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

30 years ago

SAWYER AIR FORCE BASE — An audience of 1,100 base and community people enjoyed a performance by Tops in Blue Jan. 26 in Ishpeming. “It was the best Tops In Blue I’ve ever seen,” said Master Sgt. J.T. Taylor, director of the community activities center and one of the coordinators of the event. “The auditorium was a technical producer’s dream-come-true. It’s built much like an opera house, making it great for sound and lighting.” Taylor said on reason everything went smoothly was because a member of his staff had helped coordinate four Tops In Blue shows at the base. Senior Airman Edward C. Sarmiento, MWRS program and tour director, helped Taylor’s staff in the preparations. “The continuity at his position helped us a great deal,” Taylor said. “To get Tops in Blue, you have to meet a lot of requirements they set, and he had the expertise to ensure those requirements were met.” Tops In Blue is the Air Force’s premiere entertainment showcase. The group tours worldwide each year to boost the morale of Air Force members and their families.

60 years ago

DRUMMOND ISLAND — “It’s a long, cold, windblown walk.” And, the way to Drummond Island this winter is even more dangerous and precarious to travel by car. It’s a bridge and a highway of ice. It stretches over a mile of open water in Lake Huron from the island to the eastern shore of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, spanning the DeTour passage. Each schoolday morning and afternoon a caravan of several cars carrying high school students makes the journey across the ice bridge. The students-riding in some places on 20 inches of ice over 90 feet of water-have written permission from parents that they can make the trip. There are 38 high school youngsters living on Drummond Island. The large, northern island and more than 600 permanent residents have been cut off from ferry service to the mainland by the worst jam of winter ice in 45 years. Residents are both afraid of the new journey and intrigued by it. Meteorologist Arthur Myers of the Sault Ste. Marie Weather Bureau says January and February were the two coldest months in this northern Great Lakes region since 1918. Until Feb. 14, the Chippewa County ferry was in service. But, when the steering gear broke for the third time in the pressure of the 18 inches of ice, Capt. Holly Seaman gave up. He tied the ferry to the dock at DeTour village on the mainland.