PETE MONETTE, KIWANIS SKI CLUB member and Popple Palace maintenance man, stands with a display of Pine Mountain Ski Jump wood that will be sold Thursday through Saturday as a fundraiser for the new tower. Each piece of wood purchased will come with a certificate of authenticity. While most of the wood will be offered in its raw state as lineal footage, a few souvenirs and one-of-a-kind craft items made from the wood will be available for purchase. (Theresa Proudfit/Daily News photo)

IRON MOUNTAIN — The Pine Mountain Ski Jump tower has become a skeleton of its former self.

Now, the public can own a piece of that old structure to help raise money for the new tower.

Gundlach Champion Inc. has removed all the wood from the scaffold and soon will begin applying the additional new steel necessary to support the new track system as well as the stair tower for athletes to access the top.

The Kiwanis Ski Club has worked for weeks to dismantle the large sections of wood that were removed to get them into more manageable sizes.

As the first of many planned fundraisers, the club Thursday through Saturday will offer a part of that historic Pine Mountain Ski Jump tower for purchase.

While most of the wood available remains in its raw state as lineal footage — much still has nails or screws in it — a few souvenirs have been made and some sections of the starting gates remain intact.

Other unique pieces are etched with names from over the years or even have pictures drawn on them.

To give some idea of cost, boards will sell for $25 per lineal foot, with pieces that have etchings more premium priced. Start gate sections will be priced based on the number of steps.

As a donation, the purchase will be tax-deductible, with all funds going directly toward paying off the loan for the ski jump renovations.

The sale will be at the big grey exposition building known as Popple Palace at the entrance to the ski jumping parking lot.

Hours will be 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday and Friday and 9 a.m. to noon Saturday.

For safety reasons, no children will be permitted to enter the building. Those attending the sale are asked to practice social distancing.

This sale will be cash only. Receipts will be available for tax purposes and each buyer will receive a Certificate of Authenticity.

Additional sales are planned for the future and much of the wood will be utilized to make souvenirs such as picture frames, tables, chests and more. Dates for those sales will be announced when established.

For more information or questions about the sale, call Susie Fox at 906-396-2825.