Category: Memories and Nostalgia

A thread on Facebook allowed Michigan Tech Alumni to share nuggets of wisdom acquired in the Copper Country. Below are some of those responses. Add yours in the comments below!

Nerds rule … Numbers don’t lie … “Because research has proven it” is an acceptable answer … People with toolboxes have a lot of acquaintances … Make friends with the people with the keys … Euchre is an art form … Invest in quality jumper cables. 
—Jerry Myers

Snowbanks at the end of your driveway somehow become magnetic, and will suck cars into them … Hiking boots are always in fashion. So is flannel … It is possible to walk uphill, both ways, to school.
—Carla Martinek

Brooms are meant to be clipped, taped, and used on ice.
—Rebecca Miner

F=MA … Physics is fun … You can’t push a rope.
—Brian Hobbs

Chemistry says if you soak the rope and freeze it, you can push it just fine.
—James Learman

Keep a snow shovel in the car at all times.
—Megan Kreiger

“It depends” is a legitimate answer for many engineering questions (courtesy of Jim De Clerck).
—Ross Hogan

Anyone with a Michigan Tech sticker on their car is a friend I have not yet met … Pizza and a beer is always an acceptable dinner choice … Chili is good over rice.
—Caryn Turrel

Taco Bell tastes better when you drive 100 miles for it.
—David Wressell

“Pank” is a real word.
—Jim Desrochers

Floormats make great traction aid devices … Always supervise friends “borrowing” your garage and insist on the use of jackstands.
—Alicia Steele

Cafeteria trays are actually sleds.
—Robin Book

When shoveling, throw snow back as far as you can in the beginning of the season.
—Tanya Bedore

Michigan Tech Dining Services uses the following recipe for making Cornish Pasties. What is your recipe or variation that you like? Share in the comments below!

Pastry Ingredients:

• 4 cups cold all-purpose flour (cold)
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 8 ounces Crisco (cold)
• 1 cup ice cold water

Filling Ingredients:

• 1 # raw skirt steak, diced
• 2 cups peeled, diced, red potatoes
• 2 cups diced yellow onions
• 2 cups shredded rutabaga
• 2 ¼ teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 ¾ teaspoons black pepper
• 4 knobs butter

Egg Wash:

• 1 egg with a little water added, beaten well

Instructions:

1.       In a chilled bowl, thoroughly combine flour and salt. Once combined, gently rub the Crisco onto the flower to form large flasks for a flaky crust.

2.       Add water and mix until the dough just comes together. Form dough into 4 disks, individually wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate until set.

3.       To make the pasty filling combine the onion, potatoes, and rutabaga in a bowl. Mix in the salt and pepper.

4.       On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into 4, 10” disks.

5.       Place ¼ of the filling mixture near the top of each 10” pastry round. Top with beef, place a knob of butter on the beef, and then add a pinch of flour and salt and pepper on top.

6.       Wet edge of pastry with a little water. Fold to seal. Crimp edges with a tool or fork, brush each pastry with egg wash, and bake 45-50 minutes at 400﮿F. 

Thomas F. Hruby, 93, a longtime Houghton resident, died on Tuesday, June 30, 2020, at Gardenview Assisted Living and Memory Care. He was born July, 13, 1926, in Cleveland, Ohio, a son of the late Alois and Lillian (Vevra) Hruby.

Tom was a WWII veteran of the United States Merchant Marines serving from 1944-46, completing numerous trans-Pacific voyages.

Following his discharge, Tom earned a Bachelor’s degree in Mining Engineering from the Michigan College of Mining and Technology (Michigan Tech). His early post-college years were spent in Cleveland and Detroit as writer and editor for several industry publications.

Tom returned to Houghton and Michigan Tech in the late 1950’s-early 60’s and in his near 40 year tenure at the university held successively responsible positions in external and alumni relations.

Tom was a longtime and active member of St. Ignatius Loyola Parish of Hoighton, where he served as an usher and Eucharistic Minister for shut-ins. Tom was all about family. He volunteered for many of the parish’s special programs for communities of need in Houghton. He was very kind and generous to his church families in need, especially during the holidays often opening his home to folks. Although Tom wished to keep his donations to others anonymous, they were well appreciated.

