Door County Land Trust
Protecting Door County’s Exceptional Lands and Waters Forever
Chambers Island Nature Preserve Photo by Mike Kennedy
Spring 2017 Report
Celebration and a Final Challenge for the DCLT - Chambers Team Thanks to all of you, the Chambers Island Nature Preserve keeps marching towards its 1,000-acre dream. Just 2 ½ years after its official start you have helped : • Preserve almost 700 acres of forest land by early next year. • Protect more than a mile of Lake Mackaysee shoreline, which means less pressure on such a small but precious asset. • Collect more than $1.6 million in private donations/pledges, and acquire another $1.2 million in state and federal matching funds. • Conduct summer exploration hikes/talks. We are all just beginning to appreciate the 170 bird and the 350 plant species on Chambers—a number of which are rare or threatened. • Preserve the only muskeg found in the islands of Green Bay and the Grand Traverse Island Chain. • Fight invasive species like Phragmites, garlic mustard and gypsy moths.
Our dream to create a 1,000-acre nature preserve has a finish line that we all can begin to see. But we have a new challenge in getting there: The Chambers Island Nature Preserve is no longer eligible for matching funds from the Wisconsin Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Fund, which now prioritizes land near population centers for recreational purposes. The Door County Land Trust team is seeking other possible public funding to help make up for the loss of state funds. We are identifying foundations unrelated to Chambers but supporting conservation that may help us. And we need continued help from all of you! What used to sound like an impossible dream is now becoming a reality because of so many people working together. Thank you for making sure one more paradise in Door County will be preserved for the ages.
Tom Clay, DCLT Executive Director Mary Jane Rintelman, CINP Co-Chair
Suzanne Fletcher, CINP Co-Chair
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CHAMBERS ISLAND
Chambers Island Nature Preserve CHAMBERS ISLAND Door County, Wisconsin
Door County, Wisconsin Nature Preserve
Spring 2017 Report
Nature Preserve
Creating the Preserve One Land Parcel at a Time Every Donor has a Story “We don’t have any connection to Chambers Island—from the standpoint of relatives or friends. As Land Trust members, we do understand the need to keep significant bird migratory lands intact. We applaud the residents of Chambers Island for trying to keep the property from being subdivided and developed and for that devotion to their properties, we’ve made our donations. An opportunity for us to help keep 1,000 acres of private lands intact in Door County may not happen again.”
Acquired Land and Land Acquisition in Progress
- Ed and Sandy Miller Former DNR employees, they have a passion for Door County lighthouses and have been to Chambers Island a number of times.
Proposed AcquiredLand Land Landfor andAcquisition Land Progress Acquisition in Progress Proposed Land Land for for Acquisition Acquisition
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
Feet 0
65% Raised
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
N
N
Feet Progress Funding
35% Needed
We have raised about 65% of the funds needed for the nature preserve. These funds provided for the purchase, or pending purchase, of almost 700 acres. The remaining 35% will be used for future land acquisitions including more Lake Mackaysee property than originally available, and to provide for long-term management of the preserve.
For up-to-date information, go to www.ChambersIslandNaturePreserve.org
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T���� Y�� O�� ��� A��! Since we launched our fundraising efforts in the fall of 2014, you have responded with generous donations and pledges. This terrific sign of island support strengthens our case as we approach foundations and individuals who may not know Chambers or the Door County Land Trust as intimately as we all do.
