Celebrations Galore

Give me a reason to celebrate and I’ll celebrate with you. Give me three reasons to celebrate and I’ll celebrate evren more!

I’m not sure how it feels to be 100 but I hope the Quetico Park celebrates another 100 years. How can you help celebrate? There will be activities to partake in ner Atikokan, Ontario August 3rd and 4th. Otherwise feel free to book a trip into the Quetico Park with us for the weekend.

The Minnesota Conservation Corp is celebrating it’s 80th birthday this September so be sure to get your tickets. The event will be held at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds on the 14th of September from 10-4pm.

Lastly, the Dorothy Molter Museum in Ely, Minnesota is celebrating 20 years this Sunday, August 4th, 2013.  There will be donuts from 10-2pm and hopefully plenty of Dorothy’s Root Beer.

Folks in Grand Marais will be celebrating all weekend long during the Annual Fisherman’s Picnic. Get your party clothes on and help celebrate.

Quetico celebrates 100 years this weekend

by M.McKinnon on July 29, 2013

Quetico Park will celebrate its centennial during the Civic Holiday long weekend.

The Park’s official history goes back a few years earlier – the Quetico Forest Reserve was created with a provincial Order in Council in 1909 – so centennial celebrations actually began then. In 1909, the Ontario government was responding to the U.S. creation of the Superior National Forest, as well as the Superior Game Refuge (now the Boundary Waters Canoe Area).

In 1913, Quetico was designated a provincial park, as a charter member of the first Ontario Provincial Parks Act.

Park staff and the Quetico Foundation are planning a series of special events at French Lake this weekend. An open barbecue hosted by the Foundation at the shelter will be the centerpiece on Saturday afternoon. Foundation chair Richard Kelley and Mayor Brown will welcome guests starting at 5 pm, and the Foundation’s summer research crew will be on hand.

Other events on the weekend include a guided hike to the French River Rapids site that Paul Kane immortalized in his 19th century painting. (For years, curators believed the painting was of a site along the French River near Sault Ste. Marie; Ken Lister of the Royal Ontario Museum proved this was the actual site in 2006-09.)  The hike goes from the French Portage Trail at 7:30 pm Friday.

On Saturday, August 3, ThunderHeart will perform traditional Anishinaabe drumming at the Log Cabin Nature Centre (11 am – 1 pm), and staff are organizing some Native crafting (dream catchers) and regalia displays.

On Sunday, August 4, a special evening hike (8:30 pm) will recall some of the quirky characters who have been associated with the Park over the past century. From Blackstone and his daughter Shawbogeezigoh to David Thompson and Charlotte Small, Simon Dawson, Aldo Leopold, John Tanner and Shan Walshe, the region seems to appeal to strong-willed and interesting characters.

The holiday Monday will include a kids’ orienteering course (10 am, Log Cabin), and the cutting of the Quetico 100 birthday cake at noon at the picnic shelter.