6/23/02 – Its been a stormy, steamy summer
solstice weekend. The dark clouds started rolling in around 1:00
yesterday afternoon and after a few downpours, a slow steady rain
fell. It began to clear off a little in the evening – just enough
to reward all of the soaked campers with an intense fuchsia
colored sunset. While the sunset faded, a new storm was gaining
strength in the southern edge of the sky and an impressive
lighting storm began. All the while the fireflies danced, excited
by so much amazing light at 10:00 at night. Dark clouds are still
rolling around in the sky today, threatening rain. But so far the
bits of blue sky have won out and no more rain has fallen. We
badly needed the 0.80" of rain that we received. -Beth

6/21/02 – With all the pictures of Homer and
Sunnie that have been on here lately, Alice the Cat has been
feeling a bit neglected. Alice, who will celebrate her 18th
birthday in August, spends most of her days sleeping in Bill and
Cindy’s basement and watching Star Wars. She is currently
rehearsing for a part in Episode 3 as a stand-in for Yoda. We
feel she has mastered the look.

May the Force be with You.

6/19/02 – On a typical day at Sawbill, someone
cooks brunch and dinner for the rest of the crew. Since Sawbill
is open during these times, we eat in shifts and the whole crew
is never able to eat together. Occasionally, so that we can all
sit down and enjoy a meal at the same time, a Festive Dinner is
planned. A special meal is made and served after Sawbill closes
for the evening. Last night we had the first Festive Dinner of
the summer. Laura and Shannon made an outstanding meal of
homemade pasta, a variety of scrumptious sauces, salad, and a
spectacular batch of tiramisu. Dinner was served by candlelight
and evening wear was required (although we did allow in Chacos
and a few pairs of Carhartts).

The crew cleans up pretty good. Shannon and
Laura – creators of the feast!

Nathan and Adam, The Sawbill Thugs – don’t mess
wid ’em. The clean-up crew – what a bunch of pot heads!

 

6/16/02 – Homer the Dog is on the road to
recovery. He has been sick with blastomycosis. The vet has said
he’s well on his way to being back to his usual self, although
the vision in his left eye still hasn’t returned. He remains in
good spirits and has an amazing appetite. While down at the lake
taking a picture of Homer, we walked a bit along the path by the
lake and came across a pink ladyslipper in full bloom. I searched
around the area to see if there were others and found one smaller
one a short distance from it. The plant book says it is one of
the largest native orchids we have and is also called a pink
moccasin flower.

Homer is back to his normal activity levels. A
Pink Ladyslipper on the shore of Sawbill Lake.

I’m happy to report that Bill Hansen received the
DFL party endorsement for the District 6A seat for the Minnesota
State Legislature at the endorsing convention yesterday in Two
Harbors. You can check out more details about the convention and
his campaign at Bill’s
campaign website. – Beth

6/13/02 – A few days ago, a hummingbird somehow
found its way into the new store. The skylights in the store
ceiling looked like an easy escape route for the bird.
Unfortunately for the bird, there are screens in the skylights.
Crew member Nathan TerBeest came to the rescue and managed to
trap the hummingbird in a water pitcher and safely release it.

A big Beest and a little beast (you can see the
head of the bird in the pitcher).

I was about half-way between Sawbill and Grand
Marais last night when I passed a small swampy area, and right in
the middle of it was a young bull moose having dinner. I figured
by the time I slammed on my brakes and backed up far enough to
see him, he would have been scared away. But he just glanced up
at me, continued chewing and seemed not to mind a bit. The swamp
he was in is right on the side of the road, so I was only about
20 feet from him. I rolled down my window and could hear him
blowing bubbles in the water as he dug for plant roots and
chewing the tasty morsels he found. He was a young bull with a
small velvety rack. His summer coat was almost completely filled
in – a dark coffee color. I watched him for about 20 minutes as
he continued to eat, occasionally glancing towards me, and also
behind him. I started the car and began to drive ahead. Instead
of looking at the noisy car, like I expected him to do, he
glanced behind himself. I looked back and there was a young cow,
about 100 feet behind him – waiting for me to leave so she could
join her dinner date. – Beth

6/12/02 – Summer has hit full stride in the last
five or six days. A little rain has fallen, the leaves are fully
out, and flowers are blooming everywhere. The bugs have been
relatively scarce so far this summer. There were only a couple of
days when the black flies were pesky and only a few mosquitoes
seem to be buzzing around right now.

Work continues on the exterior of the building.
The stonework on the chimney was recently finished and the guys
are currently working on the screen porch.

Just like one big puzzle.

6/2/02 – Its time for updated pictures of the new
store. The inside is completed but the outside still has some
work left on it. Since its the beginning of season, we decided to
combine the new store pictures with some staff training photos.

Max stands at the new outfitting desk,
remembering the importance of good service. Justin, taking on the
customer role, tries to break his cool demeanor. Jeff stands back
and learns. Max shows Justin the front of the new store –
although its a bit of a blur for Justin. Max, what happened to
the customer is always right?

In the end, Max and Justin decide its better to
just get along and share a story in front of the fireplace with
Homer and Sunnie.

5/30/02 – We finally got some rain last night.
.45" fell during two waves of thunder storms between 3 and 4
am. The broad leaf asters are literally popping out of the ground
this morning. Yesterday the forest floor was brown and crunchy
and this morning it is fresh green and springy. There was a lot
of lightning with the storms last night, so the Forest Service is
checking carefully for smoke today.

5/29/02 – The extremely dry weather has prompted
the Forest Service to institute fire restrictions in the
designated blow-down area of the BWCAW. The fire restrictions
allow fires only between 7pm and midnight in the blow-down area,
camp stoves, however, are allowed at any time. Sawbill is included
in the fire restriction area. Areas east and north of Sawbill are
also included. Areas west of Sawbill, beyond Alton Lake, are not
included in the restrictions. A detailed description of the fire
restriction area can be seen on the Forest Service website, www.superiornationalforest.org.

5/27/02 – The weather has finally shaped up and
Memorial Day weekend has been sunny and warm. The marsh
marigolds, violets, and wild strawberries are blooming and the
buds on the trees are just beginning to pop open and let the tiny
new leaves out. As usual, with the advent of summer, the black
flies have made their first appearance. The crew has also started
showing up – Justin Hoekstra, Nathan TerBeest, Shannon Grace,
Jeff Green, and Laura Smith have all recently arrived – and more
are on their way. You may see a lot of familiar faces on the crew
this summer as everyone has worked at Sawbill before. This is
only the second time in Sawbill’s history that this has happened.

Some of the crew practicing their counter lean
in the new store – Jeff Green, Shannon Grace, Laura Smith, Clare
Hansen, and Justin Hoekstra.

