, the Americana Foundation has given more than half a million dollars to Copper Country non-profit organizations since its first grant in 1998 to the Mary Chase Perry Stratton Pewabic House in Hancock.
Fluharty said the founders' ties to the area make it more attractive for funding.
"Adolph Meyer's grandfather, Samuel Jess, was a mine captain with (Calumet & Hecla Mining Co.)," Fluharty said. Fluharty's own brother-in-law currently serves on Michigan Technological University's Board of Control, and her stepson recently bought a cottage at Lac La Belle.
"There are a lot of local ties," she said. "It's getting to be I have as many friends up here as I do down there."
Most recently, the foundation provided $35,000 to the Houghton County Historical Society for the restoration of its heritage center, and $27,000 to the Keweenaw Heritage Center at St. Anne's in Calumet towards restoration of the former church.
"I remember the first day I went through it in 1999," Fluharty said of St. Anne's, which has recently completed a floor refinishing project and repair of its former altar area. "It was just awful, and I'm looking forward to seeing how much has been done."
Fluharty will get her chance to view that progress today, during tours and meetings in Calumet, Lake Linden and Hancock. Sunday, she visited Central, Eagle Harbor, the Quincy Mine site and Mason, while Tuesday she will meet with members of the Keweenaw Land Trust.
Kim Hoagland hosted Fluharty's north end visit Sunday. As a former board member of the Keweenaw Heritage Center, chair of the Keweenaw National Historical Park Advisory Commission and an MTU professor of social sciences, Hoagland has experience working with Fluharty and the Americana Foundation on a variety of local projects.
"They've been very generous in funding students in the industrial archeology program to do various projects," Hoagland said, citing the National Register nominations for Lake Linden and Mason.
The foundation's breadth of funding throughout the Keweenaw is a testament to its mission of encouraging preservation, Hoagland said.
"Americana's been one of the kindest donors of preservation of history projects that we've been involved with," Hoagland said. "We're happy to get her back here to show her what's been going on and what some of the other programs and other needs that we have."
Based on past experience, Fluharty said she knows funding toward Copper Country heritage projects is money well spent.
"It's a combination of the projects and the people," Fluharty said. "There's a cadre of volunteers in the Keweenaw who do so much with so little."
For more information on the Americana Foundation, go to www.americanafoundation.org
Jane Nordberg can be reached at jnordberg@mininggazette.com
