Wah - - All these years I lived in the U.P. and never knew there's a swing bridge in Ontonagon. Can anybody verify this, or is Sue just pulling our leg?

Sunday was a great day to be on the road. Sunny and clear on the north shore of Lake Superior. Staying at a little place on Nipigon Bay, somewhere across from the Keweenaw. Been giving some thought to a new style of T-shirt. Maybe somebody has some ideas?

Don't forget, if you have any pictures of the Calumet Reunion over the weekend, contact gallery@pasty.com for an ID and password to upload your favorites.

Yah, you betcha Onto's has a swing bridge. Used to have a lift bridge but that was a little much for the small crossing so moved that to Houghton. The swing bridge was moved to Ontonagon from the old Caladonia crossing near Mass City and Greenland to its current location. I could be wrong, I guess, but thats what I heard one night many moons ago while having a few in Stubbs bar in Ontonagon Mich...PS Im a Troll, do you think those guys in Ontonagon could have been pulling my leg?

Trolling you may have it wrong.

Toivo the swing bridge came along and put my great grandfather outa business...he had a boat repair business that was doing real well before that darn swing bridge was put in. See before the swing bridge, a drop and drag crew was sent out, they punched a hole in the hull sank er to the bottom and then dragged the boat "under" the bridge and my great grandfather and his crew would bring er up and fix the hole on the other side...course thats what I heard many years ago at the Dry Dock bar in Ontonagon. (Trolling in Lansing may have been there too!)

I like this shirt! Maybe you should have a few different styles, but the above is really a nice idea. The "You just missed him" part REALLY goes for me!

Toivo,

Maybe you will find my parents along your travels thru Canada to Alaska. They sent an email in June telling the family not to send email until mid August. They said they were going to Alaska. They said they were going to the Artic Ocean. Mom says they can do this kind of stuff because they are RETIRED!

Read all about the Ontonagon Swing Bridge here, on MDOT's Historic Bridge Page...
http://www.michigan.gov/mdot/0,1607,7-151-9620_11154_11188-29211--,00.html

The Ontonagon swing bridge is a special piece of history and something everybody should see operating at least once in their lives. I understand that the red/green traffic lights used while the bridge is swinging, are the only "traffic lights" in Ontonagon County. At one time the spelling of "Ontonagon River" differed depending upon which direction you were crossing the bridge. I think the state may have fixed the sign (not sure). There is a plan to replace the bridge with a taller, non-moving span a bit up-river sometime in the 2004-2005 time frame. When that happens large portions of downtown Ontonagon will be on a dead-end street (so to speak) bypassed by the new bridge. The existing swing bridge is evidently wearing out from years of faithful service. We'll miss it when its gone.

My thanks to Toivo for resuming weekday duties on the Pasty Cam as he travels. It's a busy time around Still Waters, as we are preparing pasties for the Minnesota State Fair again. You may have discovered, we have suspended shipping any regular pasty orders until Labor Day, after all of this summer activity is behind us. In the meantime, you can pick some up at the Hilltop Restaurant in L'Anse if you're passing through.

It has been suggested that we have a better index of photographers in the Gallery, an excellent idea which we will work on today.

Sue- THAT picture really is a "take me away" shot! Makes me feel like I'm there. Wow! THANK YOU!

P.S. Maybe you could send us another UP "boat view" sometime?

Trolling in Lansing- My cousin once took me to Stubbs bar for a drink. I don't remember the swing bridge. Maybe I had too much to drink. But also that was many long years ago, and memory is short. It is too bad that downtown Ontonagon will be bypassed. I used to enjoy walking downtown and going into the shops, IGA, having a piece of pie at Syl's.

Toivo from Toivola is about as real as Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny.

For those of us from the Keweenaw, Toivo's shirt could say "I know Toivo's around here somewhere? Now where did I see him last?" The only problem is, where can we see him when he returns from his Alaska trip? He sounds like a real good man to get to know and I am having a hard time finding a real good man in these parts. I know they got to exist out there somewhere. But where????

To Tauno-Missygun: I couldn't agree with you more, but don't forget the tooth fairy also.

Wait a minute. . . you mean Santa and the Easter Bunny. . . aren't. . . real?

Mom's got a lot of explaining to do :)

Alan,
Mom has no explaining. They said Toivo is "as real as" and everyone knows that Yes, Virginia, there really is a Santa Claus. Just as Toivo's original tee shirt stated "Yes, Virginia, there really is a Toivo."
But I do think it would be nice for Toivo to deliver Alex Tiensevu's tee shirt in person.

Who cares as long he's posting? :-)