Its been a bit stressful around Sawbill as Homer
the Dog has been very sick. He had a sore eye and began to limp
last week. These are the same symptoms that Sunnie had when she
got sick with Blastomycosis (a fungal infection which caused her
to loose her eye). Homer went to the vet in Duluth, who
determined that Homer does indeed have Blasto. He has lost the
vision in his left eye, but there is a chance that he will regain
sight in that eye when he recovers from the Blasto. He has been
started on medicine and appears to doing better in the last day
or two. -Beth

5/23/02 – Bill Hansen is running for the
Minnesota House of Representatives. Bill has been active in
Minnesota’s Democratic, Farmer, Labor (DFL) Party for many years.
The state senator from this district, Doug Johnson, retired this
year and the local representative, Tom Bakk, is running for
Johnson’s senate seat. The open house seat has attracted five
candidates so far on the DFL side of the ticket – including Bill.
There is an DFL endorsing convention on June 15th. Bill is
actively seeking the party endorsement. He has pledged to abide
by the endorsement process. The primary election is September
10th and the general election is November 5th. The legislative
schedule works pretty well for an outfitter in Minnesota. The
legislature meets in the winter, when we are closed.

Minnesota has very progressive public campaign
finance laws. Minnesota voters can contribute up to $50 to the
candidate of their choice and the state will reimburse them
fully. Candidates accepting public financing have limits on how
much they can spend and must disclose the names and occupations
of contributors over $200.

You can check Bill’s campaign website
for details. After the endorsing convention, Bill will keep and
on-line diary of the campaign similar to this news letter.

5/20/02 – A big thank-you goes out to the friends
and former crew members who came up a few weekends ago and helped
move into the new building. Countless boxes were moved and
unpacked, all the equipment in the dome was brought over to the
new building, and many shelves were filled. Despite the cold and
rainy weather, everyone had great attitudes and worked like dogs.
We also had a good number of laughs, enjoyed a few beers, and
managed to find time for a couple of saunas. -Beth

Ed Dallas, Sawbill’s poet laureate, works on
his extra-sturdy clothes line…Former crew member, Bob Kubiak,
tries to find a comfy spot for a nap.

Tim Velner practices for World’s Strongest Man
try-outs….Current crew member Betsy Moyer, and former crew
members Annie Strupeck and Michelle Thieman fondly remember all
the late night trip packing they did in the dome.

 

5/15/02 – Sorry for the long hiatus in newsletter
entries, but we have been extremely busy getting the new building
up and running. Construction is 99% done on the inside. Just a
few finishing touches required. We are hanging pictures, making
signs and carting all the stuff back in that we carted out last
fall.

Opening of fishing was generally cold, wet and
fishing was slow. In other words, a fine traditional Minnesota
fishing opener. I only heard of one lake trout and one northern
being caught. Ken Steffke, from Rosemount, and his group have
been fishing on the opener for over twenty years. They said this
was the slowest year ever for fishing. They thought the weather
was fine, even though there was snow on the ground when they put
in.

5/2/02 – There is a long standing tradition at
Sawbill that the first day the ice goes out, the crew jumps in
the lake. It is enthusiastically declared the opening of the
"Sawbill Beach Club". Two days ago we gritted our teeth
and decided it was the day to open the beach club. Although the
pictures make it look like a warm spring day, there was actually
a bitter wind nipping at our noses (as well as other body parts).
Homer and Bea looked interested but apparently had more sense
than us.

Bill can you say "shrinkage"?
………………………………………………. First
"swim" of the summer….its been a long winter.

After the ice went out and we pretended it was
summer, we received three inches of snow. Last night we had over
an inch and another couple of inches fell this afternoon. I don’t
think it got above freezing all day. The Forest Service has been
doing fly-overs of the lakes and reports that Brule and Alton
still are ice covered and Cherokee has a small amount of ice on
it. Maybe the Sawbill will freeze again and we’ll have to reopen
the beach club. Ummm, I think we’ll wait until June. – Beth,
Betsy, Cindy, Dave

5/1/02 – The water was turning purple from the
sunset as we slid the canoe into the water. The large crystals of
ice that had surrounded the landing and sounded like wind chimes
in the waves had disappeared from yesterday. The dark calm water
welcomed us to the first paddle of the season. It took a few
strokes for our arms and our balance to remember what this was
like. Betsy and I caught up with a loon pair and they allowed us
to get within 20 feet. Their gentle clucks back and forth to each
other were a sharp contrast to the sound normally heard from
loons. After a few moments, one of the loons belted out his
well-known call and we heard it echo for a few stretched out
seconds. The call must have made it all the way to Burnt Lake to
the east and past Alton to the west. We reached the Alton portage
and glided up to the shore. Every movement seemed loud in the
deep stillness of the evening. A large snowdrift greeted us at
the Alton side of the portage and, as we scrambled over it, we
were surprised to find a solid sheet of ice still covering the
entire lake. No path was open to even wind around the lake. It is
still winter on Alton Lake. While standing on the shore, we heard
a strange low whine coming from the opposite shore. We debated
whether it was wolves or moose. It was so faint, but a thrilling
sound irregardless of the origin. We headed back over the portage
to where it was spring again. Neither of us spoke much on the
paddle back, and then only in whispers – neither of us wanting to
pollute the silence. – Beth

4/25/02 – The ice left the south end of Sawbill
Lake today. It was unusual because the temperature never rose
above freezing. The 30+ mile an hour west winds probably made up
for the lack of warmth. I am guessing that Alton, Cherokee and
most of the larger lakes are probably still ice covered. 3"
of snow is forecast for tomorrow night, so summer has not arrived
quite yet. – Bill

4/20/02 – We are considering renaming this page
"Don’s Hair Page." At his official birthday party last
night the friend who gave him the nearly shaved head a few days
ago tried to make up for it with her gift. – Bill

Don (again on the right), obviously passed the
hair gene to his son Elliot.

4/19/02 – Don Noyce, easy going carpenter on our
construction crew, surprised us with a new hairdo a couple of
days ago. He was getting a hair cut from a friend who made a
mistake and ended up solving the problem by all but shaving Don’s
head. Yesterday was his 50th birthday, so Cindy celebrated both
events with one of her famous creative cakes. – Bill

50 year old Don Noyce (right), and friend.

4/17/02 – A high of 77 degrees yesterday and
today’s strong winds are doing wonders to reduce the amount of
ice on the lake. There is 12" of solid ice and no slush. The
lake is a very dark gray and the ice has melted around the shore
leaving a few inches of open water at the edge. – Beth

4/16/02 – The signs of spring are everywhere
right now. The pussy willows are erupting, the canoes are coming
out of hiding from under piles of snow, the birds are filling the
air with songs, and Mary Alice’s tulips seem to get taller by the
hour. Almost every day during the past week a new type of bird
has returned from winter vacation. The first robin appeared last
week with a very disgruntled look on its face as it stood on the
side of the road and watched it snow. They are happily singing
loudly now with the warm weather. I got a close up look at a pair
of pileated woodpeckers when I scared them out of a ditch while
out for a walk. The juncos arrived this past weekend in huge
flocks. A gaggle of Canada geese honked a hello on their way
north one afternoon. A few purple finches have been around the
feeders and Bill said he saw a number of thrushes today. As of
last night, the lake still has 18" of solid ice but the
slushy layer on top has disappeared. -Beth

4/15/02 – We are experiencing some fast melting
here at Sawbill in the wake of unseasonably warm weather. As a
side effect of the melting, a beautiful ground fog developed over
the lake last night at sunset. We all took a walk down to the
landing to enjoy the warm breezes and magic light. Beth drilled a
hole on Saturday and found 20" of hard ice with 8" of
watery slush on top of that. – Bill

Looking west from the Sawbill Lake canoe
landing about 7:30 pm.

