Over the years we've had LOTS of requests for scenes from the land of snow and pasties. A while back, someone asked to see the stained glass artwork inside the downtown Houghton MacDonald's. Taka just happened to have the trusty Pasty Cam along for lunch.

How pretty. What a nice change from the normally garish, blinding colors to which one is subjected in a fast-food establishment! Were these works crafted by a local artisan?

Has everybody gotten a chance to see the 6 web cams at MTU lately? They're really interesting. They're at: http://www.admin.mtu.edu/alumni/cams/

When you're there at McDonalds, please say hi to my sister-in-law Denise, who is an employee

Very nice art but what's Mickey D's doing in Houghton? They should preserving the majesty of the Copper Country by maintaining the Kaleva Cafe, the Ambassador bar (for Pizza), and Gino's in Hancock , among others as places to eat rather than fast food burgers. Also at the Ambassador you can always get a shot and beer at any hour and that's not on Mickey's menu.

i ran that mcdonalds for about 6yrs, and was on the radio at waah with the "dave and mcjack show", if any previous work associates of mine what to shout a hello, plz write me using the link below, met many good friends there, and i do remember debbie and denise, my lobby attendants, joann, judy and the whole crew, plz say hi

I still think a session on the local church stained glass windows would be breathtaking.

What do you think Taka? (hint, hint...)

Thank you, Joe. I was missing the old MTU
webcam already. The new ones are really
great!
And Dave is right: kahvia ja pullaa for the
vatsa. That's it. And no junk food.

Grand glass!!, I have a few spots in my house in the UP that could use such things, Florida too. Who is the artist?

Taka, do you have a brother named Keith?
I seem to remember going to school with someone by that name, just don't quite remember where. I think it was high-school downriver from Detroit back when I had to suffer being a troll.

Happy news!!!I think I will be able to spend June/July/August until after Labor day in my beloved UP. It seems that the big entertainment place in Orlando with the big eared rodent is going to allow me to work from UP there. Just need to get the second phone line installed and a good ISP. Anybody know of a good one up there?

Fran/Alex, you have to come visit now!!!! It's mandatory. No butskis about it.

<Charlie>:Pegg, In case you hadn't noticed the banner on the bottom of these pages, Pasty.NET is our Internet service which started here in the Keweenaw and now serves the entire U.S. with local connections to the web. And if you live close to one of our wireless access points, we can bring you higher speed service. Give us a call at our toll free support line for the details: 1-800-327-0966

In the few times I have had to honor of visiting the UP I think I've been to the Ambassador every time. Great pizza! Never saw the stained glass at Mc D's. Nice picture!

My sister who does alot of travelling & fast food eating on the road said she thought MacDonald's in Houghton had the best interior she has seen because of the stained glass displays.

Thank you Dave G for your comments concerning supporting the local places in Hancock/Houghton. The thought of all these chains, McDonald's, Wal Mart and probably Blockbuster in the Copper Country takes away the luster of the area. I've seen to many towns lose their local businesses to these large impersonal chains. Used to take my roomate from college to the Suomi cafe in Houghton for lunch...he said he was the best date I ever had while going to school in Hancock.

Those stained glass windows bring back memories!

I grew up in Hubbell. Once I turned 16, my buddies and I began what would probably be considered by some to be a bizzare ritual: Every time there was a major snowstorm, the three of us would jump in my Dad's (2 wheel drive) truck and head for McDonalds.

The 10 mile drive was always interesting when you couldn't see past your hood.

We'd stop in and get some small "snack" like a burger and fries. (I can't belive the amount I could eat back then and not gain weight!)

I can remember sitting there eating looking at those stained glass windows. There is another window that has a sailboat on it. When it snows hard, you can see the snowflakes flitting by behind the glass. It makes it look like the sailboat is sailing through a snowstorm.

As always, thanks for the memories and the great pics of home.

if you don't want to see all of the fanchise chains, then go some place else! they all bring money and jobs to the area, and even if people don't like to admit it they do help those of us that do live up here. people must understand that people do live up here full time and it isn't just a 'glorified and protected' vacation spot for city folk.

