Tuesday Group

Tuesday Group regularly features informal presentations by several new Ely-area residents. This opportunity to become acquainted with some of our new neighbors and welcome them to our community took place on April 2, 2024 at the Grand Ely Lodge.

The Tuesday Group program on April 9, 2024 was presented by my friend and colleague, Heather Westmoreland. Heather is a multifaceted entrepreneur and dedicated community advocate. With a rich background in finance and a passion for empowering individuals and businesses, Heather has established herself as a trusted figure in both the corporate and non-profit sectors. With over 15 years of experience as a prolific tax accountant, Heather honed her expertise in financial management and strategic planning. Leveraging her extensive knowledge, she transitioned into the realm of life coaching and virtual business support, founding her own small business aimed at fostering personal growth and organizational success. In this introductory presentation, new and aspiring solopreneurs (solo entrepreneurs) will delve into the foundational aspects of starting and managing a successful business venture. From identifying your ideal client to social media advertising, understanding entity formation and accounting, and nurturing a thriving community around your brand, participants will gain invaluable insights and practical skills necessary for entrepreneurial success. We will also discuss how many of these principles can be used to enhance your life outside of business. By integrating these core topics into a comprehensive curriculum, this program empowers independently-minded entrepreneurs to navigate the complexities of business ownership with confidence and competence. Through a combination of theoretical knowledge, practical skills, and real-world application, participants will emerge equipped to launch, grow, and sustain successful ventures in today's dynamic marketplace capitalizing on Ely's strong entrepreneurial spirit. The content of this program is also relevant to nonprofit leaders, as well as established business owners.

The Tuesday Group program on April 16, 2024 was presented by our friend and neighbor Scott Stowell, author of Back Road Grace. Back Road Grace is a collection of essays, memoirs and short fiction about Northern culture, wilderness treasures and the character of the inhabitants in the Minnesota Arrowhead. Though many of the stories center around Ely, Minnesota, a chapter of Stowell's earlier years has been included to help readers connect some of the dots on his journey there. The stories in Back Road Grace elicit thought, laughter and encouragement. Readers from distant locations will learn more about year-round life in a northern climate and the moxie it takes to thrive there. Local readers will already know the lifestyle, but perhaps better appreciate the life they're living and who they're with. As a freelance writer, Scott Stowell was a regular contributor to the “Outdoor Weekend” section of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. He was an editor for the Ely Timberjay newspaper and host of the Morning Show on WELY radio. His writing, publishing and media background also includes work as a magazine editor, radio copywriter and television news field photographer. Some of his published pieces have received individual and collaborative awards from the Minnesota Newspaper Association. Many of the stories in Back Road Grace have been broadcast on “Stay Human,” a literary program at public radio station KAXE/KBXE Northern Community Radio in Grand Rapids and Bemidji, Minnesota. Though born and raised in two very large metropolitan areas, his parents made sure he had substantial exposure to the natural world. As a result, nature and writing became dominant interests in his life and he migrated northward. He and his wife, DyAnne Korda, live in Ely, Minnesota, with their Alaskan husky Mustang Sally.

The Tuesday Group program on March 26, 2024 was presented by Eben Spencer. While there are 234 species of owls throughout the world, there are twelve species in Minnesota. Why are we so fascinated with owls, and how can we protect them for future generations? This presentation will give a broad overview of North American owls in general, along with a more in-depth look at our twelve state residents. Furthermore, it will include a chance to see four mounted owls on display found in NE Minnesota, learn more about their individual behaviors and calls, and hopefully lead to a group discussion on the experiences we’ve all had with owls while living in the north woods. Eben and his wife live in Northern Itasca County on a Cedar Lake, also known as Barwise Lake, about 30 miles NE of Grand Rapids. Before becoming permanent residents of Itasca County, they lived in the small NW Minnesota town of Oslo, directly on the Red River of the North, where Eben was employed as an agronomist, providing agronomic support to edible bean farmers. Eben grew up in Duluth and has always been active in the out-of-doors. As a Minnesota Firearm Safety instructor, Eben began to display owls to the students as part of the course curriculum on wildlife and conservation. He began with one owl, but presently has four: a northern saw-whet owl, a snowy owl, a great horned owl, and a barred owl. In order to possess the owls, Eben is required to have both a federal and state permit. Eben's presentation included four owls on display, along with wings and talons of several raptors, and a recording of various owl calls one might hear in our region. Information about owls in general and interesting facts about the species on display will be included.

The Tuesday Group presentation on March 12, 2024 was provided by Kes Ebbs and Lou Wiggin, who introduced the nonprofit they recently formed called The Sage Foundation. Students leave their families to seek higher education at Minnesota North Vermilion Campus. Even though the college supports these students as much as they can, the northwoods can be a challenging place to live. Kes Ebbs, a Vermilion Alumni, and Lou Wiggin, a basketball coach and active member of the college community, wanted to help fill these gaps in support. After facing numerous challenges they decided to form their own nonprofit, The Sage Foundation. The Sage Foundation acts as a bridge connecting support services on and off campus to the students who need them. Productive activities, food resources, employment, transportation and physical and mental health care are basic needs that students commonly need support to fulfill.

The Tuesday Group program on March 5, 2024 was provided by our friend and neighbor John Kopp. We have all been or will be in the role of caregiver. Imagine the focus necessary when the role requires you to be continuously attentive, such as when being a teacher, a parent whose children have high energy or other special needs, or a staff person helping someone in a residential or vocational setting. To add to this, what would it be like if there was a pattern of challenging behavior? How would you feel if the person to whom you’re providing care often strikes out, tantrums, yells, or displays any number of disruptive actions? Now also consider, we have all demonstrated challenging behavior to signal we want our needs met. Suppose you didn’t have a very good command of language, you have a history where no one seems to listen to you, or you led a life of being quite vulnerable. How might