A pine in the fog across the bay.

4/11/02 – Some of the Hansens just returned from
the Caribbean island of Anguilla. Cindy’s mother, Arline, was
vacationing there with her boyfriend, Keck Melby. Keck flew his
four children, five grandkids, Arline’s two daughters, and her
four grandchildren down as a surprise for Arline. Fortunately for
me, spouses were included. We all gathered at one end of a beach
the first morning while Keck got Arline set at the other end of
the beach. His sister and a friend (who live on Anguilla),
unfurled a large banner and walked down the beach. The banner
said, "Arline, Will you marry me? – Keck." As soon as
Arline got over the shock of the banner, the entire family came
walking down the beach in a group. She was completely surprised.
She agreed to marry him and the wedding took pace the next day.
We then spent six more days lying in the sun, snorkeling,
swimming, eating and generally enjoying the island life. It was a
tough job, but somebody had to do it 🙂

Clare, Bill, Carl and Cindy Hansen on the
paradise island of Anguilla.

4/8/02 – Yesterday a burst of spring appeared.
The thermometer proudly showed off temperatures in the 50’s and
mud puddles sprang up everywhere. The gray jays are showing up
everywhere again. They disappeared for a while during the time
when they were nesting. Now, their babies should be almost at the
fledgling stage and the adults are becoming more active. I saw at
least 6 or 7 in the trees lining the road a few days ago. -Beth

The finished stonework on the new fireplace.
The painting is complete and the wood slatwall paneling is
installed.

4/5/02 – Around mid-afternoon, former Sawbill
crew members Dave Freeman and John "OB" Oberholtzer
skied into Sawbill after a few days of winter camping. They
started at Baker Lake, worked their way up to Cherokee and then
headed back to Sawbill. When I asked how things looked out there,
they answered simultaneously "Wintery!". They saw no
signs of spring break-up or melting and the packed snow held them
on skis. Hans (of the store building crew) said he had been ice
fishing yesterday about 20 miles from here and the ice and snow
cover on the lake was around 40" deep. I became curious
about Sawbill so the dogs and I dug out the ice auger and headed
for the middle of the lake. I didn’t put on skis or snowshoes and
the snow held in most places, only occasionally breaking through.
We discovered that the packed snow is about 6" deep and the
ice underneath is around 24" deep, with a slush layer
between the two. It’s been cold the past few days, but warmer
temps are forecasted for next week. Maybe the melting will begin
soon. -Beth

4/4/02 – Yesterday evening the dogs and I went
for a walk. The sun had begun to set and by the time we turned
around to head back, it was getting quite dark. I was pausing
every few minutes to look up at the stars which were beginning to
make their evening debuts. During one of these stops, a bit of
movement off to the side caught my eye. I focused on the object
at the top of a 30 feet tree. The first thought that came into my
head was "Its a chicken up a tree!". It was actually a
grouse eating catkins on the very top branches of a birch tree.
But at that point in the evening, I could only see silhouettes,
no details or color were visible – and the outline looked just
like a typical barnyard chicken. Grouse always amuse me when they
are up in the trees. They are such a large bird and they perch on
very thin branches trying to reach all the juicy morsels they can
– but, to me, they look completely out of place. I keep expecting
to see the branch bend, and in cartoon style slow-motion, the
bird silently and motionlessly slide from the branch and tumble
to the ground. So far, all the birds have stayed in the trees.
-Beth

4/2/02 – More progress on the store to report.
The painting in the store and outfitting area is complete. The
rock work around the fireplace should be finished up today. The
offices and food department just need light fixtures and outlets
and then they will be complete. The little pieces are starting to
fall into place. Its looking great.

A sure sign of spring came the other day. New
canoes arrived! They were delivered with a protective plastic
sheet wrapped around each one, making them look like 19′ long
cocoons. I unwrapped them yesterday and the smooth, shiny yellow
brilliance of a pile of unpaddled canoes filled the yard. -Beth

3/29/02 – Weather in northern Minnesota is a very
dynamic thing. It’s not uncommon for the temperature to vary by
30 or more degrees from one day to the next. Even within the same
day, the weather can change dramatically. We experienced that
phenomenon yesterday. After the initial storm left us with about
3" of snow, we had a break for an hour or so. I was just
considering plowing when the snow began again. This time the
flakes were much smaller and it was more on the verge of rain.
The earlier snow packed down and started to break up some. By
early afternoon the second round of snow had passed and the
clouds began to drift away. Around 3:00 the sun was poking
through the clouds and the snow encasing the trees began to melt.
So much moisture was coming off the trees it wasn’t just
dripping, it was literally raining off the trees. By late
afternoon it was the warmest it had been all day and felt like
spring again. I was sure I could even smell a bit of pine sap in
the air. We had gone from January to April in about 10 hours. The
evening remained clear and a brilliant full moon rose early. I
walked outside around 11pm and looked up at the moon which had
traveled to nearly the high point in the sky. All the moisture in
the air had created the perfect conditions for a moon halo. A
pearly white ring completely encircled the moon. It was a
beautiful sight. – Beth

The road to the lake at 10:00 am yesterday. The
same spot at 5:00 pm yesterday.

3/28/02 – We’re having a snow day today. I was
thinking yesterday that I should write a little about all the
signs of spring that have been popping up in the last week or
two. And then this morning I woke up to a snowstorm. I don’t
think I’ve seen it snow this hard all winter. Huge, wet flakes
are pouring down, sticking to everything so that the south sides
of all the trees look whitewashed. Then the wind picks up and all
the snow stuck to the branches comes avalanching down. Homer and
Sunnie look like wooly sheep when they come in after sitting
outside for just a few minutes. You can tell its an early spring
snow because its incredibly heavy wet snow – the thermometer is
sitting right around 32 degrees. About 3" have fallen so
far. I heard we may get up to 6", but the snow has let up
right now. It may be time to go fire up the plow. – Beth

Homer and Sunnie seem unfazed by the snow.

