Celebrating the U.P. on 906 Day

It's nearly Sept. 6 -- 906 Day in the U.P.

It's a day built around a unique area code to celebrate a cherished way of life in a distinctive part of Michigan and the country. 906 Day celebrates the U.P.'s unique beauty, close-knit communities, and rich history.

All those things, and the 906-area code, led Bugsy Sailor to found 906 Day intended to commemorate life in the U.P.

“At the time I founded it in 2012, I was living in Lansing,” Sailor said. “I literally woke up the morning of Sept. 6 and thought, this looks like 906. I did some research on it and saw no one was doing anything on Sept. 6 in reference to the U.P., and I decided to run with it.”

Sailor was raised in Baraga and now runs his business, Upper Peninsula Supply Co. in Marquette.

“It initially started with our own version of a Black Friday sale to support Upper
Peninsula businesses,” he said. “I’ve always encouraged businesses to do their own thing. So that’s one component but also celebrate anything that makes us Yoopers — eat a pasty, play cribbage.”

Eat a pasty, you say?

That’s what entrepreneurs are doing in the Soo on 906 Day.

Famous Soo Locks Boat Tours General Manager Scott LaBonte and Heidi Ritter, owner of The Yooper Pasty Company are collaborating on a pasty dinner cruise where guests will get to vote on what LaBonte calls The Great Debate — ketchup or gravy.

“We’ll let our guests decide, and hopefully by the end of the cruise we’ll have the
answer,” LaBonte said, laughing.

Though LaBonte now lives in Sault Ste. Marie, he was raised in Calumet and said his grandmother would be unhappy with him if he put anything but ketchup on his pasty.

“I’m a bit of a traditionalist,” he said. “I think the western part of the U.P. is more
ketchup, and over here is more gravy.”

Ritter came back to the U.P. during Covid after traveling extensively with her Coast
Guard husband and, once in the Soo, opened her Yooper Pasty Company.

“It’s funny, but I’ve found Yoopers everywhere we’ve gone,” she said. “It even happened in Alaska. If you find a Yooper you’ll find a friend. It’s something in your soul.”

Finding other U.P. natives throughout her travels was wonderful, she said, but she’s happy to be back home.

“It’s not easy to live here,” she said, “but when it’s good it’s so good.”

About pasties, Ritter leans toward ketchup, but she said she doesn’t care what a person puts on their own pasty as long as they enjoy their meal.

“Get wild with it,” she laughed. “This is a judgment-free zone.”

LaBonte and Ritter’s collaboration exemplifies the sense of community that’s
commonplace among businesses and families across the U.P., and that, along with the natural beauty of the place is what U.S. Rep. Jack Bergman finds moving.

“906 Day is a celebration of what makes the Upper Peninsula so special -- our strong communities, natural beauty, and the hardworking people who have the honor of being a Yooper,” Bergman said.

"From our vast forests to our rich minerals to the Great Lakes waters that surround us, the U.P. is blessed with resources and beauty found nowhere else in the world and that is why we love this place we call home.”

In Hancock, city leaders have added 906 Day to this year’s third annual End of Summer celebration.

The city’s gone all in on a multi-faceted event to bring people from all walks of life to
their fair city on the north side of the Portage Lift Bridge.

There will be a laser light show, a ping pong drop, a pickleball tournament, live music, beer garden, and vendors.

“In Hancock, we know we’re a little quirky, a little unique, and very genuine,” said Todd Gast, who is in charge of community development for the city of Hancock and its Downtown Development Association. “We’re having our so-long to summer event, and there’s no better way to celebrate where we are in the U.P. Because 906 Day falls on the Saturday of our event, it was a happy accident.”

Born on the Keweenaw Peninsula, Gast left the U.P. living on the East Coast for many years before returning in 2017, and he said being away helped him see the beauty of his hometown.

“My boomerang landed about three blocks from where I was born and raised,” he said. “And now I see things, and I appreciate the place more than if I’d lived here the whole time. It’s a magical place. It’s just stunning, the vistas. I love the vistas; I love the diverse population the university brings us; I love everything about it.”

In a Facebook post, the Keweenaw National Historical Park wrote,
Telephone area codes were established in 1947, when Michigan was assigned three: 313, 517, and 616. By 1961, an increase in the population using telephones prompted the creation of another area code: 906. Taken from the former 616 area, the area code is used for all of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, including Isle Royale and Mackinac Island.

The 906-area code identifies where U.P. residents live, but Michigan State Rep. Gregory Markkanen said it’s more than that.

“The U.P. is more than just a place on a map,” he said. “It’s a way of life. I love living in God’s country and serving his people.”