Gifts Received through April 15, 2017 Ahrendt, Meg Fitzgerald Alsdorf, Charles and Ellen Anonymous * Anonymous Anonymous Barger, Lucia Fitzgerald Baudhuin, Dick and Joan Baudhuin, Mike and Connie Blahnik Investment Group Blahnik, James and Judith Blahnik, Joel and Mary Ann Blahnik, Jon and Christianna * John C Bock Foundation * Brevard, Athelea, John and Vivian Brevard, Mary * Brevard, Mathew and Julie * Brevard, Ryan and Marianne * Hugh and Helena Brogan Foundation * Brumder, Fritz and Molly Brumder, Robo and Kathy * Busch, Lynn and Sharon (Krause) Chomeau, Alice Fitzgerald Craig, Richard and Barbara * Dauffenbach, Darrin and Dawn Dauffenbach, Wally and Mary Dhein, Justin Dobyns, Alicia Stenger * Dobyns, Rachel Hanna Doerr, David and Marilyn Drake, Thallis Hoyt Ellison, Margaret Elmore, Joann Feirer, Russ and Debbie * Fitzgerald, Barbara Fitzgerald, Carolyn * Fitzgerald, Douglas Fitzgerald, Roger and Sharon
* additional and new gifts since April 2016
Fitzgerald, Tim and Myers, Christa Fletcher, Grant and Keeter, Laura * Fletcher, John * Fletcher, Robert and Suzanne * Frank, Holley T Frank, John and Sunderland, Elsie Frank, Peter and Katy Frank, Reid, Alex and AvaKate Frank, Rick and Barbara * Frank, Willow P Grelck, Dick and Carol * Haggerty, Mike and Jeanie Harris, David * Kant, Karen Keith, Annie * Keith, Lloyd and Inge * Kennedy, Mike and Carol * Kennedy, Patrick and Beth Knowles, Michael and Marilyn Kuehn, Andy * Kuehn, Gregg and Kathy * Kuehn, John * Laird, Amy Laird, Ben and Rintelman, Mary Jane * Laird, Emily and Schafer, Eric * Laird, Lisa Lardinois, Tom and Cindy Medtronic Foundation Miller, Ed and Sandy * Mueller, David and Erin * Mueller, Peter * Munch, John and Nancy * Pagano, Kristin on behalf of the Laske Family * Parkes, Johanna * Persell, Charles and Caroline Polzin, Donald and Jacqueline
We still need your help to get us over the finish line. Make a donation or pledge today!
www.ChambersIslandNaturePreserve.org/donate Be sure to indicate your gift is for the Chambers Island Nature Preserve in the comments box. Your gift deserves to be acknowledged. If we have made an error or omitted your name from the list, please notify us so we may correct it for future publications.
Reinders, Craig and Karen Reza Guthrie, Nina Reza, Kevin Reza, Naseem and Lou * Rintelman, JR and Linda * Rogers, Pete and Fawn * Sargent Family Foundation * Scheinoha, Chad and Jenny Schwaller, Gerry * Sokol, George and Chrissy Spitzley, John and Judy Spitzley, Kelly Squier, Robin Squier, Susan and Roper, Gowen Stenger Riplinger, Cynthia and Riplinger, Mike * Stenger, Michael and Thieda, Su * Stenger, Michele and Gracz, Mike Stone, Tim and Sue * Thenell, Matthew and Heather Thrivent Financial/Thrivent Choice Trainer Family Foundation * Trainer, Charles and Booth, Anne * Trainer, Robert and Carrie Trainer, Robert and Mary * David and Julia Uihlein Charitable Foundation David V Uihlein Sr Foundation * Uihlein, Lynde B. Uihlein, Margery * Robert A Uihlein Foundation, Inc * Van Gemert, Rob and Jensen, Marilyn * Villota, Gwynne * Weber, Charles and Sigrid Wisconsin Land Fund of the Greater Green Bay Community Foundation * We also thank the following who have provided funding and assistance: Fox River and Green Bay Natural Resource Trustee Council Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program The Nature Conservancy US Fish & Wildlife Service, North American Wetland Conservation Act Grant
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Chambers Island Nature Preserve Committee
YEARS
Protecting Door County’s Exceptional Lands and Waters Forever
Committee Chairs Suzanne Fletcher Mary Jane Rintelman
Subcommittees Landowners Dick Baudhuin (Chair) Jeff Krause Lynn Busch Mike Baudhuin Pete Rogers Development Mary Brevard (Chair) Barbara Frank Robo Brumder Fawn Rogers Dick Grelck Finance/Legal Ben Laird Discovery & Acquisition Terrie Cooper (Door County Land Trust) JR Rintelman Nature Study Debbie and Russ Feirer (Chairs) Robin Squier Naseem Reza Tim Fitzgerald Carol Grelck Public & Media Relations Mary Jane Rintelman (Chair) Suzanne Fletcher Kelly Spitzley Kevin Reza Project Contacts Suzanne Fletcher suzanne_fletcher@hms.harvard.edu Terrie Cooper tcooper@doorcountylandtrust.org
