A cold, wet month of May kept campers away from the Grand Marais Recreation Park, with the proceeds down $20,000 from last May, said Stephanie Radloff to the park board on Tuesday, June 4.
Radloff was filling in for park manager Dave Tersteeg, who was on vacation.
All of the employees have been hired for the summer at the golf course and at the park, noted Stephanie.
Despite the inclement weather, new Gunflint Hills golf course superintendent Paul Jones said, “We’ve been getting some business in.”
Work to repair winter damaged turf has been ongoing, despite the wet ground, and headway is being made, Jones added.
Some exciting news is that a new ladies league is starting up, with Dan Richards and Emily Dusheck helping to form the league. “We are also going to have mixers on Friday at 5:30 p.m. and Dan is working on planning a tournament,” said Jones.
The golf course has received a new “point of sale” cash register. While the staff is just learning how to use it, Radloff said the purchase was a big upgrade from what was there before.
Plus, she added, “I can help with training from the park. If something goes wrong I can fix it from down here.”
Lions special event permit
The park board discussed the Grand Marais Lions Club special event application for the Fisherman’s Picnic.
Helicopter rides have been added to the permit, and that generated some discussion. Chairwoman Sally Berg asked about the helicopter rides that are part of the application.
Lake Superior Helicopter has requested use of Boulder Park for landings and takeoffs for rides scheduled to last five minutes.
Berg didn’t think Boulder Park would be a safe place for a helicopter to operate during the hectic, somewhat chaotic Fisherman’s Picnic.
Jennifer Stoltz suggested the company look at taking off and landing at the high school, or somewhere else that was away from the busy downtown area. And Barb Backlund agreed, saying between the noise issue and safety factor, she wasn’t in favor of helicopter rides taking off and landing downtown during this time.
With that, the park board recommended passing the special event permit with the caveat that helicopter rides be excluded and that any damage done from the softball games played during the Fisherman’s Picnic tournament on the Rec Park field be covered by the Lions Club insurance.
From there the park board’s resolution will go to the Grand Marais City Council for review and approval or rejection, or modification.
The two timber frame buildings built on Sweetheart’s Bluff last fall still haven’t been stained or roofs added to them. Once again, the lack of progress on the picnic shelters is the result of the turbulent weather, said Radloff.
On Wednesday, June 5, a group of volunteers gathered and worked with park board staff to plant 100 trees that were received through a 2017 grant from the DNR.
Camper Boater issues
There really haven’t been any, Radloff said. “Well, just one. A camper came in and said, ‘You guys have been doing a good job.’”
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