Friends of Calumet Library to hold meeting Sept. 9 and host Kite Aerial Photography presentation Sept 10

CALUMET -- Friends of the Calumet Public Library will hold their monthly meeting and will host a presentation on Kite Aerial Photography this week. Both events are free and open to the public.

Friends of Calumet Library to hold meeting Sept. 9

Friends of the Calumet Public Library will hold their monthly meeting at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 9, in the library. The meeting is open to the public.

Are you looking for a way to become involved in your community? How about joining the Friends of the Calumet Public Library? There are many ways to lend a hand at the library: programming ideas, volunteer opportunities, the Red Jacket Readers book club, and more! Meetings are held the second Tuesday of each month at 5:30 in the library. Mark your calendar! This is an open meeting, and new members and new ideas are welcome. Come find out what's ahead at the Calumet Public Library.

This event is sponsored by the Friends of the Calumet Public Library. For more information, visit the library or call 337-0311 ext. 1107.

Kite Aerial Photography: Bird’s Eye Views of the Keweenaw presentation Sept. 10

Aerial photographer Nathan "Invincible" Miller will present Kite Aerial Photography: Bird’s Eye Views of the Keweenaw from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 10, at the Calumet Public Library. The event is open to the public.

Join Miller as he explains his unique photographic techniques at this public presentation.  Nathan will share photos and stories from his flights around the Keweenaw as well as explain how his gear works. If the weather is nice and the breeze acceptable, he’ll head outside and demonstrate how it all works with a test flight around the school.

The presentation, sponsored by Friends of the Calumet Public Library, will be held in the CLK Commons (use the regular library entrance and follow signs to the Commons) and will be followed by a reception in the library.

For more information, visit the library or call 337-0311 ext. 1107. (In case of bad weather, when school is cancelled, all library programs are cancelled.)

Friends of Calumet Library to meet TODAY, Aug. 12; public welcome

CALUMET -- Friends of the Calumet Public Library will meet at 5:30 p.m. TODAY, Tuesday, Aug. 12, in the library. The meeting is open to the public.

Are you looking for a way to become involved in your community? How about joining the Friends of the Calumet Public Library? There are many ways to lend a hand at the library: programming ideas, volunteer opportunities, the Red Jacket Readers book club, and more! 

Meetings are held the second Tuesday of each month at 5:30 p.m. in the library -- mark your calendar! This is an open meeting, and the Friends welcome new members and new ideas. Come find out what's ahead at the Calumet Public Library.

This event is sponsored by the Friends of the Calumet Public Library. For more information, visit the library or call 337-0311, ext. 1107.

Friends of Calumet Public Library to meet Apr. 10

CALUMET -- Friends of the Calumet Public Library will hold their monthly meeting at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 10, in the library. The meeting is open to the public.

Get involved! This is an open meeting, and new members and new ideas are welcome. There are many ways to lend a hand at the library: programming ideas, volunteer opportunities, the Red Jacket Readers book club, and more! Meetings are held the second Tuesday of each month at 5:30 p.m. in the library -- mark your calendar!

This event is sponsored by the Friends of the Calumet Public Library. For more information, visit the library or call 337-0311 ext 1107.

(In case of bad weather, when school is cancelled, all library programs are cancelled.)

Historian Larry Lankton to speak at Calumet Library March 14

CALUMET -- Friends of the Calumet Public Library will host "The Uniqueness of Calumet," a presentation by Larry Lankton, local historian and author, from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. TONIGHT, March 14, at the Calumet Library. The event is open to the public, and refreshments will be served.

Besides being the biggest and the richest of the Lake Superior copper mines for decades, what else set the Calumet and Hecla mine -- and Calumet -- apart from other mine companies and towns on the Keweenaw? Historian Larry Lankton will talk about lifestyle and landscape at Calumet and contrast it with what was found in other diverse mine locations and communities along the mineral range.

Following the presentation, there will be a reception and book signing. Copies of Lankton’s latest book, Hollowed Ground: Copper Mining and Community Building on Lake Superior, 1840-1990s, will be available for sale. Proceeds will go to support library programming and acquisitions.

This event is sponsored by the Friends of the Calumet Public Library. For more information, visit the library or call 337-0311 ext 1107.

(In case of bad weather, when school is cancelled, all library programs are cancelled.)

Red Jacket Readers Club to hold discussion March 7

CALUMET -- The Red Jacket Readers Book Club will hold a discussion of Boom Copper: The Story of the First US Mining Boom, by Angus Murdock, at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 7, 2012, in the Calumet Public Library.

This event is open to the public. Refreshments will be served.

