Sharon Marie Brunner

Lake Superior in the Moonlight Sharon Marie Brunner

This book is dedicated to the people who reside in the Upper Peninsula (U. P.) of Michigan. They reside in one of the most picturesque areas in the country and they are referred to as Yoopers. Yoopers like to eat pasties, shovel snow, swat flies, and enjoy life. They are not much into fashion. Yoopers can hunt and pick berries with the best. Many will end a lot of their sentences with "eh." They are a hardy group of individuals who usually love the outdoors and the vast beauty of the area in which they live. The Yoopers are an amazing group of people who strive to seek enjoyment wherever they can. This book is not an attempt to poke fun at this group of people of which I am a part of, but to explain in a humorous fashion what it is like to live in such an adventurous part of Michigan. The U. P. is rugged and was mentioned on the weather channel as having some of the worse weather in the United States. We scoff at getting six inches of snow at one time, whereas other parts of the country are shut down. Our road crews come from durable stock. The U. P. is a land often referred to as "God's country" consisting of vast stretches of beautiful beaches, rocky cliffs, mountains and hills along with feeling that much of it is part of an untamed wilderness. Many people who visit the U. P., especially during the summer months, enjoy the scenic views such as the Mackinac Bridge and the Porcupine Mountains. Some of the snowmobile trails in the U. P. are the most traveled in Michigan. Cargo ships travel around the Great Lakes and to and from Canada through the Soo Locks, constructed as early as the 1850s. Native Americans were the original inhabitants. In the past fur traders came to the U. P. to seek vast amounts of beaver pelts from the 1600s to the 1800s. Famous individuals such as John Johnston made his living through the fur trading industry in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. The mining business was booming in the U. P. especially the copper mines. Many people have traveled around the U. P. throughout history. My pen name was Thelma Lou for the Yooper Chick News. I wrote about what life was like in a small town in the U. P. Thelma Lou had six children, a pasty shop, a store and gas station with one gas pump. Thelma Lou explained some of her excursions and some of the excursions of some of the inhabitants of the small town of St. Mary (fictitious name). Also, included in the book are some funny quotes, poems and excerpts from other sources. Enjoy your time learning about what it may have been like to live in the U. P.