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About the Hiawatha Music Co-op
The Hiawatha Music Non Profit Corporation - better known known as the Hiawatha Music Co-op - is a well-established and well-regarded, non-profit organization for the support of traditional American music.
Hiawatha volunteers work hard to provide high-quality traditional-music events an area with an economy greatly affected by declines in the mining and timber industries, the 1996 closing of K.I. Sawyer Air Force Base, and the whimsies of weather and tourism.
In 1993, Hiawatha received the Michigan Governor's Art Award, and in May 2006, Hiawatha received the Community Arts Impact Award from the Marquette Arts and Culture Center.
History
The organization was founded in 1979, and each year since that time, it has produced a three-day traditional-music Festival in Marquette County in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.
The Festival began in 1979 in the small community of Champion, Mich. Now, approximately 3,500 people from throughout the upper Midwest - and from as far away as the coasts - attend each year's Festival at the Marquette Tourist Park.
Festival
The Hiawatha Festival is the largest event of its kind in the Upper Peninsula, and one of the oldest. Without Hiawatha, local performers and fans would have to travel between four and six hours to the nearest festivals of its size and type. Each year's event features traditional-music styles that include bluegrass, old-time, Cajun, Celtic, acoustic blues and folk - including singer/songwriters - and dance. Mainstage acts include nationally known performers as well as regional and local favorites.
The Festival also features three workshop stages with offerings ranging from hands-on musical instruction to meet-the-artist sessions with our mainstage performers. The Festival also has special areas for children and teens with organized activities and performances designed for those age groups.
Other events
In addition to the annual Festival, the Hiawatha Music Co-op strives to offer and support traditional-music concerts and workshops in the Marquette area throughout the year. Our ventures in that area have included a song-writing workshop, a Celtic fiddle workshop, two Songs of the Carter Family workshops, a monthly dance series in 2006 and 2007, and concerts with artists including Boys of the Lough, Pat Donohue, Peter Ostroushko, Dean Magraw and John Williams, Susan Werner, Karen Savoca and Pete Heitzman, and Ellis Paul.
Most recently, in July 2011, we collaborated with the Beaumier Upper Peninsula Heritage Center to present a pre-Festival old-time fiddle and banjo workshop and concert featuring Dan Levenson.
We presented Fishtank Ensemble in concert in September 2011 and will present The Starlight Six in concert on January 27, 2012.
For information about upcoming events, please check the Event Calendar on this site. For more information about any of the above-mentioned artists, please select our Links page from the menu at right.
Hiawatha also donates money to support other organizations' traditional-music events in the Marquette area.
Organization
The Hiawatha Music Co-op is governed by a ten-member, term-limited board, which meets monthly. Current board members are Sue Bertram (president), Chuck Howe (vice president), Phil Watts (treasurer), Jesse Luttenton (secretary), J. Pearl Taylor, Mike Fitzpatrick, Steve Nelson, Gene Bertram, Julie Foster-Linquist and Doug Kitchel.
Board elections were held at the Annual Members' Meeting on November 4, 2011, with the current board beginning its service in January 2012.
The Music Co-op has one part-time staff member, Maggie Morgan, director.
Each fall, Hiawatha holds an annual members meeting for election of new board members and a review of financial results. To learn more about Music Co-op membership, please see the Membership Info section of this site.
Volunteers of the Year
Each year, Hiawatha's Area Coordinators select two Volunteers of the Year. Our 2011 honorees are Ron Larson, board member, past board president, long-time Set-Up Coordinator; and Jeff Baker, Set-Up Monitor and all-purpose go-to-guy
Past honorees:
Spring 2001: Jim DeLongchamp - Electrical coordinator
Spring 2002: Al Sherbinow - Green Team coordinator
Fall 2002: Sue Bertram - Board president and Tokens coordinator
Spring 2003: Marlene Herman - Funds coordinator, past director
Spring 2003: Ron Larson - Set-up coordinator, past board president
Fall 2003: Chuck Ganzert - producer, music-committee chair.
Steve Kriegle - mainstage set-up coordinator
2005: Chuck Howe - board member, program designer, main-stage emcee, tech wizard.
Amanda Howe - board secretary, past Funds co-coordinator, former mail-in order coordinator.
2006: Karen Bacula - board member and officer, concert coordinator, music committee member. John Fegan - board treasurer, Musicians Food co-coordinator, Concessions co-coordinator.
2007: Jim DeYoung - Security coordinator. Julie Foster-Lindquist - board member; coordinator for volunteer t-shirts, Festival posters and mugs; liaison with Oasis Gallery for Artists in the Round
2008: Karen Bacula, past board president, Festival Gate coordinator, concert coordinator; and Phil Watts, board treasurer, coordinator of the monthly acoustic jam session and Hiawatha Youth Scholarship to Augusta; Gospel workshop performer
2009: Karen DeYoung, Teen Scene Coordinator and former Children's Area monitor; and Pat Saari, T-shirt Booth Coordinator
2010: Heidi Stevenson, past board secretary, Music Committee member, 2009 Musicians' Food Tent Coordinator; and Chuck Howe, board vice president, Music Committee member, mainstage emcee, graphics designer, tech wizard
Hiawatha Music Co-op bylaws
Hiawatha 2010 Combined Financial Report
Hiawatha Music Co-op board of directors minutes
Director's Reports
Festival Committee Notes
Hiawatha Compensation Policy
