The Ely Community Center is one of those places that help make Ely the place it is. It is a fine old building that is worth investing in. It was built back in 1938 when New Deal money from Franklin Roosevelt allowed the city to tear down the old Central School Building and replace it with the latest in Art Deco building fashion. I remember the building in its prime, and I have watched time and neglect catch up with us until now we have to do something; either tear this one down and build a new one, or spend the money to fix the one we have. Several years back I wrote to the Minnesota Preservation Board who had a list of ten buildings in the state that needed some help, but were worth saving. I wrote them a paper telling them about this wonderful old building, and they agreed with me; The Ely Community Center is a special place and it should be saved. It has seen better days, and I hope it will see better days in the future, but as home to the award winning Ely Public Library it is still the heart of the town. They don’t build them like this anymore, let’s fix the place up, and put in an elevator. If area churches have elevators we should have one in our Community Center which would make access to the upper and lower floors free and equal to all our citizens. Mike Hillman March 10, 2010
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FW: Public Law 95-495: The Future of the BWCA(W) To all that love the Quetico-Superior: With the recent death of F W (Bill) Hubachek (Wilderness Research Foundation, Ely MN) in Chicago, another historically significant figure passes into memory only. Just as his father and his friends like Earnest Oberholtzer, Sigrud Olson, Frederick Winston and Charles Kelly passed, the candor and wisdom with which he (they) spoke so deliberately, and with such eloquence and piercing intensity has stopped. But not their life and how they lived. Many will carry that on here near the BWCAW. Bill was a mentor and then friend, and each trip to Chicago over the years proved unique, enlightening and educational. Our discussions of the history of Saving (the) Quetico-Superior, the legal battles, the loveliest camp site on a favorite Quetico lake, and the research of the Wilderness Research Foundation always pointed to what the future holds for our Boundary Waters, and what we hold necessary to BE necessary. Reforestation of Superior National Forest is “a tough nut to crack” Bill would say when dialogue about amending federal laws was on the table. Do-able I suppose he commented, reminding me how long it took in decades past. But as he, and his father before him knew, natural growth of our pines will not succeed without man’s interaction. The foresters and ecologists agree, as Cliff and Isabel Ahlgren to this day agree, restoration forestry inside our wilderness will work and why it is necessary. It should be mandatory. Remembering Aldo Leopold’s research, work ethic and wisdom, we look no further than his words “the health of a land depends on its ability to restore itself”. (Sand County Almanac) All of us that know and often remember the history of this region know what is necessary, what is truly right and just. Public Law 95-495 must be amended quickly and with no trepidation. The issues of what is right and just are about reclamation, reconciliation and restoration. In October 1978, we lost on those issues, then in ’93’, the door to future dialogue closed. It slammed shut, and that sound still echoes with the wind through the limbs of what few “lob pines in the wilderness” remain. To RECLAIM ethical values and redevelop our land ethics to the more modern and futuristic approach is simple. All past and current conservationists, scientists, and peoples passionate about our wilderness know preservation is the key to that closed door. And reclaiming what again, was taken and deprived to all of us should be returned, most significantly, the lands surrounding 4 MILE PORTAGE, northeast of Ely. Allowing that road to come back as a world class visitor attraction creating hundreds of LOCAL jobs, boosting tourism 12 months a year, including light rail to Hoist Bay is a beginning of the reclaimation. The motor route down to Basswood, its river and into and through Crooked Lake should REOPEN. Especially now with tomorrows technology, and the clean quiet mechanics that would enable those less fortunate to experience these historic lands and waterways. And it is done today successfully in European environments. To RECONCILE means recognizing the past and what was forgotten, lost, or swept under the tables of dialogue and lawsuits past.. Developing more easily accessable entry’s, portages and campsites for the physically challenged into nearby border lakes must happen. To allow horse trails on selected routes will provide a most unique way of travel to all who seek it. Unique, for hundreds of years past. And then, reclaim the local, regional and national history that must not remain buried under tons of bio-mass and go unnoticed. Reclaim the ability to do so. The hands on the wheel that drove the so called environmental bus should let go now, and if necessary ask for directions. The ecologists, foresters, loggers, patriots, fire fighters, authors, outfitters, guides, educators, and boards of ethically moral organizations will offer those directions. And finally, but not, RESTORE not only our wilderness, but our heritage and faith in government. Peoples have lived here over ten thousand years. Visit our local museums and historical societies. Visit Bois Fort on Lake Vermilion and other native peoples lands. Restore the visions and the eccentrics of the earliest of conservationists by recalling their passionate and educated warnings of mismanagement, misuse and overuse. Remind ourselves that man is in management, and man must manage closely its wild lands. Land should be loved and respected, and not treated so much as a commodity. Restore and revamp the current permit system, and reduce the degradation of anchient trails and camps. As F W (Hub) Hubachek once said, “Let us replant the trees and seeds for the next generations”. Begin this dialogue. Amend PL 95-495 in 2014. We shall all be good stewards and remodel the Boundary Waters, one acre at a time, for our next generation. Reclaim. Reconcile. Restore. Mark Haarman aNewNorth@hotmail.com Ely Buzz Blogs; by Mike Hillman 4 March 