Steve Hanlon from Delano, Minnesota holds up his No. 1 slip denoting the fact that he arrived first to get in line at the Grand Marais Recreation office so he could secure a place for his camper in the park over the very busy Fisherman’s Picnic weekend. Standing to Hanlon’s right in a cap and wearing glasses is Randy Nimitz from Zimmerman, Minnesota. Nimitz arrived at 7 p.m. the night before the park office opened thinking he would be first in line only to find out he had been beaten by almost two hours by Hanlon. Staff photo/Brian Larsen
The rush to fill up the Grand Marais Recreation Park for the late July/early August four-day Fisherman’s Picnic was busy and brief.
At 7:45 a.m. on Wednesday, January 2, people were good naturedly standing shoulder to shoulder in the Grand Marais Recreation building patiently waiting for the 8 a.m. office opening so they could secure reservations for festive Fisherman’s Picnic weekend.
Some years the office stays closed until 8 a.m., but it was cold this year, so park manager Dave Tersteeg allowed people to come in early and wait in the warm space.
There is the usual quest by some to get the number one spot. This year Steve Hanlon, Delano, Minnesota, arrived at 5:15 p.m. the day before to take top honors. He was here to get Lot 50. This was his second consecutive year to make the drive north in January with the Picnic firmly on his mind.
“I’ve come to the park five years for the ‘Picnic,’” he said. But as it got harder and harder to make online reservations due to the crush of calls the park office gets on January 2 and 3, coming north, even a day early, is one way to guarantee he would get a spot for his trailer.
Randy Nimitz of Zimmerman, Minnesota arrived in Grand Marais at 7 p.m. the night before the opening of the park office. He was second in line and marveled that he had been beaten by Hanlon. Nevertheless, Randy was able to secure sites for two other groups from Zimmerman, as well as for himself.
James from Minneapolis was a bit of an oddity. All of the others were there to secure sites for their trailers/ RVs. But James, who had driven all night, was in line to get a tent site.
Tent sites usually don’t fill up, and are typically available online for those who want to get them, but that’s not always the case.
“I’ve been coming to Grand Marais since I was 15. This is the seventh year I arrived early to stand in line to get a tent site. I was burned one year and couldn’t get a camping spot, and since then, I’m taking no chances,” James said with a smile.
Phil Raner from North Iowa secured six sites for a wedding party.
“My daughter, Sara, is getting married here this summer. We brought her to Grand Marais every year since she was one and she’s 25 now. She’s not getting married over the Fisherman’s Picnic weekend, but we wanted to stay and celebrate her wedding.”
Meanwhile there were half a dozen local people who got up early to make reservations for friends and family. Chris Hedstrom was on hand to secure a site for WTIP, and Aaron Sjogren said he didn’t know exactly how many guests would be arriving for the Picnic, so he was getting a spot just in case.
As the office staff processed the reservations, there was a lot of friendly banter. Most of these folks have been making this ritual drive for years and they know each other well.
It was 14 degrees F outside, with temperatures just hours before hovering around zero, but inside all any one of the mitten and warm fur-lined hat and down-filled jacket wearers could think about was summer. And for an hour or two, at least in the office, despite the apparel, summer had arrived, if briefly, despite predictions of more snow to fall later in the day.
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