Big Annie’s Likeness is Coming to Calumet

“Big Annie” Klobuchar Clemenc stands tall in Calumet’s proud history. A labor activist in the early 20th century, she drew women out of their traditional roles and helped shape the labor movement in the U.P.  Soon Calumet will have a life-sized statue downtown honoring her. 

A local artist, Jerome Patryjak, created a piece of art that will be used as inspiration for the sculptor to design the statue. A sculptor will be selected once the Big Annie Statue Committee has reached their fundraising goals.

The Big Annie Statue Committee recently awarded Patryjak a $500 grant funded by the Keweenaw Community Foundation to create a conceptual rendering of the Big Annie statue. The committee is planning a June 22 fundraising gala at the Calumet Theatre, where the artist’s rendering of the statue will be revealed. 

Sara Fletcher with the Keweenaw Community Foundation awards local Calumet Artist Jerome Patryjak with $500 for a conceptual rendering of the "Big Annie" Statue. Photo courtesy the "Big Annie" Statue Committee.

WHO WAS BIG ANNIE?

Anna Klobuchar Clemenc was known as Big Annie because she towered over most other women, standing six foot two inches tall. Although her brother Frank described her as “mild and well-mannered,” she turned out to be a firebrand when it came to supporting the role of women outside the home and fighting for economic and social justice. It made her both a hero and a pariah in her time. 

In 1913, miners on the Keweenaw Peninsula held a labor strike protesting their hazardous working conditions and extremely low wages. During the strike, Clemenc, only 25 years old at the time and herself the wife of a miner, founded a Woman’s Auxiliary of the Western Federation of Miners in support of the miners’ cause. She marched with the strikers daily, often waving an American flag on a 10-foot pole as a reminder of every citizen’s fundamental rights.  

Clemenc was arrested and jailed twice for her activism.  The first time, she and five other women stopped a man from going to work whom they thought was a non-striker. They were arrested after fighting with deputies. She also served a 10-day jail sentence for previously assaulting a non-striking miner. 

Clemenc and the Women’s Auxiliary planned the historic Christmas Eve party at Italian Hall, which turned into a mass disaster after someone falsely shouted “fire” and 500 children and 175 adults stampeded to get out of the building. Seventy-five people died, most of them children. Carrying her flag, Clemenc led the funeral procession for the victims. 

Her legacy was mostly forgotten for decades, until the Michigan legislature declared on June 17, 1980, as Annie Clemenc Day, describing her as “one of Michigan’s most valiant, yet largely forgotten and unrecognized women.” 

ARTIST’S CONNECTION TO CALUMET

Patryjak’s grandmother and grandfather both emigrated to Calumet from the Austrian-Hungarian Empire in the late 19th century. They raised a family there, moving from town to town as he followed work in the mines.  

When the mines started closing, they moved to Detroit, where Patryjak was born and raised. He worked there for most of his life, though his family visited Calumet occasionally, and he has fond memories of the Keweenaw. 

During the isolation of the COVID pandemic, Patryjak realized that he wanted to live in a more beautiful place filled with what he recalled as “wonderful people.”  So he moved to Calumet, opened a studio on 5th Street, began volunteering at the Calumet Art Center and joined the boards of the Copper Country Associated Artists and the Keweenaw Heritage Center.

Patryjak’s interest in Big Annie began when he started looking into the history of the Italian Hall disaster. He learned about Big Annie’s role and wanted to know more about her.

“I was interested in her very human story,” said Patryjak.  “I believe my grandmother knew Annie when she was young.”

Among the items Patryjak’s mother left to him was a crocheted table piece with a note that said it was a gift to her mother from Annie’s mother, Mary Klobuchar.

The artist was also interested in what drove his grandparents to leave a European empire to seek opportunity in America and become citizens instead of subjects. To him, Big Annie personifies their drive.

“She was a leading figure for self-determination, respect and community over corporation,” he said.

Now, Patryjak has brought Big Annie back to life on his drawing table. The Big Annie Statue Committee can’t wait to see what a sculptor does with his rendering.

Edit: Paragraph 2 was edited for wording after this story was posted.

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Welcome to the Brand New Copper Beacon: What We’re Doing and Why

Today marks the relaunch of a new and improved Copper Beacon. Let me tell you about its history, mission and plans for the future. 

A teleconference between the volunteer relaunch team: Josh Vissers, Laura Smyth, Jennifer Donovan, Juxta Sprague, and Lily Venable.

