dg progress ontonagon

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DAILY GLOBE“Where to go, when you need to know!”

PROGRESS 2011

fàçÄxService With

Ontonagon County

2 / PROGRESS 2011 THE DAILY GLOBE

Locations: Gogebic County Head Start Ontonagon Area School 304 East Iron Street 701 Parker Avenue Bessemer, MI 49911 Ontonagon, MI 49953 906-663-4302 X10 906-884-4433 X124 Ewen-Trout Creek School

14312 Airport Road Ewen, MI 49925 906-988-2436

Mission Statement ~ Enhance lives through education and community partnerships

Philosophy Statement ~ Nurture the child within the family and the family within the community

Value Statement ~ Growing with helping hands

GOCAA Head Start Serving Gogebic and Ontonagon Counties

Services from Pregnancy to Age 5

Leading Provider of Early Care and Education in the Community GOCAA Head Start participated in a federal triennial review in March 2010 and was fully compliant with the Head Start Program Performance Standards, laws, regulations, and policy requirements. The on-site reviewers stated our economically depressed rural community were a strength. The program operations were conducted through a relationship-based culture with two local school districts, health care providers, and community organizations.

Assessment and Screening The Devereaux Early Childhood Assessment (DECA) is completed on every Head Start child. This enables us to accurately identify social and emotional issues and provide the necessary services and referrals as needed. Within 45 days of enrollment, all children participate in a developmental screening; the standardized screening tool, Developmental Indicators for the Assessment of Learning, third edition (DIAL 3), is used. If special services are needed, Head Start staff, parents and GOISD staff meet to write a formal Individualized Education Program. GOISD staff provides specialized services in Head Start classrooms when needed.

Health Early identification of health problems is critical tothe well-being of the child. We actively recruit children with disabilities and participate with local service providers that serve children with disabilities. All Head Start children and Early Head Start families have continuous, accessible dental and medical care.

Education The early childhood field has changed dramatically. New research has improved our understanding of school readiness. In addition, almost every state now has early learning standards. The Creative Curriculum is used as our foundation to ensure school readiness. Our program is designed to meet the individual needs for developing self-confidence, feelings of self worth, curiosity and self-intellectual and physical development. learning is centered on 37 specific objectives and dimensions, which focus on the 11 domains of the Head Start Child Development and Early Learning Framework: Promoting Positive Outcomes in Early Childhood Programs Serving Children 3-5 Years Old:Physical Development & Health, Social & Emotional Development, Approaches to Learning, Language Development, Literacy Knowledge & Skills, Mathematics Knowledge & Skills, Science Knowledge & Skills, Creative Arts Expression, Logic & Reasoning, Social Studies Knowledge & Skills, and English Language Development. Inforobtained from multiple sources, including teacher observations, analperformance, parent reports and direct assessment of children. We have established a memo of agreement with elementary schools and others to ensure smooth

transitions.

Family Engagement Family Service Workers identify family needs based on a Strengths and Needs Assessment. Goals are set during the Individual Family Partnership Agreement process, with a focus on solving crisis situations. Arrangements are made for appropriate family support through trainings, parent meetings and by connecting families to appropriate community agencies. The parent activity fund provides parents the opportunity and experience in planning, developing and implementing their own projects. Parents are involved in active decision making through parent meetings and the Head Start Policy Council.

Early Head Start For pregnant women and children age birth to three, Early Head Start is our home-based program. Home visitors conduct 48 home visits and 24 socializations during a 52-week period. Group activities or socializations offer meaningful experiences to strengthen the parent-child relationship. EHS offers a place for parents to share the complexities of parenting. Early Head Start children are screened using the Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ) & DECA I/T, with a schedule that coincides with the state Early Periodic Screening, Diagnosis, and Treatment (EPSDT) guidelines. Partners for a Healthy Baby is the foundation for the Early Head Start Curriculum.

Child Services Consultants A school psychologist and a private practitioner provide mental health services, as well as a PhD, RD who provides dietary consultations.

By Jacalyn DelichGOCAA Head Start Director

THE DAILY GLOBE PROGRESS 2011 � 3

At Aspirus Ontonagon Clinics we share a common commitment with you: to create a partnership for your health that is developed through a long-term, trusting relationship between you and your physician.

As community based clinics, we pride ourselves on providing personal and compassionate care to all our patients. As part of the Aspirus health care system, we have access to the resources of a comprehensive network of physicians, hospitals, and technology to provide you with contemporary cost-effective care.

We provide quality health care services, close to home at three UP clinic locations:

Aspirus Family Practice Clinic Aspirus U.P. Clinic Aspirus White Pine Clinic 601 S. Seventh St. 13833 U.S. 45 29639 Willow Road Ontonagon, MI Bruce Crossing, MI White Pine, MI 906.884.8240 906.827.3201 906.885.5201

ADS-193

Quality Healthcare, Closer to Home

By JAN [email protected]

ONTONAGON — Scott Fra-zer calls the job of managingthe village of Ontonagondaunting.

With less than a year on thejob as village manager, Frazer— and the OntonagonVillage Council — facethe problems arisingfrom the closing of thevillage’s largestemployer, SmurfitStone, the closing of anursing home thatemployed nearly 100people, the resultingconsequences of run-ning a water systemwith fewer customers,and the loss of a hugetax base of personalproperty.

Frazer calls the job of devel-oping a budget to reflect allthese issues “scary.”

Frazer is a novice when itcomes to management. He waspreviously employed by Smur-fit Stone Mill.

But he said that he has beenblessed with clerk Joan Nygardand secretary Kay White, whohave many years of service inthose village positions.

“I have had to lean on them,and they have shortened thelearning curve for me,” he said.

In the time of crises the vil-lage faces, he said it is impor-tant for everyone to have thesame vision, common goals for

the future but, he added, it isalso important to have a posi-tive attitude.