Door County Door County Land Protecting Door County’s Exceptional Lands a Land Trust
Door County Land Trust Board of Directors
President Jeff Ottum President-Elect Donna DeNardo Treasurer Tim Stone Secretary Donna Hake Past President Kathy Wolff Staff
Jean Barrett Tom Blackwood Peter Deschler Jack Finger Cathy Fiorato Barbara Frank Mark Martin Bryan Nelson Kevin Nordahl Judy Perkins Gretchen Schmelzer Roy Thilly Rob Watson Karen Yancey
Executive Director Tom Clay Director of Land Program Terrie Cooper Administrative Assistant Amy Dwyer Development Director Susan Gould Land Stewardship Manager Amanda Pyke Office Manager Kristi Rice Land Protection Specialist Drew Reinke Communications & Outreach Manager Cinnamon Rossman Land Project Manager Julie Schartner Main Office Office: 23 N. Fifth Avenue Mailing: PO Box 65, Sturgeon Bay, WI 54235 Phone: (920)746-1359 • Fax: (920)746-1024 Email: info@doorcountylandtrust.org www.DoorCountyLandTrust.org
Chambers Island Nature Preserve Partners in Conservation
The Baudhuin - Thenell Family Five Island Generations “That summer, riding the horses bareback across the island, it felt like a paradise.” - Cindy Baudhuin Lardinois “When we would head over to Lake MacKaysee to bathe, we always had our brothers go first because there were so many snakes!” - Donna Baudhuin Thenell Are these members of the extended Baudhuin Family talking about the same island? Yes, and captivating memories abound when you begin to ask questions about the five generations who have lived on and loved Chambers Island. The current residents of Chambers know Dick Baudhuin, his sister, Donna Baudhuin Thenell and their families, but the story is richer and longer then most of us know.
First Generation In the late 1940s, George “Butch” Baudhuin was making weekly sightseeing trips to Chambers with his 12 year old daughter, Jean, as deck hand. The Great Depression and World War II had ended, and people were enjoying better times. The Chicago investors’ plan to develop the island into a resort collapsed, and island land became available for purchase.
Top right: Butch Baudhuin’s deer harvest (1960), Bottom left: Renovated Drake cabin - first section of the Retreat Center (1951), Top left & bottom right: Donna Thenell and Friends (1951)
Butch was an active church member who had experienced one of the new “Catholic Retreats” that began to be popular in the 1940s. He envisioned the abandoned Drake log cabin, located between Green Bay and Mackaysee, as a retreat location for the Green Bay Catholic Diocese. He and his brothers Ralph, Jack, Tom and Fran purchased the cabin. After hauling out wheelbarrow loads of bat guano, replacing windows and almost losing a large icebox in the bay, the Baudhuin boys donated the cabin and adjoining property to the Catholic Diocese in 1951. Thus began the Holy Name Retreat House which served adventurous Catholic parishioners until 2013. The Retreat House also served as a welcoming presence to islanders, providing a mass for them on Sundays and, from time to time, offering its facilities for the Chambers Island Association (CIA) annual meeting and other island gatherings. The family enjoyed continued involvement with the Retreat for three more generations until the Retreat House closed its doors. Butch and his wife Mary provided sunset cruises on Lake Mackaysee for priests, nuns and retreatants.
Butch and Mary Baudhuin, Father Jim Putman and parish nuns
Continued on page 7 Chambers Island Nature Preserve—History of the Land and Islanders
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Chambers Island Nature Preserve Save — Sustain — Study
Lake Mackaysee: What Makes it So Special?
