West End News

When the state government shut down on the Thursday before the long 4th of July weekend, we were not sure what the effect would be here at Sawbill. We knew that no one would be able to buy a fishing license. We had emailed all of our customers to encourage them to buy their fishing licenses in advance. We were afraid that the already busy weekend for the Forest Service campgrounds at Sawbill Lake, Crescent Lake and Temperance River would get slammed with refugees from the closed state parks. As it turned out, we did see a noticeable up tick in business from state park campers, but not in the numbers that we had feared. Unfortunately for the West End, most of the hundreds of parties that were planning to use the state parks just went or stayed home. Several of the groups that did wind up here at Sawbill said that they are planning to camp here from now on, which is good for us, but bad for the parks.

As I mentioned in a previous West End News, the state shutdown will hit Cook County particularly hard. The closing of the parks and layoffs of local DNR employees is bad enough, but the indirect losses to the tourism economy will be significant. Also, I hadn't thought of the fact that loggers that are working on DNR timber contracts are also shut down. Local loggers are already the hardest working people in the county and operate on very narrow profit margins. They don't deserve to be thrown out of work for no good reason. For both the logging and the construction industry, the longer the shut down lasts, the possibility of permanent damage to the industry goes up. By the way, Michael O'Phelan, owner of Cascade Lodge and Solbakken Resort, was prominently quoted in an Associated Press story on the shut down that circulated widely around the state and the rest of the country.

Randy and Barb Merritt, of Schroeder, told me a great story starring their two grand daughters, Raylee and Savanna who are 10 and 6 years old respectively and the daughters of Correy and Kari Merritt, also of Schroeder. The elder Merrits had the girls at their cabin on Northern Light Lake and set them up to fish off the dock. Savanna hooked into a big fish and ended up reeling in a 10 pound walleye all by herself. While Randy was taking the trophy up to the refrigerator and getting ready to take the boat out, he heard Raylee yelling that now she had a big fish on. By the time Randy headed back down to the dock, he met the girls coming up the hill with a 9 pound walleye in the net. Savanna proudly announced that she had "got the net on it" but she couldn't lift it out of the water by herself, so Raylee set her rod down and together they managed to lift the net out of the water. After the excitement died down a bit, Randy took the girls out in the boat where the girls promptly caught a four pound bass and a seven pound lake trout. Randy commented calmly that he does't think they'll ever top that day of fishing.

One of Tofte's favorite sons, Bjorn Tofte, son of Meg and Greg Tofte was seen around town last week wearing a huge smile. He was visiting with his new bride, Andrea Tofte. The couple met in Big Sky, Montana four years ago when they were both working there. Andrea was on her summer break from college near her home in Chile. After several visits back and forth, the happy couple applied for a fiance visa. Nine months of excruciating waiting ensued, but they were finally able to get married at the courthouse in Port Townsend, Washington where Bjorn attends boat building school. While the couple was in Minnesota, they hosted an impromptu gathering at the Tofte park. They are back in Port Townsend now, but are in the midst of planning a large, traditional wedding in Chile on November 5th. Andrea is the oldest child in a large family that wants the opportunity to see her married in grand Chilean style. Congratulations to the happy couple and both families.

We have a small phenomenon of tame wild animals going on around Sawbill. There is a doe living in the Sawbill campground that is almost tame enough to pet. No one has ever fed deer here at Sawbill, so she seems to just be friendly by nature. She will casually walk within a couple of feet of you if you don't make any sudden moves. There is also a friendly fox in the campground that will stroll into an occupied campsite and sit down like he's the family dog. He wanders around our property during the busiest of times, in spite of being repeatedly run off by our indignant dogs. Of course, the dogs a nowhere near as fast as the fox, so he seems to take the periodic chasing episodes with good spirit. Finally, there is a bear and a wolf who are frequently seen along the Sawbill Trail. On the days that they are around, virtually every one see them. All of this makes the visitors from less wild parts of the state extremely happy.

Airdate: July 7, 2011

Rees and Roxanne Richards, from Duluth, had a bad day last Sunday. They were driving the back roads of Tofte, on their way to begin a canoe trip, when their car caught on fire. They had stopped at the little pond at the intersection of the Sawbill Trail and the Grade Road to take a picture. When they restarted their nearly new Subaru Outback, all the dash warning lights came on. They prudently shut the car off and broke out the owner’s manual. The manual advised them that having all the warning lights on indicated an electrical fault and they should proceed to the dealer as soon as possible. They ran through the electronic reset procedures that modern cars feature and some of the lights went out. The car ran fine, so they figured they would take it in right after their canoe trip.

