ISLAND TIME BOOKSHOP CHANGES HANDS

Kathleen Dixon, left, will soon turn the keys to her store over to new
owner Deb Wayman.

Washington Island, Wisconsin -

When Island Time Books closes on October 15, Kathleen Dixon will retire from the business she started 11 years ago.  The shop's new owner will be Deb Wayman, who was on hand in the closing days of the 2014 season to meet customers and learn about the business in preparation for next year, when she'll reopen the store Memorial Weekend.

Her customers would liken Dixon's personality to that of a speed reader:  rapid, engaging conversation, seldom dropping in velocity, filled with information; a scanning of authors, books, and events; the trending of reader habits and the book industry - all within a short visit.  But, because of her love of what she does, Kathleen's been a great resource, and for those same reasons, her customer base, both regular and the drop-in visitor, has grown over the years.

Retiring after 30 years as an emergency trauma nurse - much of that time as a member of an ambulance crew - Dixon started a new pursuit as the owner of Island Time Books.  For two years it was located on Main Road across from Karly's, and then for the past nine years in its present location, nestled between the Red Cup and the Island Post Office.  As anyone visits with her knows, her mind is rapid-fire, enthusiastically promoting authors, books, her store, and the Island.

She's always loved books.  "We were readers.  My sisters and I used to walk to the libraries," Dixon remembered, noting the many neighborhood branches of the Chicago Public Library in the city where she grew up.

"Day trippers and others are thrilled to see an independent bookstore, with good coffee next door," she said, "great for browsing on rainy days.  They like the Independent Bookstore list that comes out monthly, with its many new recommendations."

Dixon prides herself in the fact she could recommend books to readers who least expected to find such a wide range of titles in so small a shop - on an island, no less.   She would often special-order books requested by visitors who stayed only a week or two, receiving their requests within two days via UPS.  Many loyal customers, she noted, buy books at the close of the season to read during winter.  Physical books, as opposed to e-books, she noted, are still very much a part of the public's reading habits.

Dixon kept current on new titles and authors, in part, by attending the annual Key West Literary Festival, where many of the nation's leading authors would gather each January.  (Key West was her former winter home, but she's now moved to the Naples area.)  At the Key West Festival, Dixon volunteered for several years at their book sales table, in addition to being a registered participant.  She's a member of the Island Literary Festival committee, involved since its inception.

This winter Dixon and Wayman plan to travel to the American Booksellers Conference in Asheville, North Carolina, where Dixon will introduce Wayman to her industry friends and contacts.

Dixon still plans to visit the island in summer.  "I'll be back," she said.

New owner Deb Wayman and husband Bob, an engineer and production manager, own a summer place along the eastern shore of Washington Island, on Wickman Road.  However, their year around home will continue to be York Center, Illinois.  Their two children, Alan, 23, and Shelby, 20, are enrolled in college.  


-  Dick Purinton

THOUGHTS FOR HELENE

An address change:  Since her previous address given earlier, Helene moved to a new facility.  Cards and letters are welcomed, but please, still no phone calls or visits are requested:

Helene Meyer

Rennes Health & Rehab Center

325 East Florida Ave.

Appleton, WI   54911

Notes from April 3, 2014 -  Helene is rapidly improving, and your cards are welcomed!  Send to:

Helene Meyer,  Theda Clark Medical Center

130 Second St., Neenah, WI    54957-2021

*   *   *

Notes - from March 25th:    We're pleased to report that Helene was moved from Theda Clark's ICU, in part because she's doing better, but also because she's being prepared for more surgery next week.  Her breathing tube removed, she then asked the Andersons to request Carol Amadio to call her!  

     Carol, in addition to being her friend, is one of four interim pastors presently sharing duties at Trinity Lutheran Church.   It was in her 'official capacity' that Carol was able to slip her call through the hospital's phone tree and speak with Helene, who, she said, was alert, joked and laughed (medications, perhaps?!).  But in all respects, considering the extent of her injuries, she was very much tuned-in to activities back home, Carol said, including a study class she had planned to join.  Last week, Helene underwent an operation for broken fibulas in both legs.  Her right arm is broken, which will cramp her writing when she gets the urge, and she has a fractured pelvis and a vertebrae.  Her fractured ankle was too swollen to operate on last week.  So, despite tremendous skeletal damage, Helene, bright-eyed lady, is alive, alert, and already she's thinking ahead to coming home.  -  Well-wishers are still requested to withhold communications for now.  Cards may be sent to Helene's island address:  1475 Aznoe Road, Washington Island WI  54246

Washington Island, Wisconsin -

Several weekends ago I photographed quilters at Sievers School as they participated in Washington Island's Quilts of Valor Foundation project.  Helene Meyer was one of those quilters.

