Old Fashioned Christmas in Chassell
Winter has been very slow to set in this year in the Keweenaw. Above normal temperatures above freezing knocked back the 8 inches of snow we received last week. The warmer temperatures did not deter this group of guys from playing hockey on Pike Bay in Chassell last Monday who I saw while talking with an engineering firm about the prime professional RFP we had on the street for our SPARK Grant projects at Centennial Park.
Monday evening we held our final public hearing on our draft MDNR 5-Year Recreation Plan for Chassell Township. You can see it at this link.
Tuesday was focused on getting an updated legal description for Centennial Park that would be concise enough to put on a map of the park’s boundaries that Steve Rouser from WUPPDR is helping us with that we will be submitting as part of our first required SPARK Grant report. That evening we enjoyed dinner with friends in Houghton.
Late Wednesday afternoon we attended the Finnish Independence celebration at the Finnish-American Heritage Center in Hancock. David Maki who is the director of the Heritage Center did a nice job running the celebration which included a recorded message from the Finlandia Foundation National Executive Director Tommy Flanagan and folk dancing by the Kivajat Finnish Folk Dance troupe led by Kay Seppala. From there we dashed home to get ready to run with the Keweenaw Running Group and were back at the SDC at MTU at 6:00 p.m.
We had a beautiful sunrise over the lake on Thursday morning.
I caught it on a time-lapse on my GoPro 12 at this link.
On Thursday morning we joined a group of Chassell Historical Organization board members and decorated the Heritage Center in preparation for Old Fashioned Christmas. In addition to being a stop on the Home for the Holidays Home Tour with live music, Santa is there for the kids from 11 to 2 and they have the opportunity to decorate sugar cookies.
On Thursday evening, the Chassell Township Planning Commission meeting featured an update from State Representative Greg Markkanen as well as the commission approving and moving forward the final draft of the MDNR 5-Year Recreation Plan for final approval by the Township Board this coming Wednesday as well as recommending the award of the prime professional responsibilities on the SPARK Grant projects to U.P. Engineers and Architects for the board’s final approval as well.
The mild weather on Friday provided me the opportunity to chainsaw a large portion of a pine tree that had fallen into our neighbors’ yard and to cut it up into firewood. It would not be typical weather for the Christmas Tree lighting in downtown Chassell that evening, but we at least had snow on the ground. We saw several friends while there and I ran into and caught up with Craig who works remotely in information technology for a financial institution from here in Chassell Township. Afterwards, we had dinner with friends in Chassell.
Saturday morning, Julie participated in the holiday craft show at the Chassell Township Schools. I helped her set up her alcohol ink card display and then went with our friend Erik who is a remote worker who recently came to Chassell from the Minneapolis area to look at a house he recently bought in Chassell needing a lot of work that he is remodeling to become a rental. I stopped by the school again to bring Julie something she had forgotten and had breakfast in the cafeteria with four of the Chassell Historical Organization board members who were there. I also just had to make a stop at the Chassell Women’s Club pie sale! Before heading out, I also had an opportunity to talk with Kady Godfrey who works remotely as a product owner at Q2 Software who came to Chassell from Des Moines, Iowa.
That afternoon we met up with seventeen of our friends at the Chassell Heritage Center to go on the Home for the Holidays Home Tour.
One of the stops included Chris and Audra Tormala’s place at Portage Entry. Chris and Audra are both remote workers who came to Chassell from the Milwaukee area. They recently completed a substantial remodel/addition to a home built by Chris’ great-grandfather and incorporated the former structure within their new home. We also made a stops at Dan and Sandy Palosaari’s along the Portage River and at Steve and Lisa Holombo’s North Entry Stables. At the latter, Steve Palosaari had brought by a couple of his Scottish Highlanders.
Two other stops on the tour were homes built by DP Construction in the development along the golf course and overlooking the Pilgrim River valley off of Denton Road. Definitely a cool place for new construction if you are looking for a place to locate!
After eating so much on the tour, I needed to get out for a run before dark on these quickly shortening days ahead of the winter solstice!
Sunday we hiked 5 miles on the Wiggle Creek segment of the North Country Trail to the south of Alston. Normally this time of year you would be pulling out the snowshoes, but this year we just strapped on the spikes. I will save the photos for next time, but you can check out my GoPro video from the hike at this link to the Remote Workforce Keweenaw YouTube Channel:
Do you embrace winter and have the ability to work remotely? Consider locating in the Keweenaw where you will find ubiquitous natural beauty, no congestion, and lower crime! Not sure? Come UP for a workcation to check it out! Learn how at Visit Keweenaw at https://www.visitkeweenaw.com/plan/trip-ideas-itineraries/workcations/ Visit Remote Workforce Keweenaw at https://remoteworkforcekeweenaw.com. Learn about those making the decision to locate here by following the Remote Workforce Keweenaw Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/RemoteWorkforceKeweenaw