Keweenaw International Children’s Festival

Editor:

The board of the Elaine Bacon Literacy Program would like to thank the many international and local people and organizations who made Saturday’s first ever Keweenaw International Children’s Festival at the Portage Lake District Library a huge success! The library was jam packed for hours as children and their parents milled around listening and dancing to stories, songs, and folk music from around the world.

The children created crafts and saw beautiful displays of many cultures, among them Brazil, Indonesia, Iran, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Ukraine, and Zimbabwe. The children were eager to get their geography bingo cards stamped at every display they visited. Two little girls were seen searching high and low at the library in order to record the most fish of various colors. Another brave little girl stood next to her mom and sang two beautiful songs from her culture.

And the food! Members of International Neighbors, our Elaine Bacon Literacy Program and the local community provided samples of the most tasty and beautiful food from their home countries. Much of the food was gluten free and all of it prepared with love and pride. Children and adults heaped their plates with such foods as Chin Chin from Nigeria, Egyptian Baklava, Herra Isbauo from Syria, Mannish and Hummus from Jordan, Brazil’s Pa`o de queijio, Thailand’s Pad Thai, Pan de Muerto from Mexico, and Shole’ Zard and Yazdi from Persia.

In all, dozens of countries were represented at the festival! We owe the first big thank you to Puti Ceniza Akbar for getting this festival idea off the ground and following its progress through the grant and production stages and into a reality. Thanks to the Copper Shores Community Health Foundation and the Keweenaw Community Foundation for their support and to the hardworking staff at the Portage Lake District Library for providing the space and energy to make this event work so smoothly. Thanks also to the many performers, including the Copper Country Suzuki Association and the Finnish American Folk School. Pennie\\\’s Home Bakery and Laurium Bites contributed additional treats. Mostly, we want to thank the children of the Copper Country for their eager curiosity and enthusiasm to learn about other cultures.

Denise Heikinen

Houghton

Speak no evil?

Editor:

The December 3rd issue makes twice recently that the Daily Mining Gazette has had an article about the upcoming Finnish Independence Day, without mentioning who it was that Finland was so eager to gain independence from. How does something like this even happen one time, much less twice? How — or why?

John W. Loosemore

Hancock

Thank you from the family of Kim Strieter

Editor:

Thank you to all those who attended and donated toward the funeral of Kim Mark Strieter on October 6, 2025. We appreciate your love, generosity, and support during this difficult time.

Sincerely, Robert and Connor Strieter

Chicago, IL