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by Don Gustafson Insect pollinators, bees, wasps, butterflies, moths, beetles and flies are in trouble. Populations are disappearing at alarming rates due to pesticides, parasites, diseases, lack of crop diversity (mono crops such as corn, soybean and wheat fields), flowerless landscapes (lawn) and poor management practices. According to the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, we have […]
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Inside the Dunes Dwelling: Door County’s Hobbit Home
On South Cave Point and Glidden drives, there are dueling stretches, both lake and woodside, of homes and cottages that all have unique stories. One home in particular sits on a two-acre plot on South Cave Point Drive. This home had acquired several nicknames through the years, such as “The Dome” and “Mushroom House.” It […]
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An Excuse to Buy A Tractor: Couple Rehabs Migrant Worker Shack
Paul Heim and his wife Julie Watkins would agree with Ralph Waldo Emerson’s observation, “If eyes were made for seeing, then beauty is its own excuse for being.” The restoration of the migrant pickers shack on their property has been a labor of love. Heim, a native of Wisconsin, now lives in Houston, where, until […]
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Waking Sleeping Beauty: The Sister Bay Inn
Vilius Vaicekauskas of Sister Bay had driven by the Voyager Inn on Highway 57 hundreds of times. But one winter day, he thought to himself, “This place has potential.” He began telling his wife, Alma, that they should buy it. “After 10 years in the hospitality industry, we wanted to have our own hotel,” he […]
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Crossroads Is Going to the Birds (and Butterflies)
Crossroads at Big Creek welcomes another season of providing lifelong experience-based learning on science, history and environment with the unveiling of its newest addition: an accessible bird and butterfly garden. Situated around the Collins Learning Center, the bird and butterfly gardens will enhance the organization’s mission of connecting people of all ages and abilities with […]
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Architect Virge Temme building SAGE home in Sturgeon Bay
Virge Temme has seen too many people become prisoners of the cost of their homes, people who believe they have achieved the American dream by living in a McMansion, even if they can’t afford to furnish that dream home and have to plow every cent they earn into keeping the place. As an architect, Temme […]
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Chambers Island Families Buy Catholic Retreat
Fifteen families on Chambers Island are the new owners of the Diocese of Green Bay’s former Holy Name Retreat. They plan to remove most of the buildings on the property and sell off 10-acre plots in 2018. Mary Jane Rittleman and her husband Ben Laird have been spearheading the effort to purchase the property “with […]
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A Dream House from Modest Means
It was love at first sight between Boyd Stewart II and Door County. The Texas native graduated from the University of Texas — Austin in ’73 and was hired as an intern for a division of The New York Times. “They put me in Chicago,” he said. “We were doing a nationwide health and beauty […]
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The Bridgeport Waterfront Resort on Sturgeon Bay’s west side opened in June 1997, one of the first condominium properties in the downtown area. Dave Holtz, who was named general manager eight months earlier, has seen the 60-suite facility become a top-performing resort in Door County. Bridgeport includes one-, two- and three-bedroom suites with full kitchens, […]
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Door County Habitat for Humanity Dedicated 39th Home Build
On Sept. 28, the Door County Habitat for Humanity dedicated their 39th house, built with the partnership of the Miller family. Susan Miller and her daughters are now living in their beautiful new house, built with the help of more than 30 construction volunteers. The dedication included blessing the house by Rev. Robert Burnell, a […]
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Grant Will Restore Door County Wetlands
The Nature Conservancy was awarded a $186,200 grant from the Sustain Our Great Lakes program to hire a four-person seasonal crew for two years to control invasive species and restore and enhance coastal wetlands within the Door Peninsula Coastal Wetlands Ramsar Site, a 11,443-acre wetland complex designated as a Wetland of International Importance by the […]
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Eye on the Night Sky: Preserving Door County’s Night Sky
By John J. Beck, Door Peninsula Astronomical Society On Sept. 20, 2016 the Door County Astronomical Society joined with the Door County Environmental Council to host Kevin Poe, “Dark Ranger,” to speak to 90 people at the John and Helen Collins Learning Center at the Crossroads at Big Creek on the topic of Preserving Our […]
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The Dark Ranger: Dark Sky Advocate to Visit Door County
During the day, Kevin Poe works as a park ranger at Bryce Canyon National Park in southwestern Utah. But when he’s not writing grants for green energy projects, he moonlights as a Dark Ranger, a “sworn enemy of light pollution” who sets out to make the world a darker place. Started at Bryce Canyon in […]
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Kangaroo Lake Association Recognized for Good Stewardship
Members of the Kangaroo Lake Association (KLA) gathered at the Ridges Sanctuary in Baileys Harbor the morning of Sept. 10 for the presentation of a prestigious Partnership Award from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR). Presenting the award was Justine Hasz, the DNR’s fisheries bureau director. She was joined by fisheries biologist Steve Hogler, […]
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Mandolin Orange, Harvest and Ale Fests, & More Weekend Plans
Cooler weather and shorter days have done little to slow the onslaught of entertaining events on the Door Peninsula! Take in a variety of thought-provoking and downright fun music, get crafty with Mother Nature’s bountiful mushrooms, or hop on your bike for a scenic ride through the county. Friday, September 16 Chasing Ice Join Crossroads […]
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The Hillside Inn: Storied Past, Bright Future
In the early 1900s, Ephraim boasted 12 “grand hotels.” Today, just one of them — the Hillside Inn — remains. And what a magnificent grand dame she is. For good reason, Ephraim is often called the “jewel” of Door County, and the view of the inn, bookended by two historic little churches, is one of […]
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Caboose Becomes A Home in Door County
When Jim Lennert, a train enthusiast, told his wife, Connie, that he was going to buy the caboose that would become their Door County summer getaway home, she had two stipulations (a good deal fewer, it might be noted, than such a proclamation may have elicited from other spouses). The first: it must be painted […]
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Journey of a Lifetime: The Great Migration of the Monarch Butterfly
The monarch is not just a butterfly, it is the butterfly. It’s the iconic insect of North America, easily recognizable and beloved by everyone with a net and some free time in a prairie. They even have a place in the hearts of entomophobics, who deny the relationship between a monarch and the rest of […]
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An Illusion of Space – The Remodeling Philosophy of Jacinda Duffin
It’s fair to say that Jacinda Duffin has the heart of a nomad (albeit one with a limited home range), an eye for worthy projects, and the soul of a Girl Scout who leaves everything better than she found it. In the past five years, Duffin has made three major moves, all within the space […]
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Coldwell Banker Gives TREG Foundation Grant to Habitat for Humanity
Coldwell Banker the Real Estate Group recently presented David Van Dyke, executive director of Door County Habitat for Humanity, a grant in the amount of $500 from the TREG Foundation Fund. Door County Habitat for Humanity has provided 38 homes for families located throughout Door County since the organization was founded in 1993. Coldwell Banker […]