“That positive attitude isneeded for the long term totake us in the direction wewant to move,” he said.

Frazer has attempted toestablish outreaches toother areas in theUpper Peninsula andhas attended seminarsand worked with theOntonagon CountyEconomic Partnership.

While working tobring Ontonagon backto economic stability inthe future, the manag-er said the village mustalso keep an eye onfinances.

“We have some diffi-cult decisions to make in thenext year,” he said.

Things may get tougherbefore they get better, and themanager wants to make surethe village is operating at peakefficiency.

Recently an analysis of thewater system was made todetermine how much it costs tomake the water and disperse itto the system.

“It will be up to the villagecouncil to act on what directionthe village should take, but it ismy responsibility to make surethey have all the answers andfacts before those decisions,” hesaid.

Ontonagon High School senior Joe Husar, left, a stu-dent intern at Superior Sports and Rental in Onton-agon, uses a spring puller to remove the exhaust pipeon a customer’s snowmobile. Husar is replacing thechain case on the snowmobile. He is learning about

small engine maintenance and repair while completing an intern-ship under the supervision of head mechanic Carl Croschere.Husar is part of the Job Contracting Program coordinated by theGogebic Ontonagon Intermediate School District and OntonagonSchools along with local businesses. The program allows studentsto gain skills in a career area outside of the traditional school set-ting. Husar has learned about repairing and rebuilding snowmo-bile engines, making repairs to ATVs, such as replacing driveshafts, shocks, and changing engine oil, spark plugs and tires. Hehas observed and learned about repairing wiring problems and hasdone some carburetor work among other things. “Being able towork on the small engines and equipment has taught me so muchabout troubleshooting and making repairs,” said Husar. “I amactually getting to work on the things I like to do.” After gradua-tion, Husar plans to enter an apprenticeship program to becomean electrician. He would like to own his own small engine dealer-ship some day.

Submitted Photo

Village managersees value of

positive attitude

FrazierOn the job for

less than a year

(See VILLAGE — Page 4)


WHITE PINE — TraxysPower Group chief operatingofficer Mike Reid, of WhitePine, said that in the past yearthe company has continued togrow its “green energy busi-ness” by securing site control ofa number of former coal plants.

Traxys operates the L’AnseWarden Biomass power plant,which was the first in Michiganafter the Michigan RenewablePortfolio Standard was passed.

The plant is under a 20-yearsupply contract to supply thefull output of the green energyto a downstate utility.

The L’Anse plant burnsabout 500 tons of low gradewood waste and landfill diver-sion wood daily, Reid said.

The spin-off jobs for sourcingthe fuel are in the range of 50jobs along with 30 Traxys jobs.

Reid noted that the plant ispermitted to burn brush, slashfrom the logging industry, bark,railroad ties, clean constructionbuilding debris and low gradewood chips.

Another source of fuel isclean tire chips, which add highBTUs to increase the firingrate and a cleaner burn.

The White Pine 40megawatt coal plant is in finalengineering studies to convertfrom coal to biomass. The plantwould be fired with two 20megawatt turbines and a newboiler and emission monitoringequipment installed.

The plant would continuewith its 20 employees along

with 60 spin-off jobs to supplythe needed 600 tons of biomassdaily, Reid said.

Reid said Traxys has beenexploring other possible sitesacross the Upper Peninsula toadd to the Renewable EnergyPortfolio and using carbon neu-tral fuels with reductions in airemissions and landfill usage.


ONTONAGON — PresidentFranklin Roosevelt said, “Wehave nothing to fear but fearitself.”

In a sense, that is how RayTessmer, chairman of theOntonagon County EconomicPartnership, feels as well.

The partnership was formedNov. 8, 2009, as a reaction tothe closing of the Smurfit StoneContainer mill in Ontonagon.At the first meeting the roomwas crowded with citizenscountywide anxious to see whatcould be done to keep the milloperating or replace it withother jobs.

As the year went on, thenumbers at the meetingsdiminished, but the enthusi-asm level seemed to rise. Eachperson involved became part of a commit-tee aimed at developing some kind of activ-ity countywide.

It was learned that a grant could beobtained to bring an economic develop-ment specialist to the county, but the West-ern Upper Peninsula Planning Develop-ment Region grant would need a match.Members of the partnership swung intoaction, visiting each township, businessand group.

The matching $25,000 was raised andbrought Kevin Manninen, formerly fromHoughton County, from Finland to work oneconomic development.

“In a county which has lost significant

jobs, and the business community is hurt-ing, we were able to raise the funds fromall segments of the county to help bring onboard a professional to help us,” Tessmersaid, adding “that in itself is quite anachievement.”

In addition to bringing Manninen onboard, Tessmer said the partnership hasbrought a sense of commitment to findsolutions to the county problems.

He says one of the biggest challenges isto change the attitude of so many in thecounty that all is lost.

“We have to get over the fact that themill is gone. Many just kept hoping thatsomehow someone would come in and save

us,” Manninen said. “We haveto get to work to save our-selves.

“We need to create a beliefin people of the county that wecan overcome this and move onto better things.”

SUCCESSES IN SIGHTThe partnership is moving

closer to those successes.Tessmer announced recent-

ly that a firm is expected some-time this month to sign a letterof intent to purchase the for-mer Maple Manor NursingHome building. The buyer isinterested in utilizing it forassisted living and seniorhousing.

Manninen also announcedthat the group is working onbringing a pellet plant to thearea.

There are also contacts withother entrepreneurs who areconsidering the county.

Tessmer reasons that thecounty has many incentives tobring business and jobs to thearea.

