An afternoon on the town
New students meet the community
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HOUGHTON -- Downtown Houghton and Hancock were filled with Michigan Technological University students Saturday for the annual Afternoon on the Town welcome week event. Businesses, organizations, churches and more had tables throughout College and Shelden Avenues in downtown Houghton, as well as Quincy Street in Hancock.
MTU Student Leadership and Involvement Senior Coordinator Cole Pierucki said the event provides many opportunities for students to get to know the area. "It's a great way to get connected with businesses that you might visit regularly, restaurants you love and want to keep checking out and organizations that you might want to volunteer for or help out with," he said. "It's a great way to get invested in this community."
According to Pierucki, this year's event had the most organizations and businesses signed up with a total of 65 tables present throughout the area. Students had the opportunity to meet local businesses and get free samples and gifts. A big hit every year -- and one students raved about Saturday -- were the free fish tacos from Joey's Seafood in Houghton.
First-year Mechanical Engineering Technology major Matthew Dufty said the community had been very welcoming and supportive. "I came from a town of 400, graduating class was like 16. So, I was not expecting this town, this campus, to be this involved," he said. "All my nerves went away."
Over in Hancock, a pair of students, Carter Shattuck and Jacob Austin do not have vehicles but were considering making the walk from campus, across the bridge, over to downtown Hancock for the businesses and organizations.
"We crossed the bridge," Shattuck, a first-year Mechanical Engineering major said. "It was great looking down, seeing all that water all around. It was crazy."
"I think I haven't met a single person that wasn't super kind or super smile-y," Austin, a first-year Materials Science major said. "Everybody's super nice here."
Aside from businesses in both downtowns, organizations like Visit Keweenaw and the Keweenaw Chamber of Commerce had tables next to their offices. Chamber of Commerce Office Assistant Leila Larsen is a current Michigan Tech student. She said the Keweenaw has a breadth of options and opportunities to explore outside of the local downtowns.
"There's so many hiking trails and a lot of outdoor activities," she said. "You can visit small businesses, go shopping, go up to Copper Harbor -- I could go on."