Erwin Township Hall goes 'Crazy for Cranberries'

By P.J. GLISSON

[email protected]

Ironwood - The Erwin Township Hall was the site of a "Crazy for Cranberries" bake sale and pie social Saturday, and it certainly lived up to its name.

Two long tables were filled with cranberry delights in any conceivable form. Purists could choose from pie, bars, cookies, cakes and jelly, all featuring cranberries as the featured ingredient.

Adventurists seeking a little fusion also could find cranberry walnut bread, cranberry banana muffins, cranberry apple crisp, cranberry Rice Krispie bars, and even cranberry brownies. There were also a handful of non-cranberry baked goods, as well as fresh produce, including bags of cranberries.

"This is our first year doing the bake sale," said President Amber Hurkmans of the Erwin Township Community Club.

"The first of many, we hope," added club member Lynn Gustafson, who said earnings from Saturday's event will be put in a scholarship fund for Erwin Township kids going to college. "We had kind of a dry spell where we didn't have a lot of kids, but now we have kids again," she said.

Hurkmans, who was assisted with bakery sales by club secretary Luana Smart, said club members baked the items in their homes.

Company in Manitowish Waters, brought cranberries from there to use for baked goods.

The old-timey atmosphere of the Erwin Township Hall, which sits next to Whiskers Creek, extends from the exterior to the interior, which includes a large main room a back area set up as a mini museum. There are displays of old books, treadle sewing machines, kerosene lamps, dishes, costumes, maps and more. The women said all of the museum pictures are relevant to Erwin Township.

Gustafson said the Erwin Township Community Club also just celebrated 50 years with a recent picnic.