6/10/06-Finally after what seemed like weeks of waiting the dragonflies are out. Their colorful bodies can be seen zipping through the air eating the numerous black flies and mosquitos (much to the relief of everyone at Sawbill). Our newest crew member, Matt Hartmann, also arrived after making the long drive from Fremont, NB. -Kari

Matt issues his first BWCA permit!

6/6/06 – I was ready to scoff at the superstitious people who attach significance to this date being “the mark of the beast.” But, while on my daily run down the Sawbill trail, I had three separate “beast” encounters.
The first was a not very threatening spotted fawn complete with wobbly legs and Bambi eyes. I had to stop and feed the mosquitoes for a minute while the fawn dithered around, until a subtle signal from its mother sent it trotting into the woods.
The second was a brown fury that erupted from the underbrush and viciously attacked me, beating me around the head and attempting to claw my eyes. A ruffed grouse hen defending her nest is an amazingly intimidating attack machine. No injuries were sustained, although her strategy seemed to be mostly aimed at giving me a heart attack.
The third was a streaking woodchuck that came sprinting out of the woods straight for me. I was still jumpy from the recent grouse attack, but it turned out that the wood chuck just had bad timing. As soon a he saw me, he applied the emergency brakes and headed back the way came at high speed. – Bill

6/4/06 – This week has been full of excitement. We’ve had three new crew members arrive (plus one old one!) and Clare graduated from high school. Add to that a Splinter’s gig and some post-graduation parties and you have one rockin’ weekend! -Corey

Our newest crew member Liz Foot gets an outfitting lesson from Lida.

Clare and friends celebrate their freedom.

6/2/06 – The summer crew is starting to materialize with the arrival this week of Kari, Johnny and Carl. The blackflies are also back in full force and driving us all a little crazy!

New crew members Johnny Anderson-Hermann and Carl Geving.

Here’s Alison (Kathy) working away as GM.

Corey and Nash sitting on store.

Just another blissful sunset from the Sawbill dock!

6/1/06 – A thunderstorm capped off a warm day at Sawbill and left Carl stuck on the trail behind a downed tree and Cindy just behind him with a flat tire. Bill came to the rescue and all made it home just as the rain abated! -Corey

Clare, Lida and Kari spent the rainy hours reading trashy magazines in the store.

Bill had a chat with former crew member, Patti Olson, who showed up this weekend for Clare’s graduation festivities.

5/31/06 – It felt as though we’d won the lottery when the Anderson-Hermann-mobile rolled in with Kari driving and Johnny, Kari’s brother and our newest employee, riding shotgun. The van needed only $1000 of work (compliments of daddy) on it before it could brave the Sawbill Trail. They are both thrilled to be here but not quite as thrilled as we are to have them.

Kari’s back and already packing food trips in our food department already for the upcoming week.

Johnny will be a sophomore at St. Olaf this coming year. He plays on their ultimate Frisbee team; we’re hoping he’ll teach us to properly “huck a ‘bee.”

5/29/06 – Memorial day weekend could have been crazy for Sawbill after an unexpected change of plan. Fortunately for us, we have amazing former crew members who donated their weekend to pick up the slack. Thanks Jeff, Laura and Cory C. for saving our butts!

Jeff and Laura took the weekend off from their busy lives in Minneapolis. They are looking forward to their August wedding.

Recent Cook County High School graduate Cory Cochrane finishes cooking and cleaning up brunch. She’ll soon be leaving on a month long paddling trip to Canada.

5/26/06 – Our very own brewmeister Patrick Nash has arrived at Sawbill for good! That means more good beer for us and brings the full-time employee count to seven, making our holiday weekend much more pleasant. -Lida

Nash bonds with Homer and Izzy after a hard day at work

Nash, initially quite skeptical of Sawbill’s new small dog, seems to be Izzy’s biggest fan

5/23/06 – Former Sawbill crewmember, John (OB) Oberholtzer, has been in correspondance with Wilson Arbogust. Wilson, along with his family, constructed Sawbill Lodge (our former neighbor) in 1933. His memories of that experience are vivid and accurate. OB inqired about where the trees were cut for the massive log lodge (now reconstructed at Solbakken Resort in Lutsen, Minnesota). Wilson sent a detailed map and a wonderful letter. Here are some excerpts:
Tony Logar and I saw-cut close to 500 Jack Pine trees in Sept. 1933. At this point, the cost of each tree was 50 cents. Each tree was cut close to the ground as possible using a two-man saw. No power saws were then available (of course).
Each tree was felled to fall away from the lake. This made dragging easier. The forest in some areas was quite dense so we tried hard to avoid hang-ups. But one, two or three hang-ups a day were sure to happen! Then one of us (usually Tony) would climb the slanted tree and chop to free the tangled branches. Then rode the tree as it crashed to the ground.
Every tree had to be cut no nearer than 50 feet from the water, a rule of the Forest Service. After grounding, each tree had to be “swamped out”. Tha was our term for carefully cutting off the limbs as we manufactured logs.
As we sawed each tree, before it crashed, we anticipated its fall and, at just the proper moment we each would shout the warning “FIRE”!! to warn one another of the danger. What a laugh. The only other people within 40 or 45 miles were Mr. and Mrs. George E. Arbogust (George – my Dad – and Jean – my step mother) and the men at the Sawbill CCC Camp about six miles south of “our” Sawbill Lake.
So… now it is late Sept. and a few hundred logs are scattered about. So… we figured we had about a month to get these logs to the lodge site before the freeze up. Dad found the help we needed in Duluth. The two men, plus Tony and me, had to drag each log to the water (we could not find available horses). Dad would bind them in single file and tow them to the lake’s south end, about five miles, using a small Johnson outboard. The two helpers found the work too difficult so they quit and were replaced (by Dad).
Tony and I were steady on the job. We “lived” in an 8′ x 8′ umbrella type tent. The front flap of the tent could not be closed. I recall shaking snow off my sox as I started dressing up in the morning. Tony insisted on wearing p.j.s every night!! (Not me. I seldom removed my heavy clothes.) I was the chef! Our most staple foods were white and/or yellow corn meal on a tin plate using canned milk and sugar!
Because winter “hit” us so swiftly we had to abandon quite a few logs. You may discover their rotting presence along with very short stumps. But keep in mind that this wonderful adventure happened 73 years ago. I was age 20, Tony was 18.
Sincerely, Wilson Arbogust

John “OB” Oberholtzer, amateur archeologist, with a 73 year old jack pine stump on the north end of Sawbill Lake.

Every stump we found was just a few feet further than 50′ from the water’s edge.

We also discovered this interesting beaver chewed log. The beaver almost finished making this birch log into several pieces and then gave up. What story lies behind this scene?

5/20/06 – On Wednesday, Mary Alice, Frank and I attended the 18th Annual Northeastern Minnesota Book Awards ceremony in Duluth where Mary Alice’s book Sawbill: History and Tales was nominated as a book that best represents northeastern Minnesota’s history, heritage, culture and lifestyle for books published in 2005. It’s a great honor to be considered for such a prestigious award and we’re very proud of Mary Alice for her outstanding accomplishment. – Lida

Mary Alice holding her certificate for her outstanding book.

Mary Alice and Lida womanning the display table.

Hey Izzy, could you mark me down for a pop?