The Rautio Berry Farm has grown to become a major contributor to the copper country strawberry festival each summer. John Rautio says the family farm originally produced strawberries and potatoes and was home to a couple of milk cows. After Rautio’s parents took a 50-year break, he started the farm again close to a decade ago.
We brought in 30 flats for strawberry shortcakes. So, we get an order every year from them, and we look to bring regular flats for sale also. I think our berries in the copper country are very sweet because of our weather and soil conditions. We’re not super-hot. We get cool nights. And berries like having that. – John Rautio, owner, Rautio berry farm
The Rautio Berry farm today grows strawberries, blueberries, buckwheat, and produces upper peninsula maple syrup. The farm is one of nine farms contributing to the 77th copper country strawberry festival. At the height of berry production in the copper country strawberries were shipped and sold in cities such as Chicago, Milwaukee and Detroit. Today many local farms offer u –pick opportunities, direct ordering, or can be found in shops such as the Keweenaw co-op.
In the evening, more than 500 people sat around the Centennial Pavillion on Friday night. This year the Chassell Lion’s Club announced Braden Archambeau as Citizen of the Year and Mariah Juntunen as Youth Citizen of the Year before getting the Strawberry Queen competition and strawberry auction underway. The 2025 Copper Country Strawberry Queen field was filled out by eight candidates; Cecelia Butler, Elizabeth Desroachers, Lain Bellow, Katie Saru, Pagie Danison, Cassie Kujansuu, Aubrey Chalgren, Helene Rinkinen and Haley Dosmann. Miss congeniality, awarded to a candidate by their peers, was bestowed to Paige Danison. 2024 Copper Country Strawberry Queen Nora Keranen announced Helene Rinkinen as the 2025 First Attentendant and Stacy Butler as the 2025 Copper Country Strawberry Queen.
Butler, a graduate of Houghton High School, was very involved with her class and outside of school. Butler volunteers in the community supporting Little Brothers Friends of the Elderly, Toys 4 Tots, MDOT Highway clean ups, and the community garden in Houghton through the Houghton Beautification Committee. She works at Chickadees in Houghton. While attending Houghton High School Butler was the President of the Student Council and member of the National Honor Society, while enrolled in AP and Dual Enrollment courses. Between her junior and senior year, she attended a two-week program at Harvard University. Butler currently works as an intern at Numinen, DeForge, and Toulant, P.C.. 
In the fall she will attend Columbia University to study psychology and political science and plans to pursue law school to work as a criminal defense attorney. After Butler’s mom Jenny Meade Butler placed the copper queen sash around her daughter and crowned her the newest Strawberry Queen, Cece thanked and congratulated the other candidates for their hard work. She also hopes to see them achieve great things in the future.
The strawberry auction that drew a lot of attention, philanthropy and some laughs, and raised a grand amount for the Chassell Lion’s Club scholarship program. The 2025 Scholarship program dispersed 4,000 dollars in total to four students; Jacob Elenich, Lily Etelamaki, Kalvin Kytta, and Whiteny Walitalo.
The Auctioneer stepped up to the podium to collect the community’s bids on various desserts such as Devil Choclate Strawberry Cheesecake Bites, Strawberry jams, preserves, cookies, and even some vintage strawberry painted glassware. The auction rose close to 2,400 dollars in under an hour. Additional funds supporting Lion’s Club programs include strawberry shortcake sales, that will begin again at 9am Saturday. The Copper Country Strawberry Festival Parde will begin at 11:30.
Look for this year’s award winners during the parade. And watch the kids before they run out to grab candy. Congratulations to Stacy Butler, Helene Rinkinen, and Paige Danison, and all the Strawberry Queen candidates. Congratulations to the Citizens of the Year, Braden Archambeau, and Mariah Junten.
