Issuu

Ely Winter Times

2023-2024

Please thank our advertisers for this free publication. The Ely Summer and Winter Times is published twice a year by Raven Words Press. For editorial information or advertising rates, contact us at PO Box 188, Ely, MN 55731, 218-365-3375. For a subscription within the US, send check or money order for $8.00 or order at our website, www.RavenWordsPress.com. Archived issues can be found there and at issuu.com. We also publish the Boundary Waters & Quetico Calendar, available at RavenWordsPress.com. © 2023 Raven Productions Inc.

CONTENTS A Wilderness Legacy Volunteering in Ely Ely Area Quarries Winter Trail Recipes An Ely Update Dining Guide Winter Kids

3 11 20 29 34 36 40

Books for Blizzards The Cabin Blue Thumb Arts Resources & Galleries Spiritual Gatherings Ely Area Calendar Ely Area Maps

45 49 55 60 61 62 70

The Ely Igloo Snowmobile Club was the first snowmobile club in the U.S. in 1960. 3

Designed to be a global conference location, the Conference Center at Steger Wilderness Center rises our ot the wilderness.

Will Steger’s Vision Simplicity, serenity, and selfsufficiency are gifts the wilderness gives to those who seek them, and often also to those who don’t realize they need them. They are abundant at the Steger Wilderness Center, generously bestowed on students, staff, and visitors. Like sunshine on seedlings, these qualities induce growth without much effort on the part of those doing the growing. New perspectives sprout as, relieved of the distractions of media and the expectations of modern life, awareness of the natural world and the place of humanity within it grows. Community living fertilizes compassion. Hope becomes part of the landscape on both a personal and global level. Intentions blossom into the fruits of material and social change, spreading seeds that may transform the planet.

That’s a lot of heady thought to describe a place grounded in hard physical work to provide shelter, food, water, and other necessities of daily human life. But it’s a reflection of Will Steger’s way of being in the world. Will is tough on a physical and mental level, as any polar explorer would need to be. At age 79 he still does two-months-long solo expeditions in the Arctic every year

CAMP VOYAGEUR

A camp for boys 10-18 with water and land sports plus wilderness canoe trips. Guided trips for girls. Located at the edge of the Boundary Waters Wilderness. 800-950-7291 • www.campvoyageur.com 2023-2024

The Conference Center tower alight at night.. 5

The sketch of the Conference Center. to recharge his soul and reaffirm his commitment to changing how humans impact the natural world. The Steger Center is also tough, with cabins and workshops built mostly from materials in the surrounding forest, gardens eked out of rocky soil, paths worn from foot traffic enhanced by occasional shovel work, and an open-air summer kitchen where hearty meals are made from simple ingredients, and refrigeration is provided from the previous winter’s cold, stored in the ice house. Yet at the center of it is an amazing structure that is symbolic of the transformation Will seeks. The Conference Center building design was first sketched on a scrap of paper while Will and fellow explorers were pinned down in their tents during a days-long blizzard in Antarctica. Like

The Crossing Antarctica team, 1989 (photo by Will). It was taken on the Larsen B ice shelf, which broke up 12 years later–a victim of the warming climate. many other geniuses such as Albert Einstein and Steven Spielberg, Will was identified as being “slow” during his school years. He considers this lucky because he was put into a tradesoriented track where he learned drafting. This, along with skills in woodworking, carpentry, and stone masonry, served him well in constructing the Conference Center as well as his homestead. Will’s long-range vision for this amazing building is as a retreat for world leaders to participate in conferences that will have global significance for world peace, humanitarianism, and climate change. The film After Antarctica has won many awards and been featured at famous film festivals worldwide, as well as last year’s End of the Road Film Festival in Ely with Will in attendance. See AfterAntarctica.com for more about the expedition and a trailer.

The Ely Winter Times

The wilderness setting, rather than the building itself, is the most significant part of that view, allowing participants to be influenced by the miraculous characteristics of nature and so become inspired to change how humanity treats the planet and one another. “Nothing like this exists,” says Will. “There is no model to emulate. We are starting with a pilot program in 2024 and expect it to be less than a decade before it becomes an international conference venue. I hope to be around to see it.” That dream has begun with steps that seem small compared to the accomplishments that will be required to achieve the full measure of the dream. But everything worthwhile starts with an idea and small steps. People are already coming to the Steger Center for projects that improve the world in small ways and

their lives in big ways. One of these is the Summit Academy OIC project, a collaboration between the Center and Summit Academy in Minneapolis. Selected from their Summit classmates, two group of students each summer develop their trade skills with hands-on learning at the Steger Center. Summit Academy OIC students, ages 22-50, are provided with a no-out-ofpocket-costs education focused on ensuring they will have careers as wellqualified professionals. (OIC stands for Opportunities Industrialization Centers. These were established in 1964 in response to the lack of employment and job training programs in African American communities. These programs, now available in several states to people who are financially challenged regardless of race or culture, offer

Will’s cabin overlooking Picketts Lake 2023-2024

opportunity to individuals who might otherwise have a limited chance of earning a middle-class income.) 90% are placed in good jobs right after graduation, earning an income that will allow them to purchase a home and support a family or pursue other interests with further education. The other 10% may be starting their own business or taking a break but moving into the work force within the next year. The three weeks at the Steger Center are the culmination of a 20-week course of fulltime study. In the wilderness setting they learn much more than skills, finding the value in sustainability, environmental protection, and community. They have also learned to enjoy fishing, paddling, wildlife watching, and campfires after long days of hard work.

Beth has been a carpentry instructor and mentor to students in the Construction program at Summit Academy since its inception ten years ago. Now good friends with Will, she comes to Ely to kayak when on vacation and for the Center’s Ice Ball in winter–the annual party for cutting and storing ice for summer refrigeration. When the collaboration with Summit began, Beth took on the role of supervising and instructing the students during their time in Ely as they practice every aspect of building cabins from foundation to

This bunkhouse will be completely built by the Summit students. The Ely Winter Times

The photos in this article were provided by John Ratzloff, pictured here with his dog, Jasper, in his wall tent at the Center, where he lived for many summers. roofing. Seeing the students develop their confidence, skill level, and appreciation for working together is the reward that keeps her coming back every year. Benj was one of last summer’s students who especially enjoyed fishing. He was surprised at how comfortable the lifestyle at the Steger Center is, given that the usual amenities of running water, flush toilets, and AC at the flick of a switch were entirely missing. He learned that an outhouse doesn’t have to be

smelly and a dip in the lake is more pleasant than dialing up the AC. Benj was impressed that his teachers were so knowledgeable and could teach so effectively. Glad to have this chance to get more hands-on experience than if he hadn’t been selected for the Steger group, he is grateful that Summit gave

Preparations for a banquet before a concert by Annie Humphrey. Music is an important part of the fun at the Center. 2023-2024 9

Hauling out a chunk of ice. him an education he could not have afforded without their financial aid. Damarius was in a bad situation when he heard about Summit Academy on the radio. He had done well in a woodworking shop class in high school, but now at age 27 he knew he needed a change in his life, so he “went for it.” He was granted an interview right away after applying, started the program soon, and after 17 weeks was hand-picked by Beth to be part of the Steger group. He found the self-sufficient lifestyle was not a hassle, loved sleeping in a cabin, and sat by the campfire every night. On completing the course, he had a job waiting for him as a carpenter with a residential contractor. His income will allow him to provide a comfortable home with his two-year-old daughter and her mother.

As great as the Summit Academy program is, it is a small fraction of what happens now and what is planned for the future at the Steger Center. Will developed his appreciation for experiential learning when he worked at the Voyageur Outward Bound School in Ely in the early 1970s. After receiving his Masters degree in Education, he designed programs for K-12 in a traditional school setting, but came to believe that skill-based learning provided a more effective education. The rest of the pages in this magazine would not be enough to document Will’s accomplishments, which include founding many non-profits focused on climate change and other environmental crises, leading record-holding polar expeditions to the North and South poles, writing books, building his

Aurora, a Center instructor, works with Conservation Corps members learning the art of dry stone construction. 10

The Ely Winter Times

homestead near Ely, creating Lynx Track School to teach dogsledding and other winter skills, and networking with international leaders and business people to fund and develop programs to support the next generation of advocates for a healthy planet. For 30 years his dream of the Center fueled work at his property. He dogsledded a million pounds of gravel from a pit three miles away to make the foundation for the Conference Center. Eventually he realized he needed a road to the property, which had been accessible only by boat in summer and dogteam or skis in winter. He built cabins and workshops, created a large solar installation, and continued to develop programs to help others learn the skills for self-sufficiency, putting every cent and every spare hour

into making his place a wilderness learning retreat. Many of the non-profits Will founded are still active, including Climate Generation and the Global Center for Environmental Education now at Hamline University. During the pandemic, as the reality of mortality came to the front of everyone’s mind, Will worked with lawyers to give away all his property and assets. Everything was donated to the 501c3 nonprofit, The Steger Center for Innovation and Leadership. The Steger Center nonprofit is managed by a board and will ensure the continuation of Will’s efforts beyond his lifetime. But for now he hopes for another decade of active involvement in bringing his dream into reality, forging the relationships that will establish a

The 2023 Women’s Timberframe class works on a strut for the bell tower to be part of the Convention Center. 2023-2024

have. But he is humble, loving to spend his summer and autumn days doing the carpentry and daily chores at the Center and hanging out with the students and visitors. The necessity of fundraising and networking to keep his programs actively serving young people takes over his winter months, then in April he’s off for his solo trip in the far North, and finally back to his beloved homestead to oversee more hands-on learning and the last details of constructing the Center. “Transformation is a big word, not to be used casually,” says Will. But the concept is one he has dedicated his life to. One that has created a legacy of learning by doing, living with wilderness, Erecting the tower. The bell will be hung next summer. and caring for our planet and all its people. Will’s vision is nothing short of global effort to reduce climate change transformation on a global scale. and its devastating impact on humanity, as well as improve life on Earth for many Learn more or offer support to the generations to come. Steger Center at StegerCenter.org. See There are not a lot of people who are Will’s books at Piragis Bookstore or find able to have as strong an influence on the them at the Ely Public Library. world as Will has had and will continue to

The Ely Winter Times

HELP WANTED Experience not necessary. Must have positive attitude. Variety of jobs for Ely organizations. Pay $0.00/hour. Benefits include appreciation, friendship, and feelin’ good. Contact your favorite organization asap.

Prospector Trail Club

Volunteering in Ely Do you have a skill you’d enjoy sharing? Whether you can mop a floor, balance a checkbook, sing a song, maintain heavy machinery, explain how rtners Northwoods Pa to solve a math problem, identify bird songs, take a pulse, coach a kid, fix a plumbing problem, write a letter, make a friend, package groceries, drive to Duluth, or do any of a hundred other useful tasks, there is a place for you to volunteer in Ely. Like hundreds of other Elyites, you can improve your life while contributing to one of the reasons Ely is such a wonderful place to live. Wait. What? Improve MY life? Isn’t volunteering about making things better for someone else? Well, yes. But research has shown that as little as two hours a week of volunteer activity can make you happier and even have physiological benefits. It’s not hard to recognize that, for those not so fond of the cold, an Ely winter can be made more bearable by getting out of the house to do something enjoyable with a group of friends plus have the Northern La kes Arts

Ely Fire Dept

Ely Community Resource

2023-2024

satisfaction of helping others. Reduced stress, anxiety, and loneliness are part of what researchers propose as reasons volunteers are healthier than their nonvolunteering counterparts, but exactly why volunteers would have better measurements for cholesterol and a lower rate of death over the years measured needs more study. Let’s meet a few of the hundreds of volunteers who make Ely a better place: Mike is an Ely native who left for a portion of his career life and returned for retirement. Hard to call it retirement when he works tirelessly as a volunteer for the City of Ely, the Rod and Gun club, Ely Igloo Snowmobile Club, and the Prospector Trail ATV group. Among other

Ely Youth Ski League and all kids sports need volunteer coaches. You don’t have to be good at the sport! 14

tasks, Mike maintains the machinery used to groom the area’s motorized trails, takes his turn stoking the wood burner at the Ely Igloo garage all winter, joins with others to organize the big fundraising rides like the Fun Run and Prospector Loop ATV trips, is a major force in the creation and clearing of the trails, sets out and picks up the signs on area lakes that guide snowmobilers on a safe route, helps decide the rules for cemetery maintenance, and is one of the decision makers regarding city planning. Mike would like to see younger people volunteering. The trail work is recreational and social–traveling along beautiful trails with friends, pitching in to remove fallen trees and encroaching brush, building and maintaining the bridges, and enjoying a picnic at the end of a good day’s work. Kids love to join in these activities where they learn useful life skills and come to realize that hard work can be fun–a concept too often missing from young lives today. As much as Mike volunteers, he is very committed to his favorite activity– fishing, which he often shares with his grandkids. “The hours you spend fishing don’t count toward your life expectancy,” he claims. Maybe that’s why he still looks young and has so much energy for good deeds. Ely has lots of ways to volunteer for outdoor work. Ely Community Resource needs people to help with outings for kids. Ely Field Naturalists needs amateur naturalists to be part of the Christmas The Ely Winter Times

These volunteers installed a permit collection box.

