First-ever "You oughta be in pictures" contest draws 140 entries The Washington Island Observer thanks all of the many subscribers who entered our first annual photo contest. You captured the … [Read more...]
Washington Island Observer
News originally published in the Washington Island Observer.
‘I remember Jens’
By Howard Scott, Jacobsen Museum director Jens Jacobsen did far more during his lifetime than build his museum beside Little Lake. Arriving as an immigrant boy knowing no English, he eventually … [Read more...]
FOPPI Update: Explore Plum Island Day 2018
By Tim Sweet and Gordon Vieth Nearly 30 people turned out for Explore Plum Island Day on August 18. Visitors – who hailed from Oregon to Washington Island, and points in between – were given tours … [Read more...]
Washington Island Weather June-July 2018: It’s Tough Being a Clucker
It is hard to imagine that on these mild, 65 to 75-degree days of Island summer, with lush vegetation and soil all around us, a chicken would be depressed. Granted, we are past the peak of summer … [Read more...]
A Plea for Plum and Pilot Islands: Continuing My Family Legacy
My family has the distinction of having members of three previous generations work on Plum Island, beginning in 1895. Now, the baton has passed to me. They were building and serving on Plum. I, with … [Read more...]
Everyday Nature: Being Mindful, Seeing Anew
Humans are adaptable — one of our most appealing traits. We can get used to just about anything. When I was living in South Los Angeles after college, I got used to stepping over trash while I walked … [Read more...]
Jonas Thor, Historian of Icelandic Emigration to America, Visits Washington Island
By Mary Marik In 1870, when emigration from Iceland to North America began, the population of the whole of Iceland was about 70,000. (The population of Green Bay today is about 105,000.) During … [Read more...]
TOWN SQUARE – A Love Note to Washington Island
By Rick Carson As a child from suburban Chicago, I spent many enjoyable summer weeks on the Island in the early 1950s with my fishing-loving dad (and sometimes mom) at Cedar Lodge on West Harbor … [Read more...]
Timothy Tree Frog: From a small Ohio pond to the Island
By Patricia Hewitt A few years ago Island resident Audrey Nourse was visiting her granddaughter, Giulia Shelton, now age 10, in Ohio. One spring evening they heard frogs singing. Giulia was … [Read more...]
The Jacobsen Museum: Full of Surprises
Howard Scott, the new director of the Jacobsen museum, says he is having fun discovering new surprises. “Hmm, what is this?” “Do you know who made this?” Most visitors to the museum, located on the … [Read more...]
Electric Co-operative Banner Project
For many years, The Washington Island Electric Co-operative has hung American flags during the summer and Scandinavian flags during the Scandinavian Festival in our downtown area. These flags were … [Read more...]
Capturing Island Beauty in Watercolor: Cathy Meader, Artist
Cathy Meader loves to paint in the open air—in the manner of certain schools of French impressionist painting, “pleinair” in French—coloring our Island sky with gorgeous hues in pinks and purples; our … [Read more...]
National Postal Museum: Cheryl Ganz
On a recent trip to Washington D.C., Jim and Kathleen Morris met up with Island resident Cheryl Ganz, who is chief curator of philately at the National Postal Museum of the Smithsonian … [Read more...]
Circumnavigation of the Island: on the Ice With Lee Engstrom & Friends
On March 12, 2013, at 10:00 a.m., Lee Engstrom and friends Bill Benson, Merrill Lundberg, Jim Morris, and Dave Ranney, set out on the beach at Sunset Resort to circumnavigate the Island. Friends, Don … [Read more...]
Island 1950s Baseball: a Conversation with Jake Ellefson and Ray Hansen
Islanders have been playing baseball since 1875 when the boys from St. Martin’s Island came over for a game. After that, games were mostly played between Island players. In 1903, Will Jess organized … [Read more...]
Early Maple Sugar Camp on Rock Island
Making maple syrup has been a springtime ritual on Washington Island for so many years, and has involved so many families, that I was surprised by the lack of photographic images and documentation in … [Read more...]
The Pipes are Calling: Bob Gillespie, Piper
When Bob Gillespie reached 50 years of age, he decided that he would learn to play a musical instrument. “I considered piano lessons,” he said, “but when I heard the robust sound of the great highland … [Read more...]
Bald Eagles Return to the Door Islands
The largest “top of the food chain” bird inhabiting the Door Islands is the bald eagle. The scientific name, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, signifies a sea (halo) eagle (aeetos) with a white (leukos) head. … [Read more...]