Tom loved sailing on the blue waters and in the challenging winds of Lake Michigan, and reveled in the cross country skiing afforded by the Upper Peninsula’s long winters. Necessarily giving up sailing and skiing in his later years, he was a daily walker.

Tom is survived by his sister, Jane Hruby Hanlon and her husband Robert; as well as nine nieces and nephews. Besides his parents, he was also preceded in death by brothers, Louis and Joseph; and a sister, Mary Louise.

A Memorial Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10 a.m. on Thursday, July 9, 2020, at St. Ignatious Loyola Parish in Houghton, with Fr. John Martignon as celebrant. Arrangements are being handled by the Jukuri-Antila Funeral Home of Hancock, Antila Funeral Service, Inc. Online condolences may be expressed to the family at antilafuneral.com.

Raymond William Kauppila, 91, most recently of 1600 Mill Creek Court, Marquette, passed away on Sunday, June 14, 2020, while in the loving care of family and the Lake Superior Life Care & Hospice. He was formerly of 424 W. Ridge St., Marquette; and longtime Hancock resident.

Raymond was born in Iron Mountain, on February 17, 1929, son of the late Ida H. (Kuja) and Swan W. Kauppila.

Ray was a graduate of the Eben High School, Class of 1946. Ray Kauppila earned bachelor degrees in both Mechanical Engineering and Mathematics from the University of Michigan in 1951. He was first employed by Standard Oil in Whiting, Indiana, from 1951-1955 and then at Cliffs Dow in Marquette from 1955-1957. Ray then came to Tech as a teacher in 1957 and received an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Michigan Tech in 1960. He left Michigan Tech briefly to earn his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in 1968.

Kauppila served Michigan Tech as a teacher and researcher from 1957 until his retirement in 1988, other than a brief stint with P & H Crane in Escanaba from 1979-1980. He came to Tech after working in the industry for several years, bringing to the design curriculum an invaluable background, steeped in the realities of industrial design, yet firmly based on a foundation of mathematical and engineering science. His inquiring mind and his uncompromising quest for excellence left its mark on a generation of design students in the Mechanical Engineering Department. Few were unaffected by his intensity in the classroom and his insights in the design laboratory.

While at Michigan Tech he served a stint as chief engineer at the Keweenaw Research Center and maintained strong ties with the mining industry through his pioneering work in roof bolting. He was instrumental in the implementation of what is now called the Computer Aided Engineering Laboratory, and was a lead designer of the BAJA automobiles at Tech. Ray was never one to rest and after “retirement” worked as a consulting engineer at U.P. Fabricating from 1997-2012 and had also taught at NMU from 1991-1992.

He was a member of the Independent Apostolic Lutheran Church in Negaunee. Ray served on the Board of Review in Hancock, was a board member at AMCAB and had served numerous other boards and provided engineering expertise for many organizations, along with being a patent holder and enjoyed machine design.

Raymond is survived by three daughters, Susan (Gregory) Bovid of Midland, Audrey (William) Johnson of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Kandace (Tim) Reckinger, of Hartland, Wisconsin; a son, Rick (Pam) Kauppila of Negaunee; two brothers, Rolland W. (Linda) Kauppila of Dayton, Ohio and Rodney W. (Barbara) Kauppila of Rudyard; nine grandchildren, Adam (Britta) Kauppila, Janel Kauppila, Christopher (Karen) Bovid, Nicholas (Kristen) Bovid, Stanley (Jami) Bovid, Elena Davis, Jennifer (Jonathan) Walter, Lauren (William) Crowder and Aaron Reckinger; 13 great-great grandchildren; numerous nieces, nephews, cousins and a host of brothers and sisters in faith.

Ray was preceded in death by his wife, whom shared 65 years of marriage with, Irene E. (Besonen) Kauppila on Sept 24, 2017, and a brother, Wallace S. Kauppila who died in his childhood.

Graveside funeral services will be held at the Trout Creek Cemetery at 1 p.m. on Saturday, June 20, 2020 with Mike Peterson officiating.

