A special Christmas Eve ceremony is planned Monday to dedicate a 4-ton granite memorial to the 73 victims of the Italian Hall tragedy - the worst disaster this small village has ever seen. The dedication service, planned for noon, comes on the 105th anniversary of the terrible event, which occurred during a 1913 Christmas Eve party for the families of striking miners. A century ago, Calumet - then known as Red Jacket - was the epicenter of the Upper Peninsula's copper mining industry.

The way the deaths happened seemed especially cruel, especially since most of the victims were children. The labor strike had been going on for months in the Copper Country when a women's auxiliary group to the Western Federation of Miners organized a party to spread a little cheer in what were tight times for the workers' families.