Memorial Day is also Heritage Day in Amasa

Temperatures in the mid-80s and bright blue skies made for ideal conditions in Iron County. Memorial Day did have its somber moments there, but as ABC 10 senior reporter Mike Hoey shows us, the holiday is also Heritage Day in Amasa.

On the dual occasion of Memorial Day and Heritage Day, current and past residents of Amasa come together to remember veterans and celebrate.

“We get everybody around from town, and we have a little bounce house for the kids and we open up the museum for the first time,” Amasa Historical Society vice president Joe Hoenig said. “This hub of the U.P. is our little special jewel.”

“We get many visitors that come back to Amasa to meet with their friends and family, and we also have some people that come especially to visit the museum, or they’re locals that just want to have a good time on Memorial Day and honor our veterans,” Hematite Township clerk Tanya Hiltonen said.

Besides the memorial service, food and friends, Amasa also held a rubber duck race. The number of tickets, and ducks, that were sold doubled this year from 100 to 200.

The tickets sold out, and organizers used the 200 ducks to raise about $800 for an upcoming celebration.

“In 2016, July 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th, we’ll be having our 125th (anniversary) celebration for the town of Amasa,” Hiltonen said. “We encourage everybody to make plans to come and visit Amasa during that celebration.”

“In 2016, it’s going to be ‘Amasa’s the scene in 2016’,” Hoenig said. “Like any small town in the U.P., we’re just fledgling and hanging on but doing the best we can.”

The Amasa Historical Museum will be open most days until Labor Day weekend.