Pallbearers will be Stan, Nick and Chris Bovid, Adam Kauppila., Aaron Reckinger and John Kauppila.

Ray’s obituary may also be viewed at bjorkandzhulkie.com where relatives and friends may leave a note of remembrance.

By Emily Riippa | University Archives and Copper Country Historical Collections

April brings with it April Fool’s Day pranks, but Michigan Tech students have been known to get up to some mischief all year round. In June 1951, the men of Douglass Houghton Hall drove resident Guenther Frankenstein’s Jeep up the stairs of their dormitory and into the hallway. Although the guys thought the prank was a riot, Frankenstein recalled that the college administration wasn’t laughing and wanted to expel him. They eventually settled for probation.

The next year, fourteen Tech students–also residents of DHH–spent the night in jail for a risque joke that maybe wouldn’t fall into the category of “crazy smart”: along with more than fifty of their peers, they besieged the student dormitory at the St. Joseph School of Nursing in Hancock, hoping to come away with lingerie. Standing outside the school’s Ryan Hall, they shouted their demands for underwear to the young women residing within. Some even wandered into the furnace room before police arrived and arrested members of the group for their disorderly conduct. Eventually, a judge ordered that all charges against the men be dropped.

We’ve heard rumors about other pranks that have taken place on Tech’s campus over the years, including some involving tweaks to computer programs on punch cards, but the files of the archives are remarkably bare. Do these tales bring back memories of your own college escapades, whether they took place five years ago or fifty? We’d love to hear your stories!

By Emily Riippa | University Archives and Copper Country Historical Collections

Huskies of yesterday and today will often mention “the ratio,” referring to the disproportionate number of male students compared to their female counterparts. According to the most recent statistics published by Undergraduate Admissions, women constitute some 28.2 percent of the Michigan Tech student body. This number may seem small, but it disguises a mighty tradition of accomplishment, innovation, and trailblazing. In honor of Women’s History Month, let’s take a whirlwind tour through how the lives of women at Tech have looked and changed over the years. Unfortunately, in such a small space as this, we can never do true justice to their stories!

Just four years after the Michigan Mining School was founded, at a time when coeducation was uncommon, the first women enrolled. Both Margaret McElhinney and Mary Louise Bunce taught in the public schools of Houghton, and in 1889 they became students themselves again, taking classes in chemistry and geology on a part-time basis. The number of women enrolled  remained small for many years, but their presence, once established, persisted. In 1933, Margaret Holley broke new ground for female Huskies by becoming the first woman to earn a bachelor’s degree from what was then called the Michigan College of Mining and Technology. Just a year later, she followed up her degree in general science with one in chemistry, then proceeded to a master’s program in general science again. So significant were Holley’s steps at Tech that she later served as a trustee and, under her married name of Margaret H. Chapman, helped to start a long-running scholarship fund in her name to support women’s education at Tech.

The year that Margaret Holley finished her first bachelor’s degree, Tech enrolled a record-breaking number of fourteen “co-eds,” the nickname given to female students at the time. World War II changed not only the number of women at Tech but also the nature of what the college permitted them to study. Historically, women had been admitted to programs in science and some facets of engineering; Ilmi Watia, for example, received a civil engineering degree in 1938. Tech discouraged women from enrolling in certain mining engineering courses and highly technical programs. With young men away at war in vast numbers, however, the United States and Tech both found a need for women to step into roles that they had not otherwise filled. In 1943, the college promoted a new war training program for women that started to break down some of these barriers. The courses were intended for “all young women who wish to serve their country in this emergency by training themselves for essential jobs that carry pay commensurate with their vital importance,” according to a marketing brochure. Women completing the program–whose length varied from eight weeks to a year, depending on the course of study chosen–could immediately enter government or industrial work in roles ranging from the more traditional secretary to engineering technician, full professional practitioner (if they already had degrees in other subjects), and airplane ferry pilot. All courses carried college credit, and women who did not find the curricula of the war training programs to their fancy were encouraged to pursue the full range of coursework at MCMT, including technical fields.

