Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
JoAnn Fleming, a board member with the Ironwood Area Historical Society, staffs the booth representing the various historical societies and museums of Gogebic County at the county fair in Ironwood on Aug. 13. She is standing amongst items from the Wakefield Museum including the U.S. Navy uniform of Elizabeth Cort Haglund, a Wakefield native who rose to the rank of rear admiral and assistant U.S. Surgeon General, and on the right a set of traditional Yugoslavian men's clothing.
By TOM LAVENTURE
Ironwood - Area businesses and historical societies found there is a shared interest for collaboration of people and resources.
Nonprofit museums and historical societies act to preserve and interpret the heritage of the respective communities and instill an appreciation for learning local history. Area chambers of commerce found that combined efforts with printing costs and shared materials help small budgets have a larger impact.
This year's collaboration of the Ironwood Area Chamber of Commerce, Wakefield Chamber of Commerce, and the Lake Gogebic Area Chamber of Commerce in Bergland, really helped in what would otherwise be a quiet year, said Dennis Ferson, president of the Wakefield chamber. For the past seven years, the chambers have collaborated with a shared booth at the Gogebic County Fair to share volunteer time, he said. The museums picked up on the idea.
"For the museums and the chambers, probably the biggest benefit for all of us is getting the same message out there," Ferson said. "There are also about 36 hours of volunteer time that need to be filled and that would be very difficult for one chamber."
Michael Meyer, director of the Ironwood chamber, said that without the collaboration there would have been missed opportunities to greet visitors along with new residents and potential residents. It makes a big difference for someone to be there answering questions as people browse the brochures, maps and area business information.
"I had people from south of St. Louis, who were spending a weekend up in the U.P.," Meyer said. "They've never been up here before and they think this might be a nice place to live and they have kids."
Another couple with children who recently moved to the area from Colorado stopped by the booth to find out more about the area, he said. They moved here after several visits in part for the affordable resorts close to home but also as a place they want to raise a family, he said.
"They're looking ahead, which is just wise in this day and age," Meyer said.
The chamber booth also provided space for member business brochures, he said. People should realize that tri-fold brochures offer so much more information about what a business does and why it's important to the community than just business cards.
"It's the greatest thing that I have to hand out," Meyer said. "Not everyone likes to be on the phone and they want something to look at."
With three chamber leaders who are past retirement age, the combined effort helps reduce the amount of work, said Mary Lou Driesenga, secretary of the Lake Gogebic chamber.
"A long time ago, the three of us decided to blend some of our promotions," Driesenga said. "Tourism is quite important around the western U.P. and all three of us are promoting most of the same amenities."
A combined effort is necessary to encompass all that Gogebic County has to offer, she said. The opportunity to share costs with annual visitor guides and advertising in travel publications or attending travel shows is important for small organizations, she said.
"We've also learned that three minds are usually better than one," Driesenga said. "So, when we do an advertisement together, it looks much better when we combine our ideas."
Rod Smith, vice president and secretary of the Ironwood Area Historical Society, said the collaboration with other local historical societies at the fair was an idea of board member JoAnne Fleming at the July meeting. She emphasized the staffing issues of each historical society running a booth and reached out for input.
"From my perspective, it was successful," Smith said.
The collaboration is not unusual, in the sense that overlapping community history requires constant interaction, he said. Sometimes an item would serve a better purpose at another location.
"We will notify each other if one of us has an artifact that should be in their museum," Smith said.
The Ironwood society has a Civil Conservation Corps yearbook from a Marenisco camp that will be delivered to their museum, he said. Other artifacts have been sent to the Iron County Historical Museum, he said.
"We feel that partnership with each other keeps our societies stronger," Smith said.
While filling in at the combined fair booth, JoAnn Fleming said the goal was to provide one place for people to find information on all the historical societies and museums of Gogebic County. Wakefield and Ironwood provided the staffing this year but Marenisco, Wakefield, Bessemer and Erwin Township are all represented with materials, commemorative books, calendars and other publications and resources.
"Wakefield has been great about coming in and manning the space during the fair," Fleming said. "So it's a start."
The exhibits generate interest in people to visit the museums or perhaps become a volunteer. Others may reflect and consider they have an artifact in their basement or attic that might be suitable for a museum.
"We're sharing the space but this is just about promoting local history," Fleming said. "So this is a way to meet with people to talk to them about what we do because every one of us needs help."
