What Have We Done? E-Book

Jim Rusk

• Herausgeber: Spines
• Kategorie: Ratgeber
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Beschreibung

In our first book, "Love You," Kathie and I chronicled 365 days of our military career. The time we were separated during my deployment to Vietnam. The book shared our love letters and recorded exchanges as I did my military duty while Kathie worked to raise our two young sons during my absence.
"What Have We Done?" follows our transition from our military career to our second career as owners and operators of a "mom and pop" fishing lodge in northern Minnesota for 19 years.
As we look back on our life, it's apparent that we have lived through four different phases: growing up, a military career, a second career, and retirement.
Our military career had been quite rewarding. Our boys were born in military hospitals in Massachusetts and Indiana. We had experienced life in Berlin, Germany for three years with two young children, the separation during my tour in Vietnam, two years of adventure in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and three wonderful years at Fort Lewis, Washington. Our sons, Mike, and Jim were young adults and looking forward to college.
It was now time to make hard decisions about what we were going to do after Jim's career in the military ended.
An opportunity came along to make dreams come true. We bought the Northern Lights Lodge on Bear Island Lake in Ely, Minnesota.
"What have we done?"

Leseprobe

Jim Rusk with Kathie Rusk

“What Have We Done?”

All rights reserved

Copyright © 2024 by Jim rusk with Kathie Rusk

No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Published by Spines

ISBN: 979-8-89383-115-3

“WHAT HAVE WE DONE?”

THE STORY OF ONE FAMILY’S CHALLENGES AND SUCCESSES IN THE NORTHWOODS OF MINNESOTA

JIM RUSK WITH KATHIE RUSK

DEDICATION

To my wife, Kathie:

As you read this tale, you will understand her role in my life as my best friend and my total support. Without her, none of this would have been possible.

To our sons, Mike and Jim, and their families.

To all our friends and their families who provided us with support throughout our transition and adventures into a new life.

To anyone who reads this: Don’t be afraid to follow your dreams.

CONTENTS

Preface

Prologue

1. Part 1: Transition

2. Part 2: Arrival in Ely

3. Part 3: Mike

4. Part 4: Our Return Home

5. Part 5: 1993-2000

6. Part 6: “Is it Time to Sell?”

Epilogue

PREFACE

In our first book, “Love You,” Kathie and I chronicled 365 days of our military career. The time we were separated during my deployment to Vietnam. The book shared our love letters and recorded exchanges as I did my military duty while Kathie worked to raise our two young sons during my absence.

“What Have We Done?” follows our transition from our military career to our second career as owners and operators of Northern Lights Lodge in northern Minnesota for 19 years.

As we look back on our life, it’s apparent that we have lived through four different phases: growing up, a military career, a second career, and retirement.

Our military career had been quite rewarding. Our boys were born in military hospitals in Massachusetts and Indiana. We had experienced life in Berlin, Germany for three years with two young children, the separation during my tour in Vietnam, two years of adventure in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and three wonderful years at Fort Lewis, Washington. Our sons, Mike, and Jim were young adults and looking forward to college.

It was now time to make hard decisions about what we were going to do after Jim’s career in the military ended.

An opportunity came along to make dreams come true. We bought the Northern Lights Lodge on Bear Island Lake in Ely, Minnesota.

“What have we done?”

PROLOGUE

Should We Retire?

In 1981, I would complete twenty years of active duty, and the subject of retirement became an issue. Should we retire? When should we retire? What should we do when we retire? All these questions needed an answer. The easiest decision was to retire, and the hardest decision was what to do after retirement.

Michael had a very successful year in football his senior year, and he received numerous inquiries about football scholarships. Schools interested included Purdue University, Northwestern University, Miami of Ohio, and Ball State University. Kathie and I were able to accompany him on recruiting trips. A fun, exciting time. In early 1982, he was offered a “full ride” scholarship by Ball State University. It was a happy day for both him and his proud parents when he signed his letter of intent.

One option was to remain on active duty after my tour at Fort Harrison was over. Looking at my options, I concluded that most likely we could expect an assignment in Europe. This would have been OK for Kathie and me. I would probably end up commanding another finance office and fighting problems that I’d been fighting for the last 15 years. Mike was about to enter college, and Jim about to become a senior in high school. The thought of being in Europe while Mike was in the United States plus having to make Jim change schools in his senior year in high school made this option unattractive.

