Ironwood begins First Friday effort

IRONWOOD - Threatening skies cleared in time for Ironwood's initial First Friday downtown promotional effort.

After Friday afternoon events at Deport Park, people headed downtown for the evening hours to shop and listen to a one-man concert in the Art Park.

The performer, David Paul Martin (Niemi), writes his own music, including an ode to Bald Mountain and a song about driftwood on the Lake Superior beach.

He's the son of Paul and Linda Niemi, who are area natives and have a home near the Saxon Flowage.

The singer was named for both his father and his late grandfather, Martin Niemi, of Saxon.

David Paul Martin, who strums the guitar while playing the bass drum with his foot, is a music major at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, his father said.

"He performs his own songs, but also might do 'Blackbird," by the Beatles," Paul Niemi said.

City manager Scott Erickson was pleased the weather turned sunny for the evening.

The purpose of First Friday is to get downtown businesses to stay open late once a month.

There were more than 15 businesses participating in the effort and the Historic Ironwood Theatre offered kids' movies and theater tours.

Businesses that signed up in advance to participate to stay open late Friday included Ben's Place, Golden Dragon, Historic Ironwood Theatre, Northwind Natural Food's Co-op, Zak's Realty, Contrast Coffee, Integrity Salon, Downtown Art Place, Stem's Flower Shop, Book World, Old Suffolk Ale House, Chelsi's Corner, Brewsters, Uncommon Goods and the Fabric Patch.