10 Years Ago
June 7, 2002
With a common goal of protecting the forest ecosystem, about 30 people attended a Northeastern Minnesotans for Wilderness organizational meeting on Thursday, May 30 at the 4-H building on the Cook County fairgrounds in Grand Marais. The meeting took place in the evening following a dinner held next door in the community center for Green Party gubernatorial candidate Ken Pentel. NMW is a wilderness advocacy group founded in 1996; it is headquartered in Ely.
On May 22, the Legislative Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCMR) notified the City of Grand Marais that a grant request for $558,000 to build the proposed Grand Marais Harbor Park on the former Standard Station property was denied. The grant application was submitted by the Grand Marais Harbor Parks & Trails Committee on behalf of the city. The letter stated that the LCMR received 260 proposals totaling $295 million. Of those, 99 were selected for further consideration. The city could apply for another grant next year.
20 Years Ago
June 8, 1992
A suit has been filed in Federal District Court to force the Forest Service to cancel the special user permit issued to Jeffery Drew of Top of the Trail Canoe Outfitters. The complaint charges that the special use permit issued by the Forest Service violates the spirit and terms of the Act of Congress that created the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Plaintiffs in the case are the Grand Marais Gunflint Trail Outfitters Association and the Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness. The plaintiffs claim that the federal government bought out the Top of the Trail Resort in 1985 for $320,000; the Forest Service then granted Drew a special use permit to operate the resort in violation of the Wilderness Act.
Hedstrom Lumber Company has announced a two-week shutdown of the sawmill starting June 8 to allow for resupply of sawlogs and to work through the inventory of already sawed lumber. According to company president Howard Hedstrom, this is a normal shutdown due to the late spring break-up and will not require any layoffs. During the shutdown, maintenance will be done on mill equipment. The planing mill will be accelerated to double shifts and the chip mill will run as usual.
50 Years Ago
June 7, 1962
The sharp ears of a Grand Marais youth caught a faint cry for help last Sunday evening while he and his father were fishing on Daniels Lake. This may have saved the lives of two Duluth men who had tipped their canoe while attempting to land a trout. The small canoe was found overturned and barely floating in about 40 feet of water, with its motor still attached. The two men clinging to it had been in the water 15 to 20 minutes, and that water is cold! They were pulled into the boat and covered with coats, and brought a quarter-mile to shore where they had camped for two nights. Here they put on dry clothing and warmed themselves. They lost their rods, a net and a small radio and, of course, the big fish.
Vernon Cooper, longtime salesman in this area, looked up old friends here last week.
Staying at the Moe-Del Motel for the past week were Mr. and Mrs. Howard Thatcher of Chicago, and Chicago’s champion pinochle player, Stanley B. Norberg. Pinochle sessions were in order through the week with Stan being a 90 percent loser. Stan said, “It was the weather.”
90 Years Ago
June 8, 1922
Forest fires have been threatening for the past several days. A heavy rain last night helped to check the fires burning at several points along the shore. They are now under control everywhere in the county.
Reward of $25 is offered for the return of three bags and a suitcase, left in a stolen car which was abandoned the other side of Mineral Center.
The season of strangers has come again. The tourists have started to pour in, and the forest offices have taken on their annual batch of young men from the southern part of the state. Again we must exert ourselves and though the day be a good or bad one for us, give the stranger a hearty hello – the hello he has come to feel is a part of this, our North. He will go away disappointed if every one of us does not have one for him, together with a warming smile to start the day off right.
Do you have an old picture or a story from years gone by that you would like to share with the Cook County News-Herald readers? We’d love to hear your Historical Reflections Call (218) 387-9100; e-mail starnews@boreal.org; or stop by our office at 15 First Avenue West.
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