• Sunday-What'sUP January 15 - 10:04 pm

With thousands of pages and tens of thousands of photos, the Pasty Cam Archives have become a visual resource of the U.P. and its people. How can we organize and make better use of this growing collection? Today's picture is a good example of how we probably 'missed the mark' when it was first presented. Almost 7 years ago, before we added the daily discussion to this regular feature, the Elm River Twp School appeared on the Pasty Cam. Buried away in 'Past-E-Mail' was this note from the Principal of the school:

Elm River Twp. School, situated 30 miles south of Houghton, is one of the few remaining "one-room" schoolhouses in Michigan. Traditional values mix with modern technology as all 14 students share in a family-oriented setting.

Due to low student enrollment, Elm River Twp. School, along with Grant Twp. in Copper Harbor, exists with no funding from the State Of Michigan. Both school districts have been victims of Proposal A, and have been communicating with Michigan's State Senators for an amendment which would allow State monies to filter in to these unique and wonderful school districts.

Hello Scott Lyon, Elm River Twp. School. I was checking out the pasty cam saw your article on Winona. I was a student there from 1947 until 1954. My name is Dan Andrews - I lived in the big town of Donken (ha ha). My mother was the post master the post office was attached to the house. We always had good hot lunches at the school. I have good memories. We had a Christmas program that we all had parts to play. I was just going throw old pictures and ran across some of the program. Santa was also there. If any one else reads this e-mail that attended the school, I would like to hear from them. So long for now. Dan

Hello all!
OK, the picture description on the previous page scared me! I read "a question about the future of Pasty Cam " and my first thought was that this wonderful webpage was going away!! Glad to read further then and see that I was wrong! I know some computer gurus and will ask them if there is a better organizing program or such for the photos. I will let you know if I find anything out.
Best wishes,
Renee in AL

Where I grew up (northeastern Illinois) we had a 4 room school. No kindergarten, 2 classes in each room. The teachers would change rooms, not the kids. Went by there the other day. It's huge! We had to bring our lunch. Milk- they gave us milk. Boy, do I feel old.

Kathiscc--Where did you grow up? I went to Zion schools mainly, but attended parochial (Lutheran) school for several years so can relate a little to the topic as all grades were taught in the same room.

Is this the school in Toivola? If it is,the principal listed on the internet is Michael Aubin.

Anyone interested in more information regarding Elm River Township School can go on the internet.There are several sites offering quite a bit of info(pictures,also).Just type in the name of the school and the state.

Erica,
The school above is in Winona.

Lorelei,the school address is 3999 Winona Rd.
Toivola,MI

Charlie,
Thank you to you and your staff for maintaining this site. I first visited this site way back in December of 1999 while surfing for a UP fishing cottage to rent. I have been entertained by the pasty notes and pasty cam ever since. My day is not complete without a visit.

I went to "search the archives" and put Elm River School in the power search and found a lot of information from your archives about the school. I don't believe any major changes to your site are necessary and only have a few minor suggestions.

Depending on how one has their screen resolution set up they may or may not see the Pasty Cam photo without scrolling. First time visitors may miss it. I do think the POD and Cam Notes are the big draw to this site.

I would like to see a link to the Guest Gallery on your home page. This might encourage those in a hurry to stick around a little longer.

Today when you click on the Guest Gallery icon you go to a list of gallery owners where in the past you would be taken to the newest albums. I prefer the way it was because I then didn't miss anyone's new album. To get there today you have to click on someone's album and then go back to the "Pasty Cam Guest Photos" to see the newest albums.

It would also be great if there were some way to highlight albums that have added new photos. I suspect that this would have to be a function of the gallery software and may not be available. Incidentally, the gallery software is adequate and easy to use from a users standpoint.

Finally the list of galley owners is full of many names that have never created an album. A scheduled purge of empty albums would keep the list of names at a more manageable length.

I hope this helps. It is meant to be constructive. I love this site as is and recommend it to others all the time. Thanks, Ken.

The school above is located in Winona, which shares the Toivola zip. As does Twin Lakes and Donken. The main post office was in Toivola. The Toivola School was located on the Heikkinen School Road.

Lorelei,I see we are talking about the same school.
that's the important thing.

I was a former student as well as principal at the Winona School (aka Elm River Twp. School). My siblings and father also attended this school. Currently it is a K-6 school. When we attended it was a K-8. My Dad graduated high school in Winona! It is filled with wonderful memories for our family!

This past summer alumni from near and far celebrated 100 years of operation with a wonderful reunion! Despite the funding, or should I say, lack there of, the Winona School continues to operate in a setting that is much like home schooling in a public setting.

For more information you can visit this site:
http://www.elmriver.k12.mi.us/

Glenn- Crystal Lake (Prairie Grove School), then we moved to Cary. A little more southwest than Zion.

I was thinking it may be a good idea to have keywords assigned to the pictures and have a separate picture search by keyword as well. Just an idea. Keep up the good work. Thanks.

Hi,
Check with your local Library to find a home for your pictures. Our Library participated in a state-wide project called The Making of Modern Michigan which is a collection of local digital photographs of historical significance. We also have a local archive on our automation system. All the photos are cataloged and accessible by subject, date, etc. It's a great resource. Your local Library should be able to help. Good luck! Love your sight - especially the pictures!