Some volunteering is just for fun, like carving gnomes along the Prospector Trail 2023-2024

Meet Linda, a born, raised, and always-lived-here Elyite. She loves to craft and she’s a good organizer, skills honed teaching in Ely’s elementary school for 35 years. Now in retirement, she puts her talents to use in the service of Ely Northwoods Partners as a major force behind their fundraising activities, including the 21-year tradition of the Festival of Trees in November and a party-like fundraising dinner in early summer. Both events require themes, silent auction set-ups, and seeking out donations and other volunteers to help. © ECR

Bird Counts and occasional bio-blitzes. Volunteers can go on a guided Boundary Waters trip with the Forest Service or Friends of the Boundary Waters for just the cost of helping to maintain portages and giving campsites some TLC. For those more inclined to indoor activities, Northwoods Partners is a great choice for volunteering. Some of the tasks are driving, shopping, taking a senior to lunch and hearing their stories, teaching an exercise class, giving a caregiver a break for an hour or two, and crafting holiday ornaments.

Kids volunteer to help protect lakes from invasive species in the ECR Water Project. Adults are needed too. 15

The fundraising committee has lots of fun thinking up entertaining party themes and the activities, food, and decor to go with them. Last June’s theme was Rock Around the Clock, and past dinners have featured Lumberjacks, Octoberfest, and 1920s gaiety. Posters go up well ahead of time so attendees can search out appropriate costumes (optional). This activity was sadly missed during the height of the pandemic and had a welcome return in 2021. The 2024 theme will be “The Wild, Wild West.” The Festival of Trees features 30 to 40 fully decorated holiday trees and wreaths donated by individuals and groups. There is also a boutique of hand-

crafted gifts and the Chairs for Care auction. Linda finds chairs at garage sales, flea markets, and sometimes free alongside the road. Then she looks for artists willing to donate their time and materials to create a one-of-a-kind piece of furniture, often with an Ely-themed finish. One of the most popular items at the holiday event, the chairs provide an opportunity for holiday shoppers to purchase a unique gift. In addition to being active on the committee, Linda creates ornaments, centerpieces, wall hangings, wreaths, yard and porch decor, and more to donate to the Festival sale and decorate for events. She had been on several non-

This year’s Festival of Trees starts with the lighting ceremony Nov 19th 7pm with bids accepted until noon on Dec. 3rd. 16 The Ely Winter Times

profit boards in the past, but found her niche within Northwoods Partners. If rubbing shoulders with youngsters is more to your liking, you could volunteer with Ely Community Resource. They need afterschool homework helpers, Reading Pals during the school day, chaperones for field trips, and help with fundraisers and wrapping gifts for the Holiday Project. A larger commitment is required to be in their youth mentoring program, which pairs an adult with a child who needs another caring person in their life. Weekly or biweekly meetings can include outings or hobbies with mutual interest. Trainings and sharing with other mentors are part of the program. Dedication is what’s required for a teen-ager to get up early on dark winter Saturday mornings. Grace is a dedicated high school senior who does just that in order to coach the girls’ youth basketball program. She runs drills and stations as the elementary school students work to

develop the skills needed to become part of Ely’s outstanding Girls’ Varsity team. When Grace was a child, aspiring to be as accomplished at basketball as her twin aunts were 20 years earlier, she was part of that program. The coaching she received and her eventual success on the team has given her the inspiration to pass it on to today’s young girls, joining her aunts and a few high school friends as they teach dribbling, passing, shooting, and the rules of the game every weekend from early December to midMarch. Grace volunteers in other ways, too. In Key Club, managed by Ely Community Resource, she joined more high school students to do community service reaching far beyond Ely. They raised money for a UNICEF project to provide school books to children in Africa. Closer to home they decorate for holidays at Carefree and Boundary Waters Care Center. Grace also helped out as a teacher’s aide in the elementary

In 1971 Linda was Miss Ely.

More than 80 volunteers help out homebound people 2023-2024

Hanging an Art Walk display in the Ely State Theater

Belting out a song in the Spring Musical

school, grading papers, helping with gym time, and working with students who needed extra help. Although she has a very full life being in three sports and president of Student Council, as well as a summer job at her family’s outfitting business, volunteering is important to her as a means of having positive experiences that give back to the community. She is also giving younger players a positive role model to look up to. There are many sports opportunities for Ely youth, and a small army of volunteers are needed to make them happen. Chances are that whatever sport you enjoy, there is a program that would welcome your participation, ensuring healthy activities for the kids and providing you with new friends. Ely’s exciting arts community has an abundance of chances to get involved whether you have artistic talents or are primarily an arts consumer. Interest is more important thatn expertise! Audition for Fiddler on the Roof, the Ely Spring

Musical, or check with Northern Lakes Arts to help build sets, create costumes, or run tech. The Ely Art Walk always needs help to hang displays, coordinate artists and store owners, and create an impressive reception. At different times of year you could join the community choir, the city band, or the cast of a play. Matt is another volunteer you should meet. Since sixth grade he has lent his talents to theatrical productions. He started as Pumbaa in the elementary school’s production of The Lion King and has moved on to supporting roles in many school and community productions. A 2023 graduate of Ely High School, Matt’s job in the maintenance department at MN North Vermilion College gives him free time for rehearsals in the evenings. He likes to arrive early and go through his lines and is often “off book” after just a few rehearsals. Having learned others’ lines as well, he can surreptitiously cue actors

Morse Responders train frequently

The Ely Winter Times

who have momentary memory lapses. Matt has a pleasing singing voice that projects well, a natural gift for infusing his acting with humor, and an ability to memorize quickly. He loves getting reactions from the audience, especially laughs. That might be reward enough, but he also has developed lasting friendships through his participation and even landed a paying job on stage last summer as a chorus member in Root Beer Lady. This winter Matt will be helping out back stage with Frozen and is looking forward to singing and dancing in Fiddler on the Roof. If you like working with animals, Ely is the perfect place. Contented Critters is a no-kill shelter just outside of town. The rescued pups, kitties, calves, piglets, and

more need loving, play time, and of course, being cleaned up after. Both the International Wolf Center and North American Bear Center welcome volunteers in many different capacities. The Wolf Track Sled Dog races need people to help out mushers at the start and finish, staff aid stations, and manage road crossings. Not everyone wants to be a firefighter or respond to 911 emergency calls. But for those who do, free training is available with Morse-Fall Lake Fire and EMS. Wanting to give back to the community, Jake joined the department three years ago. Like most business owners, he already works more than full time, but managed to devote the many hours it takes for the extensive training. What

Contented Cats play with a helper at Contented Critters

Sled dogs and mushers need the help of handlers

2023-2024

to create theses skills,” he says. “So I could help everyone and give back to the community. Joe has also gone to undeveloped countries to provide health care to those who have no other options. “Not everybody can go to a clinic. I want to serve everyone, so this is one way to do that.” If health care is an area you’d like to offer time to, check with Ely Community Health Care. In addition to the doctors, they could use clerical help, fundraising, grant writing, receptionists, nurses, and EMTs. The Senior Center is building a new role in the community–not just for seniors. They have been hosting craft fairs, cooking classes, community makes it worth the effort? “Seeing the dances, and other gatherings for all ages. relief people feel when someone shows Most of the activities held there, from up to help,” says Jake. Helping others Bingo to ping-pong to bridge, are open to was all he expected to get out of his all ages. All the workers there are volunteer work, but in addition he found volunteers, most well into retirement. a sense of camaraderie that means a lot. Some younger folks would be a welcome “Everyone helps everyone else, even on addition to their board and staff. If you a personal level,” he observes. All the fire are good at home maintenance, or just departments in the area are made up of shoveling, your help would mean a lot. If volunteers, and most are looking for you are the type to get things done, you could form a committee to work on additional help. Joe is another person working long reinstituting the affordable lunch hours, but still volunteering. One of Ely’s program that was popular but fizzled out family practice physicians, he also takes with the pandemic. These meals time to see patients at the free clinic. provided nutritious meals and important “This is why I went to school and worked social time to folks who might otherwise

The Ely Winter Times

open a can of soup and watch a soap opera at home. The commercial kitchen is underused at the moment. So much potential here! Stop by and take a look. Ely’s non-profit boards are often looking for new members who can bring fresh ideas and fill in with needed skills other members lack. Steve, a frequent visitor turned 9-month-a-year resident since retirement, has done just that for the Ely Folk School. With much hard work and occasional hard times, Steve and his wife developed their own architecture firm in the Tampa Bay area. Their experience with envisioning and then creating a large profitable company from the ground up is now benefitting one of Ely’s most popular and successful non-profits. Some other members of the board had business experience, but Steve’s connections with a professional grant writer and his expansive vision of how the Folk School could grow has brought a new perspective to this sevenyear-old enterprise. Working closely with the staff and other board members, he has helped them imagine a larger campus that would allow additional programs such as woodworking, longer and more advanced class offerings in popular subjects, and better pay and benefits for staff. Other non-profit boards in Ely are looking to round out the skill set of their members. If you feel particularly drawn to the mission and activities of one of Ely’s non-profits, find another board member or speak to the executive director about joining their board. All participants in Ely’s city boards, commissions, and committees are volunteers. About half need to be city residents, but those living outside the city limits are welcome to these important groups that make decisions impacting the everyday lives of area citizens. Most positions require only a few hours a month. Some of the groups are the Police Commission, the Library Board, the Parks and Rec Committee, the Preservation Committee–focusing on historic and cultural locations, the Project 2023-2024

Committee–managing a big budget and setting priorities for infrastructure improvements, the Tree Board, and the Utilities Commission. There are several more, so if you have an area of expertise or just an interest in city governance, there are plenty of ways to contribute. Of course, there are elected positions too, including the city council and mayor, so you can find opportunities to fit your schedule and desired level of commitment. Have you noticed an unmet need in the Ely community? Start your own nonprofit and recruit volunteers. Your good idea could become another reason Ely is such a great place to live, and if current research is right, you’ll live longer to enjoy this place. Ely Facebook pages are one way to find the volunteer job that’s right for you. Visit the places mentioned here online or in person, look at posters for events, go to a newcomers gathering at the Folk School, ask around. It won’t be hard to find something fun and rewarding. 21

Coldspring Stone’s Quarry on the New Tomahawk Rd.

Mining Stone Most people know that the steel in American cities’ modern and historic skyscrapers, bridges, and industrial structures is partly composed of iron mined in our neck of the woods. Far fewer people are aware that stone mined here is part of dramatically designed interiors of those same skyscrapers, striking architecture in city parks and public spaces, and touching memorials including the 9/11 Memorial in New York City and the 35W Bridge Collapse Memorial in Minneapolis. Two Minnesota-based companies work the quarries near Ely–Coldspring

Stone in Cold Spring and Kasota Stone in Mankato. There are three Coldspring quarries in the area and one Kasota Stone, each employing four to ten people at their quarries. These are highly skilled workers who specialize in one of the machines used to assess, cut, drill, and shape the stone, but each person is capable of running some of the other equipment and doing the general maintenance required to pump rainwater out of the pit, ensure the machinery is running smoothly, and maintain a safe work environment. These employees are well paid with good benefits and never

The Ely Winter Times

Mesabi Black Granite

Lake Superior Green

Echo Lake Granite

Kasota Superior Northern Granite Ely area stone as sold for installations get laid off because the demand for stone is high and fluctuates very little. Semis with 75-foot long trailers are sometimes seen in Ely or Babbitt and along Highways 1 and 2 on the way to the North Shore. They carry a block of stone that may appear rather small and insignificant on such a big platform, set

A saw at the Kasota quarry in the middle of the trailer bed. It may look unassuming, but this chunk weighs up to 52,000 pounds and can be shaped into a dozen or more headstones for graves, countertops for many kitchens, a long wall for a mausoleum, or a walkway in a public park.

