HANCOCK - This winter is the first in about five years the snowfall has been Copper Country deep, with significant buildup on roofs, which is just fine with Gary Mishica.
Because the snowfall has been heavy this winter, Mishica, who is the metal shop teacher at Hancock Central High School, had his students running a production line Tuesday assembling snow rakes in the metal shop at Hancock Middle School.
The snow rakes Mishica's students are making have a scoop end connected to a five-foot-long handle. The $42 package comes with two more 5-foot sections and more handle lengths can be purchased separately for $5 each.
Mishica said the students in his class started making roof rakes as a fund-raising item about 15 years ago. Until 2002, they were selling 100-150 per winter, but with the low-snowfall winters since then, demand dropped.
"Our best years were in the 1990s when we had a lot of snow," he said. "The last five years, we've been lucky to sell six to 10 a year."
The single-best year was 1999, when 150 roof rakes were sold, Mishica said. To date, 1,400 have been sold.
However, this winter, with more than 200 inches having fallen so far, the class is making and selling more rakes.
"The roof rake demand is back on line," he said.
Mishica said the roof rakes his students are making use galvanized steel rather than the aluminum many commercial brands are made of.
The student-made rakes are heavier, Mishica said, but they will last for years, which may not be true for the lighter aluminum models.
"We stand by our work," he said. "If anything breaks, we fix it for free."
Mishica said money from the sale of the rakes help supply the metal shop.
"The profits go right back into the shop to buy equipment," he said.
With money from the sale of fund-raising items such as the snow rakes, donations from the Hancock schools' foundation, funding from the school board, and donations from Michigan Technological University and local businesses, Mishica said the metal shop has $350,000 to $400,000 worth of equipment.
"It's a combination of things that made our shop the way it is," he said.
Mishica said other items the students have made over the years for fund-raising include bicycle racks for use in garages or basements and copper art objects.
Kurt Hauglie can be reached at khauglie@mininggazette.com.