Just a few days ago news was received that Helene was in a serious auto accident.  She was hospitalized at Theda Clark, and she's now in ICU with serious injuries.  Her legs were broken, and she has severe bruising, and the immediate prognosis is that she will remain hospitalized for some time.  Her single-car accident was said to be "catastrophic" by those who arrived on the accident scene.

How quickly events can change lives.

Since I learned of Helene's accident, the above photo image has been on my mind, even though it was one of perhaps dozens I took over the three-day quilting exercise.  There is something about the sparkle and the pleasant look in her eyes.

Helene's been involved in a variety of Island activities.  Most recently, following the death of her husband, Gene, she helped start an Island lavender business.  As a locally grown product, she saw lavender as one way to contribute to the local economy, as did her friends and business partners, Edgar and Martine Anderson.

The commitment of time and investment of dollars required to establish a new, agricultural-based business might be considered puzzling, given this venture wasn't something Helene had to pursue.  But her passion for the lavender products clearly showed, as did her desire for a closer association with residents and visitors, participating in the community in which she chooses to live.

I came to know Helene better through last year's Island Literary Festival, an event born of her ideas.  The organization and subsequent success of this festival was due largely to Helen's inspiration, and it was fueled by her leadership.  She delegated details and trusted others in the committee decision making.    At the Festival opening, when participants registered and gathered for the first evening at the Red Cup, it was as if participants already knew one another and were gathering after only a short absence.  The mood and atmosphere that Helene helped to establish permeated each of the next two days.

In these many ways, Helene has given of her energy and gifts.  Her struggle now is to live, and to heal.  In this, our prayers and encouraging thoughts will be helpful.

(Please note:  Well wishers have been asked to withhold communications - gifts, phone calls, emails, or flowers - because rest and privacy are needed most.  This same respectful consideration holds true for her friends Edgar and Martine, who provide support in adjacent hospital corridors as she recovers.)

 -  Dick Purinton

WET WEATHER CONTINUES

Washington Island -

The photo of our Island post office was taken Thursday morning, around 7:35.   It was a dark, foggy morning with rain during the night.  A few cars were out.  Dump trucks were running dredging spoils to the Town's site on Gunnlaugsson Road.   A few patrons were next door at the Red Cup.  In many respects, though, it was a very quiet day, heading into the first of November.

Unfortunately for youngsters who were looking forward to trick-or-treating, the day didn't improve much from this point.  By 4 p.m. rain put the damper on an outdoor Halloween activity at school, with accompanying temperature in the lower 40s.

Danish Mill - a wet but inviting scene in the early morning hour.

Rain doesn't stop dredging.  In fact, the good thing about these past days was the low daily wind speed.  However, a windy stretch is forecast, and the Roen crew may take the next two days to reunite with family members.  A broken pin on the excavator bucker in mid-week required switching back to the crane with bucket for a few days, until the new part was obtained.   The material dredged in the previous 48 hours was as rocky as any thus far.  On the one hand, it's a good thing the excavator can dig through those areas.  However, the offloading into trucks is slowed because the stones (combined with some softer material) is harder for the crane bucket to grab and place into trucks.

Water levels fluctuated greatly in recent weeks. Today, Sunday, the level is as high as a month or more ago.  But we've also seen dips in the level when the wind is northerly.  The Army Corps measurements indicated Lake Michigan was approximately 7.5 inches higher than at the same time last year.  At least that's a net gain for the year, so far.

For the month of September, Island Weather Observer John Delwiche reported rain fall amounts a few hundredths over the historical monthly average of 3.21"       For the year, however, we are nearly 7.5 inches above average, which accounts in part for the overall increase in lake level.

-  Dick Purinton

ISLAND BREAD COMPANY - NEW NEIGHBOR

Warm slices of birdseed bread.

Detroit Harbor, Washington Island, Wisconsin -

From the kitchen of the former Moonpennies Cafe, located just beyond the island ferry dock and next to the Washington Island Visitor Center, wonderful aromas are wafting from oven-fresh bread baked by Heidi Gilbertson.

