Staff photos/Jane Howard Top: Gunflint Trail Historical Society President Sue Kerfoot shows Jim Edlund a beaver hat she found on E-Bay. It will be part of a Voyageur exhibit at Chik-Wauk Museum and Nature Center, scheduled to open July 4, 2010.
The future Chik-Wauk Museum and Nature Center near the end of the Gunflint Trail is already earning kudos by state and national officials a year before its grand opening, scheduled for July 4, 2010.
On June 24, 2009, a very favorable impression was left with representatives of the National Scenic Byways Committee, the Minnesota Department of Tourism, the Minnesota Department of Transportation, and the Minnesota Historical Society, who toured the former lodge and grounds that are in the process of being restored by the Gunflint Trail Historical Society. Ownership of Chik-Wauk Lodge was turned over to the Superior National Forest following the establishment of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in 1978, but its last owners, Ralph and Bea Griffis, spent summers at the lodge through the late 1990s.
“I came away from the trip particularly enthused by the innovation and high quality planning and fundraising you folks have done for the Chik-Wauk Museum,” Scenic Byway specialist Dennis Adams wrote in a June 29 email to several people involved in the museum project. “Several of my colleagues at the America’s Byways Resource Center [in Duluth] would like to learn more so they could use your great story in their work.” Adams said the other three byway specialists in Duluth are always looking for “quality examples of innovative byway developments” they could use in their trainings. “Your work certainly fits that bill,” Adams said.
Above Right: Lee Zopff of the Mid-Trail Property Owners Association (left) hands Gunflint Trail Historical Society President Sue Kerfoot a check for $1,100. The association donated the proceeds from a meal and snack they had provided to bicyclists traveling with Jim Klobuchar’s 356h annual Jaunt with Jim last month. The money will be used for Chik-Wauk Museum and Nature Center, which will is scheduled to open July 4, 2010. Above Left: This quilt, handcrafted by Melissa Anderson, will be raffled off by the Gunflint Trail Historical Society to raise money for Chik-Wauk Museum and Nature Center. The lucky winner will be announced at the museum’s opening July 4, 2010. Tickets will be available at numerous functions around the county until then.
Adams requested that he and a group of other Scenic Byway officials return in July to learn more. “I expect to collect background as a case study…that we can use in our training work across the country. …You have a gem in the making,” he said.
At the June 29 Gunflint Trail Historical Society annual meeting at Clearwater Lodge, Superior National Forest Gunflint District Ranger Dennis Neitzke said, “I had a dream a couple years ago, and you guys [are making] it a reality. …I can die a happy man now.”
“This has been a joy,” said Gunflint Trail Historical Society President Sue Kerfoot. TheU.S. Forest Service, she said, has “bent over backwards” to help Chik- Wauk get on the National Register of Historic Places.”
Kathy Lande, head of the Grounds Committee, complimented Bob Baker, Sr., who made a log bench weighing over 900 pounds for the museum grounds. He has offered to make three more as well, she said.
Volunteer labor has been extensive. “Individuals are making this museum,” said Kerfoot. The society has 418 members with a goal of 500 by the time the museum opens. “As president I feel the support of all these volunteers who are ready to help with any task,” Kerfoot wrote in the society’s annual report. “These people are the backbone of our organization. …Working together we will build a museum that the entire community will be proud of.”
The museum project is $25,000 closer to its goal thanks to a generous donation within the last month. So far, the historical society has raised about $750,000 in addition to a $250,000 endowment. Theyneed another $150,000 cash in the bank to meet their opening goal.
Toward that end, Lee Zopff, on behalf of the Mid-Trail Property Owners Association, presented a check for $1,100 to the historical society for the Chik- Wauk museum. The money came from Jim Klobuchar’s 36th annual bicycle jaunt that brought 183 bikers to Cook County in June. The property owners association served a lunch and a snack in the midtrail fire hall during the jaunt, with many of the goods donated or offered at a discount by local businesses.
Sue Kerfoot talked about a couple of the exhibits that are being planned. One will be a Native American exhibit featuring a stuffed beaver. Beside it, showing the progression of changes in the area over time, will be a Voyaguer exhibit. The beaver trade is what opened up the northern sector of the United States to modern travel, Kerfoot said, and someone suggested the possibility of displaying a beaver hat to illustrate that industry. Where does one find a beaver hat? On E-Bay, of course! Kerfoot found on E-Bay a flat-topped, brimmed, black hat made of beaver felt in mint condition. It feels soft like fur but looks like black felt. Its age is unknown, but it came in its original hatbox, which is also in good shape but clearly originated from some time in the past.
Melissa Anderson has created a very large Northwoods-themed quilt that will be raffled off next July 4 at the museum opening. Tickets will be available at various events throughout the year for $5 each or $20 for five tickets.
Still needed for the museum are photos of animals, birds, families, and people doing any number of things from fishing to washing windows. Also needed are stories from people with memories of time spent on the Gunflint Trail. The historical society is also hoping some volunteers come forward to take on specific projects related to museum displays.
More information on the Gunflint Trail Historical Society, Chick-Wauk Museum and Nature Center, and the history of Chik-Wauk Lodge can be found online at GunflintTrailHistoricalSociety. org.
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