We visited Iron River to participate in the West Iron County (Wykon) Wall of Fame induction ceremony on October 4, 2025. On the way, we visited with Gail’s cousin Rae Botterman. Al’s siblings Wayne and Terri joined us in Iron River. We also visited Al’s sister-in-law Ruth Ann and her children in Nagaunee. The weather was exceptionally warm and sunny the entire weekend.
We flew to Milwaukee and there rented a Toyota Camry hybrid car for the trip north to the Upper Peninsula. The car drove very well, but Al bumped his head every time he got into it. In addition, when we drove at night, the headlights only illuminated a low view ahead of us unless high beams were turned on. That made driving in deer country a little scary.
Rae was living in a retirement community in Oshkosh. We got there just as she was getting lunch, but we had a good time. Gail gave her two old family photos.
| Rae and Gail | Al, Rae, and Gail |
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We stayed at the Lakeshore Motel, on the shore of Ice Lake. It has new owners since last we stayed there. They are as friendly as the former owners. Gail and Al bought matching T-shirts with the motel’s name.
| The main building of Lakeshore Motel | The mirror-like surface of Ice Lake on Saturday morning |
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Terri and Wayne had arrived in Iron River earlier than we had. They took a trip up Passamani Road to drive past the house we grew up in. When they were turning around at the end of the road, a man came out of the house there. He introduced himself as Mark Passamani, the son of Andrew Passamani. He said he had some objects pertaining to our Aunt Svea and Andrew’s Uncle Alex and invited to come back the next morning.
Saturday morning we all went to visit Mark and Andrew. They had photos of Svea and the marriage records of her and Alex. They even had the ticket stub for the passage of our grandmother Frida on the Canadian Pacific Line from Manchester, England, to Kenora, Ontario. They gave these items to Al. We had a great time chatting, reminiscing, and looking at Mark’s excellent nature photos.
| Al, Andrew, Mark, Terri, and Wayne in Andrew’s home | Svea after having shot a hawk |
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The first “official” event of the Wall of Fame weekend was the Homecoming
football game between the West Iron County High School and the Manistique Emeralds.
The new members of the Wall of Fame were introduced at the end of the first quarter
of the game.
The game starred out with the Wykon team taking an early lead, 21 to nothing. One of the touchdowns was set up by an on-side kick. However, one of the Wykon players was injured making a tackle during an early play and was taken off in an ambulance. Manistique came back in the second quarter, getting 16 points from two touchdowns and two 2-point conversions. In the end, however, the Wykons managed to stay ahead and win the game, 32 to 22. We left at half time to do a little shopping and to get a nap before the evening event. |
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The West Iron County Wall of Fame was established to honor past distinguished graduates,
community members, athletes, and others who have been contributors to life in the general
West Iron County geographical area, including the former Stambaugh, Bates,
and Iron River school systems.
Individual inductees for 2025 were Albert Holm, Steve Contardi, Jim Cederna, and Elmer “Swede” Anderson. Teams inducted were the 1949 Stambaugh HS football team, 1954 Iron River HS football team, 1972 West Iron HS basketball team, and the 1974 West Iron HS football team. Information about the accomplishments of these people can be found at https://www.westiron.org/56352_3 Steve and Al knew each other decades earlier when Steve played drums in the Excels band in which Al’s brother Carl played bass guitar. The ceremony was held at Young’s Resort on Chicaugon Lake. The dining room was crowded, very crowded. The tables were so close together that to get out from where we were sitting everyone between us and the aisle had to get up and out. Al had been told to give a “brief acceptance speech and comments” and Terri that she could chose “to say a few words”. We both kept it brief, but it appears that no one else got that memo. The introductions and acceptance speeches went on late into the night. Our drive back to the motel was made more exciting by the deer along the road, especially in Caspian.
The photographs here of the ceremony were taken by the photographer for the Wall of Fame organization and were downloaded from their Facebook page. |
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Terri giving an introduction for Albert |
Al giving his brief acceptance speech |
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Terri and Al with Dan Hitch, the Wall of Fame Chairman |
The Holm family after the ceremony |
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On Sunday, we drove to Negaunee to visit with Carl’s widow and his children. On the way, we stopped at the Bates Cemetery to see the gravesones that we and our Baker cousins had purchased for Grandmother Frida Holm and Aunt Svea Passamani. The new stones replaced wooden markers.
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New gravestone for Grandmother Frida Holm
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New gravestone for Aunt Svea Passamani matching that of her husband Alec |
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Al, Terri, and Wayne at the Holm cemetery plot |
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Ruth Ann, Gail, Terri, and April at Ruth Ann’s home |
Wayne, Al, and Chris |
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Mike and Melissa Dell Angelo, Chris Holm, and Wayne Holm |
April and Terri |
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Monday morning, Terri, Gail, and Al planned to have breakfast at Seven Embers Coffee. Wayne doesn’t get up for breakfast. The restaurant is located in the Mapleton Inn which was the Cactus Bar when we were growing up and where we spent many hours. But when we got to the Seven Embers, there was a note on the front door saying they would be back on Tuesday. Too late for us! We went back to Mr. T’s Restaurant and had Belgian Waffles with berries and whipped cream. Tasty and filling!
Our drive back to the Milwaukee airport was mostly uneventful. The only wrinkle was construction on US-141, that I don’t remember seeing on our way north on Friday. It put us off on a detour, that we lost, and we eventually wound up on US-41 heading south again. We were in no hurry so it was interesting to see the back roads for a while.
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The Train Doesn’t Stop Here: Iron Mountain |
Riverside Pizza No. 10 |
Autumn Color at Ice Lake |
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Row boats at Ice Lake |
MrT’s Restaurant alongside US-2 |
Modeling our new T-shirts |
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Responsible: Albert Holm
Created: 13 October 2025