Ironwood celebrates First Friday

By ZACHARY MARANO

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Ironwood — “Furry Friday” was the theme of Ironwood’s November First Friday event last week. In addition to regular First Friday events, there was an animal showcase and scavenger hunt hosted by HOPE Animal Shelter in Ironwood.

Local artisans and craft vendors set up their tables indoors at Incredible Bank and Cold Iron Brewing in Ironwood. Event planner Anne Atwood said that the owners of the businesses generously allowed them to use their large indoor spaces for the event.

Atwood said that after six months of being outdoors, First Fridays will be held indoors for the next six months. The weather was warmer on Friday, but Atwood said that they planned to be indoors in advance because of the snow earlier that week.

However, people had the opportunity to get some fresh air by going from business to business in downtown Ironwood on a scavenger hunt. Participating businesses each had a name, picture and a biography of an adoptable animal from the shelter.

People wrote down the names of the animals next to the corresponding locations on a form that could be picked up at any of the businesses. They could bring their completed forms to HOPE’s table at Cold Iron Brewing, where there was a drawing for prizes Friday evening.

Kay Fiene, president of the board of directors at HOPE, said that all 13 locations that participated in the scavenger hunt donated gift certificates and other prizes, in addition to some other local businesses and crafters. She said there were enough prizes that everyone who participated in the hunt was able to take home something.

Fiene said that the scavenger hunt was mutually beneficial for HOPE and the participating businesses because it helped spread the word about the shelter and created some foot traffic for the businesses.

HOPE also had a table at Incredible Bank where they had three cats up for adoption. Fiene said that two people who visited the table on Friday picked up adoption forms for the cats.

Later that Friday evening, there was a screening of the 2000 mockumentary film “Best in Show” at the Historical Ironwood Theatre. As part of First Friday, some businesses in downtown Ironwood also stayed open late.