They drove off down the Grade Road toward their entry point and everything seemed fine. They had just picked the car up from the dealer a few days before after its 15,000-mile maintenance check. Just past Lichen Lake, the car suddenly lost power and coasted to a stop at the side of the road. They noticed a few whiffs of what they thought was steam coming out of the floor vents, so they thought perhaps the engine was overheating. When they got out of the car, they immediately heard the unmistakable sound of crackling flames under the hood. They sprang to action and got everything they could get their hands on out of the car. Rees then turned his attention to the nearly new Kevlar canoe on the roof. Before he could get the back end of the canoe untied, the fire had erupted from under the hood and caught the front end of the canoe on fire. As we all know from the Ham Lake fire, Kevlar canoes burn very quickly. All they could do was retreat to a safe distance and take a video of their car and canoe almost literally explode in flame.

Some good Samaritans came along in a few minutes and gave them a ride to Sawbill where we called 911. There is no cell phone service along the Grade Road or the Sawbill Trail. By the way, when I was traveling in very remote parts of east Africa last winter, there was cell service everywhere – usually from three separate providers. What’s wrong with this picture? Anyway, the 911 dispatcher sent a Cook County deputy, the Lutsen fire department (they had just crossed into Lutsen when the fire erupted) and a Forest Service fire engine team to the scene. I gave the Richards a ride back to the scene and when we arrived the car was still burning, but just with a low flame. The fire had been so hot that it blew out the windows and we found glass more than 50 feet away. The alloy wheels were melted, the license plates had melted and the engine block was mostly melted. Only about a foot of the Kevlar canoe was left, lying forlornly in the ditch.

Although it was a routine call, Deputy Julie Collman, the men and women of the Lutsen Volunteer Fire Department and Emergency Medical Service, and the Forest Service fire crew all responded quickly and with the utmost professionalism. After the fire was doused, a wrecker dispatched and the nearby woods wetted down for the sake of forest fire safety, I took the Richards back to Sawbill and loaned them my car to get home so they could regroup and take care of the details. I wish the story ended here, but almost unbelievably, they hit a deer on the expressway just outside of Two Harbors. A state trooper happened to be parked at the intersection where they hit the deer and saw the whole thing. It was one of those unavoidable situations that almost everyone who regularly drives the north shore will encounter eventually. Luckily, no one was hurt, except for the deer, of course. The Richards finally made it home safely and Rees said that he just wanted to go to bed and pull the blanket over his head.

All’s well that ends well, but it’s a good reminder for all of us to be extra careful over the big Fourth of July weekend coming up. Get out there and have fun, but be safe!

As I write, we are experiencing a classic cold and windy three-day June rain. I’m aware that people of a certain age seem to remember the weather being more severe in their childhood and I’m sure I’m as guilty as anyone. But I remember many more of these cold, three-day June rains when I was a kid. Dick Raiken, who owned Sawbill Lodge and was a fountain of information about life in the Northwoods, used to say that when the wind switched to the northeast we were in for three days of cold rain – no more and no less. He also counseled that the walleyes would stop biting completely as soon as the barometer started down and would start biting as soon as it started back up again. Like many of the things Dick said, I’ve always found this to be true. People like to complain about the cold and rain, but after seeing the forest fires that result from dry weather, I feel like the cold, hard rains are a refreshing treat.

Cook County Higher Education is holding a “Let’s Be Friends Event” on Thursday, June 23rd at 7 PM at the North Shore Campus at 300 West 3rd Street in Grand Marais. Since it started Higher Ed has helped over 300 people obtain college degrees or college level certificates. Many, many others have received continuing education credits, high school AP credits, attended workshops or just improved their skills. All of this provided right here in little old Cook County. In addition, more than 90% if people who have begun course work at High Ed have successfully finished their course work and obtained the degree that they were pursuing. This success rate is higher than most traditional colleges and universities and is much higher than other distance learning programs. This is, of course a testament to the fine work done by the staff of Cook County Higher Education. They take a deep interest in each student and make sure they have both the physical and moral support that they need to reach their goals.

