U.P. pasty mascot changes name from ‘Toivo’ to ‘Cousin Jack’

CALUMET — A pasty by any other name would taste as good. ABC 10’s Rick Allen talks with one group who wanted to make they got the name right.

The Copper Country is blend of ethnic cultures as a result of its mining history and the draw for immigrants to come here and work.

One of those groups, the Cornish, brought us perhaps the regions most iconic foods, the Pasty.

A local group called the Keweenaw Kernewek celebrates and tries to revive the heritage of those who came here from Cornwall.
They were partly behind an effort to fix a Copper Country travesty—that the Pasty Mascot was given the Finnish name “Toivo”.

Keweenaw Kernewek President Jack Treganowan said, “In good spirits, we joined in a competition and they put collection canisters out in different locations and for every dollar that was collected, it would be one vote for ‘Toivo” or one vote for ‘Cousin Jack’.

With the help of Main Street Calumet, collections were taken up during the summer and in the end the winner was clear,
Treganowan said, “And it came out to be about 8 to 1 in the vote for ‘Cousin Jack’ and come to find out it was that way all over the Copper Country when they took the count on the votes and so we have reclaimed the pasty for the Cornish—it’s ‘Cousin Jack’ and not ‘Toivo’.

Now the only question is whether the Pasty should be named Jack or Jenny, but that’s a debate for another time.