Some of the Tofte Historical Society Board Members (L-R) Roberta Sve, MaryJane Huggins, Virginia Reiner, Ginny Storlie and Karen Kobey.
The Tofte Historical Society held its annual meeting on Sunday, May 1 at the Birch Grove Community Center. President Virginia Reiner welcomed attendees and introduced the officers and board members present. She spoke briefly on the highlights of the past year.
The society received a generous donation of historical slides and recordings from the 1980s. This was provided by Georgie Dunn who, in researching her master’s thesis, had visited the North Shore to record and document the fishing activities as they happened. The society is looking forward to researching this valuable collection.
The society also was involved in several other events last year. They contributed stories, interviews, and other items to help Channel 8 in Duluth create a TV documentary on the steamship America. Their sixth annual “Storytelling Dinner” was held at Lutsen Resort and was well attended. In addition, Fred Bonin, a Schroeder native son who fishes in Alaska, donated some fresh Alaskan salmon as a fundraising idea. It proved to be a rousing success and hopefully will be repeated again this fall.
Historical Society Treasurer MaryJane Huggins reported that the society is in good financial shape. The biggest expense is now the very popular quarterly newsletter The Fishing Museum Journal.
Ginny Storlie, vice president, spoke on building maintenance issues. The structure is 20 years old and in need of some repair. The most pressing is the need for re-shingling the roof. Also, the furnace needed work last winter and may need to be replaced soon. A facility fund will be started to collect donations for these items.
Dick Nelson, a Lutsen resident, spoke on a steel roofing product that may work well for the museum. It has a 25-year warranty and looks like old asphalt shingles.
During the business part of the meeting, two new board members were elected. They are Greg Tofte and Eric Frost, both of Tofte.
The final part of the evening was a fascinating preview of the slides and recordings from the Georgie Dunn Collection.
Members and friends are reminded of some upcoming events: Tuesday, August 16, a Fishermans Cruise out of Silver Bay; Saturday, September 3, a 20th anniversary celebration; and Friday, October 21, the Storytelling Dinner.
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