EDITOR’S NOTE: Superiorland Yesterdays is prepared by the reference staff at the Peter White Public Library in Marquette.

30 years ago

ISHPEMING — Ishpeming’s 500,000-gallon water tank is surrounded by wild blueberries, ringed with graffiti and encircled by sandblasting equipment. The huge 40-foot tank, built in 1951, is being painted and cleaned of 40 years of rust. A contract exceeding $110,000 was awarded to St. Germain Sandblasting of Negaunee to clean out, repaint and add safety features to the tank. Acting City Manager John Korhonen said the facility was inspected last fall and found in desperate need of repair. Originally more than a quarter-inch thick, the interior walls have corroded to half that size. “The bottom six feet of the tank is halfway corroded through,” said Earl St. Germain, company owner. Once the sand and rust collects at the bottom of the tank, it’s sucked out into a front-end loader and stored in drums for transport to a landfill. Anyone entering the tank is required to wear a mask with a filter to protect against airborne particles caused by sandblasting. Korhonen said two city employees are working to monitor city pumps while he tank is empty. He said city customers use about one million gallons of water each day and “the tank acts as kind of a regulator for excess water” because any water the system can’t handle is dumped into the tank.

60 years ago

BIG BAY — Bay Cliff Health Camp held its annual meeting this week. Kitchen equipment was donated to Bay Cliff by the H.W. Gossard Co. plant in Ishpeming, permitting the camp to feed about 50 more youngsters, but limited housing facilities prevent any immediate increase in campers. Located on a bluff overlooking Lake Superior in northern Marquette County, Bay Cliff is a nonprofit, non-denominational camp operated for six weeks each summer for the benefit of physically handicapped children from the Upper Peninsula. This year the camp has 100 boys and 60 girls. All of them receive nutritious diets and therapy geared to their individual needs — orthopedic, speech, hearing, etc. F.J. Haller, Ishpeming, and William Redman, also of Ishpeming, were re-elected as co-chairmen of Bay Cliff. John A. Vargo, Marquette, is executive secretary of the camp. The board passed a resolution thanking the Upper Peninsula Builders Group “for their support both in materials and money donated to construct our new dining and kitchen facilities at Bay Cliff.”