Heidi learned brick oven baking in Red Lodge, Montana, at her small coffee shop where she built a brick baking oven.  She is now in her seventh year of baking specialty breads using the brick oven method.  She had been baker for the Washington Hotel here for several years, and when it closed in early 2010, she then leased the hotel's brick oven and began her own business, Island Bread Company.  This spring Heidi set up her baking equipment in the kitchen of the former Moonpennies Cafe, where this noon I picked up several loaves of warm birdseed bread to take home.

Because Heidi has no access to a brick baking oven at the present time, she uses an LP-fired pizza oven to continue production.  Bread is her main product line, but there are other items, too.  One day earlier this week, a cooling rack was filled with pizza crusts for a Madison customer.  Using a prep table, Maya Woods, Heidi's assistant, made pastries.  On an entry shelf, a small electric mill ground out island red winter wheat, and while she kept tabs on the flour mill, Heidi began to mix a new batch dough.  This former restaurant kitchen is small compared with her former work space, but according to Heidi it is very efficient.  The baked results bear proof of both efficiency and quality.

Heidi's background is in wildlife ecology.  Employed with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, she worked at various times, for example, with amphibians, wolves and the endangered Karner blue butterfly. While baking may seem distant from that career path, in a way it stimulated Heidi's interest in natural food products and the processes that she uses in baking.   She's learned the chemical actions that create natural starter, or levain, and temperature control that lead to baking excellence.

Brick vs. pizza oven

What differences are there between the wood-fired brick oven and the pizza oven?

"There's a huge difference in the bread," Heidi replied.  "The brick oven is hotter than the pizza oven. It stays hotter and gives better crust, because the brick is hot all around the bread.  It creates what is commonly called 'oven spring,' or liveliness.  The crust and dough spring to life in a brick oven."

A down side of a wood-fired brick oven is that a fire must be built eight to ten hours before baking.  The brick oven is a retained-heat oven, so once the oven reaches desired temperature, coals and ash are swept clear.  Then it is mopped and allowed to dry while the heat distributes evenly, taking about an hour, before its ready at last for baking.

"I bake smaller items first, like baguettes, then the larger bread loaves, and then as the oven cools, cakes and pastries.  The thermocouple which has six different sensors tells me what temperatures are all around the oven.  Ideally, they are within 50 degrees of one another."

Heidi bakes most weekdays, but bread is baked on Thursdays and Fridays.

"I have two days of prep time for bread," Heidi continued.  "Day one, I mix a portion of water and flour.
Day two, I mix the remainder of the dough and refrigerate overnight.  Day three, I bake.   The slow development of the dough allows the flavor of the wheat to come through, and the baked bread will have no spoiling due to the process and the natural preservatives found in the levain.

"I learn how the dough feels after it sits for four to five hours.  Every 1/2 hour I fold the dough, rather than the traditional machine mixing - all by feel.  Room temperature and humidity can also make a difference."

Is there a better time of year for baking?

"Winter is better time of year for bread making in terms of the dough, mostly due to temperature and humidity.  You adjust to whatever the conditions are at any time, in order to compensate."

Heidi prefers working with locally grown island wheat, as well as other local ingredients.  "Once the wheat is cracked, it begins to break down.  It's sweeter when it's freshly ground. "

While Heidi uses island-grown wheat, she noted that sometimes island wheat isn't always the best for bread making.

"Island wheat has 10% protein, with a lower gluten amount than the 12-15% protein that is best for whole wheat bread.  So I occasionally have to mix other flours with ground island wheat.   I was told by a farmer that rainfall and heat at critical stages of growth are necessary to produce the best bread wheat."

Heidi measures freshly ground
wheat flour.

Levain is a natural starter made
of wheat flour and water, and key ingredient
for creating new batch of dough.

A brief pause from baking duties:   Maya and Heidi.

Heidi uses other natural products to the extent possible, and not always in baked goods.

"I collected spring ramps (leeks) and made a great pesto that I sold in a farmer's market.  People really loved that stuff.  I also use island grown flax seed, berries, and asparagus. "

Maya works this summer as Heidi's assistant.  She gained baking experience the previous summer working at Sweetie Pie in Fish Creek.  So far, Island Bread Company has supported Heidi and a half-time summer position.

On Thursdays and Fridays, bread baking days, customers can pick up the freshest Island Bread Company products at Mann's Store, Fiddler's Green, Red Cup, and also at the door of her bakery that opens to Lobdell Point Road.

Several customers were in line at the bakery door to pick up fresh bread when I arrived at noon to take a few more photos.   One recommendation:  Don't wait until Monday to buy one of these special loaves.  Get one while it is fresh, before the batch is sold out.

  -  Dick Purinton