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July 2, 2000 Visitors to Mendota Lighthouse benefit Copper Harbor School
 BETE GRISE -- Keweenaw weather cooperated for the third
annual Mendota Lighthouse Open House Sunday, July 2, at Bete Grise. Nearly 400 visitors were able to witness the
renovation in progress and enjoy a pontoon boat ride across the channel.
"It was bigger than last year," said lighthouse owner Gary Kohs, "so it shows the power of the Internet. T-shirts for Copper
Harbor School were sold and we sold the Mendota coffee mugs and pins with all the proceeds going to the school. Aside
from the money, the awareness created about the Copper Harbor School will benefit them many times over."
Annie Kipfer of Eagle Harbor designed the commemorative T-shirt for the Copper Harbor School.
Kohs recently advertised the Open House as a benefit for the school on his Mendota
Web site, www.mendotalighthouse.com, a site that has recently averaged numerous hits
a day because of its commentary on local issues, such as sewage disposal in the
Keweenaw. Visitors did not find the need to overburden Kohs' septic system during the Open House.
"There were two flushes between the hours of noon and six (and) a third flush after six, but I donít know if that counts," Kohs reported.
Visitor Gloria Hatch of Ahmeek told Dorothy and John Kaleita, summer residents of
South Point on Bete Grise Bay, about her grandparents' commercial fishing days. They
settled at Lac La Belle in the 1890s, she said, and some of her family members attended
the old Bete Grise School. Hatch's uncle, the late Jake Anderson, was the owner of Anderson's Resort, now the Lac La Belle Resort.
John Kaleita's interest in the area is reflected in the newsletter, "South Shore Scene," which he has published for the last eight years.
"It has been to inform the public on local issues in the Bete Grise-Lac La Belle area," he said.
Kaleita noted Sandy Britton, former owner of the Lac La Belle Resort and The Landing
restaurant, suggested he do the newsletter in 1992. For health reasons, Kaleita has
suspended publication of the newsletter temporarily but hopes to resume it soon and to contribute articles to Keweenaw Today.
Summer visitors Kathy and Will Statz of Neillsville, Wis., brought their children --
Ashley, 12, and Eric, 8, to Bete Grise since they are staying in the family cottage in the
area. Kathy, 34, said her grandfather, father and uncles built the cottage about 34 years ago and she spent summers there throughout her childhood.
"It's nice and quiet up here," Kathy said.
Her daughter Ashley added, " I like the way there's a lot more water up here (near the lighthouse)."
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