• Saturday-What'sUP December 30 - 10:53 pm

Pasty Central General Manager Charlie Hopper paid a visit to the office of Little Brothers Friends of the Elderly in Hancock yesterday. He presented an end-of-the-year donation to staff member Ruth Angove on behalf of Pasty Central, The Hut Inn Restaurant and Pasty.NET.

Little Brothers provides significant help to the Copper Country's elderly residents, from chopping wood to providing transportation to fixing full-course meals on special holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas.

The photo on the wall is an architect's rendition of the Little Brothers Hancock headquarters, from which they serve the whole Keweenaw

For Pasty Central, this caps off a year of support for care of the elderly. The company has distributed more than $19,000 in proceeds from pasty sales and The Hut Inn this year. We'd like to thank all of you who have purchased pasties and contributed to this effort.

Most of the proceeds went to the Still Waters Assisted Living Community, which closed its doors in October. Little Brothers was very instrumental in providing a smooth transition for former Still Waters residents. The organization will receive ongoing support from the Pasty companies.

While the Still Waters building is now vacant, several groups have expressed an interest in the facility for various assisted living or shelter possibilities.

As we at Pasty Central close out 2006 and get ready for an even better 2007, we extend our best wishes to you and your families in the coming year.

Nice job, pasty!!!

For those unable to contribute money, give your gift of time. Volunteers are needed every Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter to prepare, serve, and deliver meals to the areas disadvantaged and disabled.

What a wonderful thing you have done at Pasty Central. God bless and Happy New Year!

MAGNIFICENT JOB!!!!!

Happy new year Pastys group around around.. .

My mom was the official rutabagga peeler in one of the Calumet groups. Her ruttie knife was bequeathed to another VERY dedicated Volunteer for the special dinners at Christmas, T. Day and Easter.

Liz, your mom must be one tough yooper. I was ready to get the chain-saw when I tried peeling my first rutabaga.

Happy New Year to..

Happy New Year to all you Pasty.com people and all those who contribute to your causes. Makes we wonder if I should move a little bit further north in my retirement. Nah, I must be dreaming.

A great way to end one year and start another,Charlie. Happy New Year to all involved and a Happy New Year to all Pasty Cammers!

In the "U.P." you feel that life is an "indestructible something"...that is immensely exhilarating...and proud of Charlie Hopper & Patsy Central

I feel so very fortunate to have met Charlie at the "Pasty Factory"
when I had lunch at the Hut on Thursday. I enjoyed seeing the
Hut back in action, picked up a couple of calendars, talked to
Charlie and enjoyed the piece of chocolate thimbleberry torte I
shared with my father.

It was sad to see Still Waters standing empty in Calumet, but I
am hoping for better days.

We had about three inches of snow in the Ishpeming area
yesterday and enjoyed our little "Charlie Brown" jack pine
Christmas tree.

I'm back to being koskintoronto and will be missing the UP for
the next few months.

Happy New Year from Berkley Michigan. No snow is my fault, my snow blower wont start so we can't have snow until I get it fixed. Sorry about that.

Kosk - Thanks for your kind words, and it was nice to meet you at The Hut, too. It is so ironic that the Pasty operation began looking for a new headquarters in the fall of 2005 because Still Waters was in talks about merging with another local Home for the Aged, and needed all of the space we were using. It was a very challenging task to revitalize The Hut, build our new network center, and construct the new pasty kitchen next door. It took a whole year, and during that time the merger talks between the HFA's eventually failed, leaving Still Waters with no recourse but to close. The irony is that the very month Still Waters closed is the month The Hut re-opened.

For those who have been following this website since it began over 10 years ago, you know that it all started as a fund raiser for the retirement home. As state regulation of Homes for the Aged changed over the years, it became even more difficult for Still Waters to operate. In 2001, as Still Waters was facing imminent closure, the pasty operation had grown to a point of being a marketable entity, so several of the employees came up with the funding to buy the enterprise. This risk capital provided a cushion for the Home which brought it back from the brink in 2001. Perhaps the legacy of Pasty Central will be that its sale helped keep Still Waters open an additional 5 years, serving many elderly Copper Country residents.

Today Pasty Central - Pasty.NET - and The Hut employs 42 workers, a number of them former Still Waters staffers. The synergy of these endeavors enables us to survive in this remote region. We consider ourselves blessed to live and work in such a beautiful corner of the world, and pledge to continue supporting care for the elderly, the original purpose which started it all.

On behalf of all of us at Pasty Central, thank you for your ongoing interest and support of what we do, and best wishes for a happy, healthy and prosperous 2007.