Many of my contemporaries were retiring and taking either federal jobs or jobs with corporations working on projects for the Federal Government. Because I was an officer in the regular Army, my retirement pay would be reduced if I took a job with the federal government, making that option unattractive.

One day I was looking at ads in the Wall Street Journal, and there was an ad offering a fishing resort for sale. Over the years, we had vacationed at various fish camps with the boys. We had often fantasized about owning such a business when we retired. Kathie and I talked about it and decided to investigate that option in more detail. I answered an ad by United Farms Realty asking them for information on resorts for sale anywhere in the United States. Soon the mail started pouring in. What fun, reading all the information on everything from small mom and pop fish camps to huge multimillion-dollar marinas. We used prices to determine what was within the range of possibility. Being familiar with Minnesota, we decided to visit some resorts that were listed for sale there. Little did we know what we were about to get ourselves into.

Minnesota had several small mom and pop resorts that catered to fisherman and families looking for a wilderness vacation with some of the comforts of home. Most resorts operated on a week-to-week basis as most vacations were taken in that manner. Separate cabins with kitchens, indoor “facilities,” electricity, warm beds, and the opportunity to experience the famous woods and water of Minnesota’s ten thousand lakes were key to selling the vacations. Most of the resorts operated in the summer, while a few were open year-round.

After scheduling appointments, we took a week’s vacation at the end of October 1981 and headed for Minnesota. Our thinking was that we owed it to ourselves to at least investigate our dream just on the off chance that, just maybe, we could turn a dream into reality.

Minnesota Visit

We were particularly interested in the Arrowhead region. That term was used for the northeastern part of the state above Lake Superior. The economy of the area depended upon iron mining, tourism, and logging. The area was sparsely populated, heavily forested, and featured many of Minnesota’s ten thousand lakes. The area also supported black bears, timber wolves, and moose.

Our first stop was Grand Rapids, about one hundred miles west of Ely where we had enjoyed many good vacations. For the next two days, we looked at two different resorts in the general area. Resort looking is more time-consuming than house hunting simply because of the distances between the various places for sale.

Right away, we learned that resorts went through a life cycle. Getting off to a fast start with a new owner, becoming more tired as business fails for whatever reason, and experiencing decay as the money runs out. Finally, the business is put up for sale. The places we saw fell into the final category. We were interested in a place with at least livable quarters for us. Neither resort offered good living accommodations.

Our next stop was the Orr area, which is about sixty miles northwest of the Ely location. Both places we saw there had potential. One had about a dozen cabins and a full bar with living quarters above the bar. I quickly decided that I was not the bartender type. The second one was on a small piece of ground, maybe four acres. It had two homes. One, the “mother-in-law place,” was very nice. The second was a combination store, marina, and living quarters. It was in tough shape. A previous owner had trouble getting heat to flow to the second story, so he solved the problem by simply cutting a large hole in the floor, what a mess. It was raining the day we looked at the place and in four of the six cabins, water was running through the ceiling and the appliances were rusting out as we stood there. One cabin was sitting at a strange angle. The Realtor simply said, “Oh, you can jack that up without difficulty,” Not!

It was Thursday evening, and we only had one day left on our trip. While we had nothing scheduled to see in Ely, we decided to spend our last day there for old times’ sake. Ely was literally “at the end of the road,” located a few miles south of the Canadian border and the border of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. In the early 1900s, logging and mining had been the major activities in the area. The mines had closed, and the huge white pines had been logged out, leaving tourism as the major industry. The area boasted about 500 lakes within a twenty-mile radius of Ely. The town had a year-round population of about 3,500 but swelled to over 30,000 during the summer months. In addition to some 25 resorts, there were several outfitters renting canoes and camping gear. There was also a large Boy Scout base that allowed scouts to experience summer canoeing and winter adventures in the wilderness.

We had not been in Ely since before leaving for Ethiopia in1975. After we checked into the motel, Kathie said, “Let’s call some Realtors and see if any resorts are for sale here.” One had a place for sale on an island in a lake quite a distance away, and another had a place for sale about ten miles south of Ely. We made an appointment to see that place the next day.

Northern Lights Lodge

We met the realtor, Fred, who drove us to Northern Lights Lodge (NLL). The resort was located on Bear Island Lake about ten miles south of Ely and five miles north of Babbitt. I think all the stars were in alignment that morning. It was a beautiful clear day and the trees were in their full autumn display. As we drove in, there was a buck and doe standing at the top of the hill next to the resort house. NLL consisted of five summer cabins (one, two, and three bedrooms), an old garage, a boat house, and a small house. The house was about 900 square feet with two bedrooms, a living room, bath, and kitchen on the second floor. The first floor had a den with a fireplace and a garage which had been converted into a small bar by a previous owner.

