An enthusiastic crew of volunteers from Warren, Michigan tackled the repainting job at the entrance to Hancock. The youth group from the Church of the Nazarene enjoyed (endured?) a muggy 80°+ afternoon to help spruce up the city. Daryl Laitila caught the action with a short slide show in the guest gallery.

To get a perspective of this location, in this Skypixs shot we featured back in June, the wall is at the left end of the Lift Bridge approach.

I can't wait to see the wall in August! Thanks for the slide show and pictures!

Cool, nice site...

I heard some stories awhile back about a couple of guys named Eino and Toivo or Tovio and Eino.

Does anyone got any good stories to share about these 2 fella's?

Thanks

I'll be up there Aug. 16 to drop my daughter off at MTU. Will be nice to see the repainted wall in person!

As having Finnish ancestry, I do not object to Eino-Toivo jokes--if fact, I think they are very funny. But with today's hypersensitivity (political correctness), I would be wary of posting such stories on a public internet site. You never know who might be offended. Remember how common Polish jokes were about 10-20 years ago?

Stuck Stan, Lighten up ............

Great slide show from Daryl. Good to see the wall, and the terrific volunteers who made it all possible. Bet they had a lot of fun at the same time.

I remember visiting my mom and dad in Houghton a few years back and seeing all the flowers planted along the downtown areas and out toward MTU. She told me that her neighbor belonged to the group that did that as community service. Isn't it wonderful what people do for their communities? It is nice when we can show these generous gifts for a change.

To - Alice, Ventura, cA:
I've been to your neck of the woods before. Cool oceanside city! I was on my way up to Pismo Beach a couple years ago, which is also a nice place to visit. I agree with Alice's comments about the nifty slideshow and community service.

Is there a shot of the completed wall?

Terrific job on the wall. Question to the locals: "why did a group from down state have to travel up there to spruce up the place?" Is there no community pride in the Copper Country?

Trolls will think up any excuse to get to the Keweenaw. Painting the wall is a good one, wish I'd thought of it!

Al, Ca. What a nasty comment to make.

Church groups travel every summer to do community service. Two years ago a group of 50 kids visited Claremont N.H. and stayed a week at the local high school, did lots of work for old and retired folks and managed to have a great time doing it. As a long time activist in an inner city animal shelter, I will always remember the words of a long gone friend. She said that community service was the rent we paid to live on the planet. I liked that lady a lot.

I AGREE WITH STAN. ETHNIC JOKES ARE NOT FOR PUBLIC OR {?}
AND THERE HAS TO BE RESPECT FOR ALL.THERE IS SOME BAD HUMOR ON EVERY SUBJECT. GOOD HUMOR IS RARE. WE ALL ENJOY GOOD HUMOR --THE LORD LOVES A CHEERFULL.......GIVER.

Stan of the mitten:

You can get monthly stories of Eino and Toivo in a publication which is printed every month by the Porcupine Press. Check out this link:

http://www.upmag.net/

you can have it mailed to you, hopefully you have plenty of time to read! Sorry for the spam.

Hi Rich SW Michigan. Next time you are in my neck of the woods, give a yell!

And to Al, CA I had initially thought the same thing, but then realized that church groups go on these trips for lots of reasons, and sometimes just the excuse for the trip and camaraderie, as well as the community service. Maybe the Hancock kids will go to Warren to return the favor. But I think Pikkuleipa actually hit the nail on the head! Certainly a good excuse to get to the UP!

We wondered why also, but 'any excuse to come UP here is a good one.' I hope there is a group from da UP that can go and do some volunteer work, too. It does sound like fun! My Mom used to take us kids to that little park at the top of the steps to the right of this shot. Wow, that was 'way back in 1948, we lived in Houghton at the time. Can you remember any of that, Kaija? Had to walk across the old swing bridge.

To Al and Stan-- relax, all is well and doesn't need to be criticized. Jobs done well are jobs well done. And, a sense of humor is always apreciated, or should be- Have a good day

Hey "Ken from da UP". Not only did we climb those steps many times when I was a kid in 1948, we lived right at the top of them! Just to the left across Cooper street, the corner house,(316?) It's long gone now. Many times we walked down them and ran around over to the A & P store. Several times walked across the old swing bridge. My mom told us of how she got stuck on the middle swing part once and had to wait way out there until the ship passed thru!

All,

When I mentioned Eino and Toivo stories I never said "jokes"...I was just looking for some funny "stories"...not ethnic jokes. holly crap!

I have seen so much environmentalist, politics etc being posted I thought maybe some humorous stories from the UP would lighten things up. Was I wrong or what!? (just look at some of the postings above).

Connie from Colorado - A big thank you for the Porky press web site. The Eino and Tovio "stories" are great and humerous, reminds me of the fantastic stories "real yoopers" told years ago...they had a flare for telling "stories" not "jokes" and were/are not afraid to shed humor in a "politically correct" obsessed world.

Thanks to all for telling the others "to chill" the comments postings are starting to take a politically correct, environmentalist edge and seems to be a sounding board for change. I don't like that here at the "P-Cam"...I get enough of that each day via the mass media.

Did I ever tell yah about the time Eino and Toivo went to...

TO "Al, Ca."

i was one of those teens to paint the wall...your comment about why didnt people from Houghton-Hancock paint the wall themselves...i dont know...but maybe seeing us paint it gave them inspiration and pride in their city to help out somewhere else in Houghton-Hancock...
i hope so anyway...:)

shouldn't people from the UP have painted this??

that would have been a great project for the calumet HS student senate...come on abe voelker!! you can do it

I am doing a school project About Eino and Toivo. I was Wondering who made them up and What they story behind them? If anyone can help please email at s_uper_m_an_89@hotmail.com

We at Valley Aircrafts, Tulare, CA recieved copies of UPmag with a shipment from Eagle Fuel Cells. We had a good laugh at the jokes and stories in the mag.

Ill tell Abe Voelker to do so ok.