Many stories shared at Storytelling Dinner

There were plenty of tales to swap at the North Shore Commercial Fishing Museum’s Storytelling Dinner held Saturday, October 22 at Lutsen Resort. Some of the best to recount their commercial fishing days on the “Big Lake” were Clint Maxwell, Virginia Reiner, Georgie Dunn and Howard (Bud) Sivertson.

It was a night to celebrate families, fishing, hard work and the experience of living on the Lake. At the North Shore Commercial Fishing Museum’s Storytelling dinner October 22, seventy-five guests saw photos and heard the voices of fishermen Helmer Aakvik, Stanley Sivertson, Tommy Eckel, Ben Fenstad and more. Although much knowledge of Lake Superior was lost when these men passed away, their images and stories were preserved by photographer Georgie Dunn 35 years ago. Dunn has given hundreds of slides and tapes to the museum documenting commercial fishing in the early 1980s, and she recalled the long hours of lugging heavy cameras onto fishing boats to capture the fishing life. The project took her four years.

The youngest fisherman she interviewed was Clint Maxwell of Beaver Bay. During the evening Maxwell and Dunn, who clearly admire each other’s work, spoke about the hard work of fishing; the satisfaction of working for yourself outdoors, and how much there is to learn about the ever changing, ever surprising and ever beautiful Lake Superior. Maxwell remembered how the old guys had helped him out with gear and advice. Dunn talked about how deeply involved the wives were with the fishing business and the worries when the fishermen were late returning.

Maxwell told the story of being blown across the Lake in the late fall, ending up on Devil’s Island in Wisconsin and being rescued by the Coast Guard. The years have made him a lot more cautious, having experienced many of Lake Superior’s dangers. But Dunn said all the fishermen, as did Maxwell, spoke fondly of the fishing life. That fondness continued to be heard in conversations throughout the evening, between the Maxwell and Dunn families, dinner guests and descendants of fishing families.