Tag: tradition

Cabinetmakers Reclaim Historic Wood

  • Loggers at the turn of the last century direct their harvest down the Rum River. (Photo courtesy of the Minnesota Historical Society)

At the turn of the last century, lumberjacks throughout the northern U.S. and Canada sent millions of logs downriver. Many were destined for ships headed to Great Britain. But about ten percent of the logs sank along the way. In recent years, some of that old wood has been retrieved and sold on the market. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Karen Kelly reports on a pair of cabinetmakers who are using it to recapture a part of history:

Transcript

At the turn of the last century, lumberjacks throughout the northern U.S. and Canada sent
millions of logs downriver. Many were destined for ships headed to Great Britain. But
about ten percent of the logs sank along the way. In recent years, some of that old wood
has been retrieved and sold on the market. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Karen
Kelly reports on a pair of cabinetmakers who are using it to recapture a part of history:


(drilling)


Dave Sharpe balances a cupboard door against its frame as his brother Andy secures it with
a screw.


They’re installing cabinets in a cottage tucked into the woods of Quebec.


The cabinets are made from century-old pine logs that Dave says were pulled from the
bottom of the Ottawa River.


“I think it’s unbelievable when you think that we’re working with wood that was destined to
go to England like maybe 150 years ago. I always wonder what these old guys that cut the
logs would think if they knew it was 2003 and here we are installing a kitchen in Quebec
with the lumber that they cut. They’d probably think we were crazy for bringing it back
up.”


(pounding)


But for Dave and Andy Sharpe, this wood is a source of inspiration. They design and build
cabinets and furniture in the small town of Havelock, Ontario. They prefer this lumber
because it’s 20 percent denser and heavier than commercial pine. That’s because the logs
came from forests that had never been harvested before.


Plus, the colors are unique. The lumber has spent decades lying on the bottom of the river.
There, it was exposed to minerals that left streaks of red, yellow and blue. Mostly, the
wood has the look of a marble cake. There are stark contrasts between lights and darks.


Andy says the reclaimed lumber has changed the way he approaches his work.


“Sometimes you’ll find a unique board and you’ll set that board aside because you know it
would make a neat board in a table or something. The other thing, you tend to use more
hand tools on this wood than what you do the commercial pine. You just feel, you want to
feel the wood.”


(planing)


Andy slides a hand planer along the edge of a door.


Tiny curls of wood fall into a pile as he carefully molds the door to the frame.


While Andy and Dave love the feel of the wood, and the color, they say what really
inspires them is the story behind it.


At the turn of the last century, about two thirds of men in the Ottawa area worked in the
lumber industry. They spent the winter in rough cabins, cutting down trees and piling them
on the ice. Come spring, they’d ride the logs downriver.


Dave says those men are always present to him while he’s working.


“I can’t pick up a piece of it where I don’t think of the old days and the men that lived on
the rivers while they were driving the logs and lost their lives. Really, it fascinates me and I
think that I feel closer to them. I feel like I’m a part of that chain. I feel kind of like the
end of the log boom in Canada.


(brothers talking)


That passion influences customers too.


Will Lockhart hired the Sharpes to renovate the kitchen in his cabin.


The cabin’s an important part of his family’s history.


But he wanted it to represent the history of the region as well.


“Today, a lot of people don’t know about the logging days and it used to be, as Dave and
Andy mentioned, such an important part of this part of the world. I mean, everybody was
involved in it. The rivers were full of logs and we don’t know that anymore.”


(sound)


Dave Sharpe says, when he builds a piece of furniture, he imagines someone passing it on
to their grandchildren.


And telling them the story of Canada’s lumberjacks.


It’s estimated that the supply of reclaimed wood will be exhausted within 40 years.


Dave and Andy Sharpe plan to devote that time to preserving it in their furniture – leaving
behind a tangible piece of history.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Karen Kelly.

Apples Alone Not Enough for Many Orchard Owners

  • Apples have become just part of the attraction to going to the orchard. Most offer carnival-like attractions to draw big crowds. (Photo by Lester Graham)

The fall season brings with it celebrations of the harvest. Pumpkins and gourds show up at the grocery store. And for many families, fall means a trip to the apple orchard. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham observes that often that traditional celebration of the harvest just ain’t what it used to be:

Transcript

The fall season brings with it celebrations of the harvest. Pumpkins and gourds show up at the
grocery store. And for many families, fall means a trip to the apple orchard. The Great Lakes Radio
Consortium’s Lester Graham observes that often that traditional celebration of the harvest just ain’t
what it used to be:


When I was a kid, autumn meant going to the apple orchard. There was a old barn there. I don’t
think it had ever been painted and the wood planks were weathered gray.


The barn smelled of apples, of course, but not just the fresh ones. There was also the sweet-sour
smell of apples fermenting on the dirt floor, rejects that didn’t make it to the bushel baskets for sale.
Bees were always hovering over the bruised and brown skin of the slightly rotting fruit.


