At first glance, the two people nominated and awarded the 2011 Grand Marais Lions Club “Citizen of the Year” and “Senior Citizen of the Year” awards— Iola Wojtysiak and Dan Baumann—may seem quite different. However, as Lion Rosemary Lamson read their biographies at the Citizen of the Year award ceremony in Harbor Park on Saturday, August 6, it became apparent […]
Horse attacked, dog killed by wolves
According to a 2010 U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services (WS) report on wolves in Minnesota, the “magnitude of damage” from wolves to livestock in Minnesota is relatively small, affecting 1 – 2 percent of farms in wolf range. However, the wildlife service acknowledges that the losses to individual producers “can be significant” and that the Minnesota gray wolf (Canis […]
Lutsen cabin damaged by fire
Cook County Law Enforcement received two emergency 911 calls at 6:47 p.m. on Monday, August 8 reporting that lightning had struck a cabin and started it on fire at 3948 Cascade Beach Road in Lutsen. Lutsen Fire Department, Lutsen First Responders, and Cook County Ambulance were paged and were enroute by 6:52 p.m. and on scene by 7:02 p.m. Members […]
State warns of unsafe water on local beaches
On Tuesday, Aug. 9, the Minnesota Department of Health warned people to avoid contact with the water at two North Shore sites. Water samples collected Monday at the Schroeder Town Park beach and the Grand Marais downtown beach contained elevated levels of E. coli bacteria, indicating the possible presence of fecal contamination. Both areas were scheduled to be re-sampled the […]
You can grow up to be president
Fifty years ago I was attending elementary schools in Tofte and Lutsen. At that time, my grade school teachers told all of their students that anyone could grow up to be president of the United States. It was not until I lived to see the American people elect George W. Bush and Barack H. Obama to the presidency back-to-back that […]
It takes a community to host the Picnic
To the businesses, residents and guests of Cook County: The Grand Marais Lions wish to thank all of our sponsors who so generously gave donations to help us defray expenses and gift certificates for our prize drawings. We cannot hope to have a successful Fisherman’s Picnic without our local sponsors. Thank you. We could not have wished for better weather. […]
Lumber Camp a community effort
On behalf of the Central Boiler and Wood-Mizer Lumber Camp and its sponsors, including Husqvarna, Steve’s Sports, Hedstrom Lumber Company, Nace Hagemann Construction, Wildfire Protection Systems and MN Army National Guard, Lutsen Mountains, Eagle Ridge, Lutsen Real Estate Group, Lutsen Lodging Company, Marine General, Northstar Cabling and Communications, Studio 61, Circle H Timber, and Clearwater Outfitters and Lodge, we would […]
Improve golf course, not community center
Cook County is blessed and cursed at the same time to rely on tourism for its economic well being. We are blessed, in that tourism provides many seasonal and sometimes year-round jobs. Employment that provides critically needed revenues for our residents, our small businesses, our tax-exempt organizations and our county in general. We are cursed, in that a snowdeprived winter […]
The good of concert and community service outweighs the negative
Despite some complaints about noise level and even the content at the recent three-day music festival held in July, the stories of the positive impact to our community were overwhelming. What an amazing thing that 75 people, most of them teenagers, would pay their own way to travel to and serve Grand Marais simply out of the goodness of their […]