There is Lake Gogebic and the opportu-nity to bring business that depends onrecreation, Lake Superior and a cold waterport, railroad access, steady electricity, anenthusiastic work force, Porcupine Moun-tains, two good school systems, a hospitaland more that would be attractive to busi-ness development.

“We want to bring the word about whatthe partnership is doing to everyone in thecounty and ask others to join us in thateffort,” Tessmer added. “We need our peo-ple to keep involved. It is critical to oursuccess to have them a part of the solu-tion.”

4 � PROGRESS 2011 THE DAILY GLOBE

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Another big issue this yearis what to do with the formerMaple Manor building.

The building is in great con-dition and the village hopes tofind occupants who would helpthe area’s economy.

Frazer said that while thevillage has no input into whathappens with the vacantSmurfit Stone building, it doeshave a say at Maple Manor.

“There we are in control ofour own destiny,” he said.

Frazer has supported heat-ing the Maple Manor buildingfor an additional month whilethose interested in possibledevelopment visit.

WATERFRONT VALUEFrazer also feels it is impor-

tant to pay attention to thosethings in the community thatother areas do not have.

“We need to pay attention tothe waterfront. We have theOntonagon River and LakeSuperior, two powerful drawsto the area,” Frazer said.

The village has been work-ing on land acquisition on theisland for a possible park.

“As we look at the future, wewant people who drive over thenew bridge to have a greatview of the village, get inter-ested and come here,” he said.

The area needs to let peopleknow of the jewel that is LakeSuperior and how they cancome and enjoy it in Onton-agon.

“We have other drawingcards for business that may belooking for a place to locate,” hesaid. “ We have a great hospitalin Aspirus Ontonagon, beauti-ful theater, good school system,winter and summer recreation,clean air and water. Sometimeswe talk about what other areashave and we do not have,instead of telling of our ownassets.”

Frazer is high on the countypartnership and its possibili-ties.

“They have brought a lot ofpeople together and now witheconomic developer KevinManninen on the job, there ismore hope than ever for eco-nomic viability,” he said.

He cited the Pure MichiganCampaign, the work of North-ern Initiatives and others topromote the area.

“We have many things com-bining to help us, “ the manag-er said. “We have had adversi-ty before and overcame it. Wecan overcome it again.”

(Continued from Page 3)

Jan Tucker/Daily Globe

Ray Tessmer, left, chairman of the Ontonagon County Eco-nomic Partnership, discusses the announcement that a firmhas signed a letter of intent to purchase Maple Manor Nurs-

ing home building with partnership secretary Frank Wardynski.

VILLAGE Partnership spreads the word� Lake and river,school, hospitaland willing workersare the draw

Biomass fuels the future for Traxys plants Power plant is

not only burningbiomass, it’sgrowing its owntrees for fuel andplanning the finalconversion fromcoal.


ONTONAGON — For the first timein more than 40 years all of the studentsin the Ontonagon Area School Districtare now in one building.

The pendulum has swung from atime when the school was so crowded

that church basementswere utilized for class-rooms. Then an annexwas built to house theelementary schooloverflow. With thenational trend to fewerstudents added to theloss of major employ-ers in the area, theneed for two schoolswas diminished.

But it was not thefewer number of stu-dents that eventuallycaused the move of

Ontonagon students to one building, butthe financial crises that followed.

Ontonagon Area School DistrictSuperintendent Gray Webber said thatthat by closing the historic elementarybuilding and annex, the district wouldsave $250,000 in heating, transporta-tion and other costs.

Additional classrooms were carvedout of the Ontonagon Junior SeniorHigh School building, with additionalwork on the industrial-technical build-ing. Students began the 2010-11 schoolyear in one school.

Webber said the most difficult part ofthe process was making sure that thebuilding was ready for the first day ofschool. He said that in a human sense,adults understand the need and recog-nize that the quality of education,whether in one or two buildings,remains good.

Webber continued that in some waysthe move to one building had made thestudents and school stronger.

An example would be a Big Sister,Big Brother program that has pairedhigh school students with elementarystudents. The superintendent called it ahealthy interaction between the olderand younger students. Older studentsact as mentors and role models for

younger children.In addition to mov-

ing equipment andclasses to anotherbuilding, there werelogistic problems thathad to be solved.

Cafeteria and gymuse and recess timeswere addressed.

“Everyone wasimpacted by thechange,” Webber said.

The move to onebuilding has not solvedall the school districtfinancial problems.Webber said it is espe-cially frustrating thatthe state does not letthe school districtknow what financing itwill receive in a timelymanner.

“We are months intothe school year before we know what wewill have and suddenly they will thenchange that too,” Webber said.

GUESSING GAMESGuessing is also what the district

must do when it comes to student num-bers. This year the district was down 33students and faces additional losses inthe coming school year due to the clo-sure of the paper mill.

“I have no magic wand, and as oftenas people say it’s not about money, it is,”he said. “If we had proper state fundingthings would be differ-ent.”

Webber said thatthe school is supposedto receive $7,400 perstudent in state fund-ing. He estimated itwould take $8,000 perstudents to maintainprograms and person-nel that are customaryin a district.

Due to these budgetconstraints, Webbersaid, maintaining thecore requirements andas many elective

options as the district can afford willmean many reductions, including staff.

The superintendent emphasized thatthe district is constantly trying toupgrade overall academic performanceand school environment.

“Students have to know that it is allabout school,” he said.

He explained that he and the boardhave tightened athletic eligibility stan-dards, limited access to vendingmachines, closed the campus at noonand set cell phone restrictions. He con-tinued that the Lions Quest program formiddle school students is working on

school and social behavior and civilresponse.

HIGH STANDARDS MISGUIDEDTaking money off the table, what

would be some of the wishes and hopesof the superintendent for the future.

“More parental involvement and sup-port from the community in regard tostudent performance and expectations.Our children raise their expectationswhen adults around them set higherexpectations,” he said.