3/26/02 – I skate skied on Sawbill and Alton
Lakes tonight at sunset. I heard from a friend in Ely that the
lakes in that area have a firm enough snow crust to hold up a
skier. The lakes here are not quite there yet. I mostly stayed on
top, but every 30 seconds or so, my ski would break through the
hard-pack into the soft snow below. This sent me sprawling, so I
learned that I had to make my way guardedly. In spite of that
impediment, it was a gorgeous time to be out on the lakes. The
recent high winds have sculpted wild drifts that are terraced
like a giant architect’s landscape model. The low angle of the
sun brought each minute terrace out in sharp relief and gradually
turned them from white, to gold, to pink and finally purple. On
Alton, I came across some huge fresh wolf footprints. The wolf
was following an old snowshoe trail, which I soon discovered was
firmer than the rest of the lake surface. Near shore I found a
small hole of open water. It was surrounded by otter tracks and
littered with the claws and heads of crayfish. I counted 24 sets
of claws. As I headed home, the light faded and a huge moon
lighted my way home. – Bill

3/20/02 – Winter is hanging on here at Sawbill. I
heard on the radio today that it is likely that March will stand
as the coldest month of the winter this year, for the first time
in the 110 years that records have been kept. We are still skiing
on our groomed ski trail here at Sawbill. The lakes still have a
foot or so of soft snow on them. The lakes and rivers will become
skiways as soon as the days get warmer and the nights stay cold.
It is a phenomenon that we wait for each year. We can skate ski
across the lakes and down the rivers with so little effort that
we all feel like Olympic skiers.

With the recent, if tardy, snowfalls and the rain
we had last Fall, it is a good prognosis for the canoeing season.
Ice out should be fairly close to normal (end of April/beginning
of May) and water levels will be good. – Bill

3/13/02 – We’ve had a few requests for pictures
of the construction progress. Its a little difficult to take
pictures in the store that really do justice to the project. But
I gave it my best shot and here they are. The ceilings in the
store and outfitting area have been paneled and are beautiful.
The sheet-rock is almost finished in the store/outfitting also.
Then the painting will happen. The sheet-rock and painting in the
new part of the building has been finished and the flooring and
carpeting will go in next week. Then the new part – including the
new offices and food department -will be ready to has things
moved in. – Beth

The picture on the left is looking at the wall
that was the front of the old store. The half wall forms an
alcove on the other side where the books and fireplace will be.
The new store counter will be where the sawhorses are in the
lower left side of the picture. The picture on the right is taken
from where the store counter used to be. The windows and door on
the right are the new front of the store.

This is a closer look at the book/fireplace
area. There will be a couch and a couple of chairs in this area,
as well as a TV above the fireplace to watch the Forest Service
video.

3/12/02 – Spring fever has hit some of us here at
Sawbill. Cindy and I were in the cities this weekend and stopped
in Duluth to have a little bit of color added to our hair to help
us through the last leg of winter. We were rather excited and
talked about it at coffee break with the construction guys. Grey
said his wife, Sue Jordan (former crew may remember her from
Northland Hardware), had also been to the salon in Duluth and
came home with short spiked hair with fire-engine red streaks. He
said it looks great. Don, being the slave to fashion that he is,
didn’t want to feel left out of the hair color craze, so he and
his wife Patty decided to glamour him up over the weekend. He
out-did both of our hair colors when he took his cap off this
morning to reveal a head full of purple tinted hair. He looks fabulous!

That’s not your natural color Don?

3/5/02 – Cindy and the kids saw three wolves near
Tofte on the way to school yesterday. They got a good look at
them as they ambled away. I saw two wolves on the highway
Thursday night. Last night, a flying squirrel glided down to the
bird feeder while Beth and I were watching. Flying squirrels are
common here, but are nocturnal, so rarely seen.

I was able to perform another stranded motorist
rescue on the Sawbill Trail late Thursday night. I was returning
from the Richard Thompson concert in Duluth just before midnight.
The concert was wonderful and I felt fine when I left Duluth. As
I passed through Two Harbors, my stomach began to churn and by
the time I reached Silver Bay I was in the full grip of the 24
hour stomach flu – vomiting, fever, aches and all the rest. I
relieved to finally turn up the Sawbill Trail in Tofte, headed
for my own warm cozy bed. Eight miles up the Sawbill Trail a dark
form emerged from the woods onto the road. I assumed it was a
moose, but I was surprised to see that it was a woman in a large
black coat. She had mistakenly tried to drive on the unplowed
Honeymoon Trail and got stuck in the middle of that road. She had
walked for an hour and a half in the -5 degree night. She had no
hat of gloves, but fortunately was able to protect herself with
the large wool coat. I called Bud Nelson, our local tow truck
operator, on the radio and waited with her until he arrived. When
I apologized for being so sick, she said "I just had the flu
four days ago." She was sympathetic and not off put by my
forays into the ditch to hurl. – Bill

2/27/02 – We had a visit today from Lenert and
Ann Kalberg, from Stockholm, Sweden. Lenert and Ann’s son was an
exchange student at the local high school several years ago.
Lenert works for the Swedish Sports Federation. Part of his job
requires him to attend the Olympic games. They stopped by to
visit their son’s former host family, Sue and Grey Jordan of
Lutsen. Grey is the general contractor for our construction
project.

L to R: Bill, Grey Jordan, Ann Karlberg, Lenert
Karlberg, Sue Jordan, Cindy.

Clare Hansen turned 14 years old today. Cindy
baked her an accordion cake. Clare has been playing the accordion
for nine years. She celebrated by going bowling for the first
time in her life.

14 year old Clare Hansen

2/26/02 – Tonight there is a full moon – and
there hasn’t been a cloud in the sky so far today. Its likely to
be a bright night at Sawbill. I took this picture last night
around 6PM, just as the moon was rising.

An almost full moon rising.

Construction continues to move
along. The sheet-rockers arrived last week and have almost
finished with the new part of the building. The roof isn’t quite
done yet as the crew moved indoors to work on finishing the
ceiling. The eight sky-lights are installed and let in so much
warm natural light. The shelves for the basement will arrive
tomorrow so soon we can start moving things in. – Beth

2/20/02 – Our glimpse of spring
two days ago was followed by 6" of snow yesterday. So much
for the sun tanning – but it means more good skiing. And I got to
plow for the second time this season. Cindy wasn’t around to race
against this time, so I had to battle the clock. I was on world
record setting pace when I ran into some trouble moving the cars
– one of them had a dead battery. After a quick delay to jump
start it, I was off again. And then I got a little too close to
the septic tank – and plowed the cover right off of it. The
exclamation of "Oh Crap" that came from my mouth seemed
fitting for the situation. Holding my breath, I ran over and
hauled the cover back onto the tank. I finished up without
further incident and while I didn’t break the world record, I
think I set a new personal best.

I watched speed skater Derek Parra
set the new world record in the 1500 meter race last night.
Thinking about it afterwards I tried to put it in Sawbill
perspective. 1500 meters is about a mile – which means he could
skate from the Sawbill landing to the Alton portage in one minute
and 43 seconds. Amazing. – Beth

2/18/02 – Lots of people took
advantage of the long President’s Day weekend to do some winter
camping in the area. There were over 20 cars in the parking lot
this weekend – its unusual to have more than one or two on an
average weekend. The lakes are great right now for skiing and
pulling sleds. Some strong winds blew early last week and really
packed down the snow. The traffic on the lake this weekend also
created some good trails. Hopefully, the skiing will last a
little longer. We’ve been luckier than most places in Minnesota
this crazy winter and have had almost a foot of snow on the
ground since around Christmas. However, warm temperatures have
crept in the last couple of days and the snow is beginning to
look a little sparse. But today was so gloriously warm and sunny
I couldn’t even get frustrated that the ski trail was melting in
front of my eyes. The high today was somewhere around 45 degrees.
-Beth

The construction guys have begun
putting the new metal roof on the building and are overjoyed that
the weather is being so cooperative. They were working in just
t-shirts today.

