Chik-Wauk Beauties
More to come within the next few weeks! Stop up at Chik-Wauk Museum and watch the show!
More to come within the next few weeks! Stop up at Chik-Wauk Museum and watch the show!
Chik-Wauk Museum and Nature Center is now open for the 2015 season. I hope you will stop up during the summer to see the progress they will be making on the new nature center that is being built.
Chik-Wauk will be open daily from 10 am to 5 pm until the 18th of October. We will be offering our Kid’s Nature Days again staring on the 30th of June until the 18th of August.
Admission rates are the same as last year, $3 per adult, $2 per child 5-18 years of age and anyone under 5 are fee.
The Gunflint Trail Historical Society Members are fee.
See you this summer!
Started breaking ground this week for the Nature Center Building Project. What a week, they first had to cut all power, phone and internet to the museum. It was a bit hard working in the building this week without any heat or lights. I just had to make sure I wore my heavy long johns, stocking cap, gloves and heavy winter jacket while I was getting the gift shop together for the season. Then came time to start digging the power, phone and internet lines up so they could get them moved to another location. Bob Baker, Dave Tuttle along with the phone company were the foreman’s on the project they put me in the ditch to help with digging up the line. Dave did have some equipment to help with the digging process. I don’t think that was in my new job description. I kept trying to tell them I want to renegotiate my contract at least the black flies are not out yet. A huge thank you to everyone involved in getting this building project up and going. It is going to be a wonderful place to hold activities.
During the construction we will be open from 10 am to 5 pm daily. There will still be plenty of parking available for you to come up and visit the museum as well as enjoy the hiking trails on property. I hope you will stop up and visit and check out the building project as it progresses during the summer months.
It is a bit difficult to get to the bathroom right now but that will all be ready by opening day the 23rd of this month.
We have had so much wildlife activity here this week, despite the heavy machinery running around. Some hikers spotted 3 moose on the Blueberry Hill trail. Mother & father loon have been over by the nesting location. The mother has been on the nest all week. She is starting early this year, I hope all works out well for them this year.
What a great day to be outside, it is in the mid 70’s.
I have started cleaning and getting the museum ready for the season. We do not open until the 23rd of this month but I have so much to learn. I have been placing orders for the gift shop and getting familiar with the new surroundings.
I do have about a 20 minute drive up to the museum, the wildlife I have been seeing has been great. Yesterday I saw a cow moose, fox, deer, snowshoe hare and also a few groundhogs. The loons have been greeting me in the morning with their wonderful song. This year it looks like fishing opener people will be able to use their motorboats instead of ice fishing equipment.
Friday, May 8th Chik-Wauk Museum and Nature Center will be down in Duluth at the Historic Duluth Depot. Chik-Wauk along with other local history based organization will have on display some interesting pieces from their collections. This event is hosted by The Northland History Coalition it runs from 3 pm to 7 pm, admission is free I hope to see you at the Duluth Depot on Friday.
You can view the Gunflint Trail Historical Society Newsletter by clicking on the link below.
The snowshoe hare are starting to change from their beautiful pure white in the winter time to the brownish color you recognize all rabbits have during the rest of the year.
The snow bunting birds are passing through again on their way back north for the spring. We see them in the fall when they travel south for the winter and again in the spring on their way back north. If you have driven the Gunflint Trail in either the fall or the spring you will see these birds fluttering around by the side of the road.
Some of the residents on the Gunflint Trail have probably started planting some tomato, squash and other variety of seeds indoors to get a jump start on their garden for the season.
We have also had some changes at the Chik-Wauk Museum and Nature Center this spring, Ada Igoe has moved on to another adventure after 5 years of organizing and handling everything the museum and nature center offered. I have been a resident on the Gunflint Trail for the past 24 years. I am really looking forward to working with the local residents that help out at the museum everyday and also to meet the people that visit the museum and here their stories of the area.
Spring also brings time to start getting the museum open for the season. Fred Smith and his crew of volunteers were up at the museum this past week to get the coverings off the windows and also to turn the heat on in the building. Now I can start working in the building and getting familiar with the surroundings.
We do not open until the 23rd of May but I am sure I will be keeping busy until then.
See you this season, Bonnie Schudy
Remember how excited we were five years ago with the opening of the Chik-Wauk Museum? We have so much to be proud of and so much to celebrate! The museum is a top-notch showcase of our natural and cultural history.