From there, slowly and steadily, the population of Tech women continued to grow and blaze trails. In 1945, a women’s dorm opened in the house formerly occupied by Kappa Delta Psi. In the years that followed, the former residence of the Fred Smith family was converted to women’s housing, and, at various times, female students also resided in houses known by the names of Pryor and Robinson. The first woman to earn a degree from Tech in metallurgical and materials engineering graduated in 1947; the first female mechanical engineer at the college finished her program in 1948. By 1952, the college had begun efforts to recruit women in earnest, publishing pamphlets explaining the scientific and mathematical careers open to them with a degree from Tech. Women answered the call and enrolled in many courses of study, including forestry, biological sciences, and all varieties of engineering. By 1968, 8.5 percent of Michigan Tech students were female, rendering the college officially coeducational by the metrics of the time. That year, Co-Ed Hall (now known as McNair) opened to alleviate a shortage of on-campus housing for women. A few years prior, Wadsworth Hall had begun to offer a few spaces to female students. Douglass Houghton Hall, on the other hand, remained all-male until 1973.

Women’s involvement and visibility on campus continued to grow through the remainder of the 20th century. In the 1970s, for example, the first female cadets joined the Air Force ROTC program, and the first national sorority and women’s teams in nordic and alpine skiing came to campus. From 1975 to 1982, Michigan Tech’s nursing program graduated nearly 300 hundred women, representing a larger proportion of female enrollment than perhaps any other degree program on campus. Groups like Woman Sphere and Tech Women’s Connection formed to advocate for women’s issues and initiated important dialogues in the Michigan Tech community. Meanwhile, in 1993, a team of Michigan Tech women won the Intercollegiate Mining Competition, demonstrating both their prowess at mining techniques and the college’s historic roots. How appropriate for Michigan Tech women to literally break ground.

In 1969, Dean Harold Meese wrote to the women of Tech that, in spite of being vastly outnumbered by men on campus, “you traditionally have more than overcome these odds academically by earning better grade point averages. This, I feel, is due to your above average intelligence and your strong desire to become a well educated person and to find a meaningful way of life.” Whether they joined the Husky family in 1889, 1959, 1999, or 2019, women at Michigan Tech have always exemplified a passion for knowledge and a dedication to leaving their mark on the world. They are making history, one day at a time.

By Allison Neely | University Archives and Copper Country Historical Collections

Michigan Technological University’s Winter Carnival began in 1922 as a one-day ice carnival presented by the Student Organization. Students performed traditional circus acts–but with students in costumes instead of live animals. According to an article in the Michigan Tech Lode from 1978, the first carnival was held at the Amphidrome and featured four or five student-constructed and manned bucking broncos on ice skates. An even bigger event was held the following year, again with the circus theme, and featured a giraffe made by the Kappa Delta Psi fraternity, a buffalo made by Sigma Rho, and a camel and elephant created by Theta Tau. The Michigan College of Mines band was also featured but only played two songs, a march and a waltz. According to the article, the event garnered wide community attention with approximately 1,100 people in attendance at the 1924 carnival. The carnival proved so popular that the students took their show on the road to Calumet and Marquette.

The carnival was so well-received among the community and students that by 1927 it was established as an annual event. By then, the festival had expanded to a two-day affair and included a formal parade with floats, a dog-sled race, a snowshoe race, and foot races on ice. While college students were the primary participants in the Winter Carnival activities, since the event was a joint venture between the college and the local towns, there were also categories for high school students. Among the highlights of the 1927 carnival was a ski ride behind an airplane on the Portage Canal at 60 miles per hour.!

The very late 1920s and early 1930s saw a hiatus for the Winter Carnival, and by 1930 festivities were suspended in the aftermath of the stock market crash. In 1934, the University’s student chapter of the Blue Key Honor Fraternity resurrected the winter celebration and introduced not only a three-mile snowshoe race, a Snow-Ball dance, a hockey game, and the event’s best known tradition: snow statues. The establishment of the Mont Ripley Ski Hill in 1940 brought festivities across the Portage with ski meets, including the Michigan State Amateur Ski Championship meet, held to coincide with Winter Carnival.