Coldspring Stone’s Mesabi Black Quarry 2023-2024

WINTER SURVIVAL REPAIR At Joe’s Marine & Small Engine Repair Chainsaws, snowblowers, generators. Mechanics are on duty and parts are in stock. 25 W. Chapman St., 219-365-6264 Loads over 52,000 pounds require special permits and specialized equipment. You may occasionally see one of these accompanied by oversize load warnings. Be sure you stay in your lane on these roads. Such a load makes stopping fast or swerving very difficult. At the quarry on the New Tomahawk Road between Highway 1 and Babbitt, Coldspring mines gabbro that is sold as Mesabi Black granite. This is a full time operation that provides stone for many projects at once. Lake Superior Green, a similar stone but with a greener tint due more of the mineral olivine, is quarried at Coldspring’s operation on the Wanless Road in Isabella. This is done only for special orders, moving the equipment from the Tomahawk operation to produce what is needed. On Echo Lake, near the north end of the Echo Trail, is a third Coldspring quarry that produces a pinker stone, mined mostly for specific customer orders. Kasota’s local quarry is off the South Kawishiwi Road. Their quarried and processed stone is sold as Superior Northern Granite. The Kasota quarry is working in a rare formation with unusually few vertical seams. Such seams, which can be

This memorial at Red Lake is made from Mesabi Black. thousands of feet deep, determine the maximum size of a quarried piece since the rock fractures along them. The lack of seams allows Kasota to quarry blocks up to 20 feet long, limited only by the ability to transport it. Both companies have been in business for well over 100 years, but their Ely area operations are closer to 30 years old. Both are headquartered in Minnesota, but have quarries in many different locations throughout the U.S. They pride themselves on the quality and sustainability of both their operations and their products. Stone is a very “green” substance and can last for centuries, unlike concrete. The mining process uses only water on the land, although of course plenty of fuel is needed to operate the

The Ely Winter Times

Close up of unpolished stone showing metamorphosis machinery and transport the blocks. There is no slag or contaminated run-off. When operations cease, any leftover rock or dirt is put back in the hole created by extracting the blocks. It is likely that it will fill with water and become a small lake. The areas around the pits that are impacted from industrial use will be reforested. State geologists have done extensive mapping to find suitable quarry sites. These are leased to stone processing companies on a bid basis. The companies pay royalties to the DNR and U.S. Forest Service. That money supports schools if it is from state land. Federal land payments go to the National Treasury with a portion retained locally to cover administrative expenses. The desirable stone is igneous rock that was a more recent (geologically speaking) intrusion into the surrounding metamorphic rock that was created by material deposited in ancient shallow seas a billion years ago and hardened by millions of years of pressure, heat, and the movement of Earth’s crust. These volcanic intrusions below the surface cooled slowly allowing the crystals to grow, then surface glacial erosion exposed these areas and enabled geologists to identify them for extraction. Today’s quarrying methods using saws and drills are safer and produce less waste rock than older methods that used 2023-2024

explosives and less precise machinery. First a cut is made at an angle that will work to develop a road as the quarry reaches deeper into the rock. A modern piece of equipment can drill the width and depth of a block in two hours. This same procedure done by jack hammers used to take two men 80 hours. The wire saw makes the final smooth cuts, and a

Samples of stone with different finishes ae displayed to help clients make choices. 25

A drill at the Coldspring quarry transported to fill the needs of a project already underway. Four trucks a day, four days a week, haul the Coldspring blocks to the fabrication operation at the main headquarters. There the blocks are special hydraulic spreader tips the block prepared for the customer–cut to size, out of its position so it can be hauled out smoothed and polished. From Cold of the way. Each block is inspected for Spring the finished stone is hauled to the cracks, fissures, and other imperfections site where it will be installed, and the that could create instability in a finished customer takes control of its final form piece. If it is approved, the block moves and placement. There are also on to be assessed for its best use. Can it businesses that purchase the raw stone be cut in the thick slabs needed for to use for their own residential or paving stones, or will it be better suited to commercial operations, creating counter stairways, mausoleums or grave markers or counter tops? Does it tops, have a crystal structure that gives it a columbariums, or walkways, pools, and more textured appearance, or is it benches at parks. Hauling the huge stone pieces smooth? Clients have different tastes, and some applications, such as a wall requires skilled drivers, especially on the that will be engraved, require a more curvy parts of Highway 1. One driver consistent coloration. Once it is classified died a few years ago when his trailer and marked, the stone is set aside to tipped over on a curve by Stony Lake. await the right customer or immediately Last summer, a driver with a load on

Waiting for repairs after avoiding a moose 26

The Ely Winter Times

This waste rock awaits crushing

Waste rock filling a pit at the old unnamed quarry site

came to a moose in the middle of the narrow dirt road near the Kawishiwi Summer Homes Road. “I’d never seen a moose before,” he exclaimed. “I was eyeto-eye with it!!” This may have been a bit of an exaggeration as his seat in the cab was a good eight feet above the ground– or it was a very big moose. The moose wasn’t interested in getting out of the way. Luckily, the driver’s skills matched the situation, and he was able to steer off the side of the road without tipping over the trailer or hitting the moose. He spent the rest of the morning in Zup’s parking

lot waiting for parts to repair the damage under the trailer from a boulder he couldn’t quite clear. What happens to pieces of stone that are not the right shape or have too many cracks to be useful in an architectural setting? Set aside as “waste rock,” they are not really wasted. Homeowners in the area may have these chunks trucked to their property for landscaping use. Some are ordered for such projects as the Lake Walk in Duluth for fill and borders. Occasionally a crusher is brought in to grind the stones into gravel for roads.

The foundation at the unnamed quarry site 2023-2024

Drill holes and measurement lines found at the Heart Lake quarry © Ken Hupila These modern quarries are not the only commercial enterprises in Ely’s history of rock extraction. The earliest evidence of quarrying has been found on Knife Lake and was likely left there shortly after the glaciers receded, as much as 8,000 years ago. (See Ely Summer Times 2016 for an article about pre-historic quarrying and trading.) Quarrying in the Arrowhead was also carried out in the 1890s, possibly related to development in Chicago following the devastating fire in 1871 and preparation for the World’s Columbian Exposition in 1893. Evidence of 20th-century activity can be found at two sites close to Highway 1. Heart Lake Quarry (also called Rose Quarry) is a short hike along Forest Service 1468 road near milepost 301. Rock there was mined in the 1930s and sold as “Arrowhead Black Granite”

probably sending stone to the skyscrapers being erected in Chicago and Cleveland. In more recent years the quarry pit has served as a rock climbing site for adventure-based camps like Outward Bound. The other old quarry, not named and for which no history could be found, can be seen by hiking along a slightly obscure trail that takes off to the west from a stop sign near milepost 299. At the unnamed quarry a foundation can be seen. Some Ely visitors with knowledge of stone cutting history in the U.S. estimate that it was worked in the 1950s. Trees now growing up inside the foundation can also help provide dating, although it may be hard to estimate when the building deteriorated to the point that soil and rain could provide a suitable environment. Highly polished Kasota Superior Northern Granite at a home in the Brainerd area

Walls and step benches of Coldspring Mesabi Black at the Metro Target Field Station in Mpls 28

The Ely Winter Times

The methods of cutting and removing stone blocks changed from decade to decade. Originally the rock was drilled by hand. Then drills and jack hammers were powered by compressed air and later by hydraulic systems, with explosives being used at times. Examining the quarry walls and waste blocks can reveal the methods used and help with establishing operation dates. At both these sites, the edges of pits are littered with blocks of waste rock. If you explore these old sites, be sure to keep kids and pets close by to avoid accidents at the sudden steep drops into abandoned pits. Both locations have good blueberry picking and contain a variety of lichens and mosses to study along the pit edges and on old blocks. For many years, the Rock Crusher was a landmark on the north side of highway 169 three miles west of town.

Now it has eroded into a much smaller hill and trees have grown up around it so that it is barely visible from the road. It is private property and trespassing is forbidden. David Kess wrote about it in an article for Ely-Winton Historical Society The rock crusher came about because of the Greenstone rock that could be crushed to provide a mineral surfaced roofing. [It was in operation] from 19211932. When in full production ten cars [a day] were sent out. At its peak 45 men were employed, with 2 supervisors, and 1 manager. The workers were paid $.35 per hour and worked 10-hour days. Young people made many "unauthorized" bike trips there to climb the mountain, explore, and swim. Some even went cliff jumping and skinny dipping into the emerald green water of the abandoned quarry on the other side. A secret getaway.

Landscaping a new home on Birch Lake with rock from the Coldspring quarry

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The Rock Crusher pool today–still a beautiful clear green.

Structures at the Rock Crusher when it was active. If you’re interested in a tour of both the old and new quarries, check the Ely Field Naturalists website for next summer’s weekly field trips. At least one tour will be offered next summer.

Both quarries offers tours for architects and other potential clients. They occasionally can accomodate the public in a small group tour. These must be scheduled months ahead of time. For more information use the contact form at the websites ColdspringUSA.com and Kasotasf.com

Roy Misonznick’s artistic rendering of waste blocks at Heart Lake quarry. See ElyPix.com for more of his work. 30

The Ely Winter Times

Winter Trail Fare

If you’ve been Up North for a winter or two, you’ve no doubt heard the advice “If your feet are cold, put on a hat.” To that should be added “And eat something.” A cold-weather outing uses up calories. Whether you’re taking the kids out for a few hours or crossing the Boundary Waters on snowshoes, a cozy campfire and a hot meal can add

culinary pleasure as well as warmth and energy. Even if you’re not up to stopping long enough for a fire, carry some calorie-dense snacks to munch on. Here are some recipes from Ely winter guides, people with skills to cook over a campfire or in a wall tent stove to feed a bunch of hungry campers while also being sure everyone is warm and dry.

Peter’s biscuits 2023-2024

Starting with breakfast, here is White Wilderness owner, Peter McClelland’s, secret to staying energized until lunch. Touch of Grace Biscuits Mix 1 1/2 cups of flour, 1 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/8 tsp baking soda, 1/3 tsp salt, and 1 Tbs sugar. Work in 3 Tbs cold butter with a pastry cutter until no lumps are larger than a pea. Stir in 1 1/4 cups of buttermilk and let stand for 2-3 minutes. Coat an 8” round baking pan with butter or nonstick spray. Put about a cup of flour into a shallow dish. Flour your hands. Spoon a biscuit-size lump of batter–about 1/8th of it–into the flour, dusting some on the top. Carefully lift the lump and transfer it between your hands a couple times to shake off excess flour. Do this eight times, placing seven biscuits around the edge and the eighth in the middle. Brush or drizzle melted butter over the top and bake at 475o just above the center of the oven until lightly browned, 15-20 minutes. Cool for 1-2 minutes on a rack, then turn out to cool. Wrap in foil for packing. On trail, warm them at the side of the fire, turning often. Place one in a bowl and cover with gravy.

White Wilderness Sausage Gravy Put 3 Tbs oil and 1 lb Zup’s Pork Sausage in sauce pan, cook and break up sausage. Mix in 3-4 Tbs flour and cook 2-3 minutes. Mix in 2 tsp each garlic powder, onion powder, and Italian seasoning or Herbs de Provence.. Add 2-3 cups heavy cream and cook until thickened. Cool and seal in a vacuum bag sealer (or ZipLock bag) for packing. On trail put the bag in a pot of boiling water until hot. You can double or triple the biscuit mix, using one 8” round pan for each batch. But change the baking powder amount to 1 Tbs for a double batch and 1 1/2 Tbs for triple. Power bars are a rich, dense, and hopefully delicious source of calories that can be eaten anytime. Peta Barrett, founder of Women’s Wilderness Discovery, created this recipe but warns they wouldn’t travel well in summer. Wrap them individually and carry them in an inner pocket so they don’t get too stiff to chew. Adapt to gluten-free by substituting milled flax for wheat germ.

