Keweenaw county historical society - reports from our Annual Dinners

A Summary of the Reports from our past Annual Dinners

September 27, 2009. - 129 members of the Keweenaw County Historical Society enjoyed an evening together at the Keweenaw Mountain Lodge to celebrate another banner year. Following dinner, a drawing was held for member Dail Willoughby's donated painting of the Gay School. The raffle raised over $1,800 which will be used in the school's restoration. Retiring society trustee Frank Stubenrauch was honored for his 11 years of service as a trustee and with wife Linda, a Lighthouse docent. The prestigious Laurie Leskinen Award was awarded to Nancy and Larry Molloy for their support and participation in a number of history events in the Copper Country over the past several years. Lampist Kurt Fosburg provided a fascinating account of his restoration of the fourth-order Fresnel lens which the society recently acquired from the US Cost Guard following its removal from the Portage Lower Entry light. The lens is si mi liar to one that was atop the Eagle Harbor Lighthouse for several decades. The beautifully restored lens will be placed on exhibit at the Eagle Harbor lighthouse beginning in 2010.

September 28, 2008 - A record 153 members and guests attended the 2008 KCHS Annual Awards Dinner at the Keweenaw Mountain Lodge in Copper Harbor. Several awards were acknowledge and presented. The Society itself received an award with the following wording on the plaque: A 2008 State History Award is presented by the Historical Society of Michigan to Keweenaw County Historical Society for its Outstanding Restoration and Preservation of the Central Mine.

The 24th annual Lauri W. Leskinen Award for extraordinary service to KCHS was presented to Ginny and Doug Schubert. The Founder’s Award, a new award to recognize people involved early in KCHS and at or since its 1981 founding, was given to Mary A. Kordes of Allouez Township. The President’s Award For Excellence was presented to Charlie Hopper for providing a forum through Pasty Central (www.pasty.com) that fosters an appreciation of the people, history, and culture of Keweenaw County and the Upper Peninsula. The speaker for the evening was author and journalist Peter Annin, reviewing his recent book Great Lakes Water Wars.

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October 7, 2007 - The annual dinner, held at the Keweenaw Mountain Lodge in Copper Harbor, was attended by a record 134 members. Mary Lou and Jerry Lenz received the 23rd Lauri W. Leskinen Memorial Award for their volunteer work. Leskinen was a founder and the first president of KCHS. He served on the Society's board until his death in 1984. KCHS immediate past president Dave Thomas and retiring Superior Signal editor Clarence Monette were honored guests at the annual dinner and received special gifts for their work that goes back to the Society's foundation in 1981. Father Sebastian Ettolil was presented an award for his participation the past several years in the annual "Blessing of the Pets" ceremony at the Phoenix Church. The speaker for the evening was Mark Rowe, presenting "Shipwrecks of Lake Superior - The Keweenaw Collection."

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October 1, 2006 - The annual dinner for all members was held on Sunday, October 1, 2006, at the Irish Times Restaurant in Laurium. Social hour was at 6:00 p.m., buffet dinner at 6:30.Larry Malloy spoke about mining in the north end of the Keweenaw Peninsula. The Lauri W. Leskinen Memorial Award was also be presented. The Annual Dinner was held Sunday, October 2, 2005, at the Allouez Township Hall, 6:00 p.m. social hour, 6:30 p.m. buffet dinner. The speaker was Edward J. Koepel, "Torch Lake Footprints". The Lauri W. Leskinen Award was presented to the organization Keweenaw Kernewek. Thanks to Betsi Arend and all the volunteers for handling the arrangements.

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October 10, 2004
End-of-Year Dinner

Again this year the Allouez Community Hall was the location for the annual membership dinner, with social hour at 6:00pm and buffet service at 6:30. This year's speaker was Mel Jones, with "Music and Memories of the Civil War".

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October 12, 2003

2003 activities culminated on October 12 with our end-of-year dinner. Trustee Betsi Arend set up a wonderful dinner, with the food as good as it has ever been. We dedicated the event to Richard Dana, who served the Society in a variety of roles since its inception. Philip and Jeannette Medlyn were presented with the Lauri Leskinen award for furthering the role of history in Keweenaw County. Duane Coponen was presented a certificate of recognition for his work over the years. Duane is a carpenter and has worked on all of our buildings.

January 23, 2003

The annual meeting of the Society was held at Clarence Monette's home, 28218 Ninth St., Lake Linden. The results of the elections for trustees and officers can be seen on the About the Society page.