Winter Carnival was again suspended during World War II until 1946. When it was restarted, the carnival saw the inclusion of a stage revue in which fraternities, sororities, and other campus organization presented skits for the enjoyment of the crowd and performers alike. A beard contest was also established in the 1940s.

Carnival grew and evolved over the next couple of decades with attempts at establishing a Fun Night in 1954, which included various student organization booths set up at the Dee Stadium, much like we see at K-Day each year. The Student Council replaced the Fun Night two years later with a concert by groups like the Four Preps or the Limelighters, and in 1961 the Winter Carnival welcomed the inclusion of the popular Broomball event. The Flare Pageant, which had been done in previous years, was restarted in 1962 and featured “skiers carrying colored torches at night down Mont Ripley, forming intricate patterns of light” on the ski hill.

While Winter Carnival today looks much different from its early years, for the most part Winter Carnival has largely retained its current format since the early 1970s. The snow sculptures, crowning of a Winter Carnival Queen, and annual broomball tournament continue to be staples that have come to define this major Tech tradition. Other events have made fleeting appearances. Highlights of the last fifty years have included some quirky activities unique to the Michigan Tech carnival, including shipments of snowballs sent to Southwest Texas State University for an annual snowball fight. For over two decades, Copper Country snowballs were packed in dry ice and flown to Texas, much to the delight of the Southwest students. Occasionally, the shipment posed some unusual problems like when the 1971 shipment, carefully packed by members of Blue Key, arrived hard as rocks in Texas. Their solution to the problem? A snow cone machine! That’s right, Southwest Texas State students settled for sweet frozen treats instead of a snowball fight that year.

Over the decades, Tech students have competed in everything from snow volleyball and tug-o-war on ice to ice bowling, snoccer (snow soccer), and human dog sled races. One highlight of recent years coinciding with Winter Carnival has been Tech students and community members coming together for a collaborative competition: working together to achieve winter glory in the form of Guiness Book of World Record titles. Since 2013, Tech has held the record for the largest snowball. The snowball, measuring 10.04 m (32.94 ft.) in circumference. was rolled on March 29, 2013. Within the last couple of decades, Tech has also earned titles for most snow angels made simultaneously in one place, largest snowball fight, and most snowmen built in one hour.

Today, the Winter Carnival continues into its 97th year on the Michigan Tech campus and remains an important part of the campus tradition, bringing alumni, students, staff and faculty, as well as a wide range of local and regional community members to Houghton for its annual winter celebration. Once again, students will be back in the swing of spring semester classes and beginning the exciting task of building snow statues on and near campus — so much to look forward to in the coming weeks at Michigan Tech.

Winter Carnival certainly has and continues to have a rich history on the Michigan Tech campus. Interested in learning more? The Michigan Tech Archives holds a wide range of collections and resources pertaining to Winter Carnival at Tech. Included in the Archives’ holdings are records of the Blue Key Honor Society, pictorials, photographs, ephemera, and a plethora of great newspaper coverage in the Copper Country Vertical Files collection.

From Facebook:

“I do believe a Taco Bell 100M dash was a thing in the early 90s” – Susan C.

“I remember walking downtown late at night with the snow softly falling with no other noise or sounds.  It was perfection” -Chris Z.

“In 1959 got my BS in Chem Eng.  Back then none of that existed (new eclectic diners, boutiques).  Still, best years ever! Greetings from Caracas” -Enzio M.

“Downhill skiing during a 1984 snowstorm: On Pewabic St., starting from Houghton High School to a stop directly in front of the Hallmark Store (and one of Houghton’s finest walking the beat) on Sheldon: skeptical policeman– “Evening boys, how long do you expect to be skiing this evening?” Us– “Oh hello officer, it seems we’ve just finished up’.” -Bill S.

“(I remember) Watching the Northern Lights from the roof of our garage, with everyone in the neighborhood clapping and cheering like it was fireworks.”  -Becky S.

“Still go to the Ambassador, Downtowner, Dog House regularly. After I graduated from SBEA, raised my daughters who both graduated from Tech and one son-in-law. They moved away but love coming home for Winter Carnival and Ambo pizza!”  – Gary J.