From the ancient peoples who gathered on its shores to modern vacationers who fish and boat on Lake Mackaysee, this “lake with islands, on an island in a bay” is a special place. Saving Mackaysee from future development has been a priority of our land preservation efforts. Through our partnership with the Door County Land Trust we have, to date, protected more than a mile of southern and western shoreline. This preserved area is critical habitat for both aquatic and land critters, and for anyone who treasures the serenity and wildlife of this unspoiled lake. Now that 16 island families have secured the retreat house property against the threat of over development, we have the opportunity to expand protection to other areas of the northern shore. What makes Mackaysee so special? These profiles tell the story.
A Gathering Place for the Ages
Katie Sikora Photography
Sadie Weber and her artifacts, 2012
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Sadie Weber was in third grade when she discovered two 3,000 year-old spear points along the shores of Lake Mackaysee near their south shore cabin. Today she is a PhD candidate in archaeology at Harvard and has traveled from the Middle East to South America exploring ancient cultures. Her
Chambers Island Nature Preserve—History of the Land and Islanders
Katie Sikora Photography
discoveries on Chambers Island, including other artifacts, pottery shards and a stone ax head dated to 1,000 B.C.E., shed light on the island’s history as a seasonal gathering place for prehistoric Woodland peoples, probably ancestors of the modern Menomonee, Potawatomi and Ho-Chunk. “Chambers Island, and Lake Mackaysee in particular, helped me realize early on how mobile past peoples were,” she says. “A body of Sadie at age 8 with a water or mountain range friendly island snake wasn’t necessarily a barrier in the way that we think of it today, and people were constantly moving within their environments to fit their needs. I’ve always been fascinated by peoples’ interactions with their landscape, and this has followed me into my PhD project. My work looks at the development of agropastoralism (growing crops and raising livestock) and trade in the central Andes approximately 3,000 years ago. My early exposure to archaeology and the environment on Chambers Island have given me a unique perspective on the past.” Mary Ann Blahnik, the summer light house keeper, delights in the stories she has heard from visitors to the lighthouse who recall the “early” days on the island. The Blahniks maintain the lighthouse and its history room. Lake Mackaysee figures prominently in island lore and activity throughout the years. During the mid-to-late 1800s, there was a year-round island community of settlers who fished, farmed and built boats. There were several sawmills on the island. Logging was
Photo by Sig Weber Lake Mackaysee with fall colors
the main industry, and some of the boats were over 100 feet in length. Much of the community life centered around Lake Mackaysee, the north end of the island and a new lighthouse. There was even a school, post office and general store. In the early part of the 1900s, Fred Dennett, a state senator and founder of the Wisconsin Chair Company, owned most of the island. The Sheboygan family considered Mackaysee the gem of the island and built their summer home on its north shore. There they entertained and even raised poultry in a facility with incubators with a 3,000-egg capacity. In addition to chickens and ducks, they raised 8,000 geese one season. After Fred Dennett’s death in 1922, the summer home and buildings were turned into a camp for girls by his daughter. The camp only lasted four years and the foundation that still stands on the north shore of the lake is all that remains from
that period. In 1926, the family sold the island to Chicago developers who planned to turn it into an exclusive summer retreat. The central attraction of the plan was a nine-hole golf course on the north end of the lake. A scheme to turn Lake Mackaysee into a marina connected to the bay was abandoned by the developers when they realized the lake water level is higher than that of the bay. Opening the lake to the bay would result in draining it. The golf course was built, and three homes and the airstrip were constructed before the stock market crashed in 1929, bringing an end to the project. The depression hit, and Chambers Island went into decline. After World War II, land was often purchased for back taxes by a new generation of loggers and some of today’s island families. In addition to the great stories, “My Mackaysee connections are very personal,” says Mary Ann. “They include exploring the lake and its small Continued on next page Life at the Cambers Island girls’ camp in the 1920s centered on and around the lake. The camp brochure states: “The joy of living in the open develops vigorous bodies, alert minds, and happy hearts.”
Chambers Island Nature Preserve—History of the Land and Islanders
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Continued from previous page
Lake Mackaysee: What Makes it So Special? islands with our children on retreat paddleboats. Our daughter Betsy’s wedding party floated across the lake from the ceremony at Thenells’ home to the reception at the retreat— with the ushers trailing along behind in a canoe! And our grandson Jackson was baptized in Lake Mackaysee.”
