An Upper Peninsula winter can be one of the longest and coldest in North America. It’s snowing or blowing on most winter days. But a Yooper is prepared for every occasion and every blizzard. For every winter condition, for every kind of snowfall, for every temperature, and for social events both formal and informal a Yooper has a perfect hat for the occasion.
Yoopers aren’t in it for fashion and style, but for the functionality and purpose of a hat. That’s what makes each of these one-of-a-kind.
We recently posted to Facebook that someone needs to rewrite Bryan Adams’ “Summer of ‘69” as “Winter of ‘19”. Our good pal Scott Reddinger (of Y is for Yooper and Chat It U.P. Podcast fame) really pulled though. Why the winter of 2019? To date it has been the snowiest winter in over a decade with more on the way. It is the winter that childhood winters felt like.
C_ulture of Cult_ kicks off for the seventh time this Thursday, May 3rd. As with every edition of the show, this is the happening event of the week in the heart of Marquette. The pop-up art exhibit kicks off at 7PM at Ore Dock Brewing Company.
Are you new to Culture of Cult? Here’s the rundown…
“In 2014, the Culture of Cult art series was created to showcase local and nationally recognized talent. Through a set of themes, artists come together to help break down the high-brow stigma of art collectives and create a gallery of familiar content. Taking place in Marquette, Michigan - the culture of cult is a unique, one-night only “pop-up” style art show. Bi-annually, we encourge artists to contribute in the juried exhibitions, and welcome patrons to share their experiences through social media.” – www.cultureofcult.com
For the last two weeks, people across the world have tuned into the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. We have marveled at their incredible accomplishments, cried together over their adversity and comebacks, and screamed in joy as we share their excitement.
On Saturday, while the world was infatuated with the closing ceremonies, there was another group of elite athletes preparing for competition on the other side of the world.
UPDATE: You can now rent and download The Michigan Ice Film. If you like local folklore, adventure, winter, or simply live in Michigan, you need to check it out. Much respect to Aaron and his crew for putting this amazing film together during the coldest winters on record.
Let us introduce you to Aaron Peterson. Aaron is the driving force behind Cold & Clear Cinema. Last year his team brought us Cold Rolled (you can watch Cold Rolled here), a film featuring Marquette’s one of a kind snow biking trails. Now, a new project is underway, The Michigan Ice Film, with the mission of highlighting ice climbing in Alger County.
The Upper Peninsula is so frequently left off maps that when our demonym, Yooper, shows up on Jeopardy, it’s a pretty big deal.
dem·o·nym : the name used for the people who live in a particular country, state, or other locality
Coincidentally, the definition example on dictionary.com mentions Michigander and Michiganian, but they don’t mention Yooper. Most demonyms are reserved for states and countries as a whole. Few demonyms exist for smaller defined regions like the Upper Peninsula. Outside of those states and countries it’s hard to find borders as defined as the Upper Peninsula. It’s one reason we’ve always celebrated Upper Peninsula’s silhouette. It’s unique, recognizable, and well, just straight UP awesome.
On Saturday, February 28th, the Trenary Outhouse Classic overtook the small town of Trenary for its 16th year. I have probably heard about the Outhouse Classic every year since its inception, but had never gone to watch. However, during my last semester of college, I began researching some of the U.P.’s most beloved idiosyncrasies for a writing project. I suddenly became fascinated with this one-of-a-kind Yooper racing event, and hoped to be there this year. I suppose a Sweet 16 celebration is as good a time as any for a gal to attend her first outhouse races.
After walking up Sugarloaf Mountain to enjoy the sunset, I had built up an appetite. Where else to go for dinner than to Jean Kay’s for a pasty. Before feasting, I thought to myself, “Why not make a hyperlapse video of this?” The entire pasty took 11 minutes and 37 seconds to eat, or about 37 seconds in hyperlapse mode.
When I got home I realized it needed some music and began some research. I found this amazing song titled “Something About a Pasty” by Brenda Wootton. Brenda was a Cornish poet, folk singer and an ambassador of the Cornish culture. Our favorite album would have to be Pasties & Cream.
On the first Saturday of February in Sault Ste. Marie you’ll find passionate snowmobiling fans gathered to watch the annual I-500 Snowmobile Race. The 500 mile race takes place on a 1-mile track. We’ll help with the math, that’s 500 laps!
The 47th annual featured an overcast February morning. However, by mid-afternoon the snow was falling and visibility was was diminishing. Race organizers called the race after 282 laps due to the poor visibility. Brian Dick and Wes Selby took the trophy home along with $17,677.
The town of Trenary, rather Mathias Township is approximately 554 people. A little gem of a community that must be darn near the geographic center of the Upper Peninsula. However, on the last Saturday of February the town’s size likely quintuples, if not more.
Yesterday, Trenary hosted the 22nd Annual Outhouse Classic. If you haven’t been to the Trenary Outhouse Classic, you just don’t know what you’re missing. And why wouldn’t such a thing exist? Without question, it provides some of the finest Yooper ingenuity.
If you’ve been a fan or customer of Yooper Steez for a year or longer, you’ll know that we love to celebrate Plaidurday. As Yoopers, we are fortunate to be immersed in a culture plentiful with plaid. However, there are many places without this same fortune. And that’s the goal, to share this the joy with everyone, because in the end we’re all connected by a common thread.
The Mighty Mac! I have driven across countless times, I have been underneath a couple of times, and I was even fortunate enough to go to the top, but one thing I have never done is walk across the bridge for the annual Mackinac Bridge Walk on Labor Day. That’s all I need for the a spur of the moment road trip.
Pretty cool, but we’d rather be outside facing the elements! If you’re new to the Yooper Scooper go order yours today from Silver Bear Manufacturing.
While speaking of Yooper Scoopers, does anyone else have a scar from one? I remember being a little kid running around the yard pushing the Yooper Scooper when the front edge hit some uneven ground. And since about age 10 I have always had a scar in the middle of my chin from the handle of the Yooper Scooper.
There are few rivalries in sports that date back as far as the Calumet Wolverines and Portage Lake Pioneers. The claim has been made that it’s the oldest rivalry in hockey, and we’re sticking to that belief. That rivalry is so old that it existed before there was a place to play hockey indoors. Local hockey legends have made their mark. Countless teeth have been lost. And there have likely been as many Gordie Howe hat tricks as scoring hatt ricks.
Though not as prolific as Ancient Greece or Rome, the Upper Peninsula does boast its own mythology. Maybe we don’t have a slew of gods and goddesses, but we do have Heikki Lunta, the Finnish snow god.
The name is now often associated with an annual winter festival in Negaunee, but it’s creation is linked to an annual snowmobile race held in Atlantic Mine. In 1970, the U.P. was having one of those winters where it doesn’t snow as much as we might like, which was threatening the success of the race. To increase support, radio salesman David Riutta wrote the “Heikki Lunta Snow Dance Song.” This song created the fictional Heikki Lunta as a creature that lived in the backwoods of Tapiola, twenty miles south of Houghton, and would perform a dance to make it snow. The song went on U.P. airwaves and was a success, and incidentally it did snow that year, causing the snowmobile race to be postponed on account of too much snow.