THE DAILY GLOBE PROGRESS 2011 � 5

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Kimberly Powelson and Josh Hokans, students in the Ontonagon High School art class taught byKatie Harris, work on objective or abstract art. Hokans said he was proud of his abstract, whichtakes a color scheme and expresses what he wants.

JanelleCarls-gaard

teaches bothsecond grademath andSpanish. Shecombined alittle of bothas the stu-dents work onaddition withthe MathSafari in theirSpanish som-breros. Pic-tured are,standing fromleft, AliciaSteve and Alli-son Thomp-son; kneeling,BrandinPaavo, ConnerNegro, KatieMyhren andCarlsgaard.

Students shinedespite statebudget woes

(See SCHOOL — Page 6)

WebberState mandates

will mean deep cuts


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He would like the state torealize that in forcing academ-ic standards schools are losingthe ability to promote hightrade skills.

“We cannot expect thatevery student will enter collegeand by forcing algebra 2 onevery student, they limit otheroptions,” he said.

ALTERNATIVES TO COLLEGEIf a student is determined

not to pursue college, Webbersaid, the district should havethe finances to set a high stan-dard for trade school and jobentry programs.

Presently through the Goge-bic Ontonagon IntermediateSchool District, some of thetrade and career programs aremade available.

Welding, building trades,computer aided drafting anddesign, accounting and virtualor distance classes are avail-able. Despite the financialproblems of schools in general,Webber said it is a joy to cometo work.

“It brightens my day to seethe happy faces of our childrenand recognize the successes ofso many of our present andpast students.”


SCHOOL


ONTONAGON — Three years ago theAspirus Health network took a leap of faithwhen no other health organization would andpurchased the Ontonagon Memorial Hospital.

What started in Ontonagon is now part of anetwork of providers as Aspirus later becamepartners with Keweenaw and Grand View hospi-tals.

That network employs 1,200 people in theUpper Peninsula with more than $100 million insalaries and operations in the U.P. In addition tohospitals in Ontonagon, Keweenaw and Iron-wood, Aspirus operates Aspirus KeweenawHome Services and Home Health and Hospiceand Superior Home Health and Hospice.

“We are now part of a greater whole. We cando more for our patients, our communities andeach other than we could as independent organ-izations,” said Chuck Flood, Aspirus Ontonagonadministrator.

Aspirus Ontonagon Hospital is now thelargest employer in Ontonagon County, with 165employees at the hospital and clinics in Onton-agon, Bruce Crossing and White Pine. Employ-ees come from all parts of the county and fromBaraga County.

It has a major impact on the economy of thearea.

Flood noted that the three U.P. hospitalsenable each organization to be more efficient andcan work in collaboration to offer patients a newlevel of excellence and choice.

The Ontonagon and Keweenaw organizationwas strengthened last year with the hiring of Dr.Mohammad Jan, cardiologist, which for the firsttime offers Ontonagon cardiology and diagnosticcare not previously available.

“Patients will not have to wait two hours ormore for advanced cardiac and diagnostic care,”

Flood said.Down the road, Aspirus hopes to bring oncol-

ogy, ear-nose-throat and urology services toAspirus Ontonagon.

“The acute focus now is to utilize the partner-ships and Aspirus Health to operate hospitalsthat are as healthy and vibrant as possible,” theadministrator said. He added that there are “sig-nificant economic challenges ahead but “we atAspirus are bullish on the future. Aspirus hassignificant footprints in the U.P. with the goal tocare for patients locally.”

LOCAL IS KEYLocal is the key word for the organization, he

said. “We want to enable residents to receive thecare they need locally. New technology will alsoassist those residents who spend winters inother areas with electronic medical recordsexpected to be available in 18 months. By thespring of 2012 all medical records and care willbe available through the electronic system.Health information will be linked regionally, sothat medical data will follow the patients wher-ever they go.”

Local is also the word when it comes to gov-erning the three hospitals. Each entity controlsits own local board with a representative fromAspirus Corp. on the board. The local boardsaffect the decisions made concerning the hospi-tals.

Aspirus Ontonagon is also in the process ofmoving from film-based X-ray to a digital sys-tem.

“No developing film the old way. The imagesare portable and can be sent over the Internet,”Flood said.

As an example, Flood said that if a personbreaks a leg, the digital image can be sent to Dr.

Florence Rahkola, a resi-dent of the Aspirus Onton-agon Hospital Long Term

Care Unit works on restoringher arm strength as Erin Peter-son, restorative physical thera-py aide, helps. Aspirus Onton-agon has a busy in-house phys-ical therapy unit and also acombination physical therapyoutpatient and exercise unit atthe Aspirus Ontonagon FitnessCenter in the downtown busi-ness district.


Aspirus’ leap of faithspreads health countywide

The cooks and dietary

department at Aspirus

Ontonagon Hospital are

featured in a story on

Page 1 of the Daily

Globe today —

Thursday, Feb. 10.

(See HEALTH — Page 7)


ONTONAGON — Amy Brushwoodreturned to her grandparents’ roots.

Stuart Kauppila came back to the wildgrapes along the Ontonagon River.

Both of them have become importantparts of the Aspirus Ontonagon Hospitalteam.

Brushwood is a graduate of AlvernoCollege, Milwaukee, and received a bache-lor of arts degree in nursing in 1989. Sheworked for 23 years in the Aurora HealthCare network in three different hospitalorganizations.

She is the director of acute care atAspirus Ontonagon.

“I am a purebred Finn,” Brushwoodsaid, noting that her parents were born inthe Hurley-Ironwood area and since child-hood her family has returned to the areafor holidays and vacations.

While Brushwood loves the area, it wasthe Aspirus leadership that influenced herdecision to become part of Aspirus Onton-agon.