Mackaysee Musings Johanna Parkes: “When my family arrived on Chambers Island in 1945, Lake Mackaysee was surrounded by a nearly finished and abandoned golf course and an undeveloped woodsy shoreline. After digging up some of the unused irrigation lines to use at our future cottage, the lake became a playground where my sisters and I collected baby snakes, turtles and pan fish—truly a paradise for three young girls! “Today, 72 years later, we are one with Mother Nature as we float, peacefully, among the lily pads off of Wrights Cove and we marvel at how little this precious place has changed. Lake Mackaysee is truly a jewel for the ages!” Jon Blahnik: “When working at the Retreat House (early 80s) I decided Mackaysee was a good place to teach myself to windsurf. It was....but I
Wright sisters, Suzanne Fletcher, Johanna Parkes, Lou Reza, 1950
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Chambers Island Nature Preserve—History of the Land and Islanders
Photo by Johanna Parkes Wrights Cove
never got very good, and when I fell off—which was often—it looked like it was only couple feet deep but most times I never seemed to find ‘the bottom’—only weeds and muck! I was not a pretty sight after those ‘missions’. “Prior to that (70s) my reprieve from scraping numerous coats of paint off the door frames of the lighthouse was to go fishing on Mackaysee— which was awesome in those days. Caught MANY large bluegills, a lot of hammer-handle northern, a few small perch and an occasional BIG bass. (My father’s Mackaysee bass was the largest in Door County in 1976). “So given that background, when I started dating Christianna in the early 90s we’d go to the island and while I’d fish Mackaysee in a rowboat she’d tag along. At some point she started to name fish,
Stinky (dead) sturgeon from Mackaysee in the back of the Wright’s Model B truck in 1956
Fishing and Other Fun Facts
Jon and Joel Blahnik with their Mackaysee catch in the 1970s
and have a quick conversation with them prior to release (theirs, not hers). Once or twice I caught her kissing the fish but it was all good fun! “I won’t comment on the snowmobile I rolled and totaled on Mackaysee or the outboard motor Mike Kennedy let me use that ‘fell off’ the transom and ended up on the bottom of said lake....I’d rather pretend those things didn’t happen.” Dick Craig: “There is so much to love about Lake Mackaysee. Ever since the early 80s when we first Continued on next page
Terrie Cooper, Land Program Director for the DCLT, has become an expert on Lake Mackaysee in her work to help create the Nature Preserve. A Land Trust staff member for 18 years, she has a fondness for aquatic critters, and along with islander Carol Grelck Terrie Cooper at CINP activities last summer led an exploration of lake life last summer. Here are some of her favorite facts about Lake Mackaysee and its environs. • Lake Mackaysee is a 350-acre shallow lake with a maximum depth of 27 feet and an average depth of 6 feet. Lake levels have fluctuated significantly in recent years, but seem to be returning to normal. • The lake is home to an excellent population of largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, northern pike, bluegill and yellow perch. • Lake sturgeon were present at one time, and are still occasionally reported. • Lake Mackaysee is an embayment lake. It was formerly part of Green Bay when postglacial Lake Nippinsing levels were higher 5,000 years ago. As lake levels dropped, lake currents and winds deposited sand bars and dunes that eventually closed off the north end of Lake Mackaysee from the waters of Green Bay. • Just south of Lake Mackaysee is Door County’s only muskeg, also formed when lake levels were higher. Muskegs are large raised bogs that form when peat moss develops on shallow wetlands. It provides important habitat for many land snails, moths and butterflies, reptiles and amphibians, and birds.
Fishing in Lake Mackaysee is a family tradition passed from one generation to the next. Peter Frank and son Reid, top left. Kurt Grelck and son Konrad, top right. Ryan Brevard and daughter Thea, bottom
• Immediately adjacent to Mackaysee and on the southwest shoreline of Chambers Island are active bald eagle nests. Some 25 bird species have been spotted in the area by our island birders. And just last summer, the first sandhill cranes were discovered nesting on the lake. History of the Land and Islanders
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Lake Mackaysee: What Makes it So Special?
