When you talk about a lake, most folks will automatically think small. That's why it's hard to fathom the immensity of Lake Superior with its reaches from the western to the eastern borders of the U.P. Somewhere around the middle of Yooperland, sits the Marquette Upper Harbor breakwall, brought to us today, through the lens of Jeff Massie over in our Guest Gallery. Give the lake another month or so, and this light will be blinking at the many boaters passing her way!

Did you see Sharon Smith's Copper Harbor Cam this morning? It caught the moon setting, just like I tried to do five years ago this month.

Could this be the first post? I love this photo of the inner tubes. I never heard of a ship going down with tires on it.

Could that be why the guy who steers the ship is "the Wheelsman"?

INNER TUBES? Rolling on the floor laughing. (Hey, I thought a donut factory went down!)

Greetings from Finland! Today's picture is great! It makes me miss back UP. I spent last fall semester in Hancock studying at wonderful FU and I really have to say that Michigan stole my heart. Nature is awesome and Superior just unforgettable. I'll come back. Someday.

Beautiful picture!

I said to myself, "what in, Sam Hill, are they talking about?" Then I got it. You guys are pretty quick, for morning reading. By the way, what was the outcome of the, Sam Hill, project?

By Mike from Iron Mountain on Monday, April 5, 2004 - 10:07 am:

The second photo is similar to the one I took in Hawaii from Maui in January of the moon setting over Molokai.

WOW...how nice to tune in today seeing pictures of my two favorite islands!the u.p.and hawaii!the moon last night was quite the sight.thanks for the great pictures...

I sure do miss living in Marquette. Both the upper and lower harbors are beautiful.

The golf course reminded me of the New Year's Day shot last year, from another Mike in the U.P. (Escanaba, not Iron Mountain):

a question for all of you yoopers and yoopers-at-heart:
where is a good place to watch the sunrise from, within
45 minutes of houghton? i'm looking for inside
information from any early risers, because i'm usually
horizontal at that hour.

Stargazer
Along the Gay-Lac La Belle road, from brunette park to, and including, Bete Grise.

Stargazer

In the summer, McLain State Park breakwall. In the fall, Brockway Mountain. In the spring, the Houghton waterfront and in the winter Mt Bohemia...

Stargazer,

One of my favorite spots to see the sunrise is Bumbletown Hill, just north of Calumet:

A truly fantastic place to view the sunrise is from the Calumet Golf course or atop Bumbletown Hill. I prefer CGC because on crisp clear morning you can see all the way across Keweenaw Bay to the Huron Mountains, and out towards Keweenaw Pt near Bete Gris and Mt Bohemia. I have seen some truly remarkable sunrise's there.

Does anyone know if Tony's Restaurant in Laurium gives out their ginger cookie recipe? They are the best cookies and I would like to make them. Thanks.

That picture is remarkable! You won't get that along the Gay-Lac La Belle road.

thanks for the sunrise tips! bumbletown hill was my first instinct, but i've never actually been there at dawn. now, i can't wait to check it out =)

Ooookay. Forget about the Gay-Lac La Belle road :)

By Mike in Iron Mountain on Monday, April 5, 2004 - 12:20 pm:

How about the sun rising on Hana on Maui?

Editor's note: When uploading pictures to the notes page, please make sure they are no bigger than 660 x 495 resolution. Thanks!

How do you add a picture?

You'll want to see the fullmoon skimming over the evergreens at Rice Lake.

Hi All,
Just read an interesting article in today's Detroit Free Press about 5 German prisoner of war camps in the UP during WWII. They mention a Camp Pori in Houghton County. Does anyone know where it was located?
Evidently the POW's did a lot of logging while in the camps.
They also talked about a documentary film called, "The Enemy in our Midst: Nazi Prisoner of War Camps in Michigan's Upper Peneisula".
I don't know what the link is to read the article on the net. But it's an interesting article.

Great Photo!! Stargazer misses some very important viewing is he/she sleeps before sunrise. While most of our inner planets are on the evening side of the sun currently, once they dive into the sun and come out the other side, pre-dawn viewing will be required. Better get used to it now... "Stargazer".

I saw donuts too. Like my mom made. She stayed up all night making donuts all the time when we were kids.

