Winners from the Keweenaw Community Sparkplug Awards pose for a group photo after Thursday night’s awards ceremony. Top row, from left: Austin Gongos and Nathan Ackerman of Chicken Tramper Ultralight Gear, winners for innovation/transformation; Peter Jaszczak and Arthur Lyons of Skinny Pete’s Bakery, winners for growth; Charlie Klein, winner of project of the year; Brad Barnett, young professional of the year; and Nate Shuttleworth of Keweenaw Coffee Works, which won for customer service. Bottom row, from left: Jennifer Beaudette, accepting for first responder of the year,Dan Sarazin; Maria Velat, youth contributor of the year; Rebecca Crane, community contributor of the year; and Valerie Baciak of Keweenaw Coffee Works. (Houghton Daily Mining Gazette photo)
From The Houghton Daily Mining Gazette
HOUGHTON — A record crowd was on hand to honor people for exemplary service to the community at the Keweenaw Chamber of Commerce’s Sparkplug Awards Thursday night.
Winners were chosen in eight categories from among 100 nominations.
The Customer Service award went to Keweenaw Coffee Works, a specialty coffee roasterie that opened in Calumet in 2013. Briana Tucker of Keweenaw Young Professionals, who presented the award, called Keweenaw Coffee Works “one of the few reasons why my partner and I left the house during the start of the pandemic, and why we felt comfortable in public spaces once various COVID mandates began to lift last year.”
Valerie Baciak, who owns Keweenaw Coffee Works with husband Nate Shuttleworth, thanked the community for their support during the challenges of the pandemic.
“Our team shows up with a positive attitude every day, and the intention of producing an excellent product,” she said. “And Nate and I are incredibly grateful for their hard work. We might not be perfect, but I think we get it right most days.”
Skinny Pete’s Bakery of Lake Linden won the Growth award. Peter Jaszczak and Arthur Lyons began selling baked goods at local farmer’s markets. Near the end of the season, they began talking to local stores, with Louie’s, the Keweenaw Co-Op and Steep & Brew agreeing to sell their product. Three years later, they can be found in 22 stores.
“As a wholesale bakery, we don’t have a storefront, so you don’t get to see our smiling faces every day,” Jaszczak said. “We hear all the great stories and how much you love our product, so it motivates us to get up and do our work.”
Winning the Innovation/ Transformation Award was Chicken Tramper Ultralight Gear. The company was founded by Austin Gongos and Nathan Ackerman, who graduated from Michigan Technological University with mechanical engineering degrees in 2018. They made their own ultralight backpacks before hiking on the Pacific Crest Trail. Hearing from fellow hikers, they found other people wanted lightweight, durable gear.
They began as a startup in Milwaukee before moving back to the Keweenaw. After working out of their apartment for a year, they moved into the former Book Concern building in Hancock in April. The company now has five employees. They hope to expand the product line from lightweight backpacks to include gear for fly fishing or biking.
“When we moved up here, we reached out to the community when we were looking to hire or find a new shop to move to because the dining room was getting small,” Gongos said. “And we got a lot of help from the community. So it’s really cool to be part of the Keweenaw.”
Young Professional of the Year went to Brad Barnett, executive director of the Keweenaw Convention & Visitors Bureau. Barnett is a “consummate professional,” “team player” and community-driven with a strong ethical grounding, said Keweenaw Economic Development Alliance Director Jeff Ratcliffe. He credited Barnett with helping to raise the region’s profile and being a critical part of helping small businesses to survive and reopen during the pandemic.
Looking at the nominees, Barnett reflected that 50% to 75%, from restaurants to experience providers to the hospitality industry, were integrated into the visitor economy.
“I get the privilege of working with visitors and members of the media, entrepreneurs who are really looking to take advantage of the tourism industry, and get involved with it and grow it and be part of it,” he said. “…Thanks for the nomination, and let’s have a great Copper Dog.”
Project of the Year was awarded to Project Lifesaver, spearheaded by Houghton County Det. Lt. Charlie Klein. He was motivated by Cam Besonen, an autistic teenager who wandered away from his home in Paulding last year whose body was found after a three-day search. Klein began looking for ways to prevent similar tragedies. He found Project Lifesaver, a non-profit in Virginia that provides wearable Fitbit-sized radio bands with a specific frequency assigned to a person.
Klein was able to secure funding for the devices through the Portage Health Foundation. Agencies in Baraga, Houghton, Keweenaw and Ontonagon counties are trained in locating the devices. So far, 17 people in Houghton County have been signed up for use, spanning children to the elderly, Klein said.
More on the project is available at phfgive.org/projectlifesaver.
“The late Brian McLean instilled in all of us deputies that it’s a community service,” he said. “We’re here to serve people, not just protect them, And this is just one thing the future holds of the Sheriff’s Department. Under the leadership of Sheriff (Joshua) Saaranen, we have some big things coming up… everyone in all four departments welcomes this with open arms, and we’re ecstatic to have this come to our community.”
Community Contributor was Rebecca Crane, who has been executive director of Dial Help since 2009 after joining the support and outreach center the previous year.
The “energetic, enthused, innovative” staff at Dial Help has literally saved lives, Houghton Police Lt. Nick Roberts said in his introduction. Dial Help serves between 4,000 to 6,000 people a year, Activities include prevention work in schools, as well as a victim services department that provides advocacy and counseling for victims of crime.
A year and a half ago, Dial Help added a child advocacy center for children who may have been sexually or physically abused. Dial Help will also try to add counselors in mental and behavioral help to aid people without the ability to pay.
“About 70% of our programming started after I became director,” she said. “So we’ve absolutely expanded. We’re going to continue to expand. Mental and behavioral health is our next big challenge.”
Youth Contributor of the Year was Maria Velat. As a varsity athlete at Houghton High School, she was suddenly struck with transverse myelitis, a rare spinal cord inflammation that left her with quadriplegia. Wanting to remain an athlete, Velat borrowed a sit-ski days after getting out of the hospital, said physical therapist Monica Aho, who introduced Velat.
Velat is now in her third season as a para-athlete with the Ski Tigers Nordic ski team, recently setting a Michigan record for adaptive skiing. She continued participating in other sports, using a hand bike for cross country and a racing wheelchair for track
Velat also lobbied the Michigan High School Athletic Association to allow para-athletes to compete as scoring members of their team. Her change.org petition has received more than 2,000 signatures.
The campaign, which included a petition and meetings with state representatives, Paralympians and experts, resulted in approval by the MHSAA’s track and field committee. The change will be implemented starting with the 2022 track season
She is also working with Michigan Tech on an exhibition adaptive hockey game planned for later this month at MacInnes Ice Arena.
“It’s very meaningful for me to be nominated for this,” she said. “It just shows that word of what I’ve been working on has been getting around and that people also value getting all people to be able to compete and be on an equal playing field.”
First Responder of the Year was Dan Sarazin, chief of Bootjack Fire and Rescue. He has a lengthy resume, including EMT, firefighter training educator, retired state trooper and owner of U.P. Foods. His know-how was instrumental in finding a way to get water to combat last summer’s fire in Calumet.
Jennifer Beaudette, medical director for Bootjack Fire and Rescue, accepted the award on Sarazin’s behalf. She called him a “monumental community member” and instrumental in many things happening locally involving fire and first responders.
“When I asked Dan what he would like me to pass along to everyone if he did win, he said, ‘I really want to congratulate all the other nominees that were nominated tonight, especially those in the area of first responders, because everyone really is doing everything that they can to keep people safe and protect them,’” she said. “And he is just really humbled to be awarded tonight.”
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