2011 Just when you thought the buzz about the Ely Area Economic Agency couldn’t get any louder the town fairly vibrated with the news that came out this week about how the agency handled the elusive Project Firefly. Knowing that there are many inventive people working out of area garages and shops, Project Firefly hoped to be the agent that would provide a helping hand to area metal workers who had an invention worthy of further development. In order to help facilitate the project the EADA hired Dave Kromer to work with area metal workers to help conceptualize their projects. As part of his duties Kromer would help make an accurate blue print for the invention, and to build a model of the idea in order to make it more marketable for potential investors. For his services, Dave Kromer was paid fifteen dollars an hour. While fifteen dollars an hour might not be a great deal of money elsewhere, here in Ely, it is considered to be a generous wage. If this were the extent of the story nobody would be buzzing about anything. The buzz started when the local news reported that when Pat Henderson, the EADA director, left for another position there was a change of command at the agency. Dave Kromer was let go from Firefly and was replaced as the director of Project Firefly by Bill Roloff who served on both the large and small boards of the EADA. No reason was given for letting Dave Kromer go and replacing him with Bill Roloff. The buzz grew much louder when people found out that Mr. Roloff’s hourly rate was sixty five dollars an hour. This was over four times the money that Dave Kromer made to do the same work. Lots of people are buzzing to know just what Mr. Roloff did to earn such a wage in an area where most people would give their eye teeth to have a job paying that much money. This blogger would love to know that at a time when most people are scrambling to make it to the end of the month how the EADA could justify paying Bill Roloff over four times what Dave Kromer earned. It would seem an answer is in order. Larry Klun Memo 2005-Ely Entities & General Structure
It sounded like a fine idea to an area hungry for economic development, and when we found out that the costs of the project would be covered with grant money coming from either Iron Range Resources or the Blandin Foundation; The Ely City Council was unanimous in their support of the concept of Project Firefly. When questioned about the nature of Project Firefly Pat Henderson did reveal that Firefly was founded on the idea that there were many small entrepreneurs around the area who had some wonderful ideas and potential inventions that needed help to develop and take to commercialzation. Project Firefly would act as an incubator of sorts that would give aid to these potential Edisons whose projects could help rejuvenate the area’s economic base. It sounded like a wonderful idea that was right in line with what the area Joint Powers Board had in mind when the EADA was created many years ago (when ?). The Joint Powers Board is the agency that supervises the activity of and sets the agenda for the EADA. The board is made up of the various local governments who all own stock in the EADA. The Joint Powers Board is made up of voting and non voting members from around the area. The thought was simple: All area governments and a number of institutions like our schools, hospital, and area businesses have an interest in economic development, and we all should have a say in what happens with the EADA. One for all and all for one. We take one member from the Ely City Council, Winton, Town of Morse, School Board, and any other area government you can get to join in helping to fund the EADA. If you are a paying member on the Joint Powers Board you get a vote, and if you are not a paying member you get to put in your comments and ideas, but you don’t get a vote. The Joint Powers Board evolved from the idea that if you could bring these different governments together in one place that it would lead towards better cooperation and understanding between them. It was an experiment worth trying and this year when The Ely City Council decided to pull their funding for the EADA it was a sure sign that something went wrong with the Joint Powers Experiment.  Project Firefly is like..... The first thing I did when I got up in the morning was to scramble out of bed and look at my jar full of fireflies. I don’t know what I expected to see when I looked into the jar, but I know it was more than the simple small black bugs clinging to the grass and dandy lions inside my glass jar. At night I thought fireflies were about the most beautiful insect I had ever seen, but looking at them in a better light I realized that in daylight fireflies lose there magic. Fireflies might glow in the daylight, but they can only be seen in darkness, once you turn on the lights all the magic and illusion is gone. One might be able to say the same thing about the EADA’s Project Firefly. What are your thoughts on Ely’s project Firefly?  Ely Buzz You may submit your ideas and identify yourself or you may use a pseudonym. Many of you have told us you feel uncomfortable, for one reason or another, presenting ideas directly. Either way is fine but writing under a pseudonym should be done more cautiously and without taking liberties with what you say that you would not say directly. Either way you decide to submit comments and ideas, we would request that you be as respectful as possible and use words and language that you would use with your family…well, when you are not angry. So, if you are really angry, go ahead and write your thoughts, then re-read and edit once or twice before sending. Sometimes the best way to communicate is with questions, and we will keep a list of the questions you ask and check them off as they are answered by the appropriate person or authority. We will ask the question for you, we cannot guarantee an answer. But, what the heck, we’re not getting answers now. Let’s put them “on the board.” You cannot make a defensive person self-critical! And, just the fact that we are being given this manner of communications will automatically make many in this community defensive. That cannot be helped and a good dose of self-criticality would be a major breath of fresh air for this community, in our opinion. |
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