After my Dad paid the old guy who owned the orchard I would ask for one of the newly picked
apples. That first bite of the hard, sweet little apple would bring such a rush of flavor reminding me
of the autumn before. This was harvest, the essence of fall for me. This was the celebration, the
taste of that apple. Today, it’s a different story.


(sound of train and crowds)


Today, a trip to the apple orchard is much like a trip to a carnival. A little train circles the orchard,
kids crawl through a rainbow-colored inflatable worm, there’s a corral of little tractors that the kids
pedal in circles, draft horses draw wagons through the fruit trees, and, oh, yeah, the orchard sells
apples.


I wondered if some of the folks my age or thereabouts longed for the simpler times when
celebrating fall meant that first bite of apple. I wondered if they thought the kids today,
mesmerized by gimmicks, games and glitz might be missing something.


“Well, when we were little, we didn’t have anything even like this. It was just the apple cider and
the doughnut. So, now you have this wonderful place with the pumpkins and the train rides and the
skeletons and the doughnuts and all the fun things to bring the grandkids and the kids too. I think
it’s a lot more fun now and they appreciate it more. We do this as a family, so it’s being together
as a family.”


“Well I think its good for the kids who live in the city to get out and walk around and get some
fresh air out here in the country.”


“I mean with our grandchildren, I mean it’s just been beautiful. The atmosphere is nice and I mean
it’s just lovely. That’s all I can say.”


Well, okay, so, I guess the visitors to a place like this would be enthusiastic or they wouldn’t be
here, right? But, what about the owners? I mean, here they are, growing a good product, working
through the year to produce this fruit and they’ve had to resort to this circus to get people to come
in? What’s wrong with just selling apples?


I figured Michael Beck, one of the owners of this orchard would understand what I was asking
about.


“Our return on fruit in the wholesale sector was horrendous and it’s still is horrendous for other
growers. So we wanted a way to actually profit from our fruit and selling retail, and doing fun
things for people at a farm was the best way to get that crop moved.”


“Now, to a person, everyone I’ve asked thinks this is great and so much better than when they
were kids. But, I’m wondering, you know, for me, the apple was the big celebration. And a little
bit of cider, maybe if you’re really lucky a caramel apple. Do you think the kids today are so
wrapped up in the carnival aspect that they miss that kind of celebration of the harvest?”


“Well, I don’t know. We sure do sell a lot of cider and caramel apples and apples and I see a lot of
families taking home apple products. And, I think they still get the enjoyment of the good food plus
we offer that fun atmosphere.”


Alright, so he’s still selling apples, and he’s making a buck. That’s admirable considering the
competition of imported apples. But surely there’s someone who remembers the simpler days of
being happy just because of the taste of that crisp bite of apple. Somewhere.


I did find someone, finally. Tom Kilgore was standing, waiting for the return of the train. He sort
of had that look of someone who was, well, trying to be patient. You know, a parent or a
grandparent who was sacrificing a beautiful day to make someone else happy.


“People like fresh apples, so they’ll go to an orchard and get the fresh apples without this stuff.”


“So, you could take it or leave it?”


“I could leave it, yeah. I came because of the grandkids, so, that’s the only reason I’m here.”


Kilgore says back home he just goes to a quiet little orchard to buy his apples and maybe sip some
cider. But, you know, as I was strolling around the grounds reading the signs that directed RV
traffic – RVs! At an apple orchard. As I was looking around, it dawned on me. For most of the
people here, this was more about family than it was about fruit. Maybe the carnival atmosphere of
today’s apple orchard will be the precious memories of autumn for these kids when they’re my age.
Maybe.


For me, (sound of apple crunch), I’ll stick with that first bite of apple.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium. This is Lester Graham.


(“Wow, sweet.”)

Churches Struggle With Urban Sprawl

Urban sprawl is affecting communities across the Great Lakes region. In one Ohio community, residents are turning to their churches to fight back. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Karen Schaefer reports:

Transcript

Urban sprawl is affecting communities across the Great Lakes region. In one Ohio community,
residents are turning to their churches to fight back. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Karen
Schaefer reports:


Forest Hill Presbyterian Church was built in Cleveland Heights 100 years ago. Pastor John Lentz
says, in its heyday, some 15-hundred people regularly walked to church services every week.
Today, the congregation totals just 600. Lentz says it’s a constant struggle to replace those who
leave his flock for the greenfield developments that surround the urban center.


“Churches are anchors of communities and I think we need to be active in the kinds of issues that
affect our communities, like fair and open housing and education, and really make it our mission to equip
faithful people to, you know, walk the walk.”


He and other religious leaders have banded together to form the Northeast Ohio Alliance for
Hope. The group is working with 15 Cleveland suburbs, taking on issues like predatory lending,
school funding, and home repair.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Karen Schaefer.

Playwright Laments Changing Rural Life

  • A new musical looks at the pressures to develop pristine areas of the Great Lakes north woods. Lure of money and love of land conflict in the North Country Opera Continued.

