Sheriff Ron Lahti's Christmas Toy Drive continues through Dec. 17

Keweenaw County Sheriff Ron Lahti is pictured here in his office with toys donated for his "No Keweenaw Kid Without a Christmas" drive. (Photo courtesy Keweenaw County Sheriff's Office)

EAGLE RIVER -- Keweenaw County Sheriff Ron Lahti's annual "No Keweenaw Kid Without a Christmas" drive is in full swing collecting Christmas gift donations for needy children in Keweenaw County.

"We'd like to get the toys to the parents by next Friday (Dec. 18) or the following Monday," Sheriff Lahti said today. "We're helping 120 children of all ages this year, from newborn to 18 years old."

The biggest need is for the oldest children, especially teenagers, so cash donations also help the Sheriff and his staff to do last minute shopping next week.

"Sad to say, there's enough need out there so we can find a home for any item we get," Sheriff Lahti added.

Toys should now be brought to the Sheriff's Office, 5105 Fourth Street in Eagle River by next Thursday, Dec. 17, so they can be delivered in time for Christmas. Donations can also be mailed to Keweenaw County Sheriff's Toy Drive, 5105 Fourth Street, Eagle River, MI 49950, as soon as possible. Checks can be made out to Sheriff's Toy Drive.

* Editor's Note: Sheriff Lahti was awarded the 2014 Heart and Hands of the Keweenaw Award for his work of community service and civic commitments beyond his job. Read more here.

Community Arts Center to host reception for Steve Brimm's exhibit, "The Trees Have Souls," Dec. 11

Photographer Steve Brimm with tree. (Photo © SteveBrimmphotography and courtesy Copper Country Community Arts Center)

HANCOCK -- The new exhibition in the Copper Country Community Arts Center’s Kerredge Gallery, "The Trees Have Souls," features photography by Copper Harbor artist, Steve Brimm. The exhibition, on display through Dec. 24, brings together images of trees from the artist’s travels to Yellowstone and the coast of North Carolina and from his own backyard in the Keweenaw.

The public is invited to a reception to see the art, meet the artist, and enjoy refreshments from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 11.

"Putting together this exhibit I was surprised by how many different varieties of trees have graced the front of my lens," Brimm says, "each with its own unique personality -- at least to me."

Steve Brimm sees trees as animate beings and invites viewers to see his work and explore how the photographs make them feel -- to assign to each an emotion or a physical feeling.

"Lying on the forest floor, peering up at their lofty tops, I imagine what they may be thinking, or saying to each other," he notes.

This program is supported by a grant from the Michigan Council for Arts and  Cultural Affairs with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts. The Community Arts Center is at 126 Quincy Street in Hancock. For more information call (906) 482-2333 or visit the website www.coppercountryarts.com.

Michigan Tech choirs to present "Songs of the Season" Dec. 12

HOUGHTON -- The choirs of Michigan Tech will present a concert titled "Songs of the Season" at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 12, in the Rozsa Center. The concert will have a mixture of contemplative and celebratory music, featuring selections ranging from 16th-century Spanish carols to contemporary settings of favorite Christmas songs.

The Michigan Tech Chamber Singers, conScience, along with guitarist Pat Valencia, will perform Alf Houkom’s setting of an old Gaelic rune titled "Rune of Hospitality" -- a particularly poignant selection considering contemporary world events. 

The Michigan Tech Concert Choir, accompanied by Leslie Dukes, will perform masterworks from the choral canon, including J.S. Bach’s Lobet den Herrn and Francis Poulenc’s Quem vidistis pastores dicite.

Tickets for the "Songs of the Season" concert are on sale now: $13 for adults, $5 for youth, and no charge for Michigan Tech students with the Experience Tech fee. Tickets are available by phone at 487-2073, online at Rozsa.mtu.edu or in person at the Central Ticketing Office in the Student Development Complex.