Hans and Don work on their
summer tans.

 

2/14/02 – We received the
following e-mail from Jeffrey Yelich.

Your newsletter got me looking
back in old travel logs and I found my sighting of a tailless
wolf fishing for spawning suckers, May 6, 1998 at the inlet of
Phoebe Lake. My log reads "as I approached the portage to
Grace I could hear flowing water around the bend and passed by
the carry so as to see the inlet. I saw what I first thought was
a deer, then realized it was a wolf minus its tail and  I
silently glided to within 20 yards. Standing on a little
peninsula it was so involved watching the fat exposed backs of
the countless suckers that a full two minutes passed
before it looked around and I was busted. It streaked away
and actually tried to scale a smooth rock wall,I could hear it’s
claws scratching on the rock. It jumped quite a distance up the
wall, but no good. It seemed to pull itself together at that
point and with a backward glance it turned away and walked with
great dignity up the creek bottom. By this time the little boat
and I had drifted into the peninsula which was strewn with fresh
sucker carcasses, one can assume it was the wolf thou I didn’t
see it catch any."

It is possible its still around, I
hope so. This last year was the first in many years that I failed
to visit your area. We did a lot of the western rivers and its a
good time, but I miss the long solo paddles. The jerky is in the
food dryer as I write and the open water season is right around
the corner (April I hope) see you then!

-Jeffrey Yelich

 

2/9/02 – I saw three timber wolves on my way to
pick the kids up from school yesterday afternoon. I can’t be
sure, because they were moving pretty fast, but it appeared that
one of them did not have a tail. A little farther down the road,
I saw a small black critter scurrying across the road. I stopped
for a better look and was surprised to find a star nosed mole. On
the way home, we saw another mole running around on the road. We
stopped and I captured it in my chopper mittens. These unusual
creatures have twenty two fleshy appendages around their noses.
Scientists have recently discovered that the nose star has six
times the sensitivity to touch of the human hand. Star nosed
moles live in colonies around swampy areas and river edges. They
eat worms, insects and crustaceans. They are breeding this time
of year, which probably explains why they are out wandering on
the road. When we let him go, the mole tunneled into the snow
with amazing rapidity. He sank out of sight like a stone with a
shower of snow erupting from his burrow.

The Star Nosed Mole

1/31/02 – We received the following email from
the Forest Service. This would be a great opportunity for some
one with the summer free. They do pay a per diem to cover the
cost of food.

We just found out the two volunteers we had lined
up to spend the summer at
the Kekekabic Cabin in the BWCAW can not make it. I’m putting an
ad in
the Ely Shopper and was hoping that you knew of some potential
volunteers
or ways of getting a recruitment notice out. The volunteers would
be
responsible for routine campsite and portage maintenance as well as
some user
education contacts in the Kekekabic and Knife lakes area.

Thanks for any help you can give getting this message out.

Norma Malinowski
Outdoor Recreation Planner

1/30/02 – Ed Dallas, the poet Laureate of Sawbill
writes:

I need a title for this poem as I can’t think of
a good
one for it. Could you post it on the newsletter and let the
readers submit
ideas for a title?

That early coffee smell,
before it begins morning hike
with campfire smoke through towering pines,
breaks grip of night sleep,
drags me from tent,
grants permission for this lake canoeing day
to burn wild over water trails
until I succumb to temptation
of warm sleeping bag
after watching another sunset
fade deep into the horizon.

Have a good one,
Ed

1/21/02 – Another ex-Sawbill crew baby to
announce: Will Pearson is the new son of former crew Ann Pearson
(Strittmatter) and Marcos Pearson. They currently make their home
in Nicaragua.

Future Sawbill crew member? Will Pearson and his
mom, Ann.

1/18/02 – Just when I think all the dramatic
changes on the construction project are finished, the carpenters
find something else to do that makes everyone’s jaw drop. This
week they removed the wall that separated the offices from the
store along with the ceiling timbers in that area. All of the
paneling and insulation had been removed from the wall and only
the frame was standing so it didn’t seem like it would be that
drastic of a change. But what a difference – the area seems so
much larger than I expected. I’m sure we’ll have no problem
filling it up with all the equipment from the dome.

Last weekend, four former Sawbill crew members –
Sandy Zinn, Ellen Bagnato, Annie Strupeck, and Michelle Thieman
came up for their annual girls ski weekend. They were limited to
skiing around the campground, since there is no snow on any of
the ski trails along the North Shore. But they made the best of
the snowless north and did some hiking on the Superior Hiking
Trail as well as spent lots of time chatting over coffee. We also
had a short visit from current Sawbill crew member Shannon Grace
who stopped by Sawbill with her family last sunday. She is on
winter break from the U of M.

The Sawbill Babes having coffee.

A cold spell has hit us hard today. The low last
night was -15 degrees and its hovering around zero right now.
Reading the thermometer makes it hard to get myself motivated to
go for a little ski, although I can see the beginnings of a
beautiful sunset which sometimes tempts me out of the house.
Today though, I think a book and some hot chocolate sounds like
the better option. – Beth

 

1/14/02 – Ed Dallas, the Poet Laureate of
Sawbill, writes:

ON SECOND THOUGHT
AT THE BREAKFAST TABLE

The article took up half the front page of the morning paper but
it was the
colored picture that told the story. Eleven big trailers, packed
with
snowmobiles, tools, spare parts, clothes and who knows what else,
parked
side by side, out behind a motel in Detroit Lakes, on lake ice
that was
obviously not thick enough. The perfect opportunity for my wife
to say
something like "There’s no law that says you can’t be
stupid." which would
have been a clear reference to our first and only trip to Las
Vegas where,
while under the influence of a rare vintage burgundy from France
(I kept
telling her that they don’t grow grapes like these back home in
Minnesota) I
became convinced that the biggest pile of poker chips I had ever
seen in my
life would "come home too Ma Ma" (how was I to know
that a pair of ladies
would let me down when they had always seemed to work back home,
on Saturday
night down at the VFW). But she just sipped her coffee, knowing
quite well
that if she brought up the subject I would have to remind her of
all those
cases of County Fair pickles we still have down in the basement,
and she
smiled, sweetly, asking if Warroad had beaten the Falls in hockey
last
night.

Have a good one and do pray for some snow,
Ed

1/10/02 – Here is the latest update on the
rebuilding of the Sawbill store. This view is from the front. In
other words, this is what you see when you turn right at the stop
sign and drive up toward the parking lot. This will now be the
"side" of the building and the front will be off to the
right. This will all make more sense when the landscaping is
done.

Looking south at the Sawbill store building.