Just as there is no perfect person, there is no perfect media. We all, mostly, try our best. When I taught media studies, I would start each semester with a lesson on propaganda and faulty logic, because deceit, self-interest, and manipulation are as old as humankind. But so is seeking truth, helping community, and a need to communicate with each other. So, along with propaganda, I would talk (probably a lot) about personal bias—how to recognize it and move past it. One mistake we often make, both as media “consumers” and media “producers” is believing we are without bias. That’s not humanly possible. But recognizing our own biases, our own blind spots and prejudices, is not only possible, it is essential, both in a democracy and in a news outlet.

Joshua Vissers started this online news source, now called Copper Beacon, as an exercise in delivering local news to a rural community without the undue influence that can come from relying on advertising revenue.

(Read a short history of the publication here: https://www.copperbeacon.org/about-us).

It is the ideal of every journalist I have ever met not to be thwarted in what they cover and how it can be covered by the commercial necessities of their news outlet. Investigating stories, writing stories, editing stories, getting good visuals to help bring stories to life…all of this is expensive, and the tried-and-true model in American journalism has been advertising. Subscriptions in this model help, certainly, but primarily to give advertisers a sense of the readership they can reach if they pay for an expensive advertisement. The potential conflicts of interest are ever-present and obvious.

This publication has never sought or accepted advertising. We rely on subscriptions, though we now are seeking other local and national, non-commercial sources of funding. 

Copper Beacon has  been and continues to be hyper-local. We cover four counties: Baraga, Ontonogan, Houghton and Keweenaw. With the view that journalism is a community service and not a product, we value local knowledge. 

As I was working on this article in my Hancock office in late April, I decided to get out and enjoy the sunshine and clear my head. Walking down Quincy St. I found myself in the middle of the setup process for this year’s Puppy Parade. How perfect. I leave my office to clear my thoughts and immediately am immersed in an important and lovely community project. Students from Hancock High School were creating the route all along the sidewalk with chalk, leaving inspiring messages and colorful pawprints. The coordinator for the Puppy Parade, Rachel Lamppa from Copper Shores Community Health, chatted with me about the artwork the students were making and her passion for helping survivors of sexual violence. Officer Olsen was on hand, helping with the artwork and looking after the students. I had walked out of my head and into a community event outside my door. I encouraged the students to consider writing an article for the Copper Beacon about their experience on this project. Citizen journalism recruitment on the fly.

Victim advocate Rachel Lamppa with Hancock Police Officer Olsen at the Copper Shores Puppy Parade.

Rather than attempting to cover the entire U.P., Copper Beacon chose a deeper focus on truly local issues, and our plan is to grow through the development of local journalists and citizen journalists. 

One big accomplishment that the publication has achieved so far is obtaining a 501(c)3 status. Being a non-profit will help us with our mission: Copper Beacon will deliver high-quality journalism featuring diverse voices and deep research to the residents of Houghton County and the surrounding area. With ethics, accessibility, and media education held as core values, we will lead the way for the modernization of news production in the Upper Peninsula.

Yes, that’s a big mission, but what’s the point in a small one? Together, we don’t need to do this instantly but rather can build on past achievements and develop new local talent. We have a dedicated local board to help guide the way. We are actively seeking input from residents for stories that could use greater coverage, and we will be training local writers to take a leap into this important project: local news.

We’re currently an all-volunteer staff, although freelance writers are paid contributors, but one of the goals we have as a non-profit is to develop foundational funding sources from both inside and outside the region that will allow us to develop more opportunities for paid writers and also to engage and educate local communities on the importance of local news coverage. Money coming into our non-profit organization brings funds into the local economy rather than sending money out of the area through advertising revenue to a national or international corporate parent company. As Joshua said to me in a recent phone conversation, corporate news ownership is “a straw for sucking money out of the community.” And that straw seems to get bigger with each passing day. 

So, moving forward, we will keep the community events calendar going on a weekly basis along with smaller news items as they arise. The primary change will be to take a monthly deep dive into one specific topic of importance in the community and cover it in-depth. Look for story topics to be announced in the next few weeks and contact the editor if you would like more information about writing for (or learning to write for) the Copper Beacon. We’re excited about the future of this news outlet. Taking my cue from the students who were enthusiastically chalking up Quincy St. before the parade, I can tell you that we do this work with a deep commitment to the well-being of the whole community, and also an appreciation of good chalk. 

