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Just before Christmas in 1913, one of the greatest tragedies in Copper Country history occurred. The Calumet-Laurium-Keweenaw Rotary has been commemorating the Italian Hall disaster for decades, and will do so again beginning this afternoon. At 4:30 PM the village firehall siren will sound to mark when the first call came in about the stampede that eventually killed 73 people.
Miner families had gathered at the hall during a strike to celebrate Christmas when someone yelled fire and caused a panic. As everyone raced down the steps to the front doorway the crush eventually swarmed over dozens, many children.
Rotary member Joel Keranen says this will be a particularly somber memorial. The man who reconstructed the arch resembling the hall entrance passed away in the second half of 2020. His contributions to the observance are just now being recognized.
On Friday night, a crowd will gather next to the arch and the permanent memorial. Along the path will be 73 luminaries, one for each victim.
CLK Rotary does good works throughout the rest of the year for the community. Keranen says its major project at the moment is further improvements to an area park. They also provide scholarships to students at CLK and Lake Linden Schools.
