Midsummer in the Copper Country is a beautiful time to explore the outdoors. There are spots to hike, bike, fish, paddle, and camp all over the Upper Peninsula, especially in the Keweenaw Peninsula. What were your favorite summer activities and locations? Comment below!
PENSACOLA, Fla. — William Powers died peacefully on April 24, 2020 in the comfort of his home in Pensacola, Fla. Born on July 31, 1930 in Davenport, Iowa; he was the son of the late LaVern and Orpha Powers. In 1950, he enlisted into the US Air Force and served honorably. He is survived by his wife, Sally Powers, his three children Mary Mach, William Powers and Matthew Powers (Merrily), and his grandchildren, Jason Powers, Karrie Hilts, Abra Mach and Morgan Mach.
Bill Powers arrived at Michigan Technological University in 1970 from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he had been a member of the faculty in English and Director of Freshman-Sophomore English. He spent the next 30 years successively, as the Head of Humanities, the Dean of Sciences and Arts, then as Vice President of Academic Affairs, and at the last as Michigan Technological University’s first Provost.
He believed that university faculty can become administrators, but they also have a continuing faculty teaching responsibility. He taught a course each term and was published – becoming the co-author of one book, the author of chapters in three other books and roughly forty pieces, including papers, short fiction and poetry.
Graveside Funeral Rites will be held on Thursday, May 14, 2020 at 3 pm at Raleigh Memorial Park.
Condolences to the family at www.MitchellatRMP.com.
Obituary and image courtesy of Mitchell Funeral Home at Raleigh Memorial Park.
The Copper Country woke up to a dusting on snow on May 8, adding to our 2019-20 season total. See where this year’s 186 inches of snow ranks against our historical records.
Whether it was snow on your graduation day or something else, what are your memories of spring snow in the Keweenaw?
Of course, there’s still snow on Mont Ripley. Will it last until June? Check out the Ripley webcam to see how much remains.
#GivingTuesdayNow is a global day of giving and unity set to take place on May 5, 2020, as an emergency response to the unprecedented need caused by COVID-19. The event will mobilize GivingTuesday’s global network of leaders, partners, communities and generous individuals.
How you can participate:
Make a gift to the Husky Emergency Assistance Fund (HEAF)
The HEAF has been established to help provide financial relief for the Michigan Tech campus community (students and employees) who are experiencing financial hardship as a result of crises (including COVID-19). Donate to the HEAF.
Support any area of campus
A gift to Michigan Tech or any specific area of campus will help us prepare students to create the future. Give now.
Donate food or resources to the Husky Food Access Network
The on-campus food pantry has helped hundreds of students in their time of need. Make a financial donation or email huskyfan@mtu.edu to coordinate a food donation during social distancing protocol.
Use your time or skills in the COVID-19 response
Michigan Tech alumni are putting their education and ingenuity to work to help fight the COVID-19 pandemic. See what others are doing and add your story.
On the last GivingTuesday (December 3, 2019) the global giving day generated $2 billion in giving, just in the United States, and inspired millions of people worldwide to volunteer, perform countless acts of kindness, and donate their voices, time, money, and goods. The additional giving day planned for May 5, 2020 is being deployed in response to needs expressed by communities and leaders around the world.
Join the movement! Make a gift to Michigan Tech on Tuesday, May 5!
In response to the widespread use of Zoom for virtual meetings during stay-at-home orders, here are images you can use as virtual backgrounds in Zoom. For instructions on how to set up a virtual background, see the instructions below.
To download images:
On a PC:
• Right click the image (before clicking the magnifying glass).
• Open image in a new tab.
• Go to the new tab and right click on the image.
• Select “save image as.”
On a Mac:
• Click the magnifying glass.
• Right click and select “save image as.”
To set an image as your virtual background in Zoom:
• Open Zoom.us.
• Go to settings (on the home screen, click the gear icon in the upper right corner).
• Select Virtual Background from the left column.
• Click the + symbol to add new images.
