West End News - April 25, 2018
West End News by Clare Shirley 4/26/18
The Tofte township is still accepting applications for the Town Treasurer position. The Treasurer is a paid position, with minimal time commitments. There’s a bit of bookkeeping that you do from home, and you attend the monthly meetings with the Supervisors. It’s also a wonderful way to contribute and stay connected to the current events in the township. Outgoing treasurer Nancy Iverson is available to help guide you through your first couple of months, so don’t be nervous about bankrupting the town your first day on the job! If it sounds like a good fit for you, let the town clerk Barb Quade know. You can reach Barb via email at [email protected].
Spring is still springing over the hill in the West End. Sawbill lake is sporting 15 inches of solid ice with about 9 inches of rotten ice on top of that. On Wednesday we attempted to drive in to check on the status of Brule and Homer Lakes but had to turn around about halfway down the Brule Lake Road due to deep drifts of melty snow. I can only assume this means those lakes are frozen in for a while yet.
The snow is starting to recede, leaving great deep puddles in its wake. It’s sort of like a small scale glacial melt, leaving puddles behind instead of lakes.
Our 2-year discovered one such lake-like puddle just today. She is sporting a new pair of rain boots and is thrilled when the temps rise above freezing and the puddles magically turn from slippery ice rinks into splashy, muddy, wading pools. Her personal mission each afternoon seems to be to leave no puddle un-stomped. This afternoon, she got a little more than she bargained for when the puddle turned out to be a washed out corner of the Sawbill Lake canoe landing. Instead of standing in inches of water she found herself submerged up to her shoulders. Luckily her daddy was close at hand to pluck her from the slush and rush her back up to the house where a warm bath made everything better.
This should serve as a cautionary tale for all of us this time of year. Even ice that is a foot thick can be unsafe as it honeycombs in the warm weather. Ditches are deceptively soft. Puddles might turn into accidental polar plunges. So be safe out there and keep thinking warm thoughts!
Another happier spring surprise is that Lutsen Mountain is open for skiing on the weekends, through May sixth! The snow is silky corn in the morning and soft bumps in the afternoon. If you don’t know what that means, then you don’t know what your missing and you better go check it out! Season passes for next year are already available and on sale with a special early bird rate. If you buy one now, it will also cover the rest of the weekends this season, bonus! As if that wasn’t enough, on Saturday, April 28th Papa Charlie’s is hosting the Beer Lover’s Dinner. For $75 you can enjoy a four-course dinner paired with local Voyageur beer.
For WTIP, I’m Clare Shirley, with the West End News.
Tweet