Thanks for the memories of Presque Isle. I saw this very same sight almost 25 years ago now and I knew this was familiar territory.

P. S. I wonder why the donuts form?

Re: The German POWs working in the logging camps. Go to:

http://www.miningjournal.net/

and open the Archives. See the 2 articles in Sunday's paper.

By the way, i know a man who was a German POW and worked in Camp AuTrain. He made friends with my Dad - who was stationed at a California POW camp after he got 'points' and came back to America after serving in Germany. The POW went to several camps before ending up in Stockton, California!

Troll with connections:
The Detroit Free Press article you're referring to can be found at http://www.freep.com/entertainment/movies/powdoc5_20040405.htm

Thanks also to Julie B., for the Mining Journal link.

Camp Pori was near Mass, Mi.
There is an article in the Daily Mining Gazette today.

For Sunrise and sunset Brockway Mtn. is good and anywhere along the coast from late spring to fall the sun sets out over the lake as viewed from the lookouts from Eagle Harbor to Copper Harbor. The shoreline runs east to west in general and if you want to see the 'rise' over water try Hebbard Park west of Copper Harbor about 5 miles. I see plenty of folks there in the evenings. The Jacobsville beach at the south entry works well for Sunrise, also! Have fun!

All these fantastic photos remind me of an old joke. I'm sure you have all heard it, but here it is anyways...

A man in New York City decided to write a book about churches around the country. He started by taking photographs of a very large church in the
city and making notes. He spotted a golden telephone on the vestibule wall and was intrigued with a sign which read "$10,000 a minute."
Seeking out the Priest he asked about the phone and the sign.

The Priest answered that this golden phone is, in fact, a direct line to Heaven and if he pays the price he can talk directly to God.

The man thanked the pastor and continued on his way. As he continued to visit churches in Pittsburgh, Chicago, St. Louis, Kansas City, Seattle, San Francisco, LA, Phoenix, Santa Fe, Austin, and all around the United States. He found more phones with the same sign, and the same
answer from each pastor.

Finally, he arrived in da U.P. of Michigan. Upon entering a church in Calumet, Michigan, behold, he saw the usual golden telephone. But THIS time, the sign read: "Calls: 35 cents." Fascinated, he asked to talk to the pastor.

Reverend, I have been in cities all across the country and in each church I have found this golden telephone and have been told it is a direct
line to Heaven and that I could talk to God, but, in the other churches the cost was $10,000 a minute. Your sign reads 35 cents a minute. Why?"

The pastor, smiling benignly, replied,
"Son, you're in the U.P. now......it's a local call."


SO THAT'S WHY THEY CALL THE U.P. "GOD'S COUNTRY!"

Never heard that one, I like it!!

thank you, Dave! It's true!!

Kiva kuulla Suomesta :) Terveisiä Erjalle Hancockista! Snow's melting fast. Can't wait to head out camping on Superior's beaches.

Say---WAY off the subject,,,but does anyone remember the "Superior-51st!" secession movement back in the late 1970s/early 1980s?

Sunday, April 4, 2004

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Robert Gillstrom of Greenland is interviewed at his home by local filmmakers John Pepin and Jackie Chandonnet for the documentary "The Enemy in our Midst" on May 31, 2003 in Ontonagon County. As a boy, Gillstrom became acquainted with German prisoners of war who were held at Camp Pori. (Photo courtesy of Ruth MacFarlane)
Nazi prisoners held at 5 U.P. sites
Documentary film tells story of POW camps

By A.M. KELLEY
Journal Staff Writer
MARQUETTE — A locally produced documentary, “The Enemy in our Midst: Nazi Prisoner of War Camps in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula,” premiered recently in Marquette.
The filmmakers, Mining Journal reporter John Pepin and WLUC-TV anchorwoman Jackie Chandonnet, collaborated on the project, which tells the story of the 1,100 prisoners of war who were housed at five U.P. camps from 1944 to 1946.
Pepin first happened upon the story in 1999 in his capacity as a journalist. He had heard rumors about Nazi prisoners encamped and logging in the U.P., and when the rumors turned out to be true he wrote a five-part series for the newspaper.