Edit: This article was corrected for typos after posting. “Office” was changed to Officer and “conversion” changed to “conversation”.

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Young grad fulfills dream of owning own bakery, gets brick thrown through window

Erin Turner stands in front of her new signage for her store on Hecla Street.

Meet Erin Turner, the 23-year-old baker behind Copper Country Sweets. From humble beginnings vending at From the Ground Farmer’s Markets to the procurement of her own Laurium bakery, Erin's success is a testament to the rewards of hard work and determination. Copper Country Sweets is more than just a bakery—it's a dream come true.

ERIN’S STORY

Turner has always had a passion for baking and service. She graduated with her Bachelors in Hospitality Management from Northern Michigan University, a well-rounded course that covered not only cooking, but business management, HR, and leadership. She spent summers baking for Skinny Pete’s.

After graduation, Turner signed up for all three From the Ground Farmer’s Markets (Houghton, Hancock, and Calumet) with one goal in mind: save up enough funds to buy equipment and open her very own Laurium bakery. Turner reliably vended three times a week from June to October, setting up her table and tent by herself, offering seasonal flavors that shifted each week, as well as her signature $5 jumbo cupcakes and 3 for $5 sea-salted chocolate chip cookies.

Erin Turner at the Calumet Farmer’s Market.

“I love when people buy something at the market, bring back the empty bag with a smile on their face telling me how good it was. I get to be creative and make people happy,” said Turner.

This year, it’s finally happening! Turner secured a brick-and-mortar bakery in Laurium and was able to acquire the equipment she needed with the earnings from the Market. Skinny Pete’s also gifted her with much of the equipment she needed, leftover from their own bakery after Skinny Pete’s closure in late 2022.

Turner said that her positive relationship with the former bread company’s owners Tim and Arthur Lyons was essential in laying the groundwork for her business. Another key to Turner’s success was assistance from local small business consultant Daniel Yoder.

“I worked with him most of the summer during the season. We met and developed a business plan. [Michigan SBDC] is a small business development center, and they’re a nonprofit so they just help businesses. They also worked with Living Proof Brewery, who is just down the block.”

It’s a big summer for Laurium as community connections continue to bloom. Copper Country Sweets maintains a partnership with Vertin Gallery, who is also reopening this summer, along with a new bike shop in the same building.

A BUSINESS WITH SISU

But, Erin’s dream was thwarted when vandalism struck a small UP business once again. This past Tuesday, Turner entered the bakery to find a brick that had been thrown through the front-facing glass window, shattering it. Turner said that while nothing was stolen, she is taking the incident as a sign to purchase security equipment.

“I’m stressed and upset, but I’m just thankful nothing inside was damaged,” she said.

The shattered store window. Photo courtesy Erin Turner.

Mike LaMotte, owner of the Fitzgerald Restaurant, has started a donation drive for Copper Country Sweets through their website. The business is covering the taxes and kickstarted the donation pool with their own donation of $500.

“Starting a new business is hard. Starting a business that’s a creative expression of yourself, as a young woman in the Keweenaw, is that much harder,” reads a statement from the Fitz on Facebook. “Erin Turner had more guts than 99 percent of people when she decided to learn a craft and make something for people, something that she believes in and that she thinks that the world will enjoy.”

You can help Copper Country Sweets recoup their losses by donating here: https://www.exploretock.com/fitzgeraldsrestaurant/event/482784/support-for-copper-country-sweets

GRAND OPENING PENDING

The grand opening has been postponed because of the window damage. Turner comments that waiting on the business inspector is also taking longer than she had originally anticipated. But she looks forward to the grand opening, where the community can come in to sample some of her tastiest treats by donation.

She will have her signature chocolate chip cookies and vanilla cupcakes, as well as a range of other baked goods of seasonal flavors, with something new each week. 

Turner says she also loves to make custom cakes and desserts.

“I’ll do custom anything! If someone wants something I don’t make, I’ll make it if they give me enough time,” she said.

Copper Country Sweets is located on 323 Hecla Street in Laurium. Follow Copper Country Sweets on Facebook and Instagram for updates! You can contact baker Erin via her email, coppercountrysweets@gmail.com.

You can catch also Copper Country Sweets at Calumet Market every Saturday from 10 am - 2 pm. Turner plans to attend the Saturday market for exposure, so the bakery will be closed on that day.

Turner is currently fulfilling orders. Find the order form on her website.

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