The looming state shut down is bringing us a lot of phone calls here at Sawbill. Most people are worried that the BWCA Wilderness or the National Forest campgrounds around the area will be closed. It is nice to be able to reassure people that these are all federally managed facilities and will be unaffected by a state shutdown. I am presuming that that our outstanding local conservation officers will remain on the job, as they are state police and critical to maintaining public safety. One thing I hadn’t thought of was that fishing licenses cannot be sold during a shutdown. This will be a major inconvenience for visitors who travel from other states and aren’t aware of the issue. We will, of course, be notifying all our reserved customers and urging them to buy a license right away. Minnesotans can do this easily at any bait shop or outdoor store. Out of state people can buy a license online at the Minnesota DNR website. I expect that the private and National Forest campgrounds will get very crowded if the state parks close on July 1, especially with the Fourth of July creating a three-day weekend this year. Hopefully, the legislature will come to its senses and forge a fair compromise to avert this costly and unnecessary government shutdown. In this time of already high unemployment, the last thing we want to do is throw thousands of people out of work.

On a more cheerful note, the Birch Grove Foundation in Tofte is looking for two community non-profits to manage two children’s events at the Tofte Fourth of July event. The Balloon Battle Kids Game and the Bouncy Castle both need volunteer management and can be used to raise funds for the non-profit that steps up. You can call the Birch Grove Foundation at 663-7977 or email [email protected] if you are interested.

Happy summer everyone.

Our hearts go out to the family and friends of the young man who tragically lost his life while fishing on Swan Lake in the BWCA Wilderness last week. Deadly accidents are always sad, but so much more so when the victim is young. The sense of lost potential adds a sharpness to the grief.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the many fine folks who respond to emergency situations in Cook County. The sheriff and his deputies, rescue squads, firemen, EMTs, pilots, conservation officers, Forest Service personnel and plain old volunteers, all stand ready to throw themselves into this very difficult work on a moment’s notice. On behalf of the entire community, I say thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

The Town of Tofte is planning its fireworks show for the Fourth of July this year. I have no idea how many years this patriotic celebration has been going on, but I do remember Orton Tofte telling me that back in the day, someone in Tofte had a real cannon and on the Fourth they would anchor a couple of retired fishing skiffs out on the big lake in front of the Tofte Park and the local men would blaze away with the cannon until the skiffs were sunk. No one knows what happened to the cannon, but Orton did mention that its demise was probably a good thing for the general safety of the townspeople. In any case, the Town of Tofte is asking for some volunteers to provide information and directions during the fireworks this year. If you can help out, call Jim King at 663-7409.

Arrowhead Electric Co-operative announced at their annual meeting last week that they have purchased 85 miles of fiber optic cable for the first phase of installing true broadband internet to all of Cook County. The fiber will start in Lutsen and be built toward Schroeder during the current construction season. Arrowhead is asking people to sign up for a priority waiting list through pre-registration. At the annual meeting, so many people were signing up that they ran out of forms. The pre-registration form is now online at Arrowhead’s website, or through a link found on boreal.org. I am very excited for the advent of true broadband in Cook County. A friend was visiting us from the Twin Cities the other day and asked to borrow our computer to check her email. As Gmail was loading she asked us if our Internet connection was broken because it took so long to load. When I explained that it was always that slow and that we paid $250 per month for the service, she was amazed. The best part of broadband will probably be the things we haven’t even thought of yet. Just think back a dozen or so years to the time when we didn’t have Google, Wikipedia, Facebook or Boreal News. If I could only imagine the next big thing, I’d be a rich man.

Speaking of Boreal Access, they are currently carrying an ad from Moguls restaurant at Lutsen Mountains for a Father’s Day special that grants a free beer to every father who orders the all-you-can-eat ribs special (hint). Boy, that sounds like a good deal to me (hint). I hope all Cook County families will take advantage of this generous offer (hint).