“What impresses me most is the leader-ship here at Aspirus. They take a group ofpeople and do a wonderful job of teambuilding,” she said.

She found strong teamwork within thedepartments at Ontonagon.

“If a call light is on, it is not unusual tohave someone from pharmacy or X-raystop and ask if we need help,” she said.

She cited a sad and striking example ofthis kind of teamwork recently.

A nurse at the hospital, Cindy Miles,was tragically killed in an automobile

accident.Brushwood said everyone at the hospi-

tal took turns taking one another’s job sothat each member of the staff could go tothe funeral home visitation or funeral.

“We had off duty personnel who volun-teered and came in so that we had ade-quate staff to take care of patients. I havenever worked where there is so much of aunified staff of caring people,” she added.

Brushwood has some professional goalsat Ontonagon.

“People need to hear the Aspirus story.We really do have passion for excellenceand compassion for people. I try to calldischarged patients and see how they aredoing at home,” she explained.

FROM CLINIC TO STAFFStuart Kauppila came to Aspirus

Ontonagon in June to do a clinic forlicensed practical nurses.

He was introduced to everyone at thehospital, and when he was called later tojoin the team, he jumped at the opportuni-ty. He has a bachelor of arts degree inrural human services and is also an LPN.

He does utilization review, social servic-es and case management in the acute carefacility of the hospital. Although Kauppilacomes from Calumet, for many years hehas come to Ontonagon to pick the wildgrapes that grow along the OntonagonRiver.

Kauppila called Aspirus Ontonagon afantastic hospital.

“I think it is unique and possiblybecause we are more isolated, we dependon each other. There is a tightness in thecommunity and the staff members wear alot of hats,” he said.

Both Brushwood and Kauppila saidthat, personally and professionally, theyare “happy to be on the Aspirus team.”

THE DAILY GLOBE PROGRESS 2011 / 7

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Mark Balas in minutes, andthe orthopedic specialist canrecommend treatment or be atthe hospital at once to treatthe patient.

“Rather than uproot thepatient, he or she can be treat-ed locally,” Flood added.

LONG TERM CAREIn Ontonagon, Aspirus Long

Term Care has 46 residents.Aspirus emphasizes familyinvolvement and keeping thefamilies active in the care andrehabilitation of the residents.

“We try to bring as muchquality of life as possible,”Flood said.

Collaboration with outsidegroups is helping to improvethat quality and service.

The Aspirus Hospital Foun-dation and Ontonagon-WhitePine Rotary worked togetherwith the community to financea family garden on and aroundthe patio at the long term unit.

Beautiful flowers now growwhere once there was just apatio, Rotary officials noted.

Future projects of the foun-dation include an enhancedbeauty shop, and assisting inthe education of EmergencyMedical Technicians.

AMBULANCE ASSISTANCEAspirus Ontonagon has

been collaborating withSONCO Ambulance to makeservice available at the highestquality.

Flood said the hospital isworking with SONCO officialsto make possible in the futurethe ability of the service totransfer patients outside thecounty.

He explained that a grouphas been working multiplehours with the aim to enableSONCO the ability for advancelife support that would makethis transfer potential possi-ble.

Ontonagon Aspirus alsoworks to enhance the fitness ofthe community with inpatientand outpatient rehabilitationand exercise.

Rehabilitation specialistswork with patients in the hos-pital, and at the AspirusOntonagon Fitness Center,located at the center of thebusiness community.

“Hopefully we have gainedthe loyalty and respect of thepeople of the area,” Flood said,adding “what’s good forAspirus is also good for serviceto Ontonagon, Gogebic,Houghton and Baraga coun-ties.”


HEALTH


Stuart Kauppila, left, and Amy Brushwood have ties to the area that preceed theiremployment with Aspirus Ontonagon Hospital. Both speak highly of their employerand the lakeshore community.

Family ties,wild grapeshelp drawemployees


Under the direction of dietary supervisor Barbar Urbis, right,kitchen staff members assemble a tray for patients. Picturedare, from left, cook Diana Voldarski, dietary aides Dee Dee

Derenzo and Kay Latvis. The kitchen at Aspirus Ontonagon Hospi-tal is one of the busiest and most important places. Read more

about it on Page 1 of the Daily Globe today — Thursday, Feb. 10.

8 � PROGRESS 2011 THE DAILY GLOBE

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EWEN — The Ewen Medical-DentalCenter recently expanded services, to meeta growing need.

The center has provided high qualitymedical and dental health services to resi-dents of the western Upper Peninsula fornearly 35 years.

In the fall the center added limitedbehavioral and mental health services.

Cuts in state funding to other organiza-tions in recent years had made access toaffordable behavioral and mental healthservices in the area more difficult for manypeople.

“We saw a need, and we’re trying toreach out to meet that need,” said LoisAbramson, health center manager. “Peopleare coming here to use these services. Ithas been a very positive experience.”

In addition to the counseling services,there are plans to incorporate additionalassessment tools, and to expand availablehours for psychological services as needed.

UNINSURED PATIENTS ON RISEAbramson noted that while the overall

medical and dental patient load at thehealth center had remained steady, manylong-time patients are coming in who nolonger have health insurance.

“For some, it’s the first time in theirlives that they’ve been without healthinsurance. It’s really scary for some,” saidAbramson. “The good news is that we’ve

been able to continue providing services.Many now qualify for our sliding fee pro-gram.”

She said that while the increase in unin-sured patients has strained the center’sresources, new patients who come in withfull health care coverage help to offset thegrowing expenses.

The addition of behavioral/mentalhealth services has helped the center movecloser to its goal of becoming a one-stophealth care home, Abramson said.

