I went to Ely for the annual Vermilion Community College Foundation scholarship banquet.  For 5 years, my wife and I have sponsored a scholarship for a student selected by the College who is studying environmental or wilderness course work leading to a career in those fields.  I try to attend the banquet to present the scholarship.  It’s our legacy to a town and wilderness we deeply love.

Two days before leaving I realized that if I arrived in Ely early in the day, I could rent a canoe and get on the water.  I was thrilled at the prospect (my wife said, “Why am I not surprised to hear this?”) and made arrangements.  I arrived in Ely at 9 on a perfect traveling day, got the canoe and drove out to Fall Lake.  I quickly shed every layer except for a shirt and PFD, and I could have taken the shirt off as well.  I wore neoprene gloves but really didn’t need them.  I saw nobody, except mergansers, a loon and several immature eagles at the south end of Pipestone Bay. I sat in the sun, enjoying a better view of the falls than I’ve had on the 30-plus times I have hurriedly crossed that portage.  Here’s a video of the falls and a few soaring immature eagles (they are immature because of their lack of a white head and general mottling.)

I contribute to three scholarships:  the amount of money the Foundation annually disburses has doubled since 2005.  I worked with the Friends of the Boundary Waters to create a scholarship in 2008; they and I jointly fund it.  I would also present that scholarship at the banquet, which pleased me no end–an Arizona guy who brought two fine Minnesota organizations together to create something good.

Up on Pipestone, I shot video of immature eagles soaring in a cloudless sky.  After lunch on Newton, I portaged back to Fall, paddling by the campsite where my wife and I stayed on 9/16/2001:  we started that trip on 9/11, unaware of events, heard the next day on Basswood River “the country was shut down,” but had few details and were nervous what we would learn when we exited.  On every trip since, we always note the presence of aircraft.

As a Navy veteran, a shipboard medical officer, I had long wanted to establish a scholarship for veterans, whom I feel should get free education.  Patti Zupancich of the Foundation worked with the Brekke and Langhorst families to allow me to contribute to an existing scholarship in memory of two young Moose Lake cousins who died in Iraq, 6 months apart.  Their aunt would attend the banquet but declined to present the scholarship because she knew how emotionally difficult it would be.  Patti suggested that I present the award, which was met with immediate approval.  I was grateful both families allowed me to contribute; I was deeply moved by their additionally allowing me to present it, one of the greatest honors I’ve ever received.

At 3 p.m., I came off the water, tired, sore and happy to have used muscles that had forgotten what paddling and portaging entailed.  It felt good to do J-strokes, scull, sweep, avoid rocks and portage again.  It felt right to solo in the wilderness.  But it felt odd to know in an hour, I would change from canoe clothes to coat and tie.  I had never done that before.

The banquet is always festive, which must be difficult for those who give memorial scholarships–a gold star family from Wisconsin presents one each year, too.  There is also one in memory of “Jackpine” Bob Cary, given by his daughter.

The recipient of our scholarship was there with his parents.  I enjoyed seeing how happy the three of them were.  The recipient of the Friends scholarship had taken people on tours to Listening Point.  One of the Brekke-Langhorst recipients had spent 4 years in Iraq; his father was also a veteran, and we had an interesting conversation.  The other recipient, a young woman, was ex-Navy; both of us have sailed many tens of thousands of nautical miles on the same seas in different eras.

As expected, presenting the Brekke-Langhorst scholarship was emotional, and I wanted everything to be proper.  The brave young men’s aunt thanked me, but I felt I received more than the recipients.

Every time I give, I seem to receive more.  I’m hoping the Friends get enough support to sponsor a second scholarship.  I hope some of my fellow wilderness travelers will remember those students in Ely, at the edge of the wilderness and on the edge of poverty.  If giving money is not possible, haul out a lot of trash on your next canoe trip.  Do something good for this special wilderness.

