The arrival of new neighbors is cause to rejoice. Some are long time Eagle Harbor vacationers, often members of Copper Country families. Others move here after only a few vsits. All attracted by the rugged beauty of Keweenaw, the ever changing moods of the Lake, and the advantages of life in a small close-knit community. Each bring a wealth of experiences and personal interests, adding to the richness of all our lives. All are welcomed.
"The Cathedral of Saint Jack." That's the name some use to describe Jack Hartmann's soaring A-frame now nearing completion on Marina Road just south of the beach at the east end of Eagle Harbor. A few others, privy to some of the wonders of the abode's interior creature comforts, and noting the structural similarity to Keweenaw's oldest dwelling type, call it the "Warm Towel Wigwam".
Jack, no stranger to the area, plans to make Eagle Harbor his year-around home in early 1997. A neat trick for a guy who works in Saint Louis, Missouri.
How can this be done? Well, Jack's an airline pilot, a captain for Saint Louis based TWA. Jack says it's an easy commute, using standby Northwest Air passes via Houghton and Minneapolis, where he connects to his favorite airline to fly on to work. Several international destinations are on his flight schedule requiring lenghty periods of work, interspersed with breaks of several days -- Jack's opportunity to return home for fun in the snow and surf.
John Robert Hartmann, born and raised in Detroit and Mountain Lakes, NJ, is a Rutgers University geology graduate. Geology, the down-in-the-earth vocation, soon gave way to an above-the-earth love -- flying hot jets for the Air Force. After a Viet Nam tour of duty as a fighter pilot, Jack left the service and signed on with TWA as a flight engineer. He worked his way through TWA layoffs, emerging as one the airline's most experienced captains. He also flies with the Air National Guard in Tucson, until recently his Arizona home.
Eagle Harbor now boasts four active airline pilots. Richard (Ric) Catoni, the son of Jack's Marina Road neighbors, Dick and Charlotte Catoni, flys for Delta out of Salt Lake City. Ric has a camp at Grand Marais. Stu Stewart, husband of Barb(Been), is another Delta pilot, flying out of Atlanta. Barry Bogart, also with Delta, is stationed in Houston. Barry and wife Carol(Johnson) and the Stewarts have cottages near the Lighthouse. Ric, Stu and Barry, and their families, are frequent Harbor visitors. Dick Lantz, a career military pilot, rounds out the Eagle Harbor Air Force. Frank Raley, a civilian pilot, once dreamed of an airstrip on the Copper Falls stamp sands. With all these pilots around, perhaps Jack and Dick, as our resident pilots, will revive the idea?
Jack, now single, has three adult kids -- a daughter and two sons.
His roots in the Copper Country are deep. Jack and sister Marilynn Ehrenreich are the fifth generation of their family to reside in the area. (Marilynn and husband Keith split their time between homes in Southern California and Eagle Harbor. Their Harbor home, also an A-frame, occupies a pine studded rock promenade over-looking the Lake, north of John and Nancy Wakeman's.)
Jack and Marilynn are two of five children of Hortense (La Montagne) and Robert (Bob) Hartmann, who were both born and raised in Laurium. The Hartmann kids were part of the Harbor beach scene for several years. Marilynn's photo albums are filled with pictures of Jack cavorting with the local girls, plus a few attesting to his luck fishing. Jack seems to remember only the fish encounters.
Welcome home Jack! The fish are still biting (occasionally), and wonder of all wonders, many of the same "girls" still frequent the beach -- albeit a lot wiser to the ways of dashing pilots and often joyfully distracted by a covey of their generational offspring.
Jack has extended a "stop for a warm cup of brew" invitation to all early morn walkers as they pass by his new Harbor home on their way to the Marina. Some of us are out pretty early Jack, like 6 a.m., but we'll be there.
Jack would like to hear from "U.P. ers who remember him from 'days of old'". His E-mail address is: 72153,2104@compuserve.com.
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