“We want to be able to offer primarycare, preventive medicine whether it’smedical, dental or psychological to helppeople stay healthier and avoid serioushealth problems as much as possible,” sheadded.

PREVENTIVE FOCUSIn that regard, nurse practitioner

Rebbekkah Marasco began offering a dia-betes education and support program lastyear.

“I suspected itmight help fill aneed, so I decided tooffer the programand see how it goes.It was great. We hada good turnout withthe first session sowe continued on tothe next. We’re stillmeeting,” Marascosaid.

Other health

improvement initiatives the center haspromoted over the past year included chil-dren’s cavity prevention, smoking cessa-tion, heart health, seasonal affective disor-der awareness, and the importance ofinfant immunizations.

As part of the federally qualified healthcenter known as the U.P. Association ofRural Health Services, the Ewen centerreceived reaccreditation by the Joint Com-mission, a national health care accreditingagency that recognizes high standards inhealth care organizations.

During the last year the center spon-sored its Fifth Annual Ontonagon Out-back, a 5K run/walk. The event, which wasstarted to promote healthy and activelifestyles, enjoyed its highest ever numberof participants last year.

For more information or for anappointment, contact the Ewen Medical-Dental Center at 906-988-2210 or 800-270-2904.

Growing needcompels clinic to add services

Nurse practitioner Rebbekkah Marasco, left, examines apatient at the Ewen Medical-Dental Center. Marasco

began offering diabetic education and support last year;the program proved popular and continues.

Submitted Photo

Runners compete in the Fifth Annual Ontonagon Outbacklast year. The Ewen clinic sponsors the 5K run/walk to

promote healthy and active lifestyles. Last year drew themost participants in the history of the event.

Submitted Photo

E-TC’sGibson is

the constant


EWEN — Tammy Gibson isthe face of the Ewen TroutCreek School District.

As administrative assis-tant, her face is the first visi-tors see in the business office.

Part-time superintendentJim Rayner calls Gibson,“extremely valuable” not onlyfor her business expertise, butfor her historical significance.

Rayner explained thatwhen there is a new superin-tendent it is important to havesomeone who has been in thedistrict and has the informa-tion about the past.

Gibson has that history. Shegrew up in Trout Creek, gradu-ated from the Ewen High

� Through 3administrators and10 years, onewoman has beenthe first facevisitors see andkeeper of theschool district’shistory

(See SCHOOL — Page 9)


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EWEN — The Big Valley Ford dealership in Ewen is much big-ger than its geographic hometown.

While Ewen is a relatively small community, Big Valley reach-es out to populations in at least four states.

According to one of the Big Valley partners, Steve Worachek,more than 40 percent of the sales of the dealership are in Wis-consin. The Big Valley canoe logo that appears on all its vehiclescan be seen as far away as Hawaii and Alaska. One Big Valleyvehicle is in Sweden.

The firm has three distinct entities: its vast body shop andrepair facility, its service department and its sales department.

The Big Valley Collision body shop and repair facility startedoperations at its current location in 1987. It was a merger of twooperations, the Big Valley repair and, across the street, U.S. Auto,owned by Mike Urbis.

U.S. Auto had outgrown its building and, according to Urbis, “Itonly made sense to join the two shops.”

Big Valley offered Urbis the job to manage the new facility and

School and has worked in the district since 2000,under three former superintendents. When thedistrict, because of a financial crunch, decided tohire a part-time superintendent more of thehands-on work fell to Gibson.

DEFICIT ADDED TO HER WORKHer work doubled when the district, with a

deficit of more than $1 million, was required bythe state to file a deficit elimination plan. Thedistrict must submit monthly reports to thestate on spending, and every change is scruti-nized by state officials.

The district plan will eliminate the deficit by2014.

“It is difficult for most dis-tricts to come up with a yearlybudget in a time of state cutsand loss of students, but to berequired to have an approvedbudget out to 2014 is very diffi-cult,” she said. She noted thatother schools are not tied to adeficit elimination plan andhave flexibility that E-TC doesnot have.

Flexibility is difficult whenthe state keeps changing therules and the funding and “weare expected to predict thefuture. The state cannot pre-dict what they will do, but theyexpect us to,” she noted.

As an example, she said thatthe retirement costs last yearwere 16.94 percent and theschool budgeted for an increaseto 19.41 percent in October. InNovember the rates increasedagain, to 20.66 percent.

Although the superintend-ent is part-time, Gibson saidshe is in frequent contact withRayner.

“When we need help, he isjust an e-mail away,” she said.

RAYNER’S PRIDERayner has been superintendent for 18

months and is proud of what the district, itsboard, staff and community have achieved dur-ing that time.

“I feel I helped get the school on a more solidfinancial foot with the cooperation of the boardand community,” he said.

He said the community now realizes that E-TC is not the only district with financial prob-

lems. He noted that teachers now work fourunpaid days a year and support staff, two.

“They all realized the situation the district isin and have stepped up to the plate,” the super-intendent said.

Gibson added that with reductions in staffteachers and support personnel have taken onmany hats.

“The community has had fundraisers and, inthe beginning of the year, huge donations ofschool supplies, which also helped our budget,”Gibson said

TOUGH CHOICESRayner said two multi-age classrooms, larger

classes and some layoffs have resulted due to thedeficit situation.

In Michigan and nationallythe student population hasdecreased, he said. At E-TC, thepopulation has shrunk from507 to 230 in recent years.

“It is a challenge to get themost we can out of the funds wehave,” Rayner said.

Rayner has serious concernsas to whether the state has theability to fund K-12 districts asthey have in the past.

“If the financial crunch onschools continue in four to fiveyears many may go down. Wedon’t have a crystal ball,” hesaid.

If Gibson had the magicwand that goes with that crys-tal ball her first wish would befor someone to hand the districtthe $761,000 which would takethem out of deficit.

