Peace Pie Opens Soon, UPHS Deals with Psychiatry Problem, Boathouse Proposal Brewing, the Mountain Is Open!, Moon Bikes Are Cool, and Our God-Awful November Dilemma

The Latest from Marquette, MI by Brian Cabell

IT LOOKS LIKE the kind of place that will be a neighborhood favorite for many years to come…Peace Pie Company on Division Street in South Marquette (just down the street from Mares-Z-Doats) is getting ready to open in a few weeks. Likely in March…Not only will this cute, cozy spot offer the sweet pies it had been selling at the Iron Bay Restaurant and Drinkery, but also savory pies, soups, a salad, coffee, drinks, breakfast fare, and more…Open every day except Tuesday, 7am to 3 pm…

“We are so excited to open!” says Lorri Smith who, along with Patty Barton, owns Peace Pie…There’s room for about 20 diners in the little restaurant but Smith figures much of the business will be takeout…But it certainly seems like a place where you would want to linger, conversing with your friends, enjoying a steaming cup of coffee and a savory breakfast pie while inhaling the delightful aromas coming from the kitchen.

SOUTH MARQUETTE IS quietly becoming the next “in” spot in town. Consider what it now has to offer: a brewery, a great cocktail bar with New Orleans-type tapas, three cannabis shops, a bakery/coffee shop, a studio for artists and artisans, a great little convenience store/sandwich shop, a nearby beach and now Peace Pie…and still reasonably priced homes!…Ten years from now, we’ll look back and say we saw it coming.

A PROBLEM AT UPHS-Marquette over the last couple of weeks is now being addressed…We were told that three staff psychiatrists at the hospital had suddenly resigned, leaving what could have been a gaping hole in psychiatric services there…Well, we’re now told that, while one psychiatrist has definitely left, UPHS is back at the negotiation table with the others: “We remain hopeful about retaining the two remaining psychiatrists on staff—along with a third psychiatrist who is soon to complete their residency with us…” says Janell Larson, the director of marketing and communication for the hospital.

Bottom line, according to Larson: Patient care remains uninterrupted. They’re also looking to partner with a tele-psychiatry firm to offer evening and weekend care for psychiatric patients.

THAT PROPOSAL TO build a boathouse on the vacant BLP property on the lakeshore is at least months away from being accepted or rejected…UP Rowing, a nonprofit volunteer club, made the proposal at a recent BLP meeting…“It up to them to do the work,” says Tom Carpenter, the executive director of BLP. “They have a lot of hurdles to clear.” Specifically, they’ll have to deal with city codes, zoning ordinances, and resident criticism; the Army Corps of Engineers will also weigh in.

“I would expect them to come in with more plans,” says BLP board member Dave Campana. “A specific design and a timetable…Right now, we haven’t even talked about this among ourselves. We’re a long way from deciding this.” The proposed boathouse—essentially two attached shipping containers—would house equipment for UP Rowing, the NMU crew club, and any resident with a human-powered boat…Two essential points: UP Rowing is not a “private” club. It’s a nonprofit, open to anyone. And the boathouse would be located far away from any sandy beach.

MORE CANCELLATIONS DUE to lack of snow in what some are calling the “lost winter”…The CopperDog sled race in Calumet has been cancelled, and the Gladstone Ski Hill has closed down for the winter…These come after the Tahquamenon Country Sled Dog Race in January was called off, along with, of course, the UP200, the Midnight Run, and the Jackpine 30 just a couple of weeks ago…And some are now raising the question of whether the UP200 will become a thing of the past…If Mother Nature doesn’t start cooperating, that concern is absolutely legitimate.

FRUSTRATING TIMES FOR Kaet Johnson, the GM of Marquette Mountain…“Traffic is down at the Mountain because people think we’re not open!” she says. They are, in fact, open seven days a week, including five nights…They just hosted the Meijer State Games and high school regional races, and college regionals are coming this weekend…They’re making snow, two lifts are open, a third may be getting ready to open…and yes! Fresh snow is falling and more is on the way.

SOMETHING NEW FOR the wintertime…They’re called Moon Bikes, kind of a cross between a bike (though you don’t pedal it) and a snowmobile. Electric, no gas…They’re renting them at Bates Bikes on Presque Isle Avenue…“People are very surprised at how fast they go,” says Josh Lewandowski, an intern with Bates. “They go up to 26 miles per hour but they’re very light and very maneuverable with a ton of torque.” They look like fun. They rent for $150 for 2-3 hours…No surprise, business has been a little slower than expected during this “lost winter.”

YOU MIGHT THINK all this could be devastating news for Downtown Marquette businesses. A scarcity of snow and warm temperatures mean no customers, right? Not really, says Tara Laase-McKinney, the executive director of the Downtown Development Authority. “It hasn’t been a great year,” she explains, “but downtown hasn’t been hit nearly as hard as some of the outlying businesses that depend on outdoor recreation.” In other words, the locals are still dining, drinking, and shopping, even though the skiers and snowmobilers are not.

A WELCOME INJECTION of life coming to the Westwood Mall next Sunday (February 25th)…It’ll be the February Flea Market and Antique Sale, featuring a two-hour concert with 41West, a nine-piece band…also free coffee and cookies, fresh movie style popcorn, and huge inflatables for the kids…With no football to watch on TV, not a bad place to spend a Sunday afternoon.

LORDY, LORDY, PLEASE help us…It’s starting to look like, come November, we’ll be faced with voting for either an uninspiring, increasingly feeble, memory-challenged octogenarian or a narcissistic, truth-challenged near-octogenarian with a greater affinity for Vladimir Putin than for our NATO allies…Or maybe an alternative like a conspiracy-obsessed RFK Jr…How did it all come to this? We were once described as the “shining city upon a hill.” Now, it appears the light has dimmed, the candle is flickering, and we’re stumbling around in darkness while shouting at each other.

And before all the brave keyboard warriors out there start feverishly pounding out their replies—“Our guy is fine! But your guy really, really sucks!!”—please understand: Most of us in this country believe we deserve better, much better…from both parties.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself.”

—Mark Twain

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