CHANDONNET

PEPIN

Pepin thought the material would made a good film and in 2002 he and Chandonnet pooled their talents and began the two-year project on a shoestring budget.
They tracked down people who had worked in or visited the camps, and even located two former German prisoners, now residing in Madison, Wis., and Grand Ledge. The men returned to Germany at the war’s end and eventually came back to the United States.
These two former prisoners featured in the film were not held in U.P. camps, but in others across the country. About 500 camps had been established to accommodate the 375,000 Nazi prisoners who had been urged on the United States when Great Britain ran out of room to house them.

As the prisoners were allowed to work under the Geneva Convention of 1929, Pepin said they were used to great advantage on farms and north in the U.P. woods as pulpwood loggers.
The first prisoners arrived in the U.P. in February 1944 and were delivered to Camp Evelyn, east of Munising, and to Camp Sidnaw in southern Houghton County. Both were formerly Civilian Conservation Corps camps.
Later that same year, Camp AuTrain in Alger County opened, followed by Camp Pori in Houghton County, and Camp Raco in Chippewa County.
The March 27 showing was held at Northern Michigan University and was an exclusive event for people associated with the film and their guests.
The 161-minute film will be broadcast in August on WNMU TV-13 and at that time videotape and DVD versions will be for sale.

Hey! The sunrise at Little Betsy (on the Gay/LacLabelle road) is great too eh!

Hey, the Tiger's won the 1st game of the season...who said there's no such thing as miracles...:)

The Tigers are in first place! Has that place froze over? Go Tigers! Only 161 more to go.

troll with connections
My memory of Camp Pori was Dad taking our family there to pick apples in the later '50s. They were huge. Went back years later and the tree was shaded out and non-bearing. Knew of the POW's. Camp Pori was located about 10 miles south & west of Alston on Pori Rd. Bob Gillstrom grew up next to the camp.

Ric, WI

Sure, I remember that, and it makes even less sense now than it did then.

It started out as just the UP and then they added a good chunk of No. WI. One of the plans I heard about had them legalizing gambling as a revenue source. People used to complain about all the tax money going to Wayne County, but I think the UP receives in services much more than it pays taxwise. It was fun to talk about and there were those green and white bummper stickers!

My husband was in the Army and guarded German POW's near Baltimore, Maryland. The men who were in these camps were felt to be of no threat to U.S. security. Joe said they were just men who wanted to go home safely to their families. While on guard duty, Joe carried a pistol with one bullet in it. There were many camps here in the lower peninsula also. The prisoners worked on farms. One near here was at a pickle factory and they harvested cucumbers. Memories!

Remember seeing the camp in Alger County when I was a Kid. It was between Forest Lake and Munising and north of 94.

My Chinese friend flew helicoptors for Med Evac during Vietnam. I once Lou if he carried a weapon. He said "yes, but with one bullet" When I asked him if he ever crashed, he said yes and after he checked for broken back, etc etc. he decided he did not need that bullet today. It was for him in case he was badly inujured and about to be captured. He is a great guy, fellow pilot, and still has the bullet..........

Loved the pictures today!!

Fran from GA lost her Brother In-Law Monday. Please Pray for her and her family. She is one of the sweetest people I have ever met in my life, and I feel so bad for her. Please remember her in your Prayers.

To Fran: "This is the day the Lord Hath Made, let us Rejoice and be Glad."

Words can not express what your family is going through however, God is with you to welcome your brother-In-Law into to the "KINGDOM OF HEAVEN"
AMEN, AMEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Oops, I live in Georgia; Alpharetta

Fran, GA
Sorry to hear about the loss of your brother-in-law. My prayers are with you and yours.

Tis the season...

A New Beginning

Spring, sweet spring - on heels of snow
Come flowers wild and those we sow
The promise of a bright new day
Of birds a' nesting, kids at play

Crisp clean air at break of dawn
Farmers seed 'til day has gone
Joy at viewing all we see
Across the glen - beyond the lea

A haunting cry of mourning dove
That lifts to ply the streams above
God's earth on loan to all who'll share
With all his creatures placed by pair

We who serve as keepers here
Have much to do - it would appear
To right the wrongs that we have done
Alas too soon the course is run

© Copyright 2004 Marv Borgman

Thanks everyone! You are all so kind.I appreciate your kind thoughts and Prayers.