West End News: October 2

The West End was saddened recently on receipt of the news that longtime Schroeder resident, Joyce Kehoe, had passed away at the age of 85.
 
Joyce lived in Schroeder for 50 years, where she raised her children and was a strong thread in the fabric of the community.
 
When my parents started business here at Sawbill in 1957, Joyce and her husband Danny were the suppliers of gas and oil for the West End.  Our families became close friends with connections on many levels.
 
When they were little kids, Jeff and Joanne Kehoe in particular were eager to ride along with their father when he made his deliveries to Sawbill.  My dad would invariably treat them to a candy bar and a bottle of orange pop while their dad pumped the diesel and gasoline tanks full. Those are great memories for both families.
 
Joyce Kehoe will always have a special place in our hearts here at Sawbill, as she does in the entire West End. 
 
Jack Blackwell is a native son of Grand Marais, who is the grandson of Alex Boostrom, a renowned Cook County pioneer, trapper and woodsman.  When Jack was young, he spent a lot of time with his grandfather, trapping, hunting and traveling through what eventually became the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.
 
Jack left Grand Marais for a distinguished career in the Forest Service.  He retired several years ago and now lives in Idaho.
 
He was back in Grand Marais last week and I was thrilled to get a preview of a book he is writing about his grandfather’s colorful life in Cook County.  
 
Although Alex lived most of his life in Grand Marais and on the Gunflint Trail, his main trapping territory was in the northern reaches of the Tofte and Lutsen townships.  Jack’s detailed memories of Alex’s stories about trapping and hunting in the area around Long Island and Frost Lakes bring that whole era vividly back to life.
 
One day when I was a small child Alex stopped by Sawbill to chat with my dad on his way out of the woods from his latest trapping trip.  My dad had just purchased a new brand of aluminum canoe and he asked Alex if he would like to try one out.  I think my dad meant for Alex to take the canoe down to the lake for a short paddle, but instead Alex put the canoe in his pickup and drove away.
 
A year went by with no contact from Alex until he stopped in the following spring after another round of wilderness trapping. After a few minutes of chewing the general fat with my dad, Alex gave his review of the canoe, which he liked very much.  But, with a little chagrin, he said that he no longer had the canoe.  He never explained what happened to it, but he quickly offered to trade some items that he thought would easily cover the value of the canoe.  He went to his pickup and pulled out five hand-carved cedar paddles – one for each member of our family.  He also gave us five raw wolf hides, which were legal to trap at that time.
 
My dad sold the hides immediately and their price easily made up the cost of the canoe. The paddles became prized possessions of our family, which we used for many, many canoe trips. I quickly grew out of my small paddle, but I used the paddle made for my dad on every canoe trip I took for 35 years, including a trip to James Bay. 
 
The two child-sized paddles eventually disappeared, but the three larger paddles have survived, although one is broken.
 
The paddles are wonders of craftsmanship, made entirely with hand tools out in the wilderness.  They show a deep understanding of how the material and the form are shaped to maximize strength, efficiency and usefulness.
 
They are an apt metaphor for the life of Alex Boostrom, who was well-known for his good humor, competency and deep skills in everything he did.  I can’t wait for Jack’s book to be published, hopefully within the next six months or so.