The remote northern areas are where people go to get away – to vacation, fish, and relax. But for a variety of reasons the region’s north woods are being developed and settled. In the process, the wild, the quiet, and the slow pace of life that attracted people in the first place is disappearing. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Tamar Charney tells us about a playwright who is trying to get people thinking about the changes development brings:

Transcript

The remote northern areas are where people go to get away – to vacation, fish, and relax. But for
a variety of reasons the region’s North Woods are being developed and settled. In the process the
wild, the quiet, and the slow pace of life that attracted people in the first place is disappearing.
The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Tamar Charney tells us about a playwright who is trying to
get people thinking about the changes development brings:


Jay Steilstra writes songs and plays that celebrate the natural beauty and slower pace of life in
rural northern Michigan.


(sound of music)


(“You see the white birches and pines, you know you’ve crossed over the line…”)


“I’ve always liked the North land a lot, the beautiful running water and the lakes are beautiful too
blue sparkling, and the white birches and the evergreens.”


Twenty years ago, Jay Steilstra wrote a musical play called the ‘North Country Opera.’ It told the
story of a man from the big city who falls in love with a woman and the way of life in the
fictional Northwoods town of Grand Marais. By the end of the play he’s left city life behind,
moved north, and married Sari, the owner of a small working class bar, and the two live happily
ever after. But a couple years ago, Jay Steilstra realized the up north life he writes about is being
threatened.


“There is a real Grand Marais, and I’ve been there many times, and it’s a little lovely town, and I’d
hate to see that turned over to condos and completely defiled, if I can use such a strong word.”


So, he’s written a sequel ‘In North Country Opera Continued.’ His characters grapple with the
pros and cons of development, after two big city land developers show up at Sari’s bar.


“You’re not going to believe what just happened. The offer I just got for this place. And you
know that eighty acres old Ereos got for sale, who knows for how long. McKinley, she’s talking
to the real estate agent right now, and she’s good. You should see her work. And chip says,
maybe shops or some galleries and you know the snowmobilers are short of motels in winter and
well, a lodge, upscale, good taste, and all elegant even, maybe even a boutique, and my god, the
money they’re talking its unreal.”


Tracy Lee Komarmy plays the bar owner named Sari in North Country Opera Continued. She
says the musical play has an anti-development message, but she says it also explores why
development has an appeal and allure.


“I think everybody might kind of feel the thrill…’What if they put in a lodge, a fancy
lodge…What if they did that?…’You know, going up north, I could see that.”


And Jay Stielstra’s musical shows how people in rural communities often yearn for the jobs and
money development brings, and for the stores, products, and lifestyle they see in books,
magazines, and on TV.


(sound of play)


“Nowadays are different. People change. You have to admit that.”
“Well, what do you want? Forty acres of malls and boutiques?”
“Well, it would be nice to have some things nice around here, like on TV.”


Steilstra: “If you’re living in a small town in extreme northern Michigan, it is difficult. A very
good friend of mine, after he retired from teaching school, lived in Seney. He loved the north and
loved the air. He loved the cold rivers. But it was 85 miles to the bookstore. So yeah, wouldn’t it
be nice to have a Borders? So, you’re right, people do miss things and they do have temptations
and willingness to make those kind of compromises, so it’s understandable.”


(sound of play…singing)


“When the dollar comes to town she wears a fancy gown. She flirts and she teases gets anything
she pleases…”


But in the end the character Sari says no and turns down the developers offer to turn her bar into a
fancy lodge complete with chic boutiques. She realizes that the beauty of the land and the
rewards of a simple life surrounded by friends are more important to her than money and fancy
things. It’s a message that’s hit home for Tracy Lee Kormarmy who plays Sari.


“Working on this piece, I’ve continually come back to my roots and come back to nature and am
reminded over and over of what really matters. And Jay just captures it beautifully. I hope
everybody leaves reminded of what really matters.”


(music…”It’s a wonder the stars how they twinkle at night…” fade under)


Jay Stielstra’s ‘North Country Opera Continued’ premiers in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He hopes it
might be performed elsewhere in the region.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Tamar Charney.


(singing…fade under)


(“It’s a wonder the sun shines so warm and bright. It’s a wonder I will never understand…”)

Adirondack Man

As in so many rural areas, the culture of the Adirondack Mountains is
in decline. The days of hunting and trapping have given way to
condominiums and convenience stores. At one time, the Adirondack
pack-basket was a emblem of this culture. But the number of people who
make them has dwindled. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Karen Kelly
visited one of the few residents keeping this tradition alive:

Counting Birds Becoming Christmas Tradition

Christmas is a time for tradition. For tens of thousands of bird lovers,
the highlight of the season is the National Audubon Society’s annual
Christmas Bird Count. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Karen Kelly
reports on how this century-old tradition has changed many people’s
perspective on birds – and Christmas: