CALUMET - The first planning meeting for the Copper Dog 150 sled-dog race will be at 7 p.m. tonight at Carmelita's Restaurant in Calumet.
Tonight's meeting comes after a general meeting in April that saw about 20 interested people, said Tom Tikkanen, executive director of Main Street Calumet.
"We're hoping that we have more than that this time around," said Tikkanen.
While Main Street Calumet is hosting the meeting, the real job right now is to find someone else to run it.
"We need to take (the race) to the next level, which is recruiting a race director and board of directors to head the various committees," Tikkanen said. "That's what we hope to be close to achieving after this meeting. We want this to happen, we're very supportive of it, but Main Street Calumet itself does not have the resources to support an event of this nature."
The idea for the event has floated around since the last St. Urho Copper Classic in the early 1990s, Tikkanen said.
"There's a surprising number of mushers and those that are interested in it throughout the Copper Country," Tikkanen said. "They're largely supportive of the idea and are involved, wanting more people to get involved.
"What's also notable is the strong level of support and encouragement we're getting from mushers and fans from outside of the Copper Country throughout the Midwest."
Tikkanen said the preliminary plans include a start in Calumet, with racing to Copper Harbor, Lac La Belle, Eagle Harbor and then finishing in Calumet, similar to the Great Bear Chase with mushers finishing downtown.
He said there has also been interest in a shorter race to Hancock.
The Copper Dog 150 is tentatively slated for March, and will be considered the culminating event of three southern-Lake Superior-shore sled-dog races that include the Beargrease in Duluth, Minn., and U.P. 200 in Marquette.
"This is a real dynamic undertaking and it will require support from the greater community to get it going again," Tikkanen said. "This should not be perceived as a Calumet event, but more as a Keweenaw Peninsula effort."
Hors d'oeuvres will be provided at the meeting. For additional information, call Main Street Calumet at 337-6246.
Michael H. Babcock can be reached at mbabcock@mininggazette.com.