We have even more to get excited about this year. We are starting Phase II of the museum project which will give us the facilities to fulfill our goal of sharing and preserving more of the history and heritage of our community.
Our plan is to break ground this spring for our new Chik-Wauk Nature Center, a modest administration building, and a vaulted biffy. The Chik-Wauk Nature Center will be the hands-on center for learning. We have a team working with Split Rock Design Studios on displays that will set the tone for curiosity and exploration. It will have plenty of seating for presentations as well as tables and workstations to be used for classes.
Proposed Chik-Wauk Building Plans
In 2016, we will collaborate with the North House Folk School on building our boat pavilion. This will be a timber frame shelter to protect and display historic watercraft in the Gunflint Trail Historical Society collection with descriptive panels for each boat or canoe. We will also build a cabin that represents a typical rental unit from the 1950s at Chik-Wauk Lodge. Finally, we will put up a metal building for maintenance equipment and larger storage items.
It is an ambitious plan. Our construction budget for this Phase II is $500,000. To date, we have raised about half the needed money. We hope you will chip in to help us raise the remaining money, as your funds and budget allow. You can make a donation online easily through our online payment server . Just use the contributions (restricted) field on the website and put “Phase II” in the designation field.
With your continued support, our excitement for the future of the Chik-Wauk Museum and Nature Center can become a reality.
Sincerely,
Bruce Kerfoot, Board of Trustees
The Gunflint Trail Historical Society is hiring a museum manager for the Chik-Wauk Museum and Nature Center located at the end of the Gunflint Trail.
Responsibilities include oversight of various museum and gift shop daily operations, grant writing, planning and scheduling public programming, oversight of GTHS membership, managing social media, working with general public, reporting to the GTHS board. A successful candidate will be an independent, self-directed, organized worker with strong interpersonal skills, the ability to learn specific software programs, and proficiency in writing and editing. Candidate must possess an interest in local history and be willing to learn the basics of historic preservation.
Application deadline: February 21, 2015. Click for full job description and application here.
For many of us, the new year means change . . . or at least resolutions to change!
At Chik-Wauk, the new year is a pretty static time. The museum is buttoned up for the off-season and the staff is quietly plugging away at archival projects and other behind the scenes work.
But in 2015, the new year does bring about changes in the Gunflint Trail Historical Society membership rates.
Our membership rates are now:
*Also covers your children ages 18 and under.
Why the increases? Our membership rates have been basically unchanged since the Gunflint Trail Historical Society was formed in 2005. Ten years in, the GTHS Board of Trustees feels an increase in rates is a reasonable way to increase revenue for future projects at Chik-Wauk Museum and Nature Center, including a number of buildings that will start to go up this summer.
Your membership is truly an investment in the Gunflint Trail Historical Society and Chik-Wauk Museum and Nature Center and ensures quality exhibits, facilities, and historic preservation. It means the world to us that in 10 years, we’ve able to amass 1000+ member supporters! Thank you for your endorsement of the work we do and for helping Chik-Wauk Museum and Nature Center grow and thrive.
If you’d like to join or renew, you can do so easily with our online payment server. We can’t do our work without your support. Thank you, thank you!
Please note, our admission rates for the 2015 remain the same: $3 for aduluts, $2 for children ages 5-18, and free for kids under 5 and GTHS members.
Golden tamaracks lining the Chik-Wauk Museum and Nature Center driveway mean autumn is upon us and the 2014 museum season is quickly drawing to a close. Be sure to visit and catch this year’s temporary exhibit on Butterflies, Skippers, and Moths of the Gunflint Trail before we lock up our doors for the winter months at 5 p.m. on Sunday, October 19th. (Until then, we’re open every single day from 10 a. m. – 5 p.m.)
As you drive up to the museum, you might notice large flocks of brown birds along the Gunflint Trail roadside. These are Lapland Longspurs, making their way to their southerly wintering grounds. Soon the longspurs will be replaced by snow buntings and not too long after that, the snow will fly in earnest. Here’s a nice photo of the Chik-Wauk bay in its autumn colors to distract you from the ever-approaching winter. 🙂
While you’re at the museum, get a head start on your holiday shopping with our gift shop sale, offering up to 40% off select items.
Sunday, October 19 is the final day the museum will be open this year. After that, you’ll have to wait until May 23, 2015 to visit and see the 2015 temporary exhibit, “The Gunflint Trail’s Paper Trail” featuring brochures, diaries, correspondence, and other paper items that originated on the Gunflint Trail.