Michigan Tech alumni are putting their education and ingenuity to work to help fight the COVID-19 pandemic. We’ve heard of Huskies involved in many different aspects of the pandemic response: producing parts for ventilators, creating testing kits and making masks.
How are you or your company involved? Comment below.
Here is a sampling of the stories we’ve heard.
Abbott (Lynne Fleischmann ‘95) in Abbott Park, Illinois, launched a molecular point-of-care test to detect COVID-19 in as few as five minutes. Read more.
Calumet Electronics (Meredith Ballard LaBeau ‘04 ‘08 ‘12 and others) in Calumet, Michigan, is filling orders for circuit boards for ventilators as quickly as possible. Read more.
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (Dr. David Frendewey ‘76) in Tarrytown, New York, is working on a treatment for COVID-19. Read more.
Alliance Beverage (Shawn Gary ‘80) in Grand Rapids, Michigan, teamed up with New Holland Brewing to produce 1,000 gallons of hand sanitizer. Read more.
Shaggy’s Copper Country Skis (Jeffrey Thompson ‘12 and Stephanie Stevens ‘13) in Boyne City, Michigan is making protective face shields. Read more.
Makerhub.co (Cedric Kennedy ‘16) is connecting 3D printing enthusiasts, sewing hobbyists and other DIYers to create and donate personal protective equipment to hospitals. Read more.
Ben Manning ’17 and Amanda Stenzelbarton ’14 ’16 in Athens, Georgia, turned their garage into a 3D printing facility to make masks and face shields for local first responders and hospitals. You can donate printing supplies to their cause through Amazon.
Many Michigan Tech alumni live by the mantra of “work hard, play hard.” That can lead to some pretty amazing hobbies. Here are a couple we recently heard about.
• Daniel Madrid ’10 (Computer Network and Systems Administration) creates works of art with wood including 3D puzzles. One of his pieces is a 3D puzzle of the Portage Lake Lift Bridge.
• Gary Johnson ’66 (Mechanical Engineering) is a retired engineer and an accomplished water color painter. He has produced hundreds of works including this one titled “Shadows from a Bygone Era,” which won the Bronze Award at the Mid-Southern Watercolorists exhibition in Little Rock, Arkansas, last spring. You can view a guest blog he’s written here.
What’s Your Hobby?
Whether it’s art or something else entirely, what hobby do you have? Let us know by commenting below.
With three dedicated rinks, scoreboards, and live webcams, broomball has become one of Tech’s top traditions. According to this site, broomball began on campus in the early 1990s. Do you still have your broom? Comment below about your broomball experience.
Itching to get back in the game?
The 11th annual Alumni-Student Broomball Tournament is scheduled for Winter Carnival (February 7-8). Register here by January 16.
Editor Update — Feb. 10, 2020
Thanks to notes from many alumni (see below), we can report that, yes, broomball has been played by Tech students as far back as the 1950s. IRHC Broomball began in the 90s and continues to thrive. See how you can support a great broomball experience for our students.
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Dave Walli’s varied career path has taken him in many directions but one job- barbering- prepared him for his current business as a snow scoop manufacturer and designer of copper art.
“The clipper and the comb are in the same position as the brazing rod and the torch,” says former barber Dave Walli. “I was practicing brazing for all those years and didn’t know it.”
Walli and his wife, Gloria, both Copper Country natives, are the owners of Copper Art on Fifth Street in Calumet. They began their business in 1976, working out of their home in Laurium and moved the business to their current location in 1982. The building also houses the couple’s “sideline” business – Silver Bear Products – so named because the snow scoops they manufacture are made of steel and work like a bear. “Copper is our thing,” said Dave, “but the snow scoops fill the gap in the off season.”
According to Dave, he’s produced 10,000 snow scoops with an all-time high of 2,200 “one year when we had a lot of snow.” What year that was he- couldn’t recall, but most Copper Country winters have accumulations of at least 150 inches.
