EDITOR’S NOTE

Living Up to the Name

You are opening the 20th summer edition of Door County Living magazine.

The other day I sat on the couch in our office, flipping through our archives, catching the names of some of the writers and artisits I’ve been lucky enough to rest a byline near over the years. Jim Lundstrom, Roy and Charlotte Lukes, Ryan Miller, Patty Williamson, Mariah Goode, Jacinda Duffin, Sam Perlman, Paul Wanish, Alyssa Skiba, Len Villano, Allison Vroman, Steve Grutzmacher, Dan Eggert, Madeline Johnson, Melissa Ripp. There are many more.

I see in these names not just contributors, but people who care deeply about this community. People who value telling an honest story of their neighbors, or highlighting unsung contributors to our community. And I see names of people who later moved into roles where they too dedicate themselves to improving this community as volunteers, nonprofit directors, as artists or in public service.

But before that, or outside of it, over the course of 90 editions of Door County Living and more than 1,000 stories, they have helped to record so much of the essence of what it is to make a life here. I grew up in Egg Harbor, the son of shopkeepers (among other jobs my parents worked), as so many of my generation were. And if they weren’t raised at that particular foot, then it was a barkeep’s, mechanic’s, teacher’s or farmer’s. The biggest test I hope we pass each time we put out a publication with the title Door County Living is whether it honestly reflects the living of those people as well, in addition to informing and entertaining those new to our shores seeking the fun we do on vacation.

It’s why these pages have featured both the stories of snowplow drivers and kayak guides; dairy farmers and farmto-table chefs; rhythm and blues and rhythm chickens.

Throughout the pages of this edition – Volume 20, Issue 2 – you’ll find the fun, the roots, the quirks and the heartbeat of our home.

You’ll meet John and Jackie Sawyer, who have been building and giving back to the community for a lifetime. You’ll take a look back at 1933 Door County through the archives of National Geographic magazine, courtesy of longtime visitor and writer Dustin Renwick. Tom Groenfeldt will tell the story of the artists transforming the image of Sturgeon Bay, and Sara Lancaster will take you beside the tracks at PC Junction. And I will try to paint a picture of the day when history was on parade in Sister Bay, driven by a young woman who dived into the deep end of the pool and kept paddling long enough to save a piece of community history and help address the local housing crisis.

No single magazine issue touches on every aspect of living here, but over the course of a year, we aim to come close. Throughout the course of 20 years, we hope we’ve woven a broad, rich tapestry. And we hope to continue weaving for 20 years – and many more – to come.

Myles Dannhausen Jr.