CHAMBER BLOG

September 1 marks the beginning of Fall for the U.P.  Traveling this past week, I noticed that not only are the leaves beginning to turn (early), but a number of trees are also dropping leaves (most probably due to our year of low precipitation).  Nevertheless, recent rains have helped, and one hopes for a full […]

Founded in 1921, when the Gogebic Range was in full iron mining flower and Gogebic County had a population of 33,000 people (approximately 11,000 now), the County Fair brought together all the ethnic groups, the miners, the farmers, the kids, and the oldsters to experience the August days of warmth and outdoor fun.  Through the […]

The week of Festival Ironwood 2021 is here.  The Big Top is up, and the chairs are awaiting your presence.  Live music, food, crafts, games & tournaments, Classic Car show and more!  Come on U.P to Ironwood this week!     https://ironwoodchamber.org/festival-ironwood/

Festival Ironwood is almost here!   The full schedule can be seen here on our website:   https://ironwoodchamber.org/festival-ironwood/  Of course, you can also carry this schedule with you on your smartphone by getting the IronwoodGO smartphone app (free from the app store).  The Chamber Depot office has some sign-up sheets for the Craft/Vendor show, Walk-Run-Roll, Cornhole Tournament, […]

The first Friday of every month is Ironwood’s Downtown First Friday event night.  During the summer, these Friday evenings feature live music performed outdoors in either the Art Park or the City Square.  Of course, now that summer is here, the Depot Farmer’s and Artisan’s market is also held on Friday (4:00 to 6:30 p.m.), […]

Summer has arrived, and with it, the Depot and Airport Farmer’s and Artisan’s Market.  Today (Friday, June 25) marks the opening day of the Depot market, which will be at the Depot Park Pavilion from 4:00 p.m. to 6:30.   Fresh veggies, local farm-raised meats, jams & jellies, and home crafts will be found at our […]

Chamber member Black River Lodge made this neat visual about the great upcoming “FREE” Michigan weekend, June 12-13th.  What a wonderful opportunity to explore and experience the Ironwood area and the Western U.P.   If you are from “elsewhere”, take advantage of FREE (Fishing, ORV, and Recreation Passport) & wind your way up to the U.P. […]

Just arrived today at the Chamber office at the Historic Ironwood Depot (150 North Lowell Street) is the new 2021-2023 Ironwood Chamber of Commerce Destination Guide.  The “welcome picture” is a unique drone picture taken by Bill Pohlmann which shows in the center the space where the great railroad yards of Ironwood used to be, […]

Ironwood Chamber of Commerce, Lake Gogebic Chamber of Commerce, Wakefield Chamber of Commerce, and Travel Ironwood have come together to form a U.P. Promotional Partnership to advertise the landscape and community of the Western U.P. via 5 Star’s Up North Action print/digital magazine (plus assorted digital media supplements).  Our first foray will be in the […]

If you look closely, you can see some green in the Depot park landscape!  And, just by the Iron Belle Trail sign, is a new bench, donated by Victor and Mary Parisian in honor of all the Iron Belle Trail volunteers who do so much to take care of and maintain the Trail.  It is […]

The sun is out, and the last few piles of snow are fading fast.  Waterfalls are roaring, and the beginning of the early Spring travel season is starting.  At the Historic Ironwood Depot, the main reception room (and Chamber counter area) has been newly painted, and the century-old floor has been sanded and varnished.  All […]

With the great Chamber member Norrie Club “Light Up The Night” Christmas tree burning event on February 20, 2021, the Jack Frost Festival 2020 – 2021 comes to a close.  Extended into February this year due to Covid-19, the tree burn displayed a truly magnificent tower of old Christmas trees that really did “light up […]

With the decision to move ahead with planning for a 2021 Festival Ironwood this July 14-17, the various sub-committees of volunteers are organizing themselves and beginning the assignment of tasks and the scheduling of all Festival activities.  Given Covid-19 uncertainties, it is impossible to know at this date (2/10/21) what State of MI regulations as […]

This January of 2021 is when the Chamber would normally have its all-member Awards Banquet.  Unfortunately, that could not be held this year, so, on the same date, we held the 2020 Awards Presentation at the Historic Ironwood Depot with the Chamber office as backdrop. View the full ceremony on our YouTube Channel Award Winners: […]

Well, it has taken Mr. Jack Frost a long time to get here, but at last some good temperatures are here and a bit of snow has started to fall!!  Of course, this not the “usual” Ironwood snow for December, but then December 2020 (and ALL of 2020) has been most unusual.  You can keep […]

The weather for this time of year is really warm, but today that weather was very helpful as three important Iron Belle Trail display panels went up in Ironwood, marking out Mile “0” of the Iron Belle Trail.  Of course, we hope that soon this trail will be covered in two feet (or more) of […]

The above snapshot is from Ironwood’s Mt. Zion webcam this morning (11/11/20).  Winter is slowly making its way to Ironwood and the U.P.  Unfortunately, so is Covid-19.  We welcome visitors, but if you do visit, please follow safe practices and wear a mask, try to keep 6 distancing, and wash hands.  Hopefully at Winter’s end, […]

