ESCANABA — A hands-on exhibit at the Upper Peninsula State Fairgrounds, “Growing UP Foresters,” has since 2006 been providing attendees of the U.P. State Fair with a different type of experience.

Geared towards children, but also visited by a large number of adults, Growing UP Foresters was created in 2006 through the efforts of then-Special Events Coordinator Debbie Mulvaney. The aim — to inform about the outdoors and the forest products industry — and the engagement encouraged within are perhaps more valuable today than during the first few years following the exhibit’s inception, considering the prevalence of digital screens, remarked a volunteer.

Above the entry to the exhibit, which is inside the Miracle fo Life building, is a sign bearing a cartoon moose and the words “Take-A-Hike.” Before entering the dimly-lit space with a low-hanging canopy and speakers chirping forest sounds to evoke a Northwoods scene, children pause to pick up a sheet of paper printed with 12 questions relating to the exhibit, which is comprised of a number of stations that act as a sort of scavenger hunt for the answers to the quiz

At one station, model fishing poles with magnets on the end sit next to a small pool with a handful of fish (also magnetized) in the water; the sheet invites participants to utilize the toys and informs them that returning the fish to the water is called “catch and release.” Another station asks kids to count the rings of a tree stump to determine how old it was.

In addition to the interactive installations, educational posters and signs dot the space.

From stops like station eight — built to look like the trunk of a massive tree in the middle of the exhibit — visitors can gain a range of information. The sheet just asks children to name one type of tree, and surely some do only that and move on. But this station has thorough descriptions of different species of tree, pictures of their leaves and even samples of sections cut from quaking aspen, red oak, white birch, American beech, white ash and sugar maple.

Upon exiting the exhibit, kids turn in their completed sheets and get to choose three prizes from a “general store” at the end.

The exhibit looks and operates slightly differently from the way it did during the first few years. It used to be larger and came as a development to the exhibit that had been there (but which no longer exists), Growing UP Farmers.

Initially, a grant from the Community Foundation of the Upper Peninsula’s Sustainable Forest and Wildlife Fund helped bring the Growing UP Foresters to life. Its aim was to “showcase the many wonders of the woods” and “emphasize the many ways trees enhance our lives and forest ecosystems.”

The U.S. Forest Service, Department of Natural Resources, Michigan Apple Growers, Michigan Potato Commission, Blue Ribbon Taxidermy, Wildlife Unlimited, U.P. Trappers Association, U.P. Whitetails, Horner Flooring and other entities contributed to the exhibit. Herb Pomeroy and Jeff Sarasin, fair staff at the time, created and installed some of the features.

In 2007, the exhibit was opened to the Logging Congress (an event now called the Great Lakes Logging and Heavy Equipment Expo). It became a stop on the Delta County Fifth Grade Agricultural and Natural Resources Tour.

In 2008, as representative of the U.P. State Fair and the Growing UP Foresters exhibit, Mulvaney went to Las Vegas for the annual convention of the International Association of Fairs and Exhibitions, where Growing UP Foresters won five awards: Best Educational Exhibit Award for fairs with attendance up to 100,000; Best of Division Award, selected from 13 category winners; Judges’ Choice Award, given for outstanding innovation and uniqueness; second place in the category for fair and sponsor joint exhibit program; and second place in another category for “green” programs.

Today, Billerud — the company which owns the paper mill in Escanaba — is the sole sponsor of Growing UP Foresters.

“It’s important to showcase the paper industry and what can be made from forest products,” said Pam Versailles, health and safety director for Billerud North America, who manages the exhibit.

Versailles stops by a few times throughout fair week to replenish supplies. She said that the prizes are purchased from Meijer, Walmart, and the dollar store, while snacks and water come from Elmer’s County Market. In the past, they obtained rulers from local business Anthony and Company, which uses white birch and basswood to manufacture its products.

Supervised by Judy Rusha, employees from Billerud and their families and friends volunteer to help run the exhibit during fair week. They arrive about two weeks before the fair to clean and prepare the site. Versailles said that Billerud buys fair passes and some ride wristbands for volunteers.

One volunteer said she likes seeing the excitement in the children, and that a lot of them have fun playing on the small basketball court section at the end, made by Horner Flooring.

In 2023, 2,600 children alone — not counting adults, who also go through the exhibit — visited Growing UP Foresters, Rusha reported.

“It’s been a great exhibit for years, and the kids learn a lot,” Rusha said.