There is no denying that the bugs are bad this year. Over the Memorial Day weekend, we sold almost 200 head nets and bug shirts. Black flies, the flying mouth of the north, love high water and humid, cloudy days. We are near the southern limit of the black flies range, so most visitors are not familiar with them unless they’ve visited the north in late spring or early summer before. Every year, I hear many people say that this year, the black flies are the worst they’ve ever been. Obviously, this can’t be true every year, but I understand the sentiment when you’re trying to set up a tent or cook dinner with a cloud of black flies around your tent. I’ve also noticed that over the last 20 years or so, people have become very reluctant to use the tried and true DEET based insect repellents. DEET actually has a remarkably long record of safety and efficacy, but we all feel queasy these days about putting chemicals directly on our skin. When I recommend to people that they use DEET to defend themselves agains bug bites, the nearly universal response is “I don’t like to use that stuff.” I’ve never met a single person that actually enjoys wearing bug dope, but if the alternative is getting chewed up by a swarm of black flies, pass me the bottle.

Speaking of better living through chemistry, I am pleased to hear that the county is expanding it’s calcium chloride treatment of the local gravel roads this year. Although it is mostly a method for reducing the amount of dust kicked up by traffic, it also helps the road hold together and reduces future maintenance costs and evironmental impact. Although is seems like it might not be good for the environment to spray millions of gallons of liquid salt on the roads, years of careful research have shown that calcium chloride has remarkably little impact on roadside ecology. Years ago, I was driving on the Grade Road when I came upon a couple of people who were erecting little aluminum fences along the edge of the road. At both ends of each fence they had buried a five gallon bucket to form a small pit trap. Of course, I had to stop to find out what the heck they were doing. It turned out that they were trapping spotted salmanders during their annual migration and examining them to see if crawling acrosse the calcium chloride treated road caused them any distress. I was amazed to learn the salamanders migrate, but even more amazed when the biologist in charge told me that spotted salamanders are extremely common in Cook County. I had only seen a handful of them in my entire life, but he explained to me that they mostly live beneath the litter on the forest floor, so they are not commonly seen. He said that salamanders make up the largest mass of vertabrate life per acre in Cook County. That is a fine piece of cocktail party trivia if I’ve ever seen one. By the way, the study didn’t find any harm done to the salamanders by the calcium chloride.

A new law that is now in effect will change the way people use minnows in the BWCA Wilderness. Under the law, you must drain the water from your minnow bucket before leaving any body of water. It is legal to transport minnows from one lake to another, but illegal to transport their water between lakes. DNR enforcement says that the law applies to all lakes in Minnesota including those connected by portages in the wilderness and specifically applies to oxygen minnow packs prepared by bait dealers. As a practical matter, this means that live minnows are not practical as bait in the wilderness unless you trap them in the same lake where you are fishing. Minnows have always ben hard to transport on a canoe trip, but now portaging minnows will literally be fish out of water. As I mentioned last week, my fishing buddy Hawk Jensen and I used to catch our own minnows and we often had more fun catching the minnows than catching the fish with the minnows.

Two cool events are available this coming weekend of June 11th. The first is the Lutsen 99er mountain bike race that starts and ends at Lutsen Mountains. It will be fun to see how the racers like the race and what impact they have on our tourism industry. The second event is the state park open house on Saturday. All the state parks are offering free admission and many will have special activities available. Both are a perfect opportunity to get out and enjoy the best that Cook County has to offer.

Love was in the air in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness during the Memorial Day holiday weekend.  On Friday, I saw a young couple that became engaged while on a canoe trip out of Sawbill back in 2007.  When I jokingly asked them how their marriage was going so far, they cheerfully replied that it was good because they were still canoeing together.  On Monday, we had a group who had formerly been college classmates and now gather for a reunion camping trip each May.  They excitedly told us that one of the couples in their group had become engaged during this year’s trip.

We’ve seen quite a few engagements, and even a handful of marriages, in the wilderness over the years.  They are always lovely to hear about and we were pleased to hear about this year’s first engagement, but nothing prepared us for what happened next.

Lisa Shafer, from Minneapolis, has canoed out of Sawbill since she was a little girl.  Her group this year included her boyfriend and another couple who are her good friends.  They entered at Kawishiwi Lake and camped on Polly Lake for the weekend.  On Saturday, the two couples paddled up to Malberg Lake, where they found a nice open spot to stop for a picnic lunch.  After lunch, Lisa’s friends went for a walk down the shoreline.  When they were alone, Lisa’s boy friend, Tony Goldenstein, asked her to marry him.  She happily agreed and they excitedly waited for the other couple to return so they could share their news and get a picture.  Soon the other couple returned and when Lisa told them the news, they announced that they had just become engaged too.  Both men had planned to pop the question during the canoe trip, but had not shared their plans with each other.  By pure coincidence, they had proposed at nearly the same moment.

