CALUMET - April is National Volunteer Month, and the members of Main Street Calumet use that as an opportunity to thank its volunteers and to give special recognition to one particular volunteer.
During the annual Main Street Calumet Volunteer and Sponsor dinner at the Michigan House Caf & Brew Pub, Tom Tikkanen, Main Street Calumet executive director, gave an overview of the projects the organization conducted last year, and announced its volunteer of the year for 2009, Pamela Grill.
"(Pamela) has become a truly wise and tireless leader," Tikkanen said.
Main Street Calumet came into existence in 2003, and Tikkanen said Grill has been with the organization almost from the beginning. She created its website and edited the newsletter. Currently, she helps recruit volunteers and sponsors, which is very important for the organization.
"We are not a government entity," he said. "We rely on sponsors."
Grill said she didn't grow up in the Copper Country, but living in Calumet was immediately comfortable.
"When I moved to Calumet, I felt they accepted me as family," she said.
Grill said Calumet is now her home, and she wants to do whatever she can to benefit it.
"We think it's the best place on earth to be," she said. "I don't want to just live here. I want to do something for my community."
Grill said after she retired as lab director at the former Keweenaw Memorial Medical Center, now Aspirus Keweenaw, she decided to get more involved with Main Street Calumet. She's now working on the organizing committee, the corporate sponsor program and is a member of the Main Street Calumet board of directors.
Over last year, Tikkanen said the organization's annual activities, such as Pasty Fest, Heritage Days, Great Deer Chase bicycle race, Great Bear Chase cross country ski race, Christmas in Calumet and the Lake Superior PRO Rally are all experiencing increases in participation and viewership.
One new event, Musical Mondays at the Keweenaw Heritage Center at St. Anne's, has become very popular.
"What great gatherings those were," he said.
Another musical event gaining popularity is First Fridays at the Calumet Art Center, Tikkanen said.
The Calumet Art Center came into existence in 2009, Tikkanen said, as a result of the efforts of community members and center director Ed Gray, the former Community Church building was purchased and the art center was created.
"While most people saw it as another empty building, this group saw the Calumet Art Center," Tikkanen said.
Another new event at the Calumet Theatre was the Red Metal Radio Show, which Tikkanen said is still being talked about by those who attended the live radio broadcast last summer.
Tikkanen said last year a Cultural Economic Development plan for Calumet was created. The document outlines various actions the village can take to increase its desirability as place for people to come to experience cultural activities.
"This resulted in a really wonderful living document," he said.
One of the ideas to come from the plan is the creation of the Red Jacket University, which is intended as a lifelong learning concept with the entire village as its campus.
Although he didn't mention specifics about the plan for the university, Tikkanen said information will be presented soon.
In May, Tikkanen said he will be attending the National Main Street Conference in Oklahoma City, Okla., where he will give a presentation on reviving a local economy through the establishment of strategic partnerships.
Kurt Hauglie can be reached at khauglie@mininggazette.com.
