Next Tuesday, Feb. 10, the Upper Peninsula's Pasty Cam will publish its 4,000th consecutive daily picture and discussion.
That's nearly 11 years without missing a single day.
Personally, I don't know of any other daily feature Web site that has been around that long -- especially without missing a day.
The daily cam is the brain child of Charlie Hopper, who fell in love with the Keweenaw as a kid at summer camp, and moved there for keeps in 1988 with his wife Edie and two kids after selling a software company.
But he stayed busy, including serving at the non-profit Still Waters Community Elders Home in Calumet. He became the home's full-time administrator in 1994, then came up with PastyCentral,com in 1996 to sell Still Waters' pasty-making tradition to a Web audience and help the home raise money.
Frustrated with the level of Internet service in his area, Hopper founded PastyNet.com in 1999, an Internet service provider that's pioneered wireless Web service over long distances in a rugged rural area.
Hopper and his son Jonathan started Pasty Cam to provide "a glimpse of life in the U.P." in 1988. Its daily shots and commentary come from professional and amateur photographers eager to share their content.
"After about the first three years we've had no lack of content -- people keep supplying us," Hopper said. "At first it was Jonathon doing all the photography."
The site also features other fun content. There's a day in Michigan and U.P. history column featuring interesting tidbits -- like Monday's, about a brief U.S. occupation of part of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario at the outset of World War II. One personal favorite is time-lapse photography of the famous lift bridge linking Houghton and Hancock that lets you spin through an entire year in just a few seconds.
Hopper said his company is still growing and has added three new jobs over the past few months, thanks to a federal grant for rural broadband access.
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