GRTA banquet draws large crowd

By P.J. GLISSON

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Ironwood - The winter season has been light on snow, but Saturday night's annual banquet for the Gogebic Range Trail Authority drew hundreds of people and thousands of dollars.

Held at Ironwood's Aurora Club, the event for the 51-year-old organization resulted with attendees sprawled between two large gathering rooms.

The evening began with a cocktail hour, followed by a dinner, awards, raffles and music rounding out the evening.

GRTA President Jerry Nezworski was choked up as he presented the Volunteer of the Year Award, which honors the memory of Calvin Kangas of Ironwood, a GRTA member who died at the age of 67 in 2019.

"Calvin Kangas was a good friend of mine," said Nezworski.

Shawn Swiontek of Bessemer was declared this year's Volunteer of the Year.

"This guy has helped the club out so much," said Nezworski. "Shawn has been wonderful."

Nezworski later told The Globe that Swiontek "does everything for us - whatever I ask him to do."

That includes off-season help with trails and use of his mechanical expertise.

According to Nezworski, "He'll call every day and ask 'What do we have going on today, boss?'"

Swiontek said he's been a GRTA groomer for three years and was named "Groomer of the Year" last year.

Nezworski said the grooming award was not given this year because the mild winter resulted with no need to groom trails.

GRTA's Sponsor of the Year was the Ironwood Tourism Council, which Nezworski said purchased a roller for the club last year. Don Maki of Ironwood accepted that award on behalf of the council.

The Golden Hook award, which Nezworski said is just a "silly" acknowledgment done for fun, went to Ryan "Jailhouse" Christian of Manitowish Waters, Wisconsin.

Carter Kravik of Ironwood, who was his grooming partner, accepted that accolade.

Kravik said afterward that if you ever get stuck in the groomer and have to be pulled out, you get this particular "award."

He said that fellow GRTA members generally undertake such rescues. "We can pull it out with a tractor, but last time we had a big backhoe," said Kravik, who added that professional tow services are sometimes needed to extract a stuck groomer.

Luke Penrose called out the winners of raffle prizes, which Nezworski said mostly were donated by club sponsors.

Matt Rogers of Wakefield, who won about $800 in the 50-50, donated half of it back to GRTA.

Nezworski estimated that gross intake from the night's festivities resulted in roughly $9,000, but expenses had not yet been deducted.

Regarding how the profits might be used, he said of the club's Bessemer facility, "We're thinking about adding onto the barn again."

GRTA currently has about 200 members, which include local folks, along with residents of several other states such as Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois and Florida.

Nezworksi said 15 of them are what he calls working members. "Most of these are either retired or up in age," he said. "We're looking for membership - young membership. We need working membership."

Nezworski said that working members participate in a range of tasks. "Grooming trails is 10% of our work, and it's the easiest part," he said. Other off-season tasks include cutting trees, brushing and grading trails, and fixing and installing signs.