To add to the coincidence, Tony told me that he had secretly met with Lisa’s parents the week before, to share his plan and ask their permission.  He was surprised to learn that Lisa’s parents met each other for the very first time on Polly Lake, the very same lake where he and Lisa camped last weekend.  Needless to say, that part of the Boundary Waters will hold a special place in the hearts of Lisa’s family.

I encourage everyone to visit the Schroeder Historical Society’s current exhibit at the Cross River Heritage Center in Schroeder.  Titled, “Where Did You Go To School,” it explores the history of the public schools in the West End.  It is fun to see who went to school with whom and how it established the strong bonds between local families.  The busy Heritage Center is hosting an opening party on Friday, June 3rd, featuring author Dannielle Sosin.  Beryl Singleton Bissell will speak at the annual meeting on Sunday, June 12th at 2:00 P. M. And finally, mark you calendar for the always popular Lunde Home Tour scheduled for Saturday, July 16th.

The Minnesota Legislature’s failure to reach a budget agreement has set them up for a special session and the very real possibility of a shutdown of state government.  A shutdown would be deeply troubling for Cook County.  Our state parks and the state timber-lands are both important local economic drivers.  Additionally, state workers are already cutting back on their vacation plans due to the uncertainty of their situation.  I’m personally disappointed that the majority in the Minnesota House and Senate are delivering ultimatums, rather than seeking reasonable compromise that will keep Minnesota solvent and moving forward.  In my opinion, blind adherence to a “no new taxes” position is an extreme and unreasonable position that blindly ignores the nuance and complexity of state government.  After nearly ten years of this approach, we’ve seen the state’s K-12 funding drop to the bottom third of all states.  Higher education cuts have forced up tuition to be among the highest public for public colleges and universities.  Public nursing homes are in desperate financial condition, mental health services have been cut, and millions of federal matching dollars have been lost for badly needed infrastructure projects.  Some would argue that holding the line on taxes stimulates the economy.  It’s hard to accept that argument after the last three years of deep recession.

It’s time for the legislature to accept Governor Dayton’s offer to meet them half way and avoid a government shut down that will hit Cook County particularly hard.

Everyone was excited last weekend by the appearance of West End native Jacob Michael on the Billboard Music Awards program, viewed by many millions of people worldwide.  As I reported last week, Jacob’s band, Gentlemen Hall, won a national battle of the bands concert sponsored by Billboard magazine and the prize was an appearance on the awards show.  Jacob’s mom, Carol Perkins of Lutsen, was in Las Vegas for the contest and the awards show.  Many of Jacob’s family and friends made the trip to show their support, including Jacob’s brother, Josh Schmidt, and Matt Kangas, originally from Schroeder, now living in Los Angeles.

Carol reports that the whole experience was tremendously exciting for everyone, especially Jacob.  After they won the contest, Jacob and the band were whisked away for a grueling round of press events, rehearsals, and pre-show parties.  He did have some time to spend with his family just before the show.  Carol reported that he was excited but humbled by the whole experience.  The band’s actual performance was cut fairly short on television.  No surprise that the show went long with long-winded thank you speeches.  However, they did get to play two full songs to the live audience – a crowd of some 20,000 people, including all of the most influential people in the music business.  Jacob was featured on lead guitar in both songs and lead vocals in one of them.

Carol reported that every detail of their performance was managed, right down to what clothes they wore.  They are the first band in history without a record contract to play at the Billboard Awards.  They are now under professional management and will soon be sent out on tour.  As Carol said to me, “they won’t be playing in bars anymore.”  I’m predicting – you heard it here first – that we’ll be seeing Jacob back at the Billboard Awards soon, this time as a nominee.  It is nice to see the rest of the world recognize the talent that we in the West End have known about for years.  By the way, Jacob got to meet the Black Eyed Peas, Taylor Swift and other mega-stars, but he was most happy to meet, in person, the members of the legendary band U2.

In other news, the Gala for the Grove fundraiser for Birch Grove Community School was a smashing success, with a sold out crowd and a successful raffle and live auction.  The hit of the evening was presence of a some four week old puppies, one of which was auctioned off. Congratulations to the organizing committee, board of directors, staff and all the great supporters of Birch Grove who made it happen.

