Kevin Sutton and Jane, a former student of his who attended Snowcamp, discuss the evening activities at Mink Lake Camp. Sutton said one goal of Coldwater is to build a relationship with Cook County youth through outdoor activities “Teaching reflection, thoughtfulness in how you live life, what you do with disappointment and how lessons learned from the outdoors are transferred to your everyday life.” To learn more go to www.coldwaterfoundation.org or info@coldwaterfoundation.org
In the fading light, darkness was quickly falling around Mink Lake Camp, damping the yellow glow cast from propane lamps at small square windows, darkness wiggling and filling snowshoe tracks left by a group of six campers who tromped single file into the night, shovels slung over their shoulders, headlamps bobbing through thick dark forest as their laughter and chatter crackled eerily into the wilderness.
It looked like a scene from Saw II and this reporter wondered, “How many bodies are they going to bury with those shovels?’”
“They are heading to Boy’s Lake to shovel off a spot for broomball,” explained Kevin Sutton, Foundation Director of Coldwater Foundation, calmly sipping on a cup of Fika coffee.
Kevin and his wife, Jen, started Coldwater Foundation, an outdoor Christian leadership program, in 2009.
Many of the current staff have been part of the story since before the foundation began. In 2001 Alice McFarlane was living in the basement of Kevin and Jen’s house near Wheaton College’s Honey Rock Camp in Northern Wisconsin. Kevin was leading outdoor hiking and canoe trips through the camp, and so was McFarlane.
One of McFarlane’s earliest memories was of the three Sutton daughters, Abby, Linden and Meredith. “Abby was the oldest, about five. I remember three little blond haired girls laughing and running across the lawn towards me.”
McFarlane recounted those early interactions with the Sutton family as she worked in the Mink Lake camp kitchen with Linden Figgie. Abby Sutton (now out of high school and in cosmetology school) was sitting nearby reading a book. Both Figgie and McFarlane are full time staffers for Coldwater Foundation.
When Coldwater Foundation took charge of Mink Lake Camp last fall, Kevin knew his program had a home base that would allow it to expand. In addition to the main lodge, the facility offers six log cabins that can sleep up to 15 in a cabin. On the grounds there are hiking trails and canoes and ropes courses. There is also a wilderness that runs almost unabated to Hudson Bay in the background.
On hand during this interview were participants in a four-day Snowcamp. Teens and young adults in the group came from India, Romania, Iowa, and Minnesota. Exuberant and enthusiastic, the group stayed, played, prayed, and studied leadership training, often in the main lodge mess hall, which sits on a small rise about 100 feet from Mink Lake. It is a semi-primitive site with no electricity and virtually no cell phone coverage.
“We ask kids and campers to leave their cell phones off when they are here,” said Kevin.
Asked the origin of the name of the organization, Kevin recalled two lessons he had learned from cold water.
“One time my wife and I were out on a hiking trip and it rained for five days. We came to what was normally a small stream where we would cross but it was engorged with water. We couldn’t cross so we started walking upstream to find a spot where it wasn’t too deep. We were miserable and it was a long walk before we finally found a spot we could cross. It was early June and the water was cold. Very cold. It was hard but we endured.
“There was lesson in that journey about perseverance and keeping faith in the face of hardship,” said Kevin.
“Another time I was leading a group of students on a hiking trip in the Porcupine Mountains (in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula). It was very hot, in the mid-90s and water was hard to find. We knew where there was a spring so we filled our canteens before we headed to the top of the escarpment, where we knew there wouldn’t be any water.
“Near the top we ran into a group of women coming down. They looked hot, tired, thirsty, and they were worried about finding the trailhead. It wasn’t that far away, I started to explain. Just then two students simultaneously reached by me with their canteens filled with cold water, offering it to the women who were more than happy to accept a drink.
“I might have been the teacher but I learned the lesson that day. I always say I learn as much from my students as they do from me. It was a humbling experience, but one I will never forget,” said Kevin.
Growing up in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Kevin loved the outdoors, especially playing hockey.
But a professional career in hockey wasn’t in his future. Instead, he crossed the border to attend school at Northwestern College in Orange City, Iowa. In this clean, vibrant Dutch inspired village Kevin met Jen. After graduating with a degree in history, Kevin went to graduate school at Wheaton College in Illinois, where he earned a Master’s Degree in Christian formation and ministry. Kevin worked at honing his skills at Honey Rock. When they formed Coldwater back in Iowa, they ran it for a number of years before moving to Grand Marais in 2012. While Kevin spends much of his time building the organization, Jen manages the home and does the foundation bookwork.
“It wouldn’t be possible for me to do this job if not for Jen. Someone has to be around for the kids and often that’s her because of my busy schedule.”
Abby graduated from Cook County High School in 2014. Linden is a senior, Meredith is a sophomore and Peter is in eighth grade. Both Linden and Meredith were stars on Cook County’s first ever state-bound girl’s volleyball team this year.
Coldwater Foundation offers what Kevin calls “Adventure Education” which he describes as, “a non-formal educational discipline that promotes the cultivation of good character, the development of relationships within a group, and individual and corporate learning.”
Partners include the Grand Marais Evangelical Free Church, Northwestern College and Alton Reformed Church in Iowa and New Horizons Foundation (Romania).
Mink Lake will be a starting and ending point for groups, Kevin said, and instructors will use the location for training. In the future college classes may be offered, there.
Coldwater’s staff leads groups of adults, teens and college students on adventures that last from one day to many weeks. Some hike, some canoe, some climb mountains.
The staff is made up mostly of Northwestern College students and graduates who are Christians and love the outdoors.
Dave Nonnemacher has known Kevin for 25 years. Dave, his wife Jody and daughters Zoe and Grace relocated to Grand Marais from Two Harbors this summer when he joined the Coldwater staff as director of operations.
“Dave has far more skills in some ways than I do in running this organization,” said Kevin. “It is a blessing to have him on board.”
McFarlane is Coldwater’s administrative assistant and Figgie is an instructor and marketing assistant. Both waitress when they aren’t busy with Coldwater activities. Figgie serves customers at My Sister’s Place in Grand Marais and McFarlane at Naniboujou Lodge and Restaurant in Hovland.
Julie Adams is the Ropes Course & Wilderness instructor. Previously she worked with the New Horizons Foundation in Romania.
Matthew and Michelle Gray left Grand Marais in 2013 to move back to his hometown of Kitchner, Ontario where he operates Coldwater Canada with his wife. Matthew is another Northwestern College graduate who first worked for Coldwater as an instructor in 2009.
“The Coldwater mission is to help students learn and practice the character foundations of biblical leadership and for them to explore and discover how to make a contribution to their local community, and in doing so, point to this fierce love. Our method is to teach by giving students significant responsibility and by supporting them as they explore leadership in the context of service to others and God,” said Kevin.
As for broomball, it’s a winter staple. “We will clear off the ice for hockey too. If anyone wants to play, we have skates!” said Kevin.
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