“Our revenues exceed ourexpenses and without the debteliminations we would be in theblack,” she explained.

Despite the financial prob-lems, Both Gibson and Raynerare proud of the education theyoung people receive.

Student achievements havebeen cited in national media.

Many graduates go on to college and trainingprograms and have done well.

Gibson is also proud that for the first time inmany years the district audit has been a cleanone. Rayner and Gibson are also both proud ofthe way the E-TC community has rallied to theschool district.

They said they are determined to emerge fromdeficit and make the school stronger than ever.


SCHOOL: Pride in district


Tammy Gibson is the faceof the Ewen-Trout CreekSchool District. The E-TC

administrative assistant hasworked for the district for morethan 10 years, under three for-mer superintendents.

Jan Tucker/DailyGlobe

“The Voice of the Valley” sings for Big Valley Ford inEwen. The famous lead man and singer for Borderline,Mike Urbis is the manager of Big Valley’s body shop and

repair facility in Ontonagon.

Dealershipstretches beyondEwen boundaries

(See BIG VALLEY — Page 11)

the birds. Opening our minds to solu-

tions, being aware that it may takesome retraining of our minds, butevery problem has a solution.

Seeing the needs of others.Noticing and helping others is asure way to overcome difficult sit-uations in our own lives.

Being thankful for our bless-ings. Take a minute, but only one,to think of a scenario that couldbe far worse than where you are

right now. These are not our darkest

days, not even close. It may nothappen the way you thought butwe will prosper.

Letting our hearts warm withhope, learn to hope and trust.When we close our hearts all wedo is shut in the hurt, anger andfear.

Before anything can improvewe must all have hope. We mustrule out any negative thought orword and replace it with a positiveand enthusiastic voice of hope.

So, while this Western UpperPeninsula undergoes variouscampaigns, let us make knownthat we have chosen the path ofhope.

Jen Varecha and her husbandRick own and operate MountainView Lodges in Silver City. JenVarecha heads the Tourism andRecreation Committee of theOntonagon County EconomicPartnership. She is a Chicagonative; the couple came toOntonagon from Fort Wayne, Ind.They have five children.


HOPE: It’s all we need


ONTONAGON — When General Motors dropped its fran-chise with Harbor Town Auto (formerly Courtesy) many peoplefelt it was the end for the auto dealer and its owners Jim andGretchen Brogan.

Not so, as the facility offers full service repair and has a largeselection of pre-owned vehicles.

For Harbor Town Auto, the move from its Spar Street loca-tion, a block off the business district in downtown Ontonagon,has proved to be a good one.

At the M-38 highway home of Harbor Town Auto, the volumeof traffic has been greater in one month than in six months atits previous location.

“One snowmobiler from Bessemer was going by, saw a car heliked and came back and bought it,” Jim Brogan said.

The new facility also has more parking space.Jim Brogan said he is proud of the quality of vehicles he has

for sale.The staff includes Roy Allen, sales manager, who has been in

business for 40 years and at Harbor Town Auto for four years;Mike Haggerty, an ASE and Michigan certified mechanic with37 years experience and at Harbor Town for six months; GrantRoss and office staff Barbara Martin.

Jim Brogan said hiring Haggerty was fortunate because, inaddition to being a great mechanic, he is also able to work onforeign vehicles as well as American.

The Brogans are betting on the Michigan and Ontonagoncommunities to bounce back economically, “and we want to bepart of that process,” Jim Brogan said.


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ONTONAGON — The name haschanged but the people and service remainthe same.

Jim and Gretchen Brogan have ownedInn Towne Pharmacy since October 1989,when they purchased the business fromthe Rogers family. The pharmacy waslocated in the Ontonagon downtown busi-ness district.

Jim Brogan said both the pharmacy andHarbor Town Auto, which they also own,needed more space.

After looking around for several years,the couple decided to move out to the high-way on M-38, near cummunity medicalbuildings, Pat’s Foods and Pamida. Theonly catch was that the pharmacy would nolonger be “in town.”

It was renamed Harbor Town Pharmacy.The former Tom’s Service Center was

extensively remodeled and both businessesare now in their new digs.

Jim said the move has been a good one.“We have more room, more security,

close to the hospital and clinics and in ahigh-traffic area,” he said.

The pharmacy previously shared roomwith a grocery store and hardware storedowntown.

“There was not even enough room forcustomers to sit down and wait for theirprescriptions,” Brogan said.

The new facility has an area with atable and chairs, coffee pot and a roomwhere professional staff can consult withcustomers.

“We are part of the medical communityand want to give patients or customers asmuch privacy as possible,” Gretchen Bro-gan said.

The pharmacy also joined the HealthMart organization, which Jim Brogan saidwill give the organization better purchas-ing power.

The faces of the staff at Harbor Town

Pharmacy remain the same.Pharmacist John Bloomquist has been

with the organization since 1989, and cer-tified pharmacy technician Brenda Wellshas been behind the counter for nearly 10years. The staff includes Cherie Roehm

and certified technician JillBorseth. The pharmacy


Certified mechanicMike Haggerty andGrant Ross work on a

vehicle while sales managerRoy Allen, rear, looks on.Allen said the move to thenew facility off M-38 isalready paying off with carsales.


The staff at the new Harbor Town Pharmacy say the best thing about moving to the new locationon M-38 is the amount of space. The former Inn Town Pharmacy moved from the downtown areato a remodeled building off highway 38. The new location is near the hospital and clinics. Staff,

from left, are Brenda Wells, certified pharmacy technician; pharmacist John Bloomquist, CherieRoehm; owners Gretchen and Jim Brogan.

Harbor Town movesout of town, but not far� Brogans gain neededspace for pharmacycustomers, parking, plusautomotive sales, service

My way, highwayone and the same

for auto dealer

(See BROGAN — Page 11)

incorporate his technicians with Big Valley tech-nicians. The new team was formed.