Speaking of Birch Grove School, mark your calendars now for Marion McKeever's Award Winning Fishcakes benefit scheduled for Tuesday, June 14 at the Satellite's Restaurant in Schroeder.  Marions and her famous fishcakes have been a popular standby of the West End for many years. Tickets are available at Grand Marais State Bank in Tofte, Satellite's Restaurant, Birch Grove and at the door.

Two trees were planted at Birch Grove this week in honor of my parents, Frank and Mary Alice Hansen.  Many years ago, they taught parent education classes in the West End called “Children the Challenge”.  When Frank died last year, some of the parents from those classes resolved to plant the trees, but decided to wait until spring when transplants have an easier time of it.  Mary Alice was able to attend and had a great time.  We all spent some time remembering Frank and also remembering all the great West End residents who are no longer with us, but contributed so significantly to our quality of life.

The Forest Service sent out some interesting figures this week that track the use of the BWCA Wilderness over the last 11 years.  It shows that the number of permits issued under the reservation quota system peaked in 2003 and has been declining steadily every year since.  They attribute this to an aging population, natural phenomenon like fires and tent caterpillars, confusion about the permit reservation system, and the recession.  It will be interesting to see if the decline continues in the next few years.

There seems to be an explosion of rabbits in area this year.  This is a normal phenomenon that comes around every ten years or so when the snowshoe hare population spikes.  Driving the Sawbill Trail in the evening has become an exercise in weaving around rabbits that seem intent on committing suicide under your car.  I saw a tiny baby on the road last night, so apparently there are more rabbits on the way.  Last year, one of our crew went out to get something out of his car right next to our crew housing building here at Sawbill.  When he opened the door, a rabbit came out of nowhere and jumped right into his car.  He shut the door and the rabbit settled serenely on the floor mat.  After showing it to a few other people, he left the door open for a while and the rabbit departed.

Here is an update on the ongoing mystery of the disappearing campers here at Sawbill. A couple of week ago, before the ice went out, a car appeared on the parking lot with a canoe on top. The people were nowhere to be found for several days. Eventually, they returned and drove away without checking in with us, so we figured that we’d never know where they went. But, thanks to Josh Dawson, who works the front desk at the Tofte Ranger District, we now know where they went. Josh was issuing a wilderness entry permit to a couple this week when they mentioned that they had tried to canoe out of Sawbill in early May, but ended up hiking instead of canoeing. Josh quickly deduced that these were the mystery people and found out that they had hiked up the shore of Sawbill Lake to a campsite that is about two miles up. This is no easy hike, as they had to not only crash through thick brush in rough terrain, but also had to wade through knee-deep snowdrifts in some places. Of course, Josh is ethically bound not to reveal their names, but he encouraged them to stop at Sawbill after their latest trip to give us a first-hand report.

Opening of fishing was windy and cold, but on the whole better for weather than the usual. There were some good fishing reports from around the county, but in the Sawbill area fishing was very slow. I only heard about a handful of small northerns being landed. Truth be known, the serious fisher persons hold off until early June when fishing success is much more reliable.

One the Friday before the opener, we rented three solo canoes to three young men from the Twin Cities. Only one of the three was an experienced paddler and he had never paddled a solo canoe before. They launched from the Sawbill canoe landing into the teeth of a pretty stiff north wind. When they reached the middle of the lake, the farthest they could get from any shore, the leader swamped his canoe. The water temperature couldn’t have been much above freezing. His inexperienced friends were at a loss about what to do. At this time of year, his predicament was very serious. In water that cold, you only have a few minutes before hypothermia starts to set in.

Fortunately, Zoe Hartzell and Dave Taft, two young people also from the Twin Cities, were on the landing preparing to launch out on a 10-day canoe trip. Zoe is a veteran of Camp Widjiwagan, the excellent canoe camping program in Ely. She had been trained numerous times in canoe rescue techniques and is also has been trained as a wilderness first responder. She and Dave hopped in their canoe and raced out to the middle of the lake and had the freezing swimmer in their canoe in the blink of an eye. They paddled back to the landing where I met them to take the young man up to our house for a hot shower, dry clothes and hot chocolate. But, just at that moment, we heard a shout and turned to see that another of the solo canoes had swamped. Zoe and Dave jumped back in the their canoe and in just a few minutes we had both soggy men in the shower and their clothes in the dryer. Zoe herself had gotten pretty wet and cold during her rescue efforts, so she came up and changed to dry clothes and drank some hot chocolate. Zoe and Dave soon departed for their adventure in the wilderness, but the three solo canoeists were so discouraged that they headed home.