“In all seriousness though, the beauty of a fresh snowfall in the UP can not be beat. I loved every second of the winter up there (even the sometimes -40 wind chills)” -Eric S.

“The winter of 78-79”  -Melodie H.

“Well when I was at Tech in the early 70s we drove to Marquette for fast food. I did love the pasties at the Kaleva Cafe. My roommate made really great pasties too”  -Carol B.

“Pasties. Had to drive to Marquette for McDonald’s. No such thing as Starbucks in the 70s.” –Steve B.

“Taco Bell after last call at any of the Houghton/Hancock drinking establishments. Drive thru was open until 4 am… and we would be back at Tech for an early round of golf by 6 am. Summer ’93 and ’94. Great times.” –EJ L.

From Parent Network on Facebook:

“As our kids get ready to take their finals, I wanted to share with you “why it is all worth it.” In these photos are people that graduated from Tech 30 years ago to 6 months ago to a current Freshman. They are people who took a half day off of work to cheer on my daughter and the MTU soccer team or drove 3 hours just to have dinner with their sorority sisters. We are all thankful for the education we received, but more importantly cherish the support and friendships that we made through Tech. This is my “Why Tech.” -Michele M.

By Emily Riippa | University Archives and Copper Country Historical Collections

If there’s something you take seriously in college, it’s food. Whether it’s driving to Marquette to get some Buffalo Wild Wings or strategically planning a day around which presentations or campus orgs are offering free meals, you don’t get between a college student and food. At Michigan Tech, sometimes that meal takes on a special local flavor. You’ve seen them around town; you’ve eaten them at your desk, on the beach, or maybe even in the dining halls. How much do you really know, though, about the famous pasty?

A good old song from the English region of Cornwall proclaims, “There’s something about a pasty that is fine, fine, fine!” Huskies and friends know the truth of those words. The delicious dish nourishes the body and warms the spirit with its blend of meat, potatoes, and rutabaga, all nestled inside a flaky crust. It’s the kind of meal that gets you ready for a day of cross-country skiing on the Tech Trails or a hike up Mount Baldy. Nothing is quite like the smell of a pasty baking; nothing tastes quite like that first bite. But how did a meal synonymous with Cornwall become a staple of the Upper Peninsula?

Let’s take a quick peek back into history to answer that question. Cornwall’s long track record with copper and tin mining led the rest of Great Britain to remark wryly, “Wherever you find a hole in the ground, you’ll find a Cornishman at the bottom of it.” Life in the mines of England often meant low wages and back-breaking labor, but it also cultivated a skill and knowledge of the work that made the Cornish miners a gold standard. When Michigan’s copper mines–the very ones whose ruins now lie in Houghton, Keweenaw, and Ontonagon counties–were first being opened for industry, their founders looked to Cornwall for able laborers, and the people of Cornwall, whose mines were tapering off, looked to Michigan for a new hope. One scholarly article on the history of the pasty noted that twenty Cornishmen were already at work in the Copper Country in 1844, just one year after industrial mining began here. With them came their favorite workday meal, which was subsequently adopted en masse by colleagues of all backgrounds.

We don’t know for certain who invented this tasty pocket of joy, which has seen considerable changes over the years, but we do understand why it was so appealing to the men who worked in the mines and the women who prepared their dinners each day. The pasty’s hearty fillings can be prepared in a large batch and energize a person for a day of hard work; the meal can be held in the hand and eaten without utensils; and it’s easy, relatively speaking, for a miner to reheat a pasty over his candle far underground. By the time the mines of Michigan closed, the pasty had become a staple that the Copper Country was determined to keep. Nowadays, you’ll find them around the local lunch table, sold at community fundraisers, eaten at picnics by the shores of Lake Superior, or on parade at places like Calumet’s annual Pasty Fest.

Let’s raise a pasty toast to the Cornish who brought us a meal worth celebrating!

What food brings you back to your college days? Was a special meal in particular that you drove to Marquette (or further!) to enjoy? Who makes the best pasties in the UP? And, do you like ketchup or gravy with your pasty?