Photo by Naseem Reza
Bald eagles are at home on Mackaysee
Photo by Johanna Parkes
Turtle sunning on lake lily pads
arrived on the island, we would look forward to the first glimpse of the lake. “As we drive down the east shore, seeing this beautiful lake is truly unique. I don’t believe I’ve ever noticed a good size lake in the middle of an island before. As we drive along the shore line I can see two small islands which give the lake more interest. For the most part the shore is wooded, not filled with cottages. The sunsets are always beautiful from the east shore. In the evening the lake calms down and the water turns to glass. “Some of our best memories are from the lake: • Fishing off the pontoon boat is always a challenge from catching the biggest bass to the smallest bluegill. One of the special memories I have is fishing with ‘Gramps’ (my father-in-law). We would go out of an evening with pole and cigar in hand hoping to catch the big one. • The boat rides with the kids to hunt for the eagles are special. Then finally seeing the nest up in the trees guarded by the mother eagle is so exciting.
Photo by Scott Helfrich
Nesting sandhill cranes were discovered on Mackaysee last summer, a first for Chambers
• And then there’s cocktail hour on the pontoon boat with friends and neighbors while waiting to see the sunset.” Jim Rintelman: “How do I explain to someone who has never experienced Lake Mackaysee what it means to me? Is it the beautiful sunrises over the eastern shore or the beautiful sunsets over the western shore? Is it the silent gliding of the canoe through the tranquil waters along the meandering shores on a starlit evening, or trolling an empty hook while drifting around the uninhabited islands, listening to the music of the migrating birds? Or is it the sweet smell of damp musty air in the numerous small bays and low lands surrounded by deep forest? Sure that’s it. But wait.... it’s deeper than that. It’s the feeling that I’m one of the few lucky people in this mixedup world to share a place so tranquil, so protected and so loved.” Do you have a special island memory, story or photo? Send them to Mary Brevard at mebrevard@gmail.com.
Lake Mackaysee, a unique lake with islands on an island above Green Bay. Drone photo 2016.
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Chambers Island Nature Preserve—History of the Land and Islanders
Continued on back page
Continued from page 1
also President of the CIA.
The Baudhuin - Thenell Family - Five Island Generations
When Dick was 20, he married Joan Pivonka, a Sturgeon Bay girl. Her memories include washing diapers in the bay and drying them on a line in the cabin, hoping they would dry before the babies needed the next change. One summer Dick thought his children would love to have horses on the island for a few months. Other than some mess on the retreat lawn and untethered horses escaping and hiding on the south side, the horses were a success—according to the kids.
He knew where the hot fishing spots were and to this day, his grandchildren remember him fishing with the kids and bringing home buckets of blue gills for dinner. Hunting possibilities were also an exciting draw. Over the years, islanders have been known to hunt Dick and Joan deer, raccoons, squirrels, ducks, Baudhuin (1955) geese, grouse, coyotes, rabbits and turkeys. As hunters, it would have been hard for them not to be excited about owning hunting land on a remote island.
Third Generation The third island generation was a sure thing because two of Joan and Dick’s children met and dated their future spouses on the island.