The Ely Winter Times

Oat-Nut-Cherry-Chip Power Bars Line a 16 1/2” x 11 1/2” cookie sheet with parchment, allowing extra coverage on the edges. In a large bowl mix 3 cups oats, 2/3 cup dried tart cherries, 1/2 cup toasted wheat germ, 3/4 cup slivered almonds, 1/2 cup sweetened coconut, 2/3 cup sesame seeds, 1/2 cup pepitas, 1/2 tsp kosher salt. In a large pan combine 3/4 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup unsalted butter, 1/2 cup honey, 1/4 cup water, 1/2 tsp kosher salt. Warm over low heat until all melts together. Remove from heat and add 2 tsp vanilla extract. Add to the oat mixture and stir until well mixed, then stir in 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips. Scoop the mixture onto the cookie sheet and press in place with greased hands or spatula. Bake 20-25 minutes at 350o or until set and golden brown. Slide onto rack or cooling surface. Cool slightly then cut into desired size, using a greased knife. Press the edges in as needed so everything sticks as it finishes cooling and sets up.

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One way to manage lunch food is to carry “squirrel bags”–an Outward Bound practice that works well with groups because it allows individuals to snack whenever they’re hungry. This method doesn’t require a major break, which could be impractical if being active is important for staying warm. Peta’s bars could be part of the squirrel bag, supplemented with slices of cheese and salami plus scoops of nuts, dried fruit, small candies, or any trail mix. If a major lunch break is planned, then making a fire keeps travelers warm and provides the chance to cook brats or hot dogs on a stick over the fire, or to use this lunch suggestion from Wintergreen. Wintergreen Trail Pizza Pack out tortillas, pepperoni, grated mozzarella cheese, and whatever vegetables appeal to you and your group - chopped onions, green pepper, or mushrooms, and perhaps spinach, olives, or artichokes. On the trail, put a tortilla in a frying pan. Sprinkle on a generous amount of “Pizza Powder”–a blend of tomato powder and seasonings you can make yourself or find at Trader Joe’s. Add the toppings and cover with cheese. Cover the pan and heat until the cheese melts. Be careful not to scorch the bottom if you’re doing this directly over a fire. 33

A hot drink is a great way to warm up and generate some energy before starting on camp set-up. Carrying a thermos with hot water can make that happen before a fire is going. Here’s a favorite adapted from Outward Bound. Trail Tea Mix well 2 1/2 cups Tang, 1 cup instant ice tea, 1/2 cup lemonade mix, 1 Tbs ground cloves, 1 1/2 Tbs cinnamon. Spoon a generous amount into your cup and fill with hot water.

Chicken Pot Pie Soup At home, saute 1 medium chopped onion, and 2 minced cloves of garlic until translucent. Add 2 diced carrots and 2 chopped celery stalks and cook until tender. Cool and package. Package 1 lb of cooked chicken and 1 cup frozen peas. In camp melt 2 Tbs butter in a large pot. Stir in the vegetables and heat. Stir in 1/4 cup flour and cook for a minute or two until it forms a roux. Gradually stir in 4 cups of water and 4 bouillon cubes until mixed. Add a cup of powdered milk (or substitute heavy cream if you’re willing to carry it). Stir until just boiling. Add the chicken and peas. Let simmer a few minutes, stirring often. Adding biscuits as a makeshift crust is optional. You could use Peter’s recipe or get store-bought biscuit dough and bake in foil over the fire or in a dutch oven. To serve, dish up the soup and top with a biscuit. © Eliza Vistica, White Wilderness

If you’re camping out in sub-zero weather, dinner is an important meal. Adding extra fat, like butter or oil, to your meal allows your body to generate heat longer than a high carb meal, keeping you warm all night. Once an Outward Bound staff group, skiing from the north side of Quetico to Ely in 30-below temps, found that a plain stick of butter looked very appealing and they ate them like bananas.

Wintergreen Dogsledding in the BWCAW

The Ely Winter Times

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PO Box 188, Ely, MN 55731 • 218-365-3375 • www.RavenWordsPress.com Here’s the fastest dinner ever, adapted from CleverHiker.com, which has tons of great ideas for trail meals. Trail Thanksgiving At home, for each serving mix 1/2 cup instant stuffing mix, 1/4 cup instant mashed potatoes, 1 oz. turkey jerky (or dehydrate your own), 1/4 cup craisins, 2 tsp turkey gravy mix, 1/8 tsp celery seeds, pinch each of dried thyme and sage. In camp add 1 3/4 cup boiling water per serving. Cover, wrap in a cozy or hat or set to the side of the fire to stay warm. Check in 1015 minutes. Add a little more water or let soak longer if not completely rehydrated. If you got it too wet, no worries–you have Thanksgiving Soup. This is a good recipe to supplement with pats of butter if it’s cold. One of the best things about winter expeditions is that you don’t have to restrict calories, so dessert is almost a necessity. This one is from Jess Edberg, executive director of the Dorothy Molter Museum. She leads a women’s group to Knife Lake every March; sign up at the website if you’d like to go along.

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Poor Chef’s Cobbler This is best made in a dutch oven. Spread 2 cans of apple pie filling (packed into a reusable plastic container, or bring dried apples and soak them in maple-sugarsweetened water ahead of time) in the bottom of the dutch oven. Sprinkle a box of yellow cake mix on top as evenly as possible. Cut a stick of butter into pats and arrange evenly on top of the cake mix. Top with a cup of brown sugar. Bake in or under the coals for at least 25-30 minutes, then take a peek. When the batter has browned a bit and the apple mix is bubbly, scoop into bowls. Give it a stir to mix the crust and filling. Feel free to add more butter! One skill you need for winter camping is the ability to make a sturdy tripod or dangle system for hanging pots over the fire. There’s not enough room in this issue, but check next winter’s edition for another article to make your winter trips fun and comfortable. Want to know now? Check out books by Calvin Rutstrum in the library.

The cast of Frozen practices the Maypole dance.

A Brief Ely Update In the Summer Times, we mentioned that Ely really needed a taxi service. Yay! Someone took us up on that.(OK–maybe it was their own idea.) So Ely now has safe rides for those who want to party hard, require transportation to the Duluth and Hibbing airports (save on parking!), or need to bring home groceries but don’t have wheels at the moment. Service is available from 8am to 1:30am, and rides can be booked in advance–first come, first served. Call 218-288-7433 or see ElyRideService.com for more details. We also announced the exciting news that Ely schools won the Disney contest to be the only Minnesota school granted the rights to produce Frozen as a high

Dinner on the deck won at ECR art auction 36

school musical. As of this writing in November, rehearsals are well underway, sets are planned, and there will be a fundraiser to help with the rather extraordinary expenses. Do you have any idea how much it costs to bring snow to a stage? And costume a snowman? And pay directors who are working their hearts out for about $.50 an hour? Get a preview of some music and dancing on December 2nd, 7pm, at the First Presbyterian Church and meet these young stars who are so proud to be in this production. Producing this is a challenge. Disney put many rules in place, such as nothing can be cut or changed from the materials they provided. Costuming and sets are fairly elaborate. But director Mike Rouse is up for it and has a history of some pretty awsome productions. The show will be at Washington Auditorium January 19-21. It would be a good idea to get your tickets as soon as they go on sale because this is likely to attract people from all over the region, maybe even the state. Check local newspapers to find out when tickets are available. The Ely Winter Times

Write this number down and keep it in your car or put it in your phone. Even if you don’t need it this winter, you may come to someone who does. Don’t try to push a car out of the ditch yourself. First responders have had too many calls from people who were injured that way. These guys are awesome–fast, skilled, safe, and much cheaper than an ER visit. For years the Ely Community Resource (ECR) raised money by having an art auction for which many local artists and other supporters donated their work to support the important programs ECR provides to Ely youth. Initially it was held in the basement of the Community Center, then moved to Grand Ely Lodge, but even that became too small. Then the pandemic caused the auction to shift to an online bidding process that wasn’t as much fun, although the items were still top notch. Hooray! This year it is back in person with a spirited MC, hearty

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appetizers, a cash bar, and auction items from hand-crafted jewelry to luxurious dinners at private homes to locally made ceramics and fine woodworking. If you’d like to donate your talents as a product or service, call 218-365-5254 or email julie@elycommunityresource or stop by before April.

The Boathouse Upstairs, open every day and site of Trivia Night every 2nd Thursday at 6:30 pm., supporting Ely non-profits.

Ely Dining Guide Call (Area Code is 218) or check websites and FB pages for hours and menus. Price ranges are for a meal. C: children’s menu, V: vegetarian meals, # is location on the maps, page 70. Most places have take-out, and some still do curbside delivery if you request it.

The Boathouse Ely’s only brewery Brainstorm Bakery Did you have a also serves seasonal brews and tasty food in the family dining room or bar. Duck wings, steak bites, and many more appetizer choices. Burgers, walleye, Cuban sandwiches, and salads to satisfy big appetites. Beer in growlers and BW containers. Sports on big TVs. Full bar. 47 E Sheridan St., 365-4301 $11-17, C V #68

crappy morning? If not yet, stop in and add some healthy fiber to your diet with locally made granola, yogurt parfaits, smoothies, fairtrade coffee, and fresh-baked treats. Expanded seating for coffee with friends. Granola for gifts in pun-filled packaging, bumper stickers, and Tshirts. 402 E. Sheridan, 235-6161 $5-8 V #89

The Ely Winter Times

Ely’s Bars Peanuts, Pizza, & More Catz Billiards - 29 E. Chapman Dee’s Bar - 17 E. Sheridan Antlers Lounge- 400 N. Pioneer Kwazy Wabbit - 11 N. Central Samz Place - 1203 Old Winton Rd. Zaverl’s Bar - 509 E. Sheridan

Evergreen Restaurant & Antlers Lounge at Grand Ely Lodge

Gators Grilled Cheese Emporium Comfort foods and healthy

overlooking Shagawa Lake. Extensive dinner menu, b’fast and lunch specials, appetizer specials during Vikings games. Pasta specialties, salads, walleye, and steaks. Open 365 days a year. 400 N Pioneer Rd. 365-6875 for reservations and take-out. $10-31 C V #37

alternatives, full breakfast menu. Grilled sandwiches and burgers, homemade soups, and salads. Little Free Library inside and out. Takeout pasties once a month, order ahead. Catering. Open for b’fast and lunch. 955 E. Sheridan St. 365-7348 $7-17 C V #39

Insula This popular dining spot serves

Northern Grounds Coffee and wine

many locally-sourced and organic ingredients. Daily featured pasta special, market catch, and butcher’s cut. Expand your palate with fresh flavor blends, or choose old favorites. Casualdining ambience. Specialty seasonal cocktails, beer, and wine. Open Tues-Sat. 145 E. Sheridan St. 365-4855 $9-34 C V #82

bar. Espresso, single-origin coffee roasted on site, tea, chai, and mocha. 50+ by-the-glass fine wines, craft beers, and specialty cocktails on tap. Charcuterie, fresh-baked breads and pastries, smoothies, soup and sandwiches. Wine tasting events upstairs in Society Hall. 2 W. Sheridan St. 365-6162 $5-8 V #63

Ely’s restaurants have struggled to find staff recently, so there are fewer options for eating out than in pre-pandemic years. You may need to do a bit of searching, but know that when you find your dining spot, the food will be delicious and the wait staff friendly. Summer will see the return of Ely’s food trucks, a new restaurant at the former Mantle House, and the return of Britton’s, the Steak House, and hopefully Rockwood. 40

The Ely Winter Times

Grab Something Quick Dairy Queen - 1441 E. Sheridan Ely State Theater - 238 E Sheridan Log Cabin Coffee - 1340 E. Sheridan Mitska’s Market - 141 E. Chapman Subway -1520 E Sheridan Zup’s Deli - 1500 E. Sheridan

Domino’s Ely’s late-night option, you can eat in, pick up, or get delivery until 1am every day. Of course there’s pizza, but also salads, sweets, and many appetizer choices. Find coupons there and at Dominos.com. 32 E Sheridan St, 235-6262 $6-26 V

Oriental Orchid Warm up with a selection from more than 100 authentic Vietnamese

and Chinese menu items. Call ahead for faster service. Eat in or take out. Weekday lunch specials and dinner combinations. 506 E. Sheridan St, 365-7502 $11-$21 V

Sir G’s Italian cuisine with hand-made pasta. on site Appetizers, pizza, salads, desserts. Wine

and beer. Call ahead for faster take-out or curbside delivery. Ask about delivery in town - it varies with staff availability. 520 E Sheridan, 365-3688 $10-19 C V

Stony Ridge Ely’s biggest burger selection (50 kinds!) Walleye, reubens, and much more. Full bar with specialty cocktails. Cozy dining room or order to-go. Saturday breakfast menu includes custom-made stuffed hashbrowns. 60 N. Lakeview, 235-9441 $15-30 C Happy Wanderer Reopened this fall for those taking the scenic 22-mile drive from Ely

toward Isabella. Open 7 days a week serving polish, pasties, and pizza. Plans are to be snowmobile accessible by next winter. 10502 Hwy 1 365-2137 $5-8.