First written in the 1940s, Boom Copper is a Copper Country classic. Take this opportunity to revisit an old favorite and delve into Copper Country history.

Join the Red Jacket Readers for a discussion of this book. Multiple copies of the book are available to check out at the library and are also available for sale in many area shops.

This event is sponsored by the Friends of the Calumet Public Library. For more information, visit the library or call 337-0311 ext 1107.

(In case of bad weather, when school is cancelled, all library programs are cancelled.)

Friends of Calumet Public Library to hold Monthly Meeting

Friends of the Calumet Public Library will hold their next Monthly Meeting at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 13, 2012.

Get involved! This is an open meeting. New members and new ideas are welcome. There are many ways to lend a hand at the library: programming ideas, volunteer opportunities, the Red Jacket Readers book club, and more! Come find out what's ahead in the upcoming year at the Calumet Public Library. Meetings are held the second Tuesday of each month at 5:30 p.m. in the library -- mark your calendar!

Friends of Calumet Library to hold meeting, host Big Game Night this week

CALUMET -- Friends of the Calumet Public Library will hold their monthly meeting at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2012, in the library. The meeting is open to the public. New members and new ideas are welcome.

There are many ways to lend a hand at the library: programming ideas, volunteer opportunities, the Red Jacket Readers book club, and more! Come find out what's ahead in the upcoming year at the Calumet Public Library. Meetings are held the second Tuesday of each month at 5:30 p.m. in the library -- mark your calendar!

Big Game Night is also this week -- from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 15. Are you looking for something to do with friends and family, or would you like to meet some new people in your community? Come to the Calumet Public Library and enjoy an evening of word games -- Scrabble, Bananagrams, Boggle, Telestrations, and more!

The library will have some games available for those eager to play, but please bring your own to be sure! Beginners and experts alike are welcome. Try something new, or share your expertise with others. Participants of all ages are welcome. Bring a friend!

These events are sponsored by the Friends of the Calumet Public Library. For more information, visit the library or call 337-0311 ext 1107. (In case of bad weather, when school is cancelled, all library programs are cancelled.)

Friends of Calumet Library to hold meeting Jan. 10

CALUMET -- Friends of the Calumet Public Library will hold their monthly meeting at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 10.

This meeting is open to the public, and new members and new ideas are welcome. There are many ways to lend a hand at the library: programming ideas, volunteer opportunities, the Red Jacket Readers book club, and more! Come find out what's ahead in the upcoming year at the Calumet Public Library. Meetings are held the second Tuesday of each month at 5:30 in the library, located in the CLK School building.

This event is sponsored by the Friends of the Calumet Public Library. For more information, visit the library or call 337-0311, ext 1107. (In case of bad weather, when school is cancelled, all library programs are cancelled.)

Friends of Calumet Library to hold meeting Nov. 8

CALUMET -- Friends of the Calumet Public Library will hold their monthly meeting at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 8, in the library. The meeting is open to the public.

This is an open meeting, and new members and new ideas are welcome. There are many ways to lend a hand at the library: programming ideas, volunteer opportunities, the Red Jacket Readers book club, and more! Come find out what's ahead in the upcoming year at the Calumet Public Library. Don't forget to voice your preferences for books to be included in next year's book club list. Your input is needed!

This event is sponsored by the Friends of the Calumet Public Library. For more information, visit the library or call 337-0311 ext 1107.

In case of bad weather, when school is cancelled, all library programs are cancelled.

Author Ellen Airgood discusses her novel at Calumet Public Library

Author Ellen Airgood speaks about her novel, South of Superior, during a presentation at the Calumet Public Library in September. (Photos © 2011 and courtesy Katie Alvord)

Story and photos by Katie Alvord*

CALUMET -- About forty people at the Calumet Public Library gave U.P. author Ellen Airgood a warm reception last month as she talked about her debut novel, South of Superior, released earlier this year by Riverhead Press.

Set in a small U.P. tourist town resembling Grand Marais -- where Airgood and her husband own the West Bay Diner -- South of Superior centers around a woman who moves up to the fictitious hamlet of McAllaster from Chicago. The novel unfolds as her life becomes more intertwined with others in the community.

"The story is fictional," Airgood said, "but I really hope it's true."

Fans of the book have already commented to her about the realism of her characters.

"People say, 'These characters are so real, how do you do that?' and I don't know," Airgood said. But she added that her work at the diner probably helps.

"From the first of May to the end of October, it's all diner, all the time," she noted, which leaves her little time to write. Yet she thinks her stories and characters "marinate" as she washes dishes and waits tables. "I deal with people all day, every day," she said. "As I do, the characters are all kind of in my head. They're just always with me. They all become very, very real to me as I try to pay attention to what people are really doing."