Congratulations to Maybelle Skou of Schroeder, who turned 100 year old on May 12. She was rightfully honored by family and friends at a recent gathering. Years ago, Maybelle’s husband Ed did mechanical work for most people on the West End. Ed was a true mechanical genius. Not only could he fix anything – and I mean anything – but he could also invent solutions if needed. His garage still stands in Schroeder, although it’s in pretty tough shape now. When I drove by it the other day it occurred to me that it should be put on the register of historic places. Such was Ed’s fame back in the day.

One more quick reminder of the “Gala for the Grove” benefit for the Birch Grove School in Tofte. The event includes a gourmet dinner, auction and dance at Surfside on Lake Superior in Tofte. It is coming up this Saturday, May 21 and I know it is almost sold out. Contact Diane or Lisa at Birch Grove to inquire about tickets or if you have an item for the auction or if you would like to just give a donation. They can be reached at 663-0170 or [email protected].

Some people have asked me about what happened with the mystery that I reported last week.  A car with a canoe on top was parked in the public parking lot here at Sawbill with no people around and no camping gear in it.  We were mystified as to where they had gone because the lake was too thick to paddle and too thin to walk on.  The good news is that the people returned a few days later and drove away.  The bad news is that they didn’t stop in to report where they had been, so the mystery will have to remain unsolved.

The official ice out date for Sawbill Lake this year was Sunday, May 8th.  Some of the larger lakes took another couple of days to go, but now everything is ice free just in time for the opening of fishing.  With the late break up date, walleye fishing will probably be slow this weekend, but the lake trout should be in shallow water and very hungry.

It takes a special breed to fish in the wilderness this early in the season.  Traditionally, the weather is terrible.  My dad used to joke that instead of going fishing on opening weekend, he would just put on his smelly old clothes, drink a six pack of beer, take a cold shower with his clothes on and then lay down and sleep in the shower.  In this way he would have the full experience without having to drive anywhere.  As with most jokes, there is a kernel of truth in it.  In my younger days, I spent every opening day on a secret wilderness lake trout lake with my dear friend, Hawk Jensen, from Silver Bay. We had a spot where we could fish from shore with minnows that we had great fun catching the day before.  We had comfortable camp chairs and good books to while away the hours.  Our tradition was to eat lake trout for breakfast, lunch and dinner on opening day. After that we couldn’t face eating more lake trout for at least a week.  We plan to resume our tradition once we retire, if that day ever comes.

Birch Grove Community School is hosting the “Gala for the Grove” fundraising event at the Lakeside Ballroom of Surfside on Lake Superior in Tofte on Saturday, May 21st.  Festivities include a champagne social hour with appetizers from 5 to 6 pm, followed by a gourmet dinner with wine from 6 to 7 and a very special auction and raffle from 7 to 8.  Auction items include, among other things, a roll of 20 Silver 1976 Proof Ike Dollars and a bottle of Chateau Lafite Rothschild 1966 wine.  From 8 until midnight there will be dancing with the Trail’s End Band.  Tickets are $50 a piece and are going fast. To get yours contact Diane or Lisa at 663-0170 or [email protected].  Yours truly has been asked to be the auctioneer, but in spite of that you should still attend.

On Saturday, May 14 at 10 am Sugarloaf Cove Nature Center is hosting its annual "Plant a tree, get a tree (or two)" program.  Mike Reichenbach, Forestry Extension Educator, will discuss how and where to plant conifer seedlings and the options available for protecting seedlings from deer and rabbit damage.  He will also provide hints that make planting trees easier.  After planting a few trees, participants will receive native conifer seedlings to plant on their properties.  The trees are being donated by Loll Designs of Duluth who make outdoor furniture made of recycled materials.  Sugarloaf is dedicated to helping North Shore landowners restore their forests to healthy conifer forests for future generations to enjoy.  Sugarloaf Cove is located lakeside off Hwy 61 at mile 73.3.  For more information call 218-525-0001 or email [email protected].