In 1938, Sig Olson, Dean of what was then called Ely Junior College, wrote “Why Wilderness?”, stating exactly how I feel on the trail:  the need for “sweat and toil, hunger and thirst, and the fierce satisfaction that comes only with hardship.”   Sig referred to hardship on the trail, not financial hardship.  There’s a scholarship in his name, too, which I want to honor by ensuring hardship stays only where it belongs.

In 2010, I had a special day.  I arrived in Ely seven hours before the banquet, rented a canoe, and paddled 11 miles up and back from Pipestone Falls on a perfect day, alone, seeing eagles, mergansers and a loon.   I ended up paddling about 11 miles then returned the canoe, changed clothes completely, and presented four scholarships: the Michael and Janice Smith, the Friends of the Boundary Waters, and the Brekke-Langhorst to two recipients

MICHAEL AND JANICE SMITH SCHOLARSHIP - $1,000 award – to a student who will be new to VCC in the fall of 2009 or continuing at VCC in the fall of 2009 and studying environmental or wilderness coursework leading to a career in one of those fields.

Past Winners:

2006–Kelly Bray

2007–Wendy Forss (Kelly and Wendy pictured below)

2008–Katherine Hagsten

2009–Matthew Chopp

2010–Mara Brogan

Mara Brogan

As a member of the Friends of the Boundary Waters, I thought the organization should sponsor a scholarship.  I was willing to put my money where my mouth is and the Friends did the rest.  My thanks to Paul Danicic and Greg Seitz, whom I met in Minneapolis the morning after the banquet, for their thoughts and idea that we should have the members contribute a little more annually in hopes of establishing a second scholarship.  Sig Olson once wrote that wilderness travelers craved “the fierce satisfaction that comes only with hardship.”  But as Dean, he would not have wanted such hardship to be part of getting an education.  Putting two Minnesota organizations together–the Friends and the VCC Foundation–to create this scholarship was one of the better ideas I’ve had.

FRIENDS OF THE BOUNDARY WATERS WILDERNESS SCHOLARSHIP – $500 award – to a student who will be new to VCC in the fall of 2009 or continuing at VCC in the fall of 2009 studying environmental or wilderness coursework.

Past Winners:

2008–Nathan Prokovic

2009–Katherine Hagsten (pictured above with the Smith Award)

2010–Travis Wuori

The third was one that I contributed to as a veteran to one of  the veteran scholarships offered.  Moises Langhorst died in combat on 5 April 2004 in Fallujah, where some of the fiercest combat occurred; his cousin Dale Brekke died from PTSD.   I cannot imagine how the family survived this devastation.  I was deeply honored to be allowed by the family to contribute to this scholarship:  one veteran presenting a scholarship to two other veterans in memory of two brave young men, who never lived to adulthood, who died serving their country.  I was asked by Jeanette (Jet) Cox, their aunt,  to present the scholarship, one of the deepest honors I’ve ever been given.  I’ve long wanted to establish a scholarship for veterans, who frankly ought to be given four years of tuition-free education; I finally was given a chance to do so; I just never expected I would ever present the scholarship.  I am incredibly grateful to Ms. Cox and the Brekke-Langhorst families for creating a memorial, their willingness to allow a stranger to contribute to it, their courage in the face of tragedy I cannot comprehend and requesting I present the scholarship.

DALE ANDREW BREKKE-MOISES ALBERT LANGHORST MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP – two $500 awards – to a student enrolled at VCC who has served in the U.S. military during or since 1998 to the present and/or spouses, parents, or children of those who served in the U.S. military during or since 1998. Preference will be given to those who served in the Middle Eastern theater of operations. Applicants must be in good academic standing. Students who will be new to VCC in the fall of 2009, those continuing at VCC in the fall of 2009, and students graduating from VCC in the spring of 2009 and transferring to another college or university are eligible to apply.

Past Winners:

2008–Brandi Weigandt

2009–Joe Hiller

2010–Steven Pederson

2010–Laurel Heino