Year: 2010

Attended the Sugar Maple Festival for the first time this year.  Info on this sweet event can be found here:

http://sugarmaplefest.org/

The main venue is under a large tent.  Parking is in a field just a few hundred yards away. Entry and exit from the parking area was effortless.  It’s totally cool to bring in coolers of food and drink, and your own chairs.  The vibes are casual and light; reminds me of hippies from the 60’s.

The headliner was Tim O’Brien, and he did not disappoint.  He played solo, using three instruments:  a large electric mandolin of some sort, guitar, and violin.  His chops on stringed instruments are downright incendiary; speed, precision, complexity, and an element of rhythm and musicality (not to mention relaxation) that sets him apart.  Tim played a set in the middle of the afternoon, and then again at 7pm.  More on that in a moment.

Also of note was Liz Carroll, a Celtic violinist.  The crowd was just wild for her.

Skeeter report.  The bugs have been bad everywhere in this Summer of Too Much Rain, and this park is bad on a good day.  A strong wind kept things delightful in the afternoon outside the tent.  Inside the tent, the wind barely penetrated.  The skeets were in there and only remained tolerable because they were so confused. Everyone was drenched with Off.  The musicians complained. The bluegrass band Jack Straw, from Portland OR (where there are no mosquitoes) went straight from their set to the communal bug juice rack and sprayed themselves with reckless abandon.

At his 7pm show, Tim O’Brien played for about 75 minutes, then came back for an encore.  We were packing up when unexpectedly, he came back for a 2nd encore, and that’s when all hell broke loose. Like someone had thrown a switch, a cloud of mosquitoes invaded the tent. It was just unreal. You couldn’t see them, but you could see the frantic reaction of every single person therein.  Waving, slapping, packing up gear in a panic.   That’s what we did too, encore or not.  We ran for it, and got slaughtered on the way to the car.  I could feel a painful jab every 5 seconds. We probably transported a hundred of them home with us, but with the AC in the van set to “meat locker”, they settled down.  A shower and a couple of antihistamines later, sleep was possible.

I feel sorry for the act that followed O’Brien.  There were probably 3 people left.

Click on the image for pictures:

I’m in La Crosse for the funeral of my friend Dave S.’s mother Marge, who reached the enviable age of 91.  Went for a 5 mile walk from my parent’s place on the Causeway.  Took pictures on campus (for Anna, who used to go to school here).  My overall route shows clockwise below:

(click image for larger)

Closeup route through campus proper:

(click image)

Pictures of campus are here:

(click)

Orr, MN

300 people.  430 miles from Madison, WI.  50 miles from the Canadian border.

You bet’cha.

(Click for larger map)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Orr is a small town!  Population 300.  A few buildings, a hotel.  Pelican Lake is the action in these parts, an 11,000 acre fishing lake with 53 islands scattered about.

(click all thumbnails below for more pictures)

Northland Lodge

Eileen’s cousin Lulu married into a family that has owned a quaint resort called Northland Lodge for at least two generations.  This resort is about 10 miles from Orr itself, occupies a choice site on the south shore of Pelican Lake, and consists of 9 cabins, a house, the main lodge, and various out-buildings.  The cabins are of two vintages.  The oldest are pure log, the newer are yellow wooden frame, as is the lodge and the house.  Dave and Nancy, Tim, Eileen, and Madeline got to stay in the house, a classic farm style.

The Pocrnic Cabin

Eileen’s uncle, Ed Pocrnic, is the younger brother of her mother.  He lives in Silver Bay, a few hours to the east on the northern shore of Lake Superior.  He owns a sweet cabin, recently remodeled, on property adjacent to Northland Lodge, and this was the site of the Pocrnic Family Reunion Party.

The small green building in this set of pictures is the Sauna.

Pocrnic Family Reunion – Sunday July 18, 2010

Attendees:

Ed Pocrnic – our host and Uncle of Eileen

Lulu Fry, Eileen’s first cousin, and owner of Northland Lodge.

Tony Vukelich, brother of Lulu, longtime Orr resident, and owner of just about everything else.

Steve Pocrnic – 1st child of Ed (wife Amber, Gary age 9, Noah age 7), soon to be relocating to Hawaii !

David Pocrnic – 2nd child of Ed (wife Amy, William age 3, Isaac 9 mo), from Proctor, MN.

Michael Pocrnic – 3rd child of Ed (wife Jesse, Abby age 6, Anna age 3), from Prior, MN.

Dave Pocrnic, 1st cousin of Ed, and wife Dorothy, from Hibbing.

John Pocrnic, 1st cousin of Ed, also of Hibbing.

Ed Lakatz, 1st cousin of Ed, and wife Helen, from Buhl, MN.

Annette (Jugovich) Spolarich, cousin to Ed on his mother’s side.  From Eveleth, MN.

Matt Jugovich, brother of Annette.   Famous for flying his seaplane to the last family reunion and taxying right up to the dock.

Matt’s daughter, Kerry, with husband Joe, and three grandkids in tow.  From International Falls, MN.

Tim and Eileen Goode, with daughter Madeline (age 14) from Madison, WI.  Eileen’s mother Mary is Uncle Ed’s older sister.

Dave and Nancy Goode, parents of Tim, from La Crosse, WI.

(click)
What Croatian get together is complete without some yummy Blood Sausage ?

Bucko Island

Later in the party, a flotilla consisting of Ed’s new pontoon boat, and Tony’s venerable power boat with its massive in-board 6, ventured out to an island in the lake to see Tony’s latest project, a beautiful log cabin in the later stages of development.

The Farm

Day after the party, a group of us headed by Lulu went for drive. Our first stop was the Pocrnic family farm.  This is where Ed and Mary Pocrnic grew up.

Second stop, Vermillion River. Lulu wanted to hike around “Vermillion Falls”, an area where the entire river drops through a rock chute no more than 5′ across. It’s pretty wild.  Skeeters were fierce all around there. We hit a restaurant in the area on the way out, which is where the flower pics were taken.

Sunsets

Apologies.   Flowers . . . puppies . . . sunsets . . .  all are hard to resist.  For three evenings the skies over Pelican Lake were completely lit, unlike anything I’d ever seen, due to some unique weather blowing through.  Cloud formations to the east and south added their own shows.  These were taken on 3 separate nights.

Fishin’

Ed took Madeline and DaveG out fishing twice. Madeline caught one the first time out!  These are shots from the various outings.

Click picture to see slide show

Eileen and Madeline come to visit and get chewed by Jesse the Puppy.

(click photo for gallery)