Deliciousness at the Ely Art Walk Artists Reception 2023-2024

Winter Kids by Becca Brin Manlove

Labor Day. Four-year-old Ailish (long A-lish) floated cross-legged on a floatie. Her mom, my daughter Celin (suhLINN), swam and tried to coax Ailish into the water. I’d watched the warmth rise from the lake on too many chilly mornings. I was grateful to sit with twoyear-old Sive (rhymes with five) as she napped on the pontoon boat. When twelve-year-old Katy and fourteen-year-old Molly ran over from next door, Ailish bounced with so much excitement on her floatie she nearly

swamped it. The Big Girls’ long legs flashed down the dock. Katy leapt in, but Molly stopped short. Celin and Katy lied about the temperature of the water while Ailish, from her mostly-dry perch on a floatie, cajoled Molly to jump in. Katy found the best argument, “Come on Molly. It’s the last day of summer!” Molly screamed as she leapt in. The Last Day of Summer. They were going back to school the next day. Even after we all moved to the sunwarmed deck, The Last Day of Summer

Labor Day swim

The Ely Winter Times

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I can get into such a funk thinking about winter. The cold, the shoveling, shoveling, shoveling, the short days, the cold, wriggling myself and the girls into layers and layers, the cold. Last winter, one of the most frustrating challenges was Sive the toddler’s resistance to wearing her mittens. Where is the other mitten? Oh no, this pair is damp. Where is the other pair? Oh no, these are your sister’s. Where is your thumb? It goes in this tiny pocket. Oh, PLEASE, don’t pull it off before I can get your arm inside your snowsuit. Do you want to eat snow? Remember how cold it is? Your mittens will keep your hands warm. Hard to convince her of that when her hands were hot from the struggle. All this went on, while the three-year-old big sister fussed for help finding her layers, fussed for help getting into them, and © Steve Voiles

was what we talked about. It carried tones of both lament and excitement. Ailish drew me aside. “Will it snow tomorrow?” “Oh, thank goodness, no!” Tears rose in her sage-green eyes. Too late I remembered that snow is a delight, not a menace, in her four-yearold heart. If it’s too cold to swim, then she wants to be playing in snow. A few days later, Sive pointed to her cheek, “Me Baby” then grabbed for my phone. She loves to see pictures of herself as a baby. Scrolling back, I found a video of her playing in the yard last spring, just after her second birthday. She was banging the tail of a plastic pink flamingo on the ground and galloping. Watching the video, she squealed to her sister, “Look, She-she, snow!” Late April and significant banks of snow still lingered. The day I took that video, Ailish was in the hospital with complications after appendicitis surgery. Celin and her husband, Sean, were with Ailish in Duluth while I stayed with Sive at their home in the woods near Babbitt. The soft spring air, the joy of playing outside with my tiny charge, the freedom from winter layers was all in sharp contrast to our fear for Ailish’s health and our longing to be together. But on this September day months later, our healthy, happy girls giggled, watching the video of Sive in spring. And they both yearned for the snow in the background.

Sled Baby

cried at the door because she was too hot. Add in two dogs who were also anxious to get out, knocking over the girls and scrambling anything laid out on the floor. Some of the tantrums were mine. But why do I focus on this? This year, the four-year-old and dogs can be let out the door while the two-year-old expertly slips her thumbs into thumb pockets and helps slide her arms and legs into the right parts of her snowsuit. She will even pull on her own boots. I’m writing this in

Four season play space

What color is this snow? September. This hasn’t happened yet. Mittens, including mine, are sure to go missing or be damp. The wrong hat will be found. We’ll have forgotten to do tactical wees and someone’s layers will have to come off. You know the drill. And yet... Their anticipation of snow lifts my funk. Yes, the fall colors are spinning to the ground, piling up in maroon and gold drifts. Foggy mornings waft fishy, softwater scents that will soon be locked under ice. I can linger with the gifts of this ephemeral season and then scroll through images in my phone, finding proof that we will find joy in winter. Snowbanks will become mountains to ascend, good cover during hide and seek games, and slides. A lot of snow will be consumed. This year, maybe, Sive will show discernment about where she scoops it up. Lellow is a color she identifies now, and she is the one who alerts me to the poop piles. I fetch the shovel and she points to the pile the way Budgie points grouse. The Ely Winter Times

Thirty years ago, my own kids reminded me of the joys of winter. We stood and took in the deep silence of winter, blew smoke rings with our breath, and then broke into giggles at some weird raven squawk. Even hauling firewood became a game with them perched like elves on top of the wood or chasing the sled with snowballs. When record-setting cold brightened the stars and made trees pop like firecrackers, Mike, their dad, boiled a pot of water. The kids and I stood at the long window and watched as he tossed it into the air, hot water becoming instant steam and ice. Yes, getting two tinies into snowsuits, mittens, hats, and boots was the same frustration. Sometimes the tantrums were mine, then, too. But once we were outside, I cherished rosy cheeks and

noses, eyes bright with mischief and joy, giggles as I pulled a sled or chased them down the driveway. We made up our game Ding Dong. For a long time I was the best at it, since I was taller. I’d pull down a snow-laden branch and yell “Ding Dong!” The kids would scramble away before I let go the branch and it flung snow onto hats and into faces. The puller almost always got the worst of it. Oh, it seemed just a moment before our son, Joe, and then Celin could reach higher and run away faster. Skiing was not their favorite sport but it was their Dad’s and mine. We taught them to balance and then stride forward on cross country skis. We had only a couple of winters with each kid when we stepped slowly beside them on the flats.

Helping with winter chores can be fun and keeps kids warm.

Ding Dong!

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season here. And it seems the longest, always. But it is ephemeral. And when we know something won’t last forever—the swimming of summer, the color wheel of fall, the Juneberry scent of spring, snuggles with a loved one, the joyful perspective of a tiny person—we cherish that moment. We cherish life. My winter hope for me and for you is two dry mittens that stay found and the ability to experience falling snow with the heart of a child.

Read more essays by Becca at her blog, Love With Roots and in her book, Hauling Water.

©John Ratzloff

We towed them uphill while they held the grip end of a ski pole, or we waddled behind our tiny skiers, hands under their shoulders. Those winters melted too quickly. Soon we were left behind as they flew down the trail. Sometimes I remembered to laugh at their impatience when they waited for me to catch up. This coming winter, Ailish may still need some assistance on hills, but she’s old enough now for MYSL (Minnesota Youth Ski League) where she’ll be skiing and competing with her buddy, Carter. Sive is two years younger but she isn’t one to be left behind. Celin, Sean, and I all leave skis in a rack outside their door. Tiny skis will join the long ones this winter. The girls love racing Daddy on runs and bikes. Skiing won’t be any different. Their short skis will morph suddenly into skis longer than mine. Maybe they’ll be helping me up hills by then. Winter might be our more challenging

Puppies make winter play even more fun! 46

A snow person, however bedraggled, is always cheerful The Ely Winter Times

Books for Blizzards Do you love opening a Christmas present and discovering a book that’s the perfect choice for you? Here are some books that can make that happen for someone you love, or perhaps that Santa will bring to you if you’re good. Starting with books for kids, The Power of Snow is one of those that proves the author’s brilliance for thinking up the contents. Combining a basic math concept with delightful illustrations, the book will become a favorite so be ready to read it again and again. More and more snowflakes cavort with wildlife as we go from 22 to 214. Even adults will have fun with this one. They Hold the Line details the life of a wildland firefighter and illustrates the terminology of that world. Perfect for children and adults who are curious about those green transport vehicles with Hotshot labels, people in yellow shirts, and huge planes dipping into lakes. In Northern Sights a young girl investigates the Northwoods, seeing it anew from the perspectives of the wildlife who live there. Vole, moose, owl, beaver, and others share their view in the enchanting illustrations. Is there a child on your list who is beginning to enjoy chapter books? They and the adults who read to them will chuckle and cheer as the Peach family competes against others who have won a trip to Sweden to stay in an ice hotel. Cool! Wrap up Frozen Peaches. Who loves a thriller? Here are hours of reading for them: In the true crime genre, Murder at Minnesota Point tells of the trails–mostly misleading–and travails of detectives trying to find the culprit who killed an unidentified young woman. Discovering her identity was mystery enough, but then years of persistence 2023-2024

Chapman Street Books Quality used books on all topics, including many with local interest. Bring yours in for a discount. Big free box. Home to Prairie Fire Tobacco, with imported and domestic blends. 139 E. Chapman St. 218-365-2212 47

from all over the country to help clear portages and repair campsites. Speaking of the Boundary Waters, here’s the perfect gift for someone just beginning to travel there or for anyone interested in how someone else does it. Ken Hupila has been a guide and photographer in canoe country for decades. He shares his techniques, wisdom, and some great stories in Your Trip into the Boundary Waters, a collection of articles first published in the Ely Echo. Ken’s travel advice, fishing took them far afield. At once a glimpse tricks, recipes, and more will make a first into the history of crime fighting in the trip more successful than it might be early 1900s and a character study of the without this. Order a copy by calling the cops and detectives who were not of a Ely Echo at 218-365-3141. Moving on to the natural history buffs mindset to give up easily. Much scarier is The Taken Ones, a on your list, you can choose between novel set in northern Minnesota. Starting birds, ferns, and fish; and of course tons with the disappearance of three young of others by browsing the bookshelves at girls and revisiting it as a cold case Piragis bookstore. Ten Birds That decades later, the story is Changed the World is a clever blend of psychologically entwined with the history and ornithology. Readers of this investigators’ own pasts in surprising book, whether an avid birdwatcher or a ways. Don’t pick it up unless you have the whole evening to read. If history is what appeals to someone you’re shopping for, get a copy of Gunflint Falling. (Yes, 1999 is now considered history even though it seems like yesterday to some of us.) As in his previous book Gunflint Burning, the award-winning author focuses on the people impacted by this natural disaster–the 60-some injured and 100s of luckier survivors, those involved in medevac operations, and crews arriving 48

The Ely Winter Times

casual observer, will have a new respect for the place of the avian realm in human enterprise. The concept of extinction arose from the study of birds. Horrible murders were committed in an attempt to preserve the plume trade. And once a war was declared on a bird species. The repercussions of these and the other events in this book had global implications. Fascinating stories, well told. For the natural history nerds–we know you’re out there–Ferns and Lycophytes of Minnesota would be a gift treasured for years. Practical and easy to use even for the non-scientist, the book contains a key and gorgeously detailed photographs that make species identification fairly simple. Trail-worthy, but equally at home on the coffee table. On to your angler enthusiast. Along with a nice packet of lead-free tackle consider a copy of Beneath the Surface. This is not a how-to for catching fish, although it contains plenty of advice.

This is a more of a treatise on the world of fish...the underwater ethos, recognizing that with the understanding of the fishes’ lifestyles an angler will be more likely to succeed. Anyone curious about the underwater world of northern lakes, which is practically anyone who spends time at a lakeshore cabin or in a boat, will find something fascinating here. For the person who has gazed in wonder at the aurora borealis, or is still looking forward to their first experience, beauty and understanding will be found in Spirits Dancing–The Night Sky, Indigenous Knowledge, and Living Connections to the Cosmos. Really, that subtitle says it all. An ode to the wonders revealed only in darkness, an increasingly rare situation in our overlit modern population centers, the stunning photography unfolds in page after aweinspiring page. The illuminating text provides explanations beyond wavelengths and magnetism, exploring the cultural and spiritual responses to these heavenly displays. This could be a perfect “hostess” gift or addition to the cabin library. Find these titles at Piragis Northwoods Co. Bookstore or check them out at the Ely Public Library. It’s ok to buy a gift for yourself, too!