The scoops, which retail for $28.25 to $34.75 are available in three sizes and feature one-inch or three-quarter inch diameter handles with a built-in height adjustment. Dave wholesales the scoops to Kmart, Holiday and Pamida stores in the Upper Peninsula. He’s also shipped snow scoops to a ski resort in Montana and fills orders from former U.P. residents who know the value of a snow scoop.
And though snow scoops have been around since the 1920’s, Dave claims he has built “the better mouse trap.” “Our scoop features a kick bar/plate on the back. It always has, otherwise it would have been just another snow scoop,” says Dave. The scoop, which also has a 16-gauge front edge, is designed for snow removal “not firewood retrieval,” Dave notes. “You can always tell when someone’s been improvising with their scoop. They’ll bring it into the shop for a repair and it has all kinds of dings and dents in it. That’s a sure sign of someone hauling wood or using it as a sled, which it is not.”
At this point, Dave took us outside for a demonstration. “You see, it’s really very simple. You push the scoop into the snow, and lift from the…” We thought the sight of a shop owner scooping snow on the sidewalk was so interesting, we missed the instructions. Needless to say, when I got home that night and it was my turn to clean the driveway, I wondered if l was maneuvering the lightweight Silver Bear scoop in the proper manner. Actually, Dave says even if you are a bit awkward with the scoop, it still does the job. “It’s not the back breaker that shoveling snow is and it doesn’t require any oil, gas or additional attachments,” says Dave. Good point.
“We did consider putting one ounce of oatmeal in a package and attach it with a ribbon to the handle and advertise it as a one-time starter on the scoop,” laughs Dave. “I still think it would be a good idea.”
Obviously, the Walli’s enjoy their business, rather businesses, because their copper art is an integral part of the family’s livelihood.
“We could make any number of scoops but the copper keeps us busy from May until October and then we’re making scoops all the time,” says Dave. “To make copper art you need skill, patience and desire because our copper art is not mass produced.”
During a tour of the Walli’s production area, Dave points out several dies he has made including one for thimbleberries surrounded by leaves. Sheets of 16, 22, and 24-gauge steel are stacked along one wall. Various pieces of machinery, including a Pittsburgh Lock Machine for shaping sheets of metal, occupy the back room and the basement of the Walli’s shop. “I’ve picked my equipment up piece by piece,” says Dave. “If I had to go out and buy it all at one time I’d really feel the bite, but going to auctions and word of mouth was how I obtained most of it.”
Through the years, Dave says he and his family have come to realize that it is best to have fun while working. “I didn’t want a job that I dreaded going into. I wanted to feel good and have our customers feel good too,” said Dave. “We had demonstrations here last year in the shop, and the people just really enjoyed that. I think we’ll do more of that because it gets us involved with the customers and they get an understanding of what goes into the creation of copper art.”
Though the Walli’s produce a variety of copper art, they also handle commission work. One of Dave’s most recent projects was copper countertops for his daughter’s pastry shop. Though the most popular copper art at the Walli’s shop are angels and hummingbirds, a large variety of flowers, birds, buildings, jewelry, books, and photographs are on display as well.
Copper Art is located at 111 Fifth Street in Calumet, home of the nation’s newest national park! The shop is open year-round and Dave will be glad to show you how to operate a snow scoop. Gloria, who is a bit shy, is always on hand to help with your copper gift selections.
Since 1996, LeaderShape has provided a highly-interactive leadership development experience for 1,118 Michigan Tech students. This intensive, week-long institute continues to offer a unique opportunity to explore core ethical and personal values, develop and enrich relationships, and most importantly, believe in a healthy disregard for the impossible.
LeaderShape participants have gone on to achieve impressive goals as surgeons, researchers, engineers, military officers, inventors, entrepreneurs, teachers, Peace Corps volunteers, writers, missionaries, and more. The list is long.
How did your LeaderShape experience impact you? Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.
Help current students become young leaders who “lead with integrity.” Make a gift to the LeaderShape fund today.