The first thing that struck me was that the cabins were in reasonably good shape. It would not take a bunch of money to begin business, something each of the other resorts required. Another strong point was the cabins were spread over 1,100 feet of shoreline, quite large compared to the resorts we had looked at earlier. About ten acres were included with the resort. The place reminded both of us of Makie’s Cabins, the first place we’d stayed at in Ely after my return from Vietnam in 1970. Quiet, a good distance between cabins, and lots of trees and water. WE WERE IN LOVE!

Bear Island Lake

Bear Island Lake was about 2,500 acres. It had been formed by glaciers millions of years ago and featured clean water, more than two miles long, and a mile wide. It had a wide variety of structure with depths varying from shallow bays to over 90 feet in the main lake. The water was “tea” colored, having been stained by tamarack pine trees that populated the area through which the inlet river flowed. The trees produced the stain. It was dotted with several islands. The largest, over 50 acres, had the shape of a bear – if you had enough to drink, thus its name. Only one island had cabins, and while there were homes and cabins located around the lake, it still had a wilderness feel. NLL was the smallest of three resorts on the lake. Bald eagles nested on one island, while loons and mergansers summered on the lake. There were also several active beaver lodges scattered around the lake. Fish included walleye, northern pike, small and largemouth bass, plus a variety of panfish. Ideal for our potential customers. The resort was located at the mouth of Bear Island River, the outlet river, and featured the best and largest sand beach on the lake.

The Purchase

Back at the realtor’s office, we discovered that Fred and a partner, John, owned the resort. They were the third owner in the past three years. The story was that they had bought the place for one of Fred’s sons to run, but he’d dropped out at the last minute, so it was currently being run by a local couple they hired to manage the resort. The former owner had put in the bar and lasted only one year. Earlier, the place had been called Coral Ridge Resort and had been operated successfully for several years by another local couple. Fred had renamed the resort Northern Lights Lodge.

The price was $165,000. Because of the high interest rates, places were being sold on Land Contracts. These were financed by the owners, and should the buyer fail to make payments, the resort would revert to the previous owner. Terms were $50,000 down, due January 1, 1982, with the balance spread over 20 years at 10 percent interest. After much discussion, we made the deal, paying the realtors $100 down and walked out the door. To this day, we firmly believe that they celebrated that night thinking that within a couple of years they would have the resort back plus our $50,000 down payment. We made a pledge to ourselves that this would never happen.

The next morning, we drove out of town, happy and concerned. We had to find the $50,000, plus determine how we were going to run the place starting just a few months later. Should I retire now? That would mean moving Jim to a new school, his senior year, something we didn’t want to do. Should I stay on active duty until Jim graduates? How would we operate the resort that first year? All these questions needed answers, and we fell silent in our thoughts as we drove back to Indianapolis.

Back Home

When we got home, the boy’s reaction to our announcement was, “Wow, you’ve finally done something crazy!” Mike’s upcoming year was settled with his football scholarship to Ball State University, and it was obvious that Jim had no desire to leave before he graduated. His girlfriend was a year behind him in school, and they had “grand” plans for their future.

Earlier that year, we’d heard from our old Army friends, the Frydendahls, that Jerry was also about to retire. We had served with them in Ethiopia. They were about 10 years older but had a son and daughter about our boys’ age, so the two families bonded. While Jerry was a full Colonel and I was a Major, rank played no role in our friendship. We enjoyed many fun times camping together. Kathie and JoAnn even opened a long-closed military library and were able to offer current books to members of our unit. On a whim, we called them and asked what they were doing next summer after Jerry retired? Explaining our purchase, we asked them if they’d like to spend the summer in Ely helping Kathie and the boys operate the resort while I remained on active duty. To our amazement, they said, “When do you want us to come?” Another problem solved.

My dad had passed away in 1980, and as part of his will, both boys were scheduled to receive $25,000. Due to legal requirements, the funds would not be available until the summer of 1982. I asked them if they’d be willing to “invest” that money into our resort to make the down payment. Both said, “Yes.” However, to this day, I wonder if they said that because they wanted to or if I got that answer because I put undue pressure upon them. An answer I will never know. We also decided that Jim and I would return to Ely during the Christmas break to borrow the necessary dollars to meet the January 1 deadline.