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A good photographer captures an image in the perfect light with an artful composition that arouses emotion in the viewers who relate the content to their own lives. A great photographer reveals something new, unseen by other observers but distilling the meaning of the subject into a creative expression. The one-in-a-million photographer does all that, but also has insights into the deeper story within the picture, crafted from an understanding of the world that eludes most of us and an insatiable curiosity. In his new book, Beyond the Light, Layne Kennedy elucidates the deeper stories hidden within his one-in-a-million mind, stories that turn his photographs

from outstanding images to a unique and illuminating perspective. Layne is described by Jim Brandenburg (Photographers and others with creative genius seem to gravitate to our area like moons to a planet.) as having an “...intelligent and gifted eye...driven by a thirst for the positive in life without the usual naïveté that accompanies. A smart exuberant joy sings from his work.” This book likely exceeds your gift budget, but make a date with the person on your list who is an aspiring photographer to go to the library and share an hour or two looking at a copy of the book that Layne generously donated. You’ll find his writing as captivating as his pictures.

The Ely Winter Times

The Cabin A tinge of woodsmoke in the fresh frigid night air is the first hint I’m getting close. Chickadees flit along the path, more abundant here than in the deeper woods. Then the big dog’s tracks mark the edge of his territory, not that he wouldn’t go beyond it to scare away a fox or squirrel that’s posing a threat to his beloved human or hoping to make a meal on the bone he left. At last the trail opens up and there is the soft lemony light of the windows, the gas lights gleaming through them in a warm welcome. How many times have I enjoyed this sight, a delightful end to a delightful ski or walk along the unplowed, minimally maintained road through the wilderness surrounding our cabin? I tried to calculate it once, and it was close to 2,000 after more than 30 years. The cabin was built by hand from big red pines on the property, each one prayed over as we took its life to shelter 2023-2024

a succession of humans and their pets. Plus the multitude of small creatures that want an easy home out of the elements– mice, voles, spiders, mosquitoes, even the occasional shrew. Several time a bear has made its way in, looking for an easy meal rather than a cozy home. During construction, before the place had doors, a bear would sometimes just stroll through the openings cut for doors and

R&R Transfer Safe storage for RVs BOATS VEHICLES HOUSEHOLD GOODS

218-365-3196 218-235-2701 420 N 15th Ave • Ely, MN windows. One winter a pine marten took up residence under the cabin. There were no mice that year. Before the demise of bats, several would swoop out from the dormer roof at dusk on summer evenings. There were far fewer mosquitoes then. The bird feeders on the deck attract a flock of red pine squirrels and chipmunks along with the year-round resident jays, woodpeckers, chickadees, and nuthatches. Sitting at the table inside, I watch them all as I take my tea in the morning and write in the cabin journal to detail weather, wildlife, and the trivia of day-to-day life that I think I will want to remember but might forget as the years

go by. Sometimes a pine marten or fisher will visit to make a snack of the sunflower seeds. After deer season we put out the remains of butchered rib cages. The birds and mustelids feast on them for months. The ravens won’t come to the deck, though. They are much warier of human detritus than the town ravens that peck apart any garbage bag left unguarded. But they are less cautious with the dogs, sharing bones with the old sled dog but flapping up to the woodshed roof if a person or the big protective dog comes out of the house. When the mice drive us too crazy and we resort to trapping them in the interest of keeping the kitchen

The Ely Winter Times

counters free of their droppings, we toss their little bodies onto the roof and the ravens find a cheap meal there. We try to make peace with the squirrels although they chew up the insulation and nest above the ceiling. We have learned it is pointless to remove them since there is an endless population that immediately moves in to replace any we take away in a live trap. As a friend once pointed out, it is morally reprehensible to move into the forest home of animals, entice them with easy food, then kill them for our convenience. Killing for food is different, and it is possible to make a stew with red squirrel meat, but they are so small that cleaning them is arduous and the amount of protein is insignificant. So instead we have grown to appreciate their cuteness and antics as they acrobatically attempt (successfully always) to get the bird seed we try to put out of their reach. On July 5th, 1999, we returned to the cabin after an overnight in town following the big 4th of July blowdown. We had left to spend the holiday watching the Ely parade, playing at the park, and picnicking with friends. Part way to town

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we had to pull over because the rain was so heavy we couldn’t see the road. As we sat waiting it out, the wind hit. It didn’t last long, but once we could see again, the view had changed. Trees were jackknifed across the road and leaves and small branches covered the car and the ground. Since people who live here are prepared for such trouble, chainsaws were pulled from trunks and the road was open shortly. The next day, even our backwoods road was cleared for the first few miles. Coming back to the cabin, wondering what we’d find, we decided to walk after we came to the first tree blocking the road. Overhead an osprey was carrying a large stick to its topsy-turvy nest, making me apprehensive about what damage might have befallen our home. As we turned the corner and could see the opening around the cabin, I noticed it seemed brighter, not as shady. Sure enough, eight large red pines had fallen onto the cabin. Miraculously, the only damage was to the fascia on one side– nothing penetrating the roof, breaking the windows, or weakening the walls. This past September another storm

hit.This one was a highly localized downburst that did more destruction to the forest around the cabin than the 4th of July storm. Neighbors (the closest, six miles away), out on their ATV when the wind started, had to clamber over and crawl under more than 40 trees crossing the road to reach their home, just a mile away. Another had a tree on the back window of his car. But amazingly no other property or person suffered damage. Our homestead has grown since the 1999 storm, and now we have a sauna/guest cabin, a large yurt, two outhouses, two wood sheds, a solar array, a storage shed, and a small orchard of apple trees. In the recent storm more trees–including two huge white pines and many big spruce, aspen, and red pines–fell close to the buildings,

some within an inch. Nothing was damaged. Nothing. A big jack pine had fallen right into the orchard but missed every apple tree. We couldn’t even see through the blowdown into the sauna and yurt area until we spent hours clearing a path. It took a Forest Service crew three days to clear the road. It is amazing to see how many trees fell and yet how the forest appears intact still. Most of the stately old white pines, including a favorite climbing tree, are still standing. Once the down trees sink into the forest floor, nothing will appear amiss. Openings in the forest canopy will allow light to shine on seedlings; logs will slowly rot, providing homes and food to animal life and fungi; the cabin will keep us cozy and dry for another winter. Unlike the devastation of an intense wildfire or a wind event that flattens every tree, these

Looking toward the sauna after the September 2023 storm

Watching the Greenwood fire advance toward the cabin

The Ely Winter Times

localized storms–and more moderate fires–keep the forest healthy. But as climate change intensifies, there are no guarantees. During the Pagami and Greenwood fires, our hand-built, much-loved cabin was in the evacuation zone. Twice we searched through our belongings wondering what were the most valuable items to move out of the fire’s path. Not following the advice of emergency managers, we chose photos over important papers, hand-harvested wild rice over medications. Downwind of the fire just three miles on a day it burned through twelve miles of forest and took other beloved homes, our cabin remained unscorched again. Threatened by fire, pummeled by fierce winds, invaded by small mammals, the cabin still provides us a cool shady

refuge on muggy summer days and a snug fireside den on sub-zero winter nights. We don’t take that for granted. One-day-at-a-time gratitude is part of our life. Our daughter is now the official owner, but really the cabin belongs to the wilderness surrounding it. We can’t know if she will get to enjoy the sheltering logs after future storms and fires, if she’ll bring her own children to the climbing tree she has loved all these years, or whether the squirrels will continue to get easy meals from her birdseed. But we know she grew up loving the wild places, communing with weasels and white pines, learning to enjoy life away from modern conveniences. She named the tree frogs and conversed with mice. As a child she once refused to allow us to clear out a small balsam tree insisting “But she is my best friend!”

Ready to go

The climbing tree

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Isn’t that what a cabin is for? To shelter us from the hard times in the big world, to give us the chance to be immersed in Nature, to provide the next generation with the certainty that they can thrive in whatever life dishes out. Whether you live fulltime in your cabin, just visit on weekends, or rent one for vacation, may you find what you need there and return to it when life throws you a curve ball. Sit on a stump for an hour, jump into the breath-taking cold lake, curl up next to the fire with a cup of steaming-hot cocoa. Life is good. Love it!

The Ely Winter Times

A native wildflower meadow with native coneflowers and black-eyed Susan

Grow a Blue Thumb Have you noticed that seed catalogs are coming earlier and earlier?Like Halloween decorations on sale in August, these gardeners’ temptations arrive before Christmas. Many people are not quite ready to think about planting at that time, but soon after the holidays, as the thought of another four months of winter creates cravings for home-grown greens, turning

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to those seed catalogs provides relief from yet another snowy sub-zero day. Before you succumb to the glossy photos of hybrid flowers, out-of-this-zone fruit trees, and promises of continuous wildflower blooms, check out the Blue Thumb website. Here you’ll find information to help you have a lowmaintenance lawn, native plant pollinator gardens, and a beautiful shoreline that

reduces pollution and prevents erosion. You can also apply for up to $400 in matching funds to help pay for labor and materials. Traditional lawns are a major source of pollutants in our lakes, even up north. Fertilizers run off, adding nutrients that can increase algal blooms. Pesticides move up the food chain, causing problems for fish, birds, and other wildlife that eat them, and humans who would like to catch fish for food but have to limit their intake due to toxins. In drought years watering a lawn can be expensive and waste a valuable resource. Blue Thumb’s Lawn-to-Legumes program helps landowners learn how to have a lawn that is resilient during droughts and floods, supports the dwindling bee population, needs less mowing and watering, but is still fine for playful children’s lawn games and wrestling. Small garden sites around a yard or neighborhood are also important resources for pollinators. Flower nectar is

their primary food source, and when plants are too far apart, the butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds may have trouble finding enough food near their homes. Then they have to expend energy they need for reproduction to reach a food source. Why is it important to use native plants? Our native pollinators and plants evolved together to be mutually beneficial. Critters will go to non-native plants, but don’t get as much nutrition from them and aren’t as effective at pollinating the plants. In some cases, like buckthorn, animals can suffer from malnutrition. In others, like the common tansy that is ubiquitous along Pioneer Road and the Trezona, can crowd out the native plants and tree seedlings, depriving pollinators of healthy habitat. How to find native plants? If you learn to identify them accurately you can harvest seeds in late summer and fall. Most plants in nurseries and seed stores are not native unless they are labeled as

The process: 1. Identify the area to plant 2. Cover with cardboard to suppress grass and weeds 4. Wait a few weeks 58

The Ely Winter Times

them, such as the dry space under an eave on a south-facing exposure. Each yard has its own peculiaritys and the trick is to match its characteristics to the plants’ preferred habitat. If your yard has a naturally wet spot, consider a rain garden. Deep-rooted plants there help slow down run-off, preventing flooding and filtering out such. Ask, and be sure the staff is well pollutants before they can reach streams. Pocket plantings are small spaces informed about this topic. Some landscapers, like Zone 3 in Ely, specialize that do a big favor for pollinators. Just a in native plantings and can provide few square feet can create a beautiful plants as well as the knowledge and labor addition to your yard, a haven for bees and butterflies, and a project that can be to prepare the space. The Plant Finder at Blue Thumb can expanded a little every year. A full size help you find the vegetation that will wildflower meadow takes some time and thrive in the location you have chosen, effort to establish, but can be started with whether it’s shady or sunny, wet or dry, a few pocket plantings that are merged and whether you want vines, flowering and expanded over time. If you have developed shoreline, plants, trees, or shrubs. Flowering plants can be searched by the month they adding an unmowed strip of native bloom and their colors. Some plants that vegetation along the water’s edge can are more familiar as prairie species will reduce erosion and pollution as well as do very well in a micro-habitat that suits providing wildlife habitat.

5. Remove sod and cover with good quality garden dirt and mulch 6. Plant seedlings 7. Water and weed weekly. 2023-2024

Websites and YouTube are one way to get information, but your neighbors might be the best resource. There are many lovely gardens and skilled gardeners in Ely, some incorporating the best practices for pollinators and resilience. Have you heard of No Mow May? It is a growing movement (pun intended) to provide bees and other pollinators with the nectar they need when they first emerge in the spring. Changing your mowing practices, and also seeding your lawn with lowgrowing blooming plants like clover, violets, and johnny-jump-ups, can mean

You can get a printable version of this sign to laminate and put in your yard so neighbors know you aren’t just being slothful. See xerxes.org. And stop mowing so often... less watering and a healthier lawn. Leave the grass at least 3” tall on your first mowing. Longer grass shades out weed seeds and promotes longer roots and more drought tolerance. Leaving the clippings on your lawn can eliminate the need to fertilize. Decomposed clippings enrich the soil and reduce run-off. If clippings are too long and might smother

The larger plants here were planted two years previously, with new plantings just started a few months ago. 60

The Ely Winter Times

the grass, save them and use them as mulch on your gardens once they dry, or add them to the compost bin. So when those glossy catalogs land in your mailbox, ignore them for a while and go to the online sources listed below to relieve your winter doldrums. An excellent 38-page booklet, Planting for Pollinators, A Design Guide, has detailed instructions suitable for both beginners and experienced gardeners, plant guides, advice for involving the community, and inspirational photos. It is free as a pdf at the MN Board of Water and Soil Resources, but hard to find from the BWSR home page. It’s easier to Google the title adding MN to your search. And cheer up! You’ll be trading your snow shovel for your trowel in no time.