Three hot issues for the West End community have arisen recently.  The proposed community center in Grand Marais is drawing a lot of attention right now.  The proposed AT&T cell phone tower at the Tofte cemetery and more recently, a bill in the Minnesota legislature concerning water use by Lutsen Mountains Ski Area from the Poplar River have been in the news.  This is not the place for me to offer my personal opinion on any of these issues, but I do strongly urge West End residents to keep themselves informed, attend the public meetings and wait to hear all sides of the issues before settling on a position.  This is a small enough community, that if you have a question, you can call or email the people involved and get an answer straight from the horse’s mouth.  These are all important and complex issues that will affect our lives and need to be thoroughly thought through so we can do the best for our community and our children’s future.  Remember the wise words of an old rock song: “You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes you can get what you need.”

The winter of 2010/2011 has been one to remember. It started early, stayed true to itself for many months, and now is having trouble finding the exit. Aside from the scientific statistical evidence of this winter’s severity, I know that I burned half again more firewood than last year. Sawbill Lake still has about 15” of ice on it. Just a few days ago, we were walking on it, shuffling through snowdrifts and leaning into an ice-cold north wind. The Forest Service pilot has just reported that the large BWCA Wilderness lakes, like Cherokee, Little Sag, and Tuscarora, are still covered with white ice. In spite of this, I’m predicting that all the lakes will be well clear of ice by the opening of fishing on May 14th.

We have a mystery here at Sawbill. A few days ago, a car with a canoe on top pulled into the Sawbill Lake campground. We wondered about it because the canoeing is extremely slow right now. The party stayed overnight in the campground and the next morning their car, with the canoe still on top, was parked in the public parking lot. Peeking in the windows, we could see that there is no camping gear and no sign of the occupants. We checked the campground and they weren’t there either. Our best guess is that they decided to hike into the wilderness, which is a fairly daunting prospect with no trails, dense brush and crusty knee-deep snow in many places. We’re hoping they didn’t choose to hike on the lake ice, which is no longer trustworthy and getting thinner by the hour.

Richard Louv, author of the popular book, “Last Child in the Woods” speaks frequently on the subject of what he calls “nature deficit disorder.” Basically, he has studied research from many fields that shows conclusively that modern American children are spending much less time out of doors in contact with nature. He argues that the growing problems of attention deficit disorder, obesity, declining creativity and depression can be at least partially be traced to a nature deficient childhood. He has spawned an international movement to reintroduce children to nature. Here in Cook County, the Gunflint Trail Association and the Cook County Visitors Bureau have created an innovative program called “Becoming a Boundary Waters Family.” It combines a wonderful book with a series of events that are designed to give families the skills and enthusiasm to become life-long BWCA Wilderness campers. Recently, the program won a prestigious regional award celebrating cooperation between the Forest Service and local residents.

Next week, the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum in Chanhassen will be hosting Richard Louv for a lecture, followed by a distinguished panel discussion, including Lutsen’s own Jim Vick, representing the Cook County Visitors Bureau. The “Becoming a Boundary Waters Family” program is the lead sponsor for the event, positioning Cook County as a leader in this important effort to get kids back in the woods.

Planning is moving ahead for the new Cook County Community Center in Grand Marais. Projected to cost more than 10 million dollars, it would include, among other things, a swimming pool, wellness center, kitchen and banquet facilities and host several existing programs like Minnesota Extension and Community Education. This project is part of the 1% sales tax initiative that we voted in awhile back, but has serious ramifications for ongoing taxpayer expense in the future. A public meeting about the project is scheduled for Wednesday, May 11th at 7:00 p.m. at the Birch Grove Community Center in Tofte. I urge everyone to attend, get informed, and share your input on this important issue. If you can’t make the meeting on the 11th, there is another meeting scheduled at the Courthouse in Grand Marais at 7 PM on Tuesday, May 10th.

All the recent news from around the world has reminded me once again how lucky we are to live where we do. I get as wound up about local, regional and national issues as anyone, but when I read about the tsunami in Japan, or the violence in Pakistan, or even the tornadoes in Alabama, it really changes my perspective. Our problems seem pretty tame in comparison. Even our most controversial issues are disagreements on exactly how to make our already great quality of life even better. Our government, at all levels, is remarkably responsive and representative. Our police are honest and protective. Our neighbors try hard to be friendly and helpful. I’m all for making things better, but once and awhile we need to step back and appreciate what we have.