Winter in Ely

When Jim and I checked into the motel in Ely, it was about 25 degrees below zero, with about 20 inches of snow on the ground. A prediction of things to come. We drove to the resort and found that the previous owners had let the managers remain in the house without telling us. They were huddled together in the living room, trying to stay warm when we walked in. I offered to let them stay through the winter if they would pay for the utilities, but when they refused, I asked them to vacate the house immediately.

After long discussions with the manager of Northwest Bank in Ely, I managed to secure a six-month loan for $50,000 at 15 percent interest! The down payment was made to Fred and John, and they agreed to watch the place through the winter now that the managers had left.

Jim spent a great deal of time wading through the snow, taking pictures of the cabins from all angles, and shortly thereafter, we drove out of Ely as real resort owners.

PART 1: TRANSITION

The Spring of 1982

As we entered 1982, my time was spread between work and trying to figure out how we were going to find customers for the resort. My boss, Colonel Herb Gassie, and my co-workers were very interested in our venture, and Herb was especially helpful through the summer, allowing me to take extra time to travel to the resort.

In 1982, Sport Shows were a common way to advertise businesses like ours. We had nothing to set up a booth at the Indianapolis Sport Show but did spend several evenings at the show helping the Executive Director of the Ely Chamber of Commerce, Jeannie Larson. We would become great friends and remained in contact over the years until her passing. My reason for spending time at the show was to listen to what questions potential customers were asking. It was all part of trying to learn how to sell our resort. I always thought we could make a success of the business because of what we’d learned over the years from being customers at various resorts. This knowledge would guide us in the years to come.

We did not have one reservation on the books when we bought NLL; we had to start from scratch with everything. In April, we got our first deposit check, $50, and we went out to dinner to celebrate! How little did we know.

Our First Season

On the first of May, I took two weeks’ vacation, and Kathie and I went to Ely. Jerry and JoAnn Frydendahl arrived with their trailer, which would be their home for the summer. John came to the resort and helped Jerry and me turn on the water, repairing many water lines in each cabin that had frozen and broken during the winter.

The Cabins

Kathie and JoAnn had great fun cleaning and working in the cabins. Cabins 1-4 were built around 1950 and were half-log sided with tar paper roofs. Cabin 5, the 3-bedroom cabin, was built later as the bathroom was included in the interior design. Cabins 1-4 were not insulated, while #5 had limited insulation. The interiors were knotted pine walls, and the bathrooms for Cabins 1-4 were added after the original cabins were built. They had a commode, metal shower, sink, medicine cabinet, and hot water heater. The cabins had small heaters. The kitchens had white porcelain-coated cabinets and a one-piece counter/sink and cupboards that were also metal and coated with white porcelain. Each had a three-quarter size refrigerator with a small freezer unit inside the box. Propane gas stoves completed the kitchen. The stoves, heaters, and hot water heaters had pilot lights which needed to be lit and maintained. Electricity was provided through a fuse box, so each fuse had to be checked when the power was disrupted. The cabins had the basic kitchen utensils, bedding, etc., but everything needed to be inventoried and their condition checked. Lists were made for the needs of each cabin. Over time, each cabin was upgraded by replacing the fuse boxes with circuit breakers and the kitchen cabinets, countertops, and sinks.

Other Tasks

Jerry and I worked on getting the docks out, boats cleaned, lake water system turned on, etc. Early on, I decided that we needed a bulletin board outside for our guests. There was a small grove of trees separating our house from Cabin 5, an ideal location for the board. Jerry and I used a 4x8 foot sheet of plywood fastened to two birch poles, and we had it up and ready. It turned out to be a popular stop for our guests as we posted a schedule of events in Ely and then started taking photos of guests with their fish catches. Our little Polaroid camera worked perfectly. We would take two photos, putting one on the board and giving the other one to the guest. We also sent the photos to the local newspaper in Ely, which printed weekly pictures of guests and their fish. Another method of advertising.

We also learned about the much-heralded Minnesota insects. The State had done a great job advertising the mosquito population but failed to mention a little black bug that locals called “black flies”. While not really a fly, their bite was significantly worse than a mosquito. My first encounter was weed whacking on the beach and feeling my forehead wet – thinking it was sweat I wiped it, and it was blood. Instead of sticking you with a needle like a mosquito, these bugs cut you. The mosquito bites usually went away in 24 hours while a black fly bite lasted a week or so. JoAnn even swelled up and ended up having to wear netting when she was outside. Fortunately, the flies only lasted about a month, mid-May to mid-June.

