Friends of the MMHP Hold Annual Membership Meeting & Election

IRONWOOD, MI - Wednesday, October 13, 2010 - During the September Membership Meeting, the Friends of Miners Memorial Heritage Park (MMHP) held elections. All of the positions of our leadership team were filled except for the position of Activities Chair. Monie Shackleford vacated the Activities Chair position to become the new President of the Friends of MMHP. Tom Bergman decided to step down as the President and accepted his previous position as Vice President. Tom Kangas, who has been leading hikes through the summer and filled in the position since Sam Davey had resigned, accepted the nomination and position of Trails Chair. The positions of the other members of the leadership team were re-elected for a second term. The leadership team includes the following people:

Monie Shackleford, President
Tom Bergman, Vice President (Fund Development Chair)
Annette Burchell, Secretary (Membership Chair)
Deb Gotham, Treasurer (Finance Chair)
Lily Palmer, Volunteer Chair
Ivan Hellen, History Chair
Tom Kangas, Trail Committee Chair
LeeAnn Garske, Publicity Chair

Become Involved!

People interested in helping the Friends of Miners Memorial Heritage Park are encouraged to attend our monthly meetings which are the 4th Tuesday of every month. The next meeting is on Tuesday, October 26th, 2010 at 7:00 PM in room B22 of Gogebic Community College. Each leadership member is in charge of a committee that works on a specific aspect of the “Miners Park.” People are welcome to become involved in one or more committees. Respond to this article if you are interested in becoming involved in a committee.

Remembering the Pabst Mine Disaster

Last week, we held the second annual vigil for the miners killed and trapped in the Pabst Mine Disaster  that occurred in 1926 (click link for details). Even though the anniversary day of the disaster had poor weather, many people showed up. The vigil was rescheduled to the anniversary evening of the rescue. The weather was perfect and despite little publicity for the event, 20 people attended including relatives of one of the trapped miners. The group took a quick walk from the H Shaft, where the miners were rescued, to the G Shaft, where the cave-in occurred. Volunteers including Ivan Hellen, Tom Kangas, Dave Kangas, and Ron Zaleski, did a lot of work to brush the area of weeds and make the area around the H Shaft “park-like.” After a radio-show was played that recounted the tragedy, candles were passed around and lit. The names of the 43 men trapped and the 3 men who died were read followed by the ring of a bell and Ivan Hellen spoke a little about the tragedy. Larry Peterson told about how the tragedy caused a bit of push for new safety regulations for mines, but little changed in the following years.

SISU Ski Fest Trail Revision

The SISU Ski Fest has requested to create a ski trail that will move the trail that currently goes along Ayer Street into the woods with views of the Pabst Pond. Members at the last Friends of MMHP meeting endorsed this revision. A trail within the woods along Pabst Pond would improve the trail system in the park as well as improve the trail for the ski race. Ironwood's Parks and Recreation Committee approved the revised trail plan, while the Planning Commission passed off the ski trail revision to the City Commission. We encourage people to write or speak their approval of the SISU Trail Revision to the Ironwood City Commission.

Deer Hunt

The deer hunt is underway within the Miners Park until January 1st, so there will be no scheduled events within the Park in the coming months.

We now have an official park. We need to work towards making it accessible to everyone in the community. In the coming year, among other things, we need to work on fundraising, applying for grants, creating long-term plans, marking temporary parking areas, improving maps, and marking trails. This is an exciting project that has the potential to improve the daily life of Ironwood residents as well as people in the region.

Thank you for your support!

Monie Shackleford
President of the Friends of MMHP