The large body shop and repair is divided intotwo sections, reconditioning and collision repair.The office staff consists of secretary SandyAugustine and manager Urbis.

The reconditioning side consists of techni-cians Ceil Lindsey and Cindy Smith. The colli-sion staff is led by painter Hank Leaf, techni-cians Dan Kudlaczyk, Corey Sironen, JohnLaPlant, and Mike Kirtland and wrecker driverDon Jilek.

Urbis said all technicians have crossed-trained and can do each other’s duties.

IN TUNEUrbis, also known as “The Voice of the Valley”

for his singing voice, noted that more vehicleowners than ever before are having body workdone so they can drive their vehicles longer.

“Your vehicle is the second largest investmenta person makes and where many would let someof the repairs go in the past, now they are payingmore attention to how their vehicles are run-ning,” Urbis said. He added that “proper repair isso important.”

The technicians do things that some othershops do not. Their painters are expert at match-ing paint and do their own tinting. They arebeginning to use water-base paints for environ-mental reasons.

Keeping ahead of the curve is one of the com-panies’ most costly expenses, according to MarkVoigt, service department manager.

Each member of the service departmentupgrades his skills with seminars and on-lineclasses. Several go to school in Minneapolis tokeep up with the changes.

Voigt noted that while vehicle bodies do notchange much, different engines change the wayrepairs are done. For example he said that cer-tain hybrid vehicles have 330-volt engines,which adds to the complexity of servicing.

CUSTOMER SERVICE TO THE MAX“With years of experience, we have learned

there is no situation we cannot solve,” Urbissaid. “We at Big Valley attribute our success togood old-fashioned customer satisfaction, andthat will never change.”

That customer satisfaction is apparent whenyou walk into the main sales office of Big Valley,about one block away from the body shop. Onefull wall is devoted to letters and notes from sat-isfied customers. One started out “Thank you forsaving our vacation!” Most praised the “excellentcustomer service.”

Despite what many would consider the firm’sremote location, Worachek said to visualize it asthe center of a wagon wheel.

“Our customers are all around that wheel,” hesaid.

He said if a customer comes in and has a goodbuying experience and gets good service, thatcustomer will return again and again whenready for a new vehicle.

Worachek said the dealership has “40 of thebest employees. We are a family and treat every-one they come in contact with like family.”

That family starts at the top with the part-ners, Bruce Cook, Mickey Miesbauer, GregAnderson and Worachek.

Employees of the dealership indicated thepride they have in their work. What started 25years ago with three mechanics and a one-manbody shop has grown to one of the biggest andbest known dealerships in the region.

Big Valley is really big.



Villageof

Ontonagon315 Quartz St.

Ontonagon, Michigan

884-2305


Big Valley technician John LaPlant works on fabricating running boards for a new vehicle. A customersaid he would buy the vehicle if there were running boards exactly as he wanted them. LaPlant went towork at the body shop to fabricate the boards. “It’s part of our constant efforts to bring service to ourcustomers,” officials said.

employs 10 full- or part-timestaff.

Jim Brogan said he isproud that through the yearsthe pharmacy has had stu-dents, who were training inthe pharmacy or medicalfields as summer interns.

Katlyn Domitrovich,Ontonagon, worked at thepharmacy each summerwhile she studied to becomea pharmacist. PresentlyOntonagon senior HalleyBorseth is a part-timeemployee.

“We want to encourageyoung people to enter themedical field, Gretchen said.“The internship also helpsyoung people learn how tointeract with people. Overthe years many young peoplecan point to this summerexperience as assisting themto decide a vocation.

Why in a time of economicproblems in the community,state and country did theBrogans choose this time tomove?

“We have a lot of faith inthe people of this county andthe future of the community.We are survivors and gooddays will be around again,”Jim said.


On the Cover: The his-toric Ontonagon light-house guards the har-

bor. Photo by D. Bishop,courtesy of Ontonagon Coun-ty Historical Society.

BROGAN‘We have a lot offaith in the peopleof this countyand the future ofthe community’

—JIM BROGAN

BIG VALLEY

By Jen VarechaSpecial to the Globe

It is said that the wheel wasinvented about 3,500 yearsbefore the birth of Christ,which would make it one ofthe most innovative inventionsof its time, next to beer ofcourse. It isbelievedthat the firststage of thewheel wasa logmaneu-vered underan objectand theobject thenpulled overthe rollerlog. Later,a sled-likebase wasbuilt to haulmaterials,then axles and carts weredeveloped, and wheels mount-ed on the axles.

This basic technology isstilled used today. Hence thesaying, “don’t try to reinventthe wheel.”

And yet, isn’t that what wecontinue to do? In all aspectsof our lives we are still tryingto replace what really workswith something we hope willwork better. The reality is thatthe answers are before us andwe choose to not see them.

We hold meetings, we havestrategic planning sessions.We spend tens of thousandsof dollars for plans, only sothey can be put in a drawerand never implemented.

We choose the fast buck,the cheaper price, and moremoney over the things in lifethat are truly valuable. Thenwe wonder why there are nojobs left, costs have skyrocket-ed and our food is contaminat-ed.

Since it seems that all wehave left some days is time,maybe we should use this timeto reflect and listen.

Hope and trust are some-times hard to come by. Butone sure way to obtain both isto practice. Let’s make a com-mitment to spend 15 minutesevery day unplugged, un-entertained and uninformed byany form of media.

Let’s spend that 15 min-utes:

Listening to nature aroundus, that awesome power of thewaves or the gentle song of

All weneed ishope

VarechaWe must ruleout negative

thoughts, openour hearts

(See HOPE — Page 9)

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