While not officially Jack Frost Festival time, the snow cascading down outside this morning sure lets us know that the fabled Yooper Winter is fast approaching.  Looks like there will be more than just “frost on the pumpkin” this year–a white blanket is more likely.  For those Chamber friends who check in at our events […]

Good morning! Friday, October 2, and we have had our first snow! How exciting to see the big flakes coming down! And–for even more motivation, Ironwood’s SISU Ski Fest just put up on their website https://www.sisuskifest.com/ the form for this year’s event and complete registration forms and instructions! Go there to get registered up for […]

October has arrived! With all the rain and mist these past few days, we are made aware that the “Fall Train” is in the process of leaving the station while the “Jack Frost Train” is most probably due in the Friday, Oct. 3 (with maybe some white flakes as well!). The above Depot-in-the-Fall picture was […]

The historic Chicago and Northwestern Train Depot in Ironwood is an iconic symbol of the Ironwood community. Currently, the Depot serves as the Ironwood Historical Society Museum and the office of the Ironwood Chamber of Commerce. The Depot roof is over 30 years old and active fund raising is ongoing so that the roof can […]

Enjoying our Fall beauty on the Iron Belle Trail and participating in this year’s Covid-19 re-imagined Bridges and Bluffs Virtual Race will certainly improve your mental and physical well being. The colors are really starting to show along the Iron Belle Trail! This will be the perfect week to get in your Bridges & Bluffs […]

The above picture forms the cover for Up North Action magazine, which is published by 5-Star Marketing–an Ironwood Chamber member. It is great to have the Western U.P. and Copper Peak featured in this Fall’s magazine. For a glorious few weeks, this entire landscape becomes a festival of nature’s color. If you have never visited […]

Thursday, September 12 saw the official opening of the Bessemer to Ramsay extension of the Iron Belle Trail. Your friendly Chamber blogger noted a goodly group of cars at the Ironwood Depot (beside the trail) and Bessemer “midpoint” and a number of them had out-of-state plates–proof that the Iron Belle is growing each year as […]

It’s open!! The next section of the Iron Belle Trail heading East from the Montreal river at Ironwood is now open. This section joins up in Bessemer and takes the bike or hike adventurer to Ramsay, MI, where it ends at a park that adjoins the famous Keystone Bridge. At about 10.5 miles from Ironwood […]

Monday, 24 August 2020 marked the official reception of Boutique Air as the airline service provider for the Gogebic-Iron Airport, which is located just north of Ironwood, on Airport Road. A goodly number of folks were there to watch a flight taxi in, and later, take off. As part of the ribbon cutting celebration, cake […]

Starting August 1, Gogebic-Iron Airport has a new service provider: Boutique Air. Founded in 2007, and based in San Francisco, CA, Boutique Air now has a substantial fleet and serves an expanding air network. Stop out to the Airport on Monday, 24 August, at 12:00 noon as they have their official ribbon cutting as our […]

It seems hard to believe, but the Fall Color Report is starting its countdown to the very best Fall Colors in the U.P. Please check in with them and catch their weekly FB post that shows color percentages across the Upper Peninsula. Visitors here in the Chamber office today from Illinois who are staying for […]

Paving of the Iron Belle Trail from Bessemer to Ramsay has been accomplished. The above picture gives a hint at the beauty which awaits the hiker or the biker! With the advent of Fall next month, the entire paved trail from the Montreal River to Ramsay (10 miles) will exhibit the most wonderful of Fall […]

August 3rd saw the installation of our 2nd and companion Depot Park webcam. The picture above shows the new camera view, which is pointed East. Now, for the first time, the entire of Depot park from Lowell Street in the West to Suffolk Street in the East can be seen. This means that the Iron […]

July 27 is starting out to be a pretty “level” day!  The street by the Depot and Post Office is getting a re-do this morning.  All part of Ironwood’s positive attention to our infrastructure–an important element in attracting residents, shops, and manufactures.  Have you every considered Ironwood as the the place to be for your […]

July 20 the Office Guy composed a blog note about change & how the events of the past six months have ushered in an enormous amount of it!  This morning (July 21), Office Guy (OG) is communicating out another example:  the changed form of this year’s Ironwood’s Iron Belle Bridges & Bluffs run.  The following […]

Downtown Ironwood is seeing a big landscape change beginning to take shape.  As seen in the picture, two former parking lots are being redeveloped into a central city plaza which will feature a music shell, picnic tables, a splash pad, trailhead kiosk, food-truck plug-ins, and other amenities all focused on creating a central gathering place […]

At a meeting of the Festival Ironwood Committee on 18 May, it was decided not to hold the Festival this year. This was a difficult decision, but under the current Covid-19 restrictions, the decision to cancel the 15-18 July 2020 event seemed the safest path to follow. The Festival Ironwood Committee hopes that the 2021 […]