Marquette Beautification & Restoration Committee

10/12/2026

I just read "12-Year-old entrepreneur starts seed business" on MyNews.OnTheGo

10/11/2026

I just read "Marquette Beautification and Restoration Committee gives out annual awards" on MyNews.OnTheGo

10/03/2026

In lieu of its regular meeting,the MBRC will host its annual Community Awards Luncheon on Thursday October 8, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Marquette Holiday Inn in the large dining room. It has the honor of presenting 12 awards this year: the Barbara H. Kelly Historic Preservation Award to the Hirvonen Bandshell and to the Ore Dock Brewing Company; the Back Door Award to Blackrocks Brewery; the Business and Commercial Improvement Award to First Bank, Reilly Auto Parts and Marquette Tribal Community Health Center; the Public Art Award to Artists in Excellence; the Lifetime Achievement Award to Tim and Dee Dee Larson; the Youth Award to Bothwell Middle School students, teachers and staff; the Sally Closser Green Award to the Superior Watershed Partnership; and the Phil Niemisto Volunteer Award to Ray Hlavaty and to the Friends of the Peter White Library.

A buffet luncheon will be served. The meal of roasted pork loin, red skin potatoes, salad, soup, dessert and beverages for $28 is payable by cash or check made out to MBRC payable at the door or ahead (see instructions below). Reservations for this event are required by Oct. 5. Seating is assigned in order to ensure award recipients can sit together and committee members can sit with their friends.
___________________________________________________________________________
Please make your reservation for this meeting by completing the form below and returning it to Barb Kelly, 430 E. Arch St., Marquette by Oct. 5.

Your name _______________________________________________
Cell number _________________
I wish to be seated with (members or award recipients, if possible)_______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
I am paying for and bringing the following guests and wish to sit with them________________
_______________________________________________________________________
I am enclosing a check $________ or cash $_______ to cover my meal expenses (and guests, if any)

OPTIONAL HELPING HAND:
Please help the MBRC by offsetting luncheon expenses ($28 for 24 guest award recipients, room charge of $350, extra staff, linens, set up, programs, certificates and frames, etc.).
I wish to contribute $_____________ (check) or $_______________(cash) to help with expenses. THANK YOU!

Call or text MBRC Vice President Barb Kelly at 906-869-0794 with any questions.

Send a message to learn more

09/29/2026

Cannas Flower Information!!!
(the tall, big red flowers in the beds)

We have had questions and inquiries about those amazing and striking red Cannas flowers in the flower beds this year. Here is what MBRC will be doing with flower pull out in October:

The cannas have such a huge root ball that we can’t dig or pull them out! We snap/mechanically cut them off at the base. The root ball remains in the ground until spring and is then rotitilled into the ground to provide soil amendments for next year’s flowers.

Our committee highly recommends that the public NOT dig up canna bulbs. They grow next to a four lane highway with speeds of 35 mph - a setting with dangerous components. Our committee usually works there when the city closes the lane closest to the flowers. All workers wear safety vests. Our maintenance workers wear safety vests and are insured.

Also, digging up the canna bulbs would leave huge holes in our soil unless the diggers carefully spread the surrounding soil back into the hole. We have to remove the existing flowers in October and holes and loose soil make for dangerous footing. Another big concern is our sprinklers. We have an underground $60,000.00 irrigation system throughout our flowers and it mostly exists toward the back (away from the highway) of the flower beds where the cannas are planted. Digging can puncture our lines and cause soil to block our pop ups which distribute the water. It is expensive and time consuming to repair the lines, not to mention the flowers not getting watered.

I wish I knew a way to recycle those beautiful flowers, but we just have not figured a safe or economical way to do it! We would welcome your ideas!

There will be multiple sources for cannas in the spring due to their extreme popularity and interest in Petunia Pandemonium this summer! Maybe by next summer there will be locations around town where the digging of bulbs would be much safer. Our cannas thrived because of our soil preparation, full sun, water every day, weeding, deadheading and once monthly application of 10-10-10. Hope this helps!
Barb Kelly, Petunia Pandemonium Chair

09/28/2026

Still lots to see at Tami’s Garden behind the former Lake Superior Community Partnership building..

09/14/2026

The monarchs are loving the salvia at Tami’s Garden.

09/08/2026

The MBRC will hold its regular monthly meeting on Thursday, Sept. 10, at the Marquette Holiday Inn. The guest speaker will be Marquette City Manager Karen Kovacs. Check-in will be at 11:30 a.m., with a buffet lunch to follow at 11:45 a.m. The business meeting will be at noon. The luncheon costs $22, payable by check or cash upon check-in. Please contact Vice President Barb Kelly at 906-869-0794 or [email protected] by late Tuesday to reserve a spot, and indicate NO LUNCH if you're not going to partake in the buffet.

08/08/2026

The MBRC will meet on Thursday, Aug. 13, at the Marquette Holiday Inn. The guest speaker will be Charlie Holsworth, co-founder (with Josh Paquette) of Base Hospitality Group, a regional hospitality management and lodging operator in the Upper Peninsula. Base has received two MBRC awards, the Barbara H. Kelly Historic Preservation Award and the Back Door Award, for its EXPLORE Hotel.
Arrival and check-in will start at11:30 a.m., with a buffet lunch to begin at 11:45 a.m. The meeting will follow at noon. The lunch is $22 per person. To opt out of lunch, state NO LUNCH when making a reservation. Reservations are requested, preferably by two days ahead, and can be made by texting 906-869-0794 or emailing [email protected].

08/05/2026

A Marquette Beautification & Restoration Committee work crew recently installed a trellis and trumpet vine at Ellie‘s Garden, located at the corner of Washington and Fourth Streets. Feel free to stop by on Saturday mornings to help tend this wonderful spot.

07/30/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/14igXSP2htB/?mibextid=wwXIfr

A first of its kind, the bike path roundabout allows for smoother flow of traffic and fewer accidents, thanks to slower speeds as bikes converge—especially critical in the e-bike era. Guinness World Records will be in town next month to recognize Marquette as having the world’s first bike path roundabout. A special shoutout to the Marquette Beautification Committee for planting the magnificent flowers in the roundabout’s center.