For many around the country, Christmas time delivers joy and cheer.
That was the goal for a group at a Christmas Eve party held in Calumet over 100 hundred years ago. But the joy quickly turned to tragedy, and Christmas Eve in Calumet would go on to have a solemn feeling surrounding the community.
Each winter the Calumet Laurium Keweenaw Rotary Club hosts a luminary ceremony to honor the lives lost in the 1913 Italian Hall Disaster. The candle-lit path leads to the front entrance of the former Italian Hall, and the archway that still stands. Near the archway stands a memorial with the 73 names of the lives lost on December 24th, 1913.
Those interested in viewing the luminaries may stop by the 400 block of 7th Street in Calumet today and tomorrow. Please respect the items placed at the site.