When my vacation was up, Kathie and I returned to Indianapolis to wait for the boys to finish school. School was out in late May and after Mike graduated from High School, Kathie and the boys set out for Ely in our van pulling our 14-foot fishing boat. They were almost to Duluth when a tire on the boat trailer blew, and they had quite a time getting it repaired. Thanks to help from some local folks, repairs were made, and they made it to Ely. Our plan was for me to work and then take long weekends to make periodic visits to the resort throughout the summer. I believe our first real business was housing a wedding group over the Memorial Day weekend. Slowly we were getting additional reservations for weeklong visits, mostly “spill over” business from resorts that were already full. Our first reservation was such a case, referred to us by our neighbor resort, The Escape.

Our lack of business was a good thing for everyone at the resort. It allowed time to prepare the cabins, and Jerry remained quite busy repairing a multitude of problems. He was quite a “handyman” which proved to be invaluable. I managed a couple of visits in June and took a week’s leave in July to be there the first and only week of the summer that all our cabins were rented. My trips were 800 miles one way in our little Honda. I would make the drives in one very long - normally about 16 hours a day as time was critical. If there was a three-day weekend, Herb would give me another day off, so I’d have two days at the resort with two days of driving.

Bears and Birds

One day while I was working in Indianapolis, I received a letter from Kathie that had a couple of Polaroid photos. They were black! Kathie had a note on each saying they were pictures of “our” black bear! Our garbage can was near the back door, and on more than one occasion, a bear would come looking for a snack. It turned out that we were located on a ‘bear highway’ that led from the three resorts on the lake north for some three miles to the county's open garbage dump. The two other resorts had restaurants, so there were always ample pickings for the bears. We only had the cabin garbage cans, but the bears loved to grab the trash bags out of the cans and drag them out to enjoy whatever they could find. They especially loved the cans where guests had put their grease dripping from frying fish. A couple of years later, the country closed the open dump, converting it to a transfer point. This lowered the bear visits considerably.

We also enjoyed a large variety of birds and set out a few feeders. Our kitchen had large windows looking out over the road and down towards the garage and cabins. I built a large feeding station near the house which held eight different feeding stations, and we enjoyed many hours watching a wide variety of birds. The feeders also attracted our local pine squirrels and the bears. We set up a deer feeding trough and each winter watched the deer feed. Our first year we started putting out food when the first snow arrived and had a beautiful buck visit frequently. After hunting season was over, the buck did not reappear, so we decided not to start feeding until after hunting season.

One night while we were in bed, Kathie woke me saying that something just flew by her head. I laughed and tried to go back to sleep. Suddenly, something “whooshed” by my head. After turning on the lights, we found a bat hanging onto the drapes. I used a minnow dip net to successfully capture the bat and release him unharmed. They loved to eat mosquitoes! We decided that the bat was able to enter through the chimney of our fireplace. Over the years we had a few more visits. Part of our wilderness adventures! Field mice would also join us in the house. This usually happened in the fall when they were seeking warm shelter. We had traps set around and on occasion we would see one run across the base of our fireplace and a minute later hear a trap “ping!”

The Beach

The resort had an excellent beach that, over the years, had been formed by sand pushed onto shore along a point that jutted into the lake for about two hundred yards at the beginning of the outlet river. When the resort was transitioning between owners and not busy, many folks with cabins on the lake had used the beach. We could see their boats heading towards the beach full of beach toys, chairs, etc. It became a frequent task to go to the beach and tell everyone that new owners had arrived and that the beach was private property. While not happy, most left without incident. One day, I walked to the beach carrying a shotgun. The word must have gotten around as we no longer had a problem.

I managed to do a little fishing in our lake and caught a few fish. Jerry was not a good fisherman but made up for his lack of expertise by being a very lucky fisherman, and he would always catch more fish than me when we would take the boat down the river. The motors that came with the resort were in poor shape, and they were always a struggle to keep running when we had them rented to guests. When I returned to Indianapolis, I worked out a trade for two 5 horsepower motors. I traded a coin collection for them. It turned out that the motors were also not very trustworthy, and I had to replace them in the coming years.

In early August, I took Jim and Mike back with me to Indianapolis. Mike was starting football at Ball State and, shortly thereafter, Jim would start football practice for North Central High School. When we got home, we discovered that the house had been broken into. A few things had been taken and other items were stacked in the living room, but apparently the robbers were scared off by someone. We felt violated.