The Beaumier U.P. Heritage Center at Northern Michigan University is seeking public nominations for the 2018 Upper Peninsula Folklife Award. The award recognizes those who make a difference in the creation and/or preservation of Upper Peninsula folk arts, including music, dance, storytelling, crafts and food. Persons or organizations can be nominated. The nomination deadline is Friday, March 30. A committee will review nominations and make the final selections.

The award will be presented Tuesday, May 15, at a British Isles benefit dinner hosted by the Beaumier Center and the Upper Michigan Culinarians. The dinner will be held in the Great Lakes Rooms of NMU’s University Center. For information on submitting a nomination, visit www.nmu.edu/beaumier and click on the “Events” tab.

Past recipients are John Perona, bones player; Les Ross Sr., harmonica player; Oren Tikkanen, storyteller and musician; Fred Rydholm, storyteller, author and historian; Bette and Dean Premo, musicians and folk music/dance promoters; Michael Loukinen, folklorist; Corrine Rockow, musician and educator; Kay Seppala, dance and music; Hiawatha Music Coop, organization; Carl Pellonpaa, television host; and Marge and Bill Sklar, dance promoters.