Second Generation Butch and Mary had four children. Of the four, Dick, Donna and Don took to the island way of life. Dick went on to become the first CIA President. In 2012, he also proposed creation of the Chambers Island Nature Preserve. Without his vision and drive, the preserve would not be a reality today. Donna and seven of her teenage friends had the pleasure of staying at the Drake cottage for one week before it was turned over to the diocese. She remembers the eight girls being the only people on the island and not thinking twice about it. She is also the Baudhuin who remembers the bountiful snakes! Donna married John Thenell and they eventually became the owners of the Nelson cabin, overlooking North Bay, after brother Don died in 1983. Don, Judy and sons had spent almost every summer weekend on the island for years. John helped captain the Quo Vadis retreat ferry in spring and fall for 17 years while he owned and operated Baudhuin Yacht Harbor and Alibi Dock. Island time was limited and precious. He, Donna, and their four children Scott, Julie, Martin and Mathew along with their families gathered on the island for a memorable week to celebrate their 50th anniversary in 2004. In Mike and Connie’s honeymoon the 1990s, Donna was (1985)
Original chimney from the “Kate cabin” - Tom and Cindy’s cabin construction (1996)
Cindy, their oldest, missed the first day of kindergarten because the weather would not allow them to leave the island. Her first memory as a two year old is being told to sit on the sofa in the old Drake cabin while it was being renovated. “I was told not to move which was difficult because they were sweeping up bat guano in the loft and it was falling on me.” Don’t worry! She lived to be the daughter who rode the horses bareback across the “island paradise.” Cindy met Tom Lardinois after he showed up one summer as a helper for the Retreat Center. There are conflicting versions of the story, but he was either Continued on next page Chambers Island Nature Preserve—History of the Land and Islanders
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Continued from previous page
Fourth Generation By the time Mike and Connie’s girls, Tom and Cindy’s children, and the Thenell cousins began looking for possible lifetime partners, it was imperative they were right for the island. The testing process could include a weekend of inclement weather, changing a flat tire, felling a tree, picking up a snake to identify its species, or helping put a new roof on the cottage.
Three Lardinois generations showing awards from the CIA annual walk/run (Front: Damien, Connor Back: Evan, Jake, Amy, Melissa, Jeremy, Cindy & Tom)
paying penance for some minor church violation or was getting ready to go into the seminary. They still don’t have their story straight over 40 years later. They met, dated, married, raised a family, built a cabin and continued the family tradition of helping the Catholic Retreat Center. Tom was an advisory member for the center (as were Dick and Donna) and he also had a stint as CIA President. They built their cottage in 1996 around the never-used chimney on the site of the original Kate cabin overlooking North Bay. (In 1947 the Kate cabin owners watched from across the water as their cabin burned to the ground before they had a chance to spend one night in their newly constructed home.) If you like chili, you should thank Cindy for the Labor Day Chambers Island Chili Cook-off. It occurs every year at the lighthouse because she hatched the idea many years ago. Mike Baudhuin, Cindy’s baby brother, spent summer time on the island as did Connie Knuth, his future wife, who was a friend of the island Sperber and Krause families. So it’s appropriate that they would want to spend their honeymoon on the island. They both remember playing Battleship as part of their entertainment. Mike’s dad, Dick, provided the boat and and they constructed a waterproof “Just Married” sign. Because Mike’s dad was also interested in forest management and tree harvesting, Mike and Connie were able to harvest pine trees from his land. They used this lumber to build their cabin on the southwest shore of the island in 1994 as their family expanded to include three girls, Brigette, Erin and Cora. 8
Chambers Island Nature Preserve—History of the Land and Islanders
When Melissa Lardinois Bennett was born, her grandparents were on the island. News came through the Sturgeon Bay Police Department via a police-band radio message to Father Gary at the Catholic Retreat House who personally delivered the message to Dick and Joan. The cousins, Melissa, Jake, Brigette, Erin and Cora all had the pleasure of working for the Catholic Retreat House when they were teenagers.
Fifth Generation The fifth generation is just beginning to develop their connection to the island’s nature. Evan Lardinois, age 15, has been known to spend hours fishing by himself. Imagine the nature event Luke Thenell experienced at the age of five, all in ONE day: watching a six foot snake eyeing a killdeer nest in the front yard, baby birds nesting under the porch eaves, landing two largemouth bass from Lake Mackaysee, and then watching a mama turtle lay eggs on the beach!! Who knows, maybe a member of the fifth generation will someday be a CIA leader or the official “naturalist” for the Nature Preserve. Thanks to the Nature Preserve and DCLT, this fifth generation and all future islanders and nature lovers will be able to experience a lifetime of pristine, protected lands - and continue to Luke Thenell with turtle pass on the land ethic... forever. laying eggs
In Memory of John Thenell We learned of John’s death as our Spring Update was going to press. He was a great island friend. We will miss him.