West End News: August 29

Colleen Evans, who graduated from Silver Bay’s William Kelley High School in 1996, has joined the Duluth Clinic as the only gynecologic cancer specialist in northern Minnesota.
 
After growing up in Silver Bay, Dr. Evans got her medical degree at the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine in Maine, served her residency in obstetrics and gynecology, then took part in a fellowship in gynecologic oncology at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis.
 
Dr. Evans chose to return to northern Minnesota for the outdoor and seasonal lifestyle, but also for the opportunity to offer treatment to women with gynecological cancer much closer to their homes.  Until now, women seeking this type of treatment had to travel to the Twin Cities or Rochester, which made an already distressing illness all the worse.
 
It’s always great to see another successful North Shore kid return to the area.
 
The Cook County Go Team is a group of more than 20 community leaders who have been working for more than a year to analyze the Cook County economy and identify its strengths and weaknesses.  After a ton of work, the group has produced a vision for the future and a list of economic development issues that they believe should be the focus for Cook County’s government and business community.
 
As part of its work, the Go Team commissioned a detailed analysis of Cook County’s economy and conducted opinion surveys with residents and business owners.  The reports from these efforts can be found online at: gocookcounty.blogspot.com. 
 
On Thursday, Sept. 5, from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Birch Grove Community Center, members of the Go Team will present their findings and recommendations to the West End Community.  In classic West End style, the meeting also includes a wood fired pizza bake, organized by the Birch Grove Foundation.  For a small donation, you will be provided with pizza dough, sauce and cheese.  You bring your own toppings.  If you want to participate in the pizza bake, email Patty Nordahl at [email protected] so she will know how much dough to make.
 
It should be an interesting and lively discussion, so bring your vision for the future of Cook County to share.  As always, you can get full details on the event by contacting WTIP.
 
We had a visit this week from Arby Arbogust and Joy (Arbogust) Powell.  They are the grandchildren of George Arbogust, who brought his family to Cook County in 1932, during the depths of the depression and built, from scratch, Sawbill Lodge, which became one of the premier resorts in Minnesota. 
 
Hedge Arbogust, Arby and Joy’s father, was 15 years old when his family moved here.  He attended local schools and spent his summers renting boats, building cabins and guiding guests at Sawbill Lodge.  He joined the Air Force for World War II and ended up making a full career in the service. 
 
The Arbogust family all left the county during the war years, except for their stepmother, Jean Arbogust.  Jean became better known by her name from her second marriage, Jean Raiken. She continued to run Sawbill Lodge until the 1960s, was a long-time Cook County Commissioner, unsuccessfully ran for the legislature and eventually retired in Tofte.  Sawbill Lodge was sold to the Forest Service, torn down and returned to nature in 1981.
 
The modern day Arbogusts, who now hail from Texas, grew up hearing many stories from that incredible time in their father’s life.  His family’s story is a classic American tale of carving a thriving business, literally out of the raw wilderness.  For years, they have talked about coming to Sawbill for a visit, so this year, Joy’s daughter, Meredith, made it happen. 
 
They visited Solbakken Resort in Lutsen, where the main Sawbill Lodge building is preserved, along with some of the original furniture and fixtures.  Then they came up to Sawbill for a tour of the old lodge site.  I was able to place them in positions to look at the exact scene that they had being seeing in pictures for their whole lives. 
 
Back in the ‘30s, the Arbogust family was well liked and respected in Cook County.  They were known as being honest, hard working and very innovative entrepreneurs.  After having spent a few hours with the current generations of Arbogusts, I can report that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.  It was fun to hear them tell their late father’s stories, still vibrant after all these years.