Back when I went to Tech in 78 - 82, we also had a bizarre ritual. Only back then, when we craved McD's, we had to load up and go to Marquette, since that was the closest one to Houghton at the time! I do also agree with up dweller above in that if you don't like McD's or any other "chain", then patronize the local establishments, even if it costs a little more. Exercise the other choices or there won't be any after awhile. Don't know if Pamida is still on West end of Houghton, but that was a chain too and nobody complained back then.

One of the artists who worked on these was Wolfgang Andel, who at the time was working for Lancet Glass in Houghton. He has since moved to Marquette and opened his own shop called Wolfgangs House of Glass. Ther is also a great stained glass artist in Hancock who is also a supporter of Pasty Net. She is Marilyn Swift of Marilyns Stained Glass. Go to Pasty Central & click on Marilyn's Stained Glass to see a Sample of her work.

Alan, If I recall correctly Pamida in Houghton moved out and Kirkish Furniture moved in. I think there is still a Pamida in Calumet. Can anyone confirm this?

Yes, Pamida is in Calumet now.

Here are links for those two stained glass artists:

Marilyn's Stained Glass
Wolfgang's House of Glass

They're both *quite* talented!

ts: Thanks for remembering! mjg

PEGG SAID:

Fran/Alex, you have to come visit now!!!! It's mandatory. No butskis about it.

ALEX SAYS:

Oh, how I wish I could! I am so busy with my business right now, I don't have time to go to the bathroom! Our vacation this year, (If time gives me one), will be 3 weeks or so up there. We still plan to move to the Mohawk area, but my business might delay that until very early 2004.

Alex pouts!

Joe, thanks for the link to the MTU cams. Brrrrrrrrrr, looks cold up there. I can almost feel it again.

Is GINO'S still in business in Hancock? They had great spaghetti sauce about 30-40 yrs ago. Would love to have some again.

YES,GINO'S IS STILL IN BUSINESS AND THE FOOD IS JUST AS GREAT!

I am not sure about the stained glass, but the copper work, such as the sailboat mentioned above, were done by Dave Walli of Copper Art on 5th St in Calumet. Copper Art is now in process of opening a brand new shop right off of US 41 between Hancock and Calumet at the intersection of Pontiac and Boston Rd. They do a large amount of decorative copper such as found in many of the local businesses.

Gino's still has the best tenderloin steak sandwich with a side order of spaghetti, haven't been able to find anything like it except at Gino's. They also sell their spaghetti sauce by the gallon. You have to call ahead and put in an order.

say hi to mike on fridays thru sunday. eh's working hard to put himself thru college and could use a few good tips. stay warm up in the polar region.

dad

Just the reverse of Allen in Missouri, a bunch of us guys from the Tri Mu Frat. in Marquette would head to Hancock and Gino's for pizza. This was back in the 50's. It was the best pizza back then and I'm sure it still is.

Maybe you should partner with Ginos, so we could order some sauce with our pasties!

I would hope there's room for all kinds of eating places. Sometimes you feel like a pasty, sometimes a burger. My California-raised teenage son and I visited the UP a few years back. He had a great time, but when we went to Marquette and there was a Taco Bell, that made his day!

Alex, you quit pouting, you bad boy. And if you are up there for 3 weeks of heaven this summer we have to get together. Perhaps for beach & barbeque. Email is great, send me something. Talked to Fran the other night over the more conventional method, i.e. the phone. She's a neat person who got snow, you didn't. naw naw na na na...
got connected with pasty.com as an isp tonight. send me something, I want to see if it works.

As far as a second telephone line, you might not need it if you had a HotCall Internet Call Waiting ID, which works great. It is just the size of a regular caller ID & your computer plugs in right there in the back of it.
When a call comes in, just unplug the computer & you never miss a call !
To go back on the Internet, just plug the little cord back in and click Reconnect.

There are several products like Hot Call on the market,or example Catch-A-Call. Just put these terms in Google and you'll find links to them.