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ONLINE RESOURCES Xerxes.org BlueThumb.org BWSR.state.mn.us dnr.state.mn.us Extension.umn.edu/lawn-care TwinCitySeed.com/bee-lawn

ART in ELY Laura Rehbein “Moths” WALLS & SHELVES Art & Soul Gallery 427 E Sheridan Street

ORGANIZATIONS The Art Corner 301 W Sheridan Street Ely Art Walk ElyArtWalk.org Ely Photographic Collaborative Find it on Facebook Ely Folk School 209 E Sheridan Street Gardner Humanities Trust GardnerTrust.org Northern Lakes Arts Assn. NorthernLakesArts.org Tofte Lake Center TofteLake.org

ARTISTS’ WEBSITES Consie Powell ConsiePowell.com Chris Koivisto Ceramics ElyArt.com Eric Sherman Photography EricShermanImages.com Dafne Caruso Arts DafneCaruso.com Roy Misonznick Images ElyPix.com Larry Ricker Photography LHRimages.com

Art by Abbey 545 E Sheridan Street Anova Gallery 1311 E Sheridan Street Brainstorm Bakery 402 E Sheridan Street The Brandenburg Gallery 11 E Sheridan Street Ely Historic State Theater 238 E Sheridan Street Fernberg Art Gallery 2267 Fernberg Road Gallery Ali 6 E Sheridan Street Kekekabic Studio 118 E Chapman Street Mayhem Mending 438 E Sheridan Street Mealey’s Gift Shop 124 N Central Avenue Ornamental Hermit Studio 132 N 1st Avenue E, by appt

Churches Berean Baptist Church 2281 Hwy 169 365-5413, baptistchurchely.com Sun 10:30 Ely Gospel Church 3 E Allaire St 2351142 Sun, Prayer 9, Worship 10 In-person and livestreaming on YouTube at their channel, Ely Gospel Church First Lutheran Church LC MS 915 E Camp St 365-3348 Sun 10:30, Bible study 12 First Presbyterian Church 226 E Harvey St 365-5130 Sun 11, YouTube Grace Lutheran Church ELCA 301 E Conan St 365-5605 Sun 9:30 In-person and livestreaming on FB, archived on YouTube Ledgerock Comm. Church 1515 E Camp St 365-4890, LedgerockChurch.com Sun 9:30 In-person and livestream on FB, audio on web, archives Oasis Int’l Church 10 W Pattison 235-1151 Wed 9:30, Sun 10 In-person and livestreaming on FB at Oasis International Praise Fellowship Christian Ely Senior Center 235-9541 Sun Bible study 9, worship 10 St. Anthony’s Catholic Church 231 E Camp St 365-4017 Sat 5 pm, Sun 10 Babbitt, Sun and Wed 8am T 5pm, Th, F 8am St. Mary’s Episcopal Church 715 S Central Av 409-6870 Sun 9:30 Zoom, ElyStMarys@gmail for link United Methodist Church of Ely 305 E Camp St 365-3355, elyumc.org Sun 10, FB In-person and YouTube, ElyUMC1

Ely Area 12-Step & Recovery Meetings HOPE - for those dealing with any addiction in friends or family 1st Lutheran Church Mon 7pm Sober Squad Ely Talking Circle, Episcopal Church, open Sat 2pm AlAnon Ely Willingness AFG – 1st Lutheran Church Wed 7pm Babbitt AFG – Woodland Presbyterian Thurs 7pm Alcoholics Anonymous Ely Sunshine Group, open – St. Anthony’s basement Sun 6pm Women’s Open – Ledgerock Church Mon noon Miracle on Camp St, open – 1st Lutheran Church Mon 7pm Babbitt Tues Night Group, open – Tue 7pm Ely Wed Night Group, open – 1st Lutheran Church Wed 7:30pm Lake Vermilion 12X12, open Thu 6:30pm Immanuel Lutheran Church, Tower Babbitt Back2Basics, open – Woodland Presb Church, Babbitt Thu 7pm Happy, Joyous, and Free – First Presbyterian Church Fri 7pm Ely Saturday Group, open – 1st Lutheran Church Sat 7:30pm 2023-2024

Winter 2021-2022 Ely Area Calendar Most locations are shown on the maps on pages 71-74; church addresses are on page 61. Area code is 218 unless noted. Vermilion Theater is on the MN North Vermilion Campus. NOVEMBER All month 19 - Dec 3 22, 5 pm 23, 8am 23, 3-5 pm 23- Dec 31 24-26, all day 25,6pm 29, 5:30-7 29, 5:30 30, 3pm

Take & Make turkey box craft kit and Sage spice packet. Free Ely Public Library Festival of Trees, Northwoods Partners fundraiser, lighting 7pm 11/19 Grand Ely Lodge Thanksgiving Eve Service, all are welcome 1st Lutheran Church Turkey Trot 5 & 10K races, EndoftheRoad.yoga, benefits Contented Critters Trezona Parking Lot Thanksgiving Potluck, all are welcome Ely Folk School Shine Bright Ely, store windows decorated for evening walk/drive Downtown Ely Small Town Christmas, SHOP LOCAL! See Ely.org for store specials Downtown Ely Monster in the Woods Music Fest Ely State Theater Christmas Card Making, register Ely Folk School 5 Keys to Retiring Fearlessly, free, elyclasses.com Ely School Media Center Get Crafty! Snowman crafts, all ages, free, materials supplied, pre-register Ely Public Library

The Ely Winter Times

DECEMBER

More Ely Folk School classes for every month can be found at ElyFolkSchool.org All month 1, midnight 2, 9-12:30 2, 3-5pm 2, 7pm 3, 1-3 8, 3pm 7-9, 10-3 9, 7 pm 9, 10-2 pm 9, 1-3 pm 9, 3-5 pm 10, 7 pm

Take & Do Craft Kits and Spice Packets, free Ely Public Library Ely Art Walk Artists registration due, C’mon-YOU can do this! ElyArtWalk.org Make Slovenian Walnut Potica, register in advance, also on Zoom Ely Folk School Makers Market and Mixer art & craft sale and socializing, northernlakesarts.org Ely Folk School Fundraiser for Frozen, music and more 1st Presbyterian Church Animal Tracking, an indoor class (outdoor class in January) Ely Folk School Aerodynamics, library scientists grades 1-3, register Ely Public Library Finnish Holiday, Homemade Gifts, Baked Goods, Conversation Nelimark Homestead, Embarrass Hometown Holiday Concert, Christmas at the State, NorthernLakesArts.org, State Theater Mrs. Claus kids holiday party Grand Ely Lodge Christmas Cookie Sale and Dessert Social,fundraiser for local charity 1st Lutheran Church Holiday Party by Ely Folk School, FREE food, drinks, games, fun for all ages Semers Park Reflections Dance Company Winter Showcase Vermilion Theater

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DECEMBER - continued 11, 3 pm 11, 1-4 pm 13-19, all day 14, 4-6 pm 16, 9-12:30 16, 4-6 pm 18-31 20, 3pm 20, 5:30 23, 7pm 24, 5 pm 31, all day 31, 6pm

Friends of the Library Book Club,Daphne DuMaurier’s Rebecca Ely Public Library Needle Felt a Reindeer, online, register in advance Ely Folk School Bad Guys Kahoot, all ages, online, prizes, register at the library Ely Public Library Christmas Cookie Swap, free Ely Folk School Make Slovenian Walnut Potica, register in advance, also on Zoom Ely Folk School Coffee & light dinner to accompany Finnish Ice Candle Celebration Embarrass Town Hall Art Show with Rita Fortunata Sterling, when theater is open Ely State Theater lobby Games Day, activities for all ages Ely Public Library 5 Keys to Retiring Fearlessly, free, elyclasses.com Ely School Media Center Alumni Hockey Game Ely Ice Arena Christmas Eve Candlelight Service, all welcome 1st Lutheran Church Isabella Christmas Bird Count, post-count lasagna, 218-323-7633 Isabella area & CC New Year’s Eve with Tony and Frank, Mesabi Symphony and local talent Ely State Theater

JANUARY Jan & Feb

Ely Youth Ski League, Times tba, ages 4-11, eysl@elynordic.org to register

Reflections Dance Company Winter Session begins

4-9 5, 1pm 6, 10-12 6, 3-5pm

Mark Twain Kahoot!, all ages, online, pre-register First Curiosity Cohort, for adults, free pre-register, Sewing Circuits Tracking Animals in the Snow, register, also Jan 13, 20, and 27 Makers Market and Mixer art & craft sale and socializing, northernlakesarts.org

Hidden Valley See FB page

Ely Public Library Ely Public Library Ely Folk School Ely Folk School

The Ely Winter Times

Need gift ideas? How about Ely Film Festival tickets, a voucher for a class at Ely Folk School, or a package of Zup’s sausages? Browse the rest of the magazine for unique Ely gifts.

Cut your own Christmas tree or balsam for wreaths and garland. Permits $5 at the US Forest Service.

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Did you know that one of Ely’s best high school skiers is now a pro and considered one of the top 15 in the US?! Guess who. Come watch the next MN super skiers at the races Jan 27th at Hidden Valley. Cocoa, lunch, and treats for sale in the chalet. A top US skier from Ely: Erin Bianco

8 11, 1pm 14-27

Spring Semester starts Get Crafty for adults, craft TBA Art Show, when theater is open

MN North Vermilion Ely Public Library Ely State Theater lobby

15, 6pm

Auditions for Spring Musical Fiddler on the Roof, northernlakesarts.org

Vermilion Theater

18, 3pm

Meteorites, library scientists grades 4-6, register

Ely Public Library

19-21, tbd 24, 2pm 26, 6pm 27, 9:30am 28 30-Feb 4 29

Frozen, the only high school production in MN by special award Washington Auditorium Hey! It’s a Holiday, all ages Holiday TBD Ely Public Library Northern Lakes Concert Series, Zach Baltich and Alex Osthoff Vermilion Theater Ely Invite high school ski races, Hidden Valley Art with the Pack, all ages, register at wolf.org Int’l Wolf Center Amateur Snow Carving Contest, see ElyWinterFestival.com by 1/20 for a block Whiteside Park Last day to register for Dorothy Molter winter dogsledding trip, 2/29-3/3 RootBeerLady.com

FEBRUARY 1, 1pm 1-11 2-28 2, 4-7 pm 3-4, 5pm 3-10, TBA 4, all day 4, 9-4 4, 10-1

Curiosity Cohort, adults, Truffles, register Ely Public Library Ely Winter Festival & Snow Sculpting Symposium, ElyWinterFestival.com Ely Area Ely Art Walk, free guide at Northern Grounds, Art&Soul, and others Downtown Ely Spaghetti Dinner, ECR fundraiser, all-you-can-eat Catholic Church basement Wolves After Dark, overnight for ages 12 and up, register at wolf.org Int’l Wolf Center Snowshoe hikes to Listening Point Cabin, ListeningPointFoundation.org to register Listening Pt Fun Run Snowmobile Ride, money raised goes for trail grooming, 365-3141 Ely, Babbitt, Tower Make a Beaver Fur Hat, register Ely Folk School Open House and campus tours MN North Vermilion admissions office

Get complete schedules for Ely Winter Festival events online or in brochures around town. 68