Author Ellen Airgood discusses the writing and publishing of her first novel, South of Superior, during her September presentation at the Calumet Public Library.

According to Airgood, her publisher considered this a book about community, but she didn't see quite so clearly that it was about community.

"I think I saw it somewhat, but not totally," Airgood noted. "As a writer, sometimes you yourself don't have as much perspective on what you're writing."

Some distant readers have told Airgood they didn't know towns like McAllaster still existed.

"That's not the way of the world anymore," she told her Calumet audience as she talked about places like her fictitious town, or like Grand Marais. While some express nostalgia for small towns, Airgood noted that living in one can have two sides.

"It's not all beer and skittles," she said. "It's very good but it's very hard. People can be nasty but at the same time people will help people they don't like. No one leaves anyone out in the cold."

Lake Superior is as much a character in the book, Airgood said, as the people of McAllaster.

"I wanted to write about the kind of people Superior creates," she recounted. "It's the spirit of the characters I'm trying to get across."

Describing herself as stubborn, the author said her stubborn nature kept her going through the 18 years of serious writing and rejection letters that finally led to publication of her first book. She has wanted to be a writer since age ten, when she was growing up on a farm in Michigan's thumb. Airgood started writing professionally shortly after moving up to the U.P.

Ellen Airgood signs copies of her novel, South of Superior, after her presentation in the Calumet Public Library in September.

After penning several young adult manuscripts and publishing some essays, she turned to writing a novel for adults. It took her seven years to finish South of Superior. Along the way she hired a freelance editor to help revise the book, and she worked with a London literary agent to revise it further.

While at times she despaired over the book, Airgood noted, her determination paid off when the final version of South of Superior got a nod from Riverhead Press. After the boutique literary division of Penguin released Airgood's novel in May, she and her husband threw a book launch party in Grand Marais that attracted around 200 people.

It's all been a huge boost for Airgood's writing career. One of her young adult novels, Prairie Evers, will be released through Penguin's Young Reader's Group (Nancy Paulsen Books) in May of 2012.

She has also started work on another novel for adults -- this one set in the Keweenaw.

"I'd like to set the book where there's a strong sense of culture," Airgood said, commenting that she senses that here in the Keweenaw region. "A sense of place is very important to me, not only in life but also in writing."

Keweenaw resident Joanne Thomas, who read South of Superior and attended Airgood's presentation, commented on Airgood's ability to capture the local culture in the details of her story.

"Ellen possesses a keen eye in observing the flavor of the personality we call 'yooper,'" Thomas said. "The smallest details of life, person and surroundings were noted in this book. "That made me grin in recognition of our particular culture. Her portrayals of the characters present to the reader the multi-faceted dramas in seemingly ordinary or mundane lives. Yes, everyone has a story, and she knows how to tell it."

Airgood's presentation was organized by Grandpa's Barn Bookstore and the Friends of the Calumet Public Library. South of Superior is for sale at Grandpa's Barn in Copper Harbor, as well as at other local bookstores. Read more about Ellen Airgood on her web site.

* Editor's Note: Keweenaw Now guest writer Katie Alvord is the author of Divorce Your Car and several articles on Keweenaw Now, including three prize-winning articles on climate change in the Lake Superior Basin. Click here to read about her journalism award and links to these articles, which were published on Keweenaw Now in 2007.

Friends of Calumet Library to hold meeting, book signing this week

CALUMET -- Friends of the Calumet Public Library will hold their monthly meeting at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2011, in the library. The meeting is open to the public. New members and new ideas are welcome. Get involved! The library offers many ways to lend a hand: programming ideas, volunteer opportunities, the Red Jacket Readers book club, and more! Come find out what's ahead this fall at the Calumet Public Library.

Presentation and book signing of South of Superior

South of Superior, Ellen Airgood's first novel, is set in a small Upper Peninsula town on Lake Superior and has received a lot of attention since its debut this past June, including interviews on NPR and in numerous publications such as USA Today and AARP Magazine. Full of heart and strong characters, South of Superior delights a wide variety of readers.

Ellen Airgood will be visiting the Calumet Public Library at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 14, for a reading, presentation, and book signing of South of Superior. Come and find out how much this book parallels Airgood's life as a diner owner in Grand Marais, Mich., and what she is working on for her next novel.

Airgood’s book will be on sale at the library on the evening of the presentation. Proceeds go to the Friends of the Calumet Public Library. Books are also available in local bookstores and may be checked out from the library.

These events are sponsored by the Friends of the Calumet Public Library.

For more information, visit the library or call 337-0311, ext 1107. (In case of bad weather, when school is cancelled, all library programs are cancelled.)