Father Baraga’s Cross rededication Sunday, August 5

Twenty-eight volunteers installed 75 plants in under two hours along the trail leading to Father Baraga’s Cross in Schroeder on July 28. They were sprucing up the area in preparation for a rededication ceremony to be held Sunday, August 5 at 3:00 p.m. Father Baraga made a historic trip across Lake Superior in a storm in the 1800s, landing at what is now the mouth of the Cross River, where he and his companion erected a cross thanking God for their survival. He was known to some as “the snowshoe priest.” The public is invited to the rededication ceremony.

“It takes a village to do almost anything!” That’s what Jim Norvell of Schroeder had to say about the sprucing up of the area leading to Father Baraga’s Cross on July 28. He has been the project’s biggest cheerleader in preparation for a rededication of the site coming up this weekend.

“Thanks to a massive recruiting effort led by Linda Walker and the West End Garden Club, 28 volunteer planters showed up ready to work, and work they did!” he said. More than 75 plants were put into the ground in less than two hours “under very difficult digging conditions,” he said. Indeed, the cross, which stands at the mouth of the Cross River on the shore of Lake Superior, is surrounded by bedrock and shale.

The new vegetation was planted along a newly created trail that is handicap-accessible. “It creates a very colorful avenue of shrubs in different sizes, shapes, and design,” Norvell said. “They also serve a very practical function: with their root systems, they provide excellent erosion control.” Ginny’s Greens of Lutsen created the design.

The site is owned by the Catholic Diocese of Duluth and is adjacent to the Schroeder Township park.

The rededication ceremony, officiated by Bishop Paul Serba of Duluth, will take place at 3:00 p.m. Sunday, August 5, right after the Fisherman’s Picnic parade in Grand Marais. The public is invited to attend this event. In fact, Norvell has been attending township meetings since at least March in order to personally invite as many people as possible.