The Ely Winter Times

Regularly Scheduled Events (open to all - newcomers and beginners) Monthly Craft kits and spice packets to take home, available all month Ely Public Library Mon thru Fri Rec Center Ice Rink open, 3-8pm Ely Rec Center Mon-Thur Open Swimming, 9am-9pm, bring your own towel Grand Ely Lodge M, Tu, Th Skating rink open 1:30-2:30, free, register ElyClasses.com Ely Ice Arena M, W, F Indoor Pickleball, 7-10am, ElyClasses.com MN North Gym Mondays Schmear, 6pm, all ages Senior Center 2nd Monday Friends of the Library Book Club, 3 pm Ely Public Library Tuesdays (Jan-Nov) Tuesday Group, educational speakers, noon, ElyTuesdayGroup@gmail.com GEL&Zoom 1st Tuesday Climate Change Group, 10 am, all welcome EFN Resource Center 3rd Tuesday Tasty Tuesday cooking class 2-3:30, register 218-302-1778 Senior Ctr Wednesdays Men’s Memory & Movement Group, 10:30am Senior Center Wednesdays BINGO, 1-4pm, no need to be a senior Senior Center Wednesdays Bridge 1-3, all welcome Senior Center Wednesdays Wine Tastings, 6-8pm, reservations advised Northern Grounds Society Hall Wednesdays Game night, 6:30, check Ely Board Gamers on FB Location Varies Wednesdays Open Mic, 6 pm, everyone welcome Boathouse Wednesdays Women’s Basketball, 7-9pm, ElyClasses.com, Register in advance HS Big Gym Wednesdays Coed Volleyball, 7-9pm. ElyClasses.com, Register in advance HS Little Gym 1st&3rd Wednesday Wellness Wednesday, BP checks and other activities, 10:30-noon Senior Ctr 3rd Wednesday Food Shelf open 11am - 5pm, elyareafoodshelf.org 15 W. Conan Thursdays Makers Mornings, work on projects in community, free, 9:30am-12:30 Ely Folk School Thursdays Community Exercise, all are welcome 10:30 First Lutheran Church Thursdays Ely Free Clinic, 5:30-7, elycommunityhealth.org Ely Community Health Center Thursdays Ping-Pong, 6pm Senior Center 1st Thursday Call of the Wild Poetry night, 5pm, NorthernLakesArts.org Ely Folk School 1st Thursday Ely Area Writers’ Group, 6:30pm, 235-1984 Ely Folk School 2nd Thursday Trivia Night, 6:30-8:30, benefits Ely non-profits Boathouse upstairs 4th Thursday Caregivers Support Group, 10am, 365-8019 Senior Center 4th Thursday Heart of the Woods Quilters, 6:30 pm, 365-4907 Ledgerock Church basement Fridays Pre-school Storytime, 10:30am Ely Public Library Saturdays Rec Center Ice Rink open, 12-8pm Ely Rec Center Sundays Rec Center Ice Rink open, 1-6pm Ely Rec Center 1st Saturday Pancake Breakfast, Oct-May, 3-11 am Embarrass Timber Hall 3rd Saturday Food Shelf open 8am - 11am, elyareafoodshelf.org 15 W. Conan Saturdays What’s for Dinner? 7pm, 365-4695 pre-register not 11/25, 12/23 Int’l Wolf Center See church services in Spiritual Gatherings, page 61. Events at the school will be cancelled when school is closed. 2023-2024

FEBRUARY - continued 3, 11-2 3, 10-2 3, tbd 8-11 8, 7pm 9-11 7, 5-7:30 10, 7pm

17, 3-5 15-18

“Whirlwind” community event, fun winter activities for all ages, free Fat tire and Kicksled demos and trials, free Ely Art Walk reception, meet the artists, refreshments Ely Film Festival, schedule at ElyStateTheater.org/EFF Opening Night Film, Ely Film Festival Howler Jamboree Mini and Mite hockey tournament, elyhockey.org Dorothy Molter Museum fundraiser, RootBeerLady.com 40 Below: Tha Toughest Race in the World, Ely Film Festival

Dorothy Molter Museum Whiteside Park Ely Folk School Ely State Theater Ely State Theater Ely Ice Arena Grand Ely Lodge Ely State Theater

Makers Market and Mixer, art & craft sale and socializing, northernlakesarts.org Great Backyard Bird Count, BirdCount.org/gbbc or see Ely Field Naturalists

Ely Folk School Ely and USA

18, noon

Local Auditions for Broadway in the Boundary Waters Summer Theater

Vermilion Theater

24-25 24, 3-5pm TBA 24, 4-7pm 25, 9am 26 29-3/3

WolfTrack Classic Sled Dog Race, WolfTrackClassic.com Meet the Teams at Vet checks Wolftrack Welcome Party, bonfire, beverages, games, volunteers and spectators Wolf Track Spaghetti Dinner, all-you-can-eat, Wilderness Club fundraiser WolfTrack Classic Sled Dog Race Starts Reflections Dance Company Spring Session begins Dorothy’s by Dogsled BWCAW trip, register by 1/29/24, RootBeerLady.com

Ely area Mn North Vermilion Timber Trail Lodge Vermilion Cafeteria Ely Softball Complex See FB page Knife Lake

GYMS and FITNESS CLASSES for WALK-INS and MEMBERS Classes are 45-60 minutes. Check for descriptions and schedules: EndoftheRoad.yoga 235-7294 HMSFunctionalFitness.com 2235-0835 text StudioNorthElyMN.com 365-2493 Senior classes - NorthwoodsPartners.org Cost is $12-15 with discounts for membership or multiple classes. See locations on the maps, pages 70 and 74. A 12-week Tai Ji Quan class will be held at the Ely Rec Center Tue and Thu 10-11am starting Feb 6th. Advance registration advised, new students not accepted after the 2nd class. NorthwoodsPartners.org or 365-8019 to register. 70

The Ely Winter Times

MARCH • APRIL • MAY 2, tbd 8-10 6-27 9, 7pm

Harry Potter event, teens and adults, register Wolves and Women’’s Weekend, register at wolf.org Gardner Trust Spring grants cycle open, for individual artists and organizations Sled Soiree: An Adult Prom, northernlakesarts.org

18-31 Apr 1

Art Show, when theater is open

Ely State Theater lobby

Registration opens for Youth Arts Summer Programs ECR Art Auction Fundraiser, in person again!

NorthernLakesArts.org TBD

Art Show, when theater is open

Ely State Theater lobby

Apr 20 Apr 15-28 May 8, 7PM May 11 May 11 May 15, 6:30 May 18, 8-4 May 18

Ely Public Library Int’l Wolf Center GardnerTrust.org TBD

Commencement for MN North Vermilion Vermilion gym Minnesota Fishing Opener, the REAL end of winter whatever the weather Ely Area Lakes Last day to register for Women’s BWCA trip to Dorothy’s, 6/11-15, RootBeerLady.com Knife Lake Reflections Dance Company Spring Showcase Vermilion Theater City-wide Rummage Sale, Clean out your closets! Ely Chamber of Commerce 365-6123 Ely Area Studio North Dance Recital,11am and 5:30pm Washington Auditorium

Call or email your events for a listing in future issues: 365-3375, raven1@ravenwords.com

2023-2024

Maps of the Ely Area Downtown Area

Camp St. 4 5

1 10 19

20 27 28

17 18

3 30

Sheridan St.

Chapman St.

13 26

Harvey St. 38 21

Conan St. 1st E

Art & Soul Gallery 33 Blue Loon 17 Boathouse Brewpub 19 Boundary Waters Connect 16 Brainstorm Bakery 35 Brandenburg Gallery 1 Chapman Street Books 31 Chapman St. Commons 32 City Hall/Police/Fire 25 Ely Area Credit Union 9 Ely Area Food Shelf 2 Ely Bike & Kicksled 4 Ely Comm Free Clinic 12 Ely Comm Resource 38 Ely Field Ntr Resource Ctr 11 Ely Film Festival 29 Ely Folk School 28 72

Ely Historic State Theater Ely Public Library Ely Steam Sauna Ely Surplus Store End of the Road Yoga Evergreen Cottage Friends of the BW Gardener Trust (City Hall) Gracie’s Plant Works HMS Functional Fitness Healthy Families Chiro Insula Restaurant J&L Ben Franklin Joe’s Marine KJs True Value Hardware Kekekabic Studios Mealey’s Gift & Sauna

29 24 15 4 18 22 18 25 8 12 16 20 14 7 30 14 3

8 Ave

Central Av.

14 22

34 36 Whiteside Park

16 12 11 32 31

4 Ave

School

Minnesota Canoe Museum 28 Northern Grounds 6 The Pebble Spa 28 Piragis Northwoods Co 5 Post Office 26 Potluck Kitchenware 32 Prairie Fire Tobacco 31 Senior Center 13 Sisu Yarn Shop 7 Save the Boundary Waters 16 Society Hall 6 State Farm Insurance 12 Steger Mukluks 10 Sweet Fern Soap 5 Washington Auditorium 21 Wintergreen Northernwear 27 Women’s Wild Discovery 37 The Ely Winter Times

To 14

Cloquet Line

Moose Lake

Echo Tr

Fall Lake

Burntside Lake

3 22 To Tower, Soudan, Virginia Hwy 21

23 Winton

Ely

White Iron Lake

Fernberg Tr

Rt 88

Shagawa Hwy 169 Lake 8

Snowbank Lake

Lake One Garden Lake Farm Lake 10 South Kawishiwi

Hwy 1

15 Bald Eagle Lake

Hwy 1

Bear Island Lake

To Isabella Lake

Birch Lake Tomahawk Tr To Isabella, Lake 20 Superior

Hwy 21 Babbitt 13 To 21 Embarrass

Airport Alder Place Bass Lake Trail Bearhead State Park Big Lake Lodge Bois Forte Heritage Ctr Camp Voyageur Chilly Dogs Contented Critters Docks on Wheels 2023-2024

Tomahawk Tr

12 13 2 22 14 22 10 11 6 8

Embarrass Timber Hall 21 Janisch Realty 22 Kawishiwi Falls 7 Koschak Farm 4 Lake Vermilion State Pk 22 Lamppa Manufacturing 22 Lossing’s Power Sports 13 Mather Recycling 23 North Arm Trails 1 North American Bear Ctr 3

Nelimark Museum 21 Timberjay Newspaper 22 Tofte Lake Center 16 Vermilion Trap Club 5 Vermillion Roofing 22 Vermilion Houseboats 22 Veterans on the Lake 7 Voyageur Outward Bound15 White Wilderness 20 Wintergreen Lodge 9 73

Public Landing

Shagawa Lake

Pioneer Rd

37 36 55 Public Landing

Miners Lake

Semer’s Park

r St. Chandle W.Shagawa Rd.

r’s D Mine

55 34

Main St.

Washington St.

Madison St.

Camp St. 39

1st E

12 Ave

10 Ave

8 Ave

Whiteside

Central Av

1st W

6 Ave

Sheridan St. Chapman St.

2nd W

Hwy 169 to Tower

3rd W

See Detailed Downtown Area Map on Page 70

Harvey St. Conan St. School

Hospital & Clinic

White St.

Pattison St.

Ice Arena

James St. Boundary St. Wilson St.

Golf Course

Please thank our advertisers for providing you with this free publication.

Hwy 21 to Babbitt

Beacon Hill

Arrowhead Outdoors 52 Dorothy Molter Museum 49 Ely-Bloomenson Hosp/Clinic 31 Ely Chamber of Commerce 47 Ely Community Pharmacy 31 Ely Arts & Heritage Center 36 Ely Nordic Ski & Bike 53 Ely Recreation Center 42 2023-2024

Reach thousands of Ely visitors, residents, and cabin owners with your ad in The Ely Summer & Winter Times. ads@ravenwords.com 218-365-3375

Ely-Winton History Museum 46 Gators Grilled Cheese 39 Grand Ely Lodge 37 International Wolf Center 51 Miners Dry Building 36 Pillow Rock 43 R&R Transfer 44 Recycling Center 54 75

ELY CALENDAR PARKING

Pioneer Rd

November 1 through May 31 Park on the North or West side on odd numbered days, the South or East side on even numbered days. You may park on the next day’s side after 6pm.

5 55

Savoy Rd Hwy 88

44 17 Ave

MN North Vermilion College 46 50 51 Cemetery

Hwy 169 to Winton/Fernberg Trail

Sheridan St. 49

15 Ave

14 Ave

Kawishiwi Tr Va l

Hwy 1 to Airport and North Shore

53 Hidden Valley Chalet & Recreation Area

Snowmobile trail maps are free at many businesses and the Chamber of Commerce. For snowmobile events and trail conditions see the Ely Igloo Facebook page. Ski and snowshoe trail maps are available at Piragis Northwoods Co. and the Forest Service. For more area XC skiing and mountain biking info see ElyNordic.org.

Steger Mukluks Plant 34 Studio North Fitness Center 45 Trezona Trail 55 US Forest Service Center 50 MN North Vermilion Theatre 46 Veterinary Clinic 35 Wolf Track Classic Start 56 Zup’s Grocery 48 76

The Ely Winter Times

2023-2024