NEW BOOK ARRIVES AS SUMMER WINDS DOWN

Detroit Harbor, Washington Island -


If you enjoy light poetry and creative writing - as opposed to local history - you may find my newest book to your liking.

Last Friday, after a circuit board problem that temporarily shut down a machine for several days was up and running, I was able to pick up boxes of finished books at Seaway Printing in Green Bay.  The inside pages had already been printed, and only the covers remained to be printed, assembled, and then packaged.

Although this is a slim volume, (just under 80 pages -  $15 + sales tax and shipping), the process of writing and editing poetry and short prose pieces came to be exhausting and exacting in its own way, as much as for other projects I've done.  But the pleasure factor in writing and creating is way up there, rating with the best writing experiences I can remember, and I hope readers will receive this with the intended fun, and resulting enthusiasm.  The topics covered, and the sculpture photos for that matter, with few exceptions aren't meant to be serious.

The written pieces are interspersed with photos of my sculptures completed over the past ten years or so.  Here again, there is no telling what reader or viewer acceptance there might be for such subject matter.   Let's just say that both sculpture activity and such writing keeps me busy and amuses me at the same time.

We had friends over for a sculpture / yard party last weekend, and it was enjoyable to see the range of reactions and comments to the sculptures from our guests.   If nothing else, these provided the excuse to have a party and socialize.

Below, I'm showing a photo of one of the more popular sculptures, because I intend to donate this as an auction piece for the upcoming Jim Jorgenson benefit Sunday afternoon, August 31, at the Island ball field.  Jim is undergoing medical treatment which not only keeps him from working, but from doing much of anything, as his work now is to overcome this illness.

From bits of conversation at Sunday's party, I think we can pin down this truck door as originating from the Island Transfer business when it was owned and operated by Leonard Jorgenson (Jim's grandfather) and Dutz Cornell.  They hauled fish and other freight on the Island.  Later, that business was operated by Doug Foss (Ivan Johnson said he helped Doug), and later yet, by Lonnie Jorgenson.  (But it's thought the old phone number would have changed by the time Lonnie owned the business.)   When I began with the Ferry Line, around 40 years ago, Lonnie hauled boxes of fish for the Island's commercial fishermen, bringing them out to the ferry for late afternoon transport to the peninsula.

Somehow, the song "Wagon Wheel" by the Old Crow Medicine Show found its way into my head while I was building this… a rocking chair with a window to the world... and the lyric "Rock Me Mama" kept repeating itself.

Several people tried this piece out for effect at our party.  The custom, chromed seat, scrapper-son Hoyt tells me, was likely Tillie Ellefson's from an exercise machine.   Rockers are from an old wooden-spoke wagon wheel, and the cup holder is  possibly from an old steam or water pump piston.   All parts were sourced from the Island except the modern-day golf umbrella.  This piece rests on a 4 x 8, treated, 5/8" plywood sheet with imitation Jackson Pollock paint job.

The Jim Jorgenson Fund Raiser will be at the Island Ball Park, Sunday, August 31, 12 noon - 4 pm, and will feature the Golden Oldies (Old Timers) vs. Young Whippersnappers (not-so-old players).  Come out and show your support for Jim and his family.  Bid it up!

-  Dick Purinton

WEST HARBOR PHOENIX

Marianna and Herb Gibson in the West Harbor Resort living room.

Washington Island, Wisconsin -

If there had been doubts as to the course of action the Gibsons would take following the early November fire that nearly destroyed the entire main lodge, including their living quarters, that doubt didn't show itself to others.  The Gibson family began work immediately.  Some of the Gibson children not on the island returned from afar to a sight that shocked their emotions:  Frank had been visiting Anita and husband Bob in Pennsylvania;  Art later managed to fly home for a short time from Saudi Arabia, where he currently lives with his family while working for an oil company.  

Removal of damaged material began the day after the fire and continued at a steady pace as the Gibsons dedicated themselves to the enormous challenge ahead.  Several large dumpster bins were soon filled with lath, plaster, and charred wood and trashed contents.   Once the tearing-out was completed, just before the holidays, Jim Jorgenson and crew arrived to start reconstruction.  

One consolation in this process, Herb and Marianna noted, is that they've been permitted to rebuild close to "as was" regarding the dimensions of the original structure and room divisions, including keeping intact the main stairway in the front hall.  Hard-wired smoke detectors are a new requirement, and the secondary set of exit stairs will be rebuilt on the building's exterior, Herb noted.  

Jim Jorgenson carried boards up the
stairway (Monday, Jan. 9th) 

Approximately 20 feet of roof on the eastern end had to be replaced, and work had begun on reframing several damaged window openings when I stopped earlier in the week.  By this afternoon Herb and Marianna were pleased to point out new windows that had already been installed, and the start of new wiring, by electrician Tony Young.  Both of these were positive signs of renewal.   Within the next week they anticipate insulation will go in, with drywall to follow.  

Several sections of hardwood flooring on the building's second floor, adjacent to the chimney, had to be replaced with plywood, but much of the original hardwood flooring beneath those areas on the first floor is in good shape.

Slight slopes noticeable in the upstairs floors, caused by settling of the wood frame building over time, are unique wrinkles that give the building character.  They will remain, as will many of the original guest room doors that will be stripped of many coats of paint and rehung.

Herb noted he had refinished one of the guest room floors several years ago, the ones that were burned and have been replaced.  With an older building there are many such memories, time and energy spent in renewing, ongoing repairs now negated by the fire.  

Original hardwood flooring will be refinished.  Roof trusses that
run side-to-side are nearly
30-ft pieces, milled by the company that built this
as a boarding house for workers in the 1870s.

 
The original dining room tables are good, Marianna commented. 
 
"I think the oil cloths saved the tops of the tables, and where maybe there's a little charred wood, well, that adds character, too."   

Furniture that had a wood finish and was not upholstered was taken to Sturgeon Bay.
These pieces will be placed in an "ionization chamber," a process where smoke particles are removed.  In the meantime, in addition to construction work, the Gibsons have begun searching for new beds and furniture for the upstairs, looking for the right products - in multiples. 


The community of friends and former guests has supported the Gibsons, surely bolstering their energy levels and faith when the going hasn't been easy.  One who always appeared optimistic about life, Herb showed a twinge of the discomfort they've experienced in recent months.  

"Here I was supposed to become the groundskeeper, the social director, the gardener," Herb said, sweeping his hand toward the building, "But now this..."

Visual progress will be steady as new materials, windows, new lighting and paint bring about a more dramatic transformation.  The Gibsons have set Memorial Weekend as a goal.  Marianna qualified that by saying, "We're not taking reservations just yet, just in case we can't meet that date."  But given the present pace, if not by the end of May, a completion date and reopening of Gibson's West Harbor Resort ought to follow shortly thereafter.
-Dick Purinton