We are experiencing the same "super
melt" as the rest of the Midwest. Two days ago the high
temperature was 37F and yesterday was 36F. Our foot of snow,
which was the deepest in the state, has shrunk to 6" or
less. I was forced to go running because even the sketchy ski
trails that I have been skiing are ruined. I hope to be able to
ski on the lake once the temperature drops to normal levels. –
Bill

1/4/02 – One of the carpenters working on the
store reconstruction, Hans Mueller, left his lunch box here for
almost two weeks over the holidays. When he returned, we
discovered that he had left a large chunk of ham in the lunchbox.
It had achieved an impressive array of colors while lounging in
our front hall closet. Fortunately, Hans’ lunchbox has a tight
seal. Today is Hans’ 39th birthday. Cindy, never one to let an
opportunity pass, baked him a cake in the shape of a spoiled ham.
It actually tasted quite good, despite the putrid appearance.

Hans Mueller, Grey Jordan, and Don Noyce are
the craftsmen rebuilding the Sawbill Store building.

Sawbill campground hosts, Jim and Rachel
TerBeest, paid a rare winter visit to Sawbill today. They are
vacationing at Bearskin Lodge on the Gunflint Trail and stopped
over for a tour of the construction and dinner.

Jim looks on as Homer plants a wet one on
Rachel.

12/27/01 – Things have been very busy at Sawbill
over the past week. Christmas was celebrated in style with many
of the extended Hansen family present; Karl Hansen and Lee
Stewart were in attendance, as well as Sawbill crew member Emily
Stewart who is currently on winter break from college in
Washington DC. Ruthie Hansen came in from the University of
Chicago for the festivities and everyone joined Frank, MA, Bill,
Cindy, Clare and Carl in the traditional Hansen Christmas fun.

One of the best things about Christmas at Sawbill
is the magnetic effect on Sawbill friends and family near and
far. Former crew-member Pete Glaschagel and his wife stopped in
for a quick pre-Xmas visit, and just today we have been enjoying
catching up with Dave Freeman and Eric "Frosty" Frost
of BigMuddyAdventure.com fame, who are headed into the wilderness
for a week-long winter camping adventure. They were joined
spur-of-the-moment by current and former crew-members Laura
Smith, Jeff Green and Kelsey Grant-Jenkins.

L to R: Ginny, Daver, Kelso, Hellcat, and
Frosty

Work has resumed on the store construction project
after a short break for Christmas. Richard the architect and Don
and Grey the builders are all here and enjoying a warm
coffee-break and fresh-baked pumpkin bread as I write. Snow is
drifting down lightly outside, Clare and Carl are outside
sledding with Homer the dog. All is well at Sawbill. -Ruthie

12/19/01 – Part of the magic of "wild
ice" is that its existence is ephemeral. If you are going to
skate, you have to drop everything and go when the conditions are
favorable. Today four of us skated from Sawbill to the north end
of Cherokee Lake and back. It was snowing lightly most of the
day, but not enough to interfere with skate travel. I did get a
wet foot in the creek north of Ada Lake, but otherwise the ice
was a solid four inches or more everywhere. It took us six hours
for the entire trip, including several snack and conversation
breaks. We saw four sets of extremely fresh wolf tracks on
Sawbill Lake. Their presence was explained by the remains of a
deer right in the middle of the lake. Wolves use bare ice
conditions to their advantage by chasing deer onto the slippery
surface and killing them when they slip and fall down. All that
was left of the deer were a few large hunks of hide. – Bill

The skating voyageurs taker a break on the
north end of Sawbill Lake. Beth prepares to exchange skates for
boots at the start of a portage.

Paul’s unorthodox portaging footwear.
Inspecting the sparse remains of a wolf killed deer on Sawbill
Lake.

12/18/01 – The recent unseasonably warm weather
and rain have had a smoothing effect on the lake ice. OB calls it
a "giant meteorological Zamboni." Today’s cold snap
made ice skating the perfect activity. We made our way over to
Alton, where the ice was even smoother and spent a few happy
hours exploring, playing and admiring the unusual ice formations.
– Bill

From left: Beth Rolf, Paul Lundgren, Homer,
Cindy Hansen, Bill Hansen, and John "OB" Oberholtzer. A
train moves down the track.

A double figure eight takes shape. Incredible
"ice feathers" in the middle of Alton Lake.

12/13/01 – Another Sawbill crew baby to report.
Mike and Leigh MacMillan are the parents of Cade Michael
MacMillan as of December 3rd. Cade was 8 lbs, 7 ozs and
20.5". Mike worked here for several years around the early
’90’s.

Leigh and Cade looking incredibly good. Mike
and Cade looking happy and perplexed respectively.

12/11/01 – This past weekend was filled with
activity. In addition to Carl’s birthday, it was also the weekend
to pick out a Christmas tree. This is a big event and many trees
are considered before The One is found. A beautiful 15′ balsam
fir was agreed upon. The tree was carefully loaded into the back
of the pickup, Homer and Sunnie were boosted into the back of the
cab, then Carl, Clare, Bill, Cindy, and Beth all squeezed in for
a very cozy ride home. – Beth

How about this one?…Maybe that one?….I like
the one over there. Everyone seems happy with the final decision.

Once we piled out of the truck and had refueled
on some birthday cake, it was time for the a little Snow Football
with the Hansen’s friends, Tim and Gus. This game was supposed to
take place over Thanksgiving weekend. However, as there was no
ice on the lake, it was postponed until this weekend. We got a
better workout from all the laughing than from the football
playing since the ice was so slippery with a light covering of
very powdery snow. It was basically impossible to change
directions once you were headed one way. If you did try to shift
directions, you were guaranteed to end up on the ice, sliding
whichever way you were originally aimed. Carl, the birthday boy,
had the play of the game when he ran a kick-off back to score a
touchdown with a wall of defenders surrounding him. Amazingly,
everyone made it through the game with no need for medical
attention. – Beth

I’m trying to stay on my feet, honest.

The construction guys were wishing the sauna was
done after the work they did yesterday. They moved the huge logs
that are standing in front of the store in the picture below.
Each log is almost 10 feet tall, has a diameter of a foot and a
half, and weighs about 600 lbs. The guys moved and stood them up
by hand yesterday. The new roof connecting the old and new
sections of the building (which they just started and you can see
in the photo) will extend over the logs to create the roof over
the new front porch. The windows and new front door went in at
the end of last week. They look really sharp and the logs on the
porch are impressive. – Beth

More than 2 tons of logs were moved into
position yesterday.

12/9/01 – Today was a very festive day at Sawbill
as it’s Carl’s 12th birthday! His day was filled with unwrapping
a pile of colorful presents, eating a huge piece of computer
shaped cake, and playing his new computer games. He seems to be
enjoying 12 a lot.

Homer and Sunnie wish Carl a very happy
birthday.

12/07/01 – Ed Dallas, Sawbill’s Poet Laureate,
e-mailed this today.

I have been trying to come up with a haiku for
the picture of all the cookies and I did today. I can only wonder
just how much baking goes on at Sawbill at this time of year, so
I offer you all this one:

mid-winter diet —

steadfast resolution

after the New Year

 

12/05/01 – A huge cold front blew in last night
with some amazing winds. Cindy counted seven trees down on the
Sawbill Trail when she took the kids to school this morning. She
said one of them was the huge top of a spruce tree that had
landed in the middle of the road, but that section of the road is
surrounded by Alder trees. Who knows where it blew in from. The
temperature is about 20 degrees colder today than yesterday. I
walked down to the lake this afternoon and there is a gentleman
ice fishing about 20 feet off of the landing. He’d been there for
an hour and a half and hadn’t had a bite yet – he was still
optimistic though. He said the ice is about 3" thick, which
is good considering there was standing water covering it
yesterday from so much melting.

The construction crew finished ripping out the
old offices and the ceiling of the store. Right now they’re
insulating the new building and everything is bubble gum pink. It
kind of feels like stepping into Barbie’s Dreamhouse. They’ve
also finished the west wall on the old portion of the building.
In the upper right had corner of the picture you can see the
framework for the chimney of the new fireplace. The guys also
gave the old front of the store a hair-cut of sorts by removing
the overhang in preparation for adding a new roof over the cement
porch. – Beth

The old front of the store will be a screened
in porch. The new front of the store, and the path leading to it.

12/04/01 – Not only were we lucky enough to have
a sunny day yesterday, but we also had a magnificent sunset. I
caught a glimpse of the bright pink and purple clouds from the
office and hustled down to the lake, hoping the show wouldn’t be
over by the time I got there. I caught the last of the sunset and
also found OB down at the lake. He was at Sawbill working on the
new sauna and decided to see if the lake was ready for the first
skate of the year. He checked the ice, found almost 3" and
declared it ready to be skated on. I didn’t have skates but
skidded around on the ice in my boots. We were able to make it
around the point and to the spot where the Forest Service has
their dock before the ice got too thin to continue. It looks like
we won’t be able to skate again for a couple of days. Its over 40
degrees today and the ice is starting to melt a bit. – Beth

OB officially opens the 2001 skating season.

12/03/01 – The sun finally came out today – we’ve
had over a week with gray, cloudy skies. It was glorious to see
the rays of sunshine coming through the window this morning. Its
going to be warm today (probably mid to high 30s) and already the
snow on the tree branches is falling in clumps. Over the weekend,
some otters were enjoying the snow by sliding down the road. We
only saw the tracks left by their fun – about two feet of paw
prints and then another couple feet of belly slide marks, then
more paw prints and another slide. There’s a continuous line of
tracks for probably a quarter mile along the Trail. The otters
weren’t the only critters to go sledding this weekend. Yesterday,
Homer convinced Carl and Clare to go sledding as well. Sunnie
tried to join in, but she’s much happier watching than riding. -Beth

Homer scouts out the route for Carl. "Hey
Clare, how about a little faster?"

12/01/01 – After a full day of outdoor fun,
nothing feels better than a hot, steamy sauna. Luckily, the
Hansens are adding one to their back deck. Andy and OB (yes,
longtime Sawbill crew member OB) are making great progress on it.
In fact, Andy is even here today, on a Saturday, to work on it.
Wonder where OB is? It’d sure be nice if he was here, helping
Andy today so that we could fire that thing up even sooner.

"Oh no, Not yet!"

As its the first day of December, we’re all in
the Christmas mood here at Sawbill. Decorations are going up and
John Denver and the Muppets are singing Christmas carols on the
radio. A few weeks ago Cindy’s mom and sister Sherrie, along with
her two kids, Will and Anna spent the weekend here for their
annual Christmas cookie making marathon. Everyone joins in and,
as Bill puts it, "is forced to make Christmas cookies until
our ears bleed". The fun starts on Friday night and doesn’t
end until Sunday with hundreds of cookies piled everywhere around
the house. – Beth

Details are very important when decorating.
Clare, with years of experience, carefully trims the edge of the
bell. Anna is mastering the art of tiny silver ball placement.

Cindy’s mom Arline wishes she could make lefse
every weekend. Bill shows off his decorating skills as an
obviously impressed Carl looks on.

The Final Masterpieces (and this is only ONE
section of them)

11/30/01 – All of this beautiful snow has fallen
at Sawbill, but there’s not quite enough to ski on yet and the
lake isn’t solid enough for ice skating. However, after all our
work shoveling we decided we needed to have some fun in the snow
even if we couldn’t ski or skate. So we took a look around to see
what we could come up with. We didn’t have to look very far.
After a quick match of rock, paper, scissors to determine who
would drive, we were off (well, at least Beth was).

Cindy’s Indy

I walked outside last night around 10 o’clock and
was amazed at how bright it was. Since there are no lights
anywhere close, the nights here are usually so dark you have to
be careful not to walk into trees (or the occasional large
construction hole). But last night, with the fresh snow on the
ground, the branches of the evergreens still blanketed in white
and an almost full moon, it seemed like dawn had arrived far too
early. A light cloud cover seemed to diffuse and spread out the
moonlight. (The moon is full tonight – which will be a blue moon.
There was also a full moon on November 1st). I headed down to the
lake, hoping to catch a glimpse any animals that might be out for
the evening. Standing at the intersection of the Sawbill Trail
and the road down to the lake, I could clearly see the lake. Once
I got to the canoe landing, I had no trouble seeing the opposite
shore. It was tempting to test the ice to see how far out I could
get, but I knew it would quickly turn into a swim as the
temperature was near 30 degrees yesterday. I didn’t see any
animals last night, but maybe tonight as its sure to be just as
bright.

 

11/29/01 – Shortly after dark last night, Cindy
and Beth stumbled back into the house after their highly
anticipated plowing bet (See yesterday’s entry). Although at the
beginning it looked like it might be a neck and neck race, it
soon became clear who would be the winner. Cindy started right in
on the driveway while Beth struggled to get the truck door open.
Cindy was half done with the parking lot before Beth had even
started the truck. Cindy finished up by shoveling the new porch
on the store about the time Beth figured out how to make the plow
turn. In the end, Cindy finished shoveling out all of Sawbill in
approximately an hour and a half. She spent the rest of the time
helping Beth back the truck down the driveway. Thankfully, we
didn’t get any more snow today – Cindy’s arms are a bit tired.

Cindy the Victorious holding the Golden Shovel.

We’ve been showing you all of the changes that
have been happening at Sawbill during the construction. We
decided it was time to show you the people who have been working
so hard to make the new building take shape. Through rain, wind,
snow and cold they keep tearing down walls and putting up new
ones.

Grey, Steve, Don and Hans are rarely seen
without a power tool in hand.

11/28/01 – Winter has finally arrived at Sawbill.
A light snow has been falling steadily for the past two days, and
about 5" has accumulated on the ground. The lake also froze
last night. The ice is still very thin (about 1/4") but
there is almost no snow covering it so we’re hoping for some good
skating ice by the weekend. Frank reported that all of the lakes
along the Grade Road into Grand Marais were frozen this morning,
except for Crescent Lake.

Homer and Sunnie can’t wait for the ice skating
to start.

The construction projects continues to make big
strides despite the winter weather. The final inside wall came
down this week and almost all of the outside walls are in place.

Inside the old building. The door in the
background is the old front door.

Since the snow is piling up, it means we have to
plow for the first time this winter. As Bill is out of town,
Cindy and Beth are in charge of snow removal. Although both are
experts with snow shovels, they fall into the novice category
when it comes to plowing with the pick-up. During the discussion
of plowing, a wager emerged as to which would be quicker, Cindy
using the shovel or Beth plowing with the truck for the first
time. They’ve been out there for hours and there’s no sign of
them yet. We’ll let you know how it turns out.

On your mark, get set…

 

11/16/01 – The carpenters have torn out almost
the entire west wall of the store building. The destruction part
of the project is almost over.

Two views of the Sawbill store building where
it attaches to the new building. Ventilation is excellent at the
moment.

11/12.01 – We’ve been enjoying a streak of
unseasonably warm weather. The construction project is benefiting
(pictures coming soon).

Our resident Gray Jays are busy at the feeders.
We have two distinct tribes of jays that live near us. Clare
feeds them from her hand on a regular basis and in now able to
identify individuals. The family that visits most often has one
very friendly member, that readily sits on Clare’s hand and looks
at her with a cheerful eye. It has another member that will
reluctantly eat from her hand, but always is slightly suspicious.
The third is always shy and will only come within about eight
feet of Clare despite her best efforts to win its trust. Last
night the spring peepers were quietly calling. They were
obviously hopeful that winter is over and spring has arrived.
They are in for a rude shock soon.

Rick Grupe took this beautiful picture more
than two weeks ago. The icicles are all gone now, but will return
soon

10/31/01 – Many things have been happening here
at Sawbill. In fact, it has been so busy that updating the
newsletter has been difficult. Here is a recap:

Yesterday, the trusses were installed on the
store building addition.

The boom truck lifts trusses into place. Crew
member Max Wilson and contractor Grey Jordan nail them into
place.

Over the weekend, we had our store moving party.
Ten former Sawbill crew members and friends spent two days moving
every last thing out of the store building and tore out a good
portion of the inside of the store. A huge Sawbill thank you to
every one for lending a hand. We couldn’t have done it alone.

The moving and tear-out crew in the upper store
with all the merchandise, shelving and slat wall removed. . Back
row left to right: Bill, Max Wilson, Beth Rolf, Bill Kubiak,
Betsy Moyer, Rick Grupe, Steve Hedman, Natasha Warner, John
"OB" Oberholtzer, Mary Pat Grupe. Paul Lundgren,. Front
row left to right: Bob Kubiak, Dee Hedman, Cindy, Ellen Lock. The
other picture is the inside of the lower part of the store minus
the old ceiling, shelving, partition walls, and paneling.

How many crew members does it take to move a
safe? Three of Sawbill’s "most senior" ex-crew declare
it "M

We had our traditional annual pumpkin carving
party with the usual participation of the Winter/Dornfeld family
from Owatonna, MN. Carol Winter is a former Sawbill crew member.

Betsy, Natasha, Max and Beth attack their
pumpkins with vigor. And, the frightening results.

10/18/01 – Late breaking news from Steve and Kate
Surbaugh:

Hello,
 
Our little addition to the family has finally arrived!  Kate
gave birth to 7lbs 12 oz and 20.5 inch William Ferguson Surbaugh
at 1:40 AM this morning.  Mother and baby are very healthy
and the father is very proud of both of them.  Kate was the
star of the floor last night with all of the nurses bragging that
she waited until she was 8 centimeters dilated before going into
the hospital and giving birth with no medications.  

Steve

William Ferguson
Surbaugh with his proud parents, former Sawbill crew members Kate
and Steve Surbaugh

10/18/01 –

Ed Dallas, Sawbill’s Poet Laureate, sent this
poem this morning:

AN OLD CANVAS CANOE PACK

Drab green
two shoulder straps
heavy with to much stuff,
at portage trails when I lift it
I curse.

Here are some current pictures of the
construction project.

A cement deck and retaining wall will support
the new screen porch. The walls start to take shape over the new
basement.

I got a call from Jack Blackwell, grandson of
Alec Boostrom. Jack said the cabin pictured below was actually
built by someone else in the early ’70’s. Alec’s cabin was
located near this one. The cabin pictured was a few courses of
logs and then had a tent erected on top of the logs. Jack spent a
lot of time in the woods with his grandfather when he was a
teenager and has many great stories about life in the wilderness
during the first half of the 20th century. – Bill

10/10/01 – Max and I had a wonderful one day
canoe trip yesterday. We visited the remnants of an old trappers
cabin deep inside the wilderness. We were lucky enough to have a
beautiful day and saw three moose – including a magnificent bull
(sorry, no pictures). There were only a few logs of the tiny
cabin remaining. We were careful not to disturb the site, but the
artifacts on top were mostly pretty modern. Alec Boostrom was a
Native American who had a string of these small cabins along his
extensive trap lines up until 1967.

The old trapper’s cabin with an air tight wood
stove, and old bucket and other artifacts, including a Converse
tennis shoe.

Some old fish hooks.

10/08/01 – Progress on our construction project
slowed to a crawl today as some apprentice block layers were on
the job.

Cindy pursues her new trade. Homer and Jack
supervise the job.

10/6/01 – We closed the front doors of the store
building today to pour footings and nature rebelled by pelting
snow off and on all day.

Yes, that is snow pelting down on the
construction site. The canoe are covered with a light layer this
morning.

The basement portion of the project is done and
was immediately taken advantage of.

Cindy, Beth, Rick and Lance (cement
contractors) play doubles in the new, underground Sawbill tennis
facility.

 

10/1/01 – After several years of planning, our
big construction project is underway here at Sawbill. We are
adding several additions to the store building and will be
extensively remodeling the inside of the building too. The
equipment rental will be back in the store building, just as it
was before we built the Dome in 1974. The Dome will still stand,
but will be used for "back of the house" functions.

The cement crew works overtime on the new
basement tonight. Picture taken from near the shower house.

9/28/01 – I’ve been remiss in failing to call
your attention to Big
Muddy Adventure.com. Former Sawbill crew members Dave Freeman
and Eric Frost, along with their partner Mike Clark, are paddling
the entire length of the Mississippi River. Many of you will
recall Dave’s epic trek across the length of the BWCA Wilderness
last winter. Big Muddy Adventure is a similar educational effort
with school kids participating via the web. You can see their
daily journal at the link above.

Dave Freeman and Eric "Frosty" Frost
in obvious pain and suffering as they explore the Big Muddy.

9/24/01 – Our annual used equipment sale has
begun. Check out the Used Equipment For
Sale page for some great deals on used gear.

Sawbill Outfitters is a proud member of Northeastern Minnesotans For
Wilderness which is working to organize the many people who
support the wilderness and happen to live in northeastern
Minnesota. Visit their site for more information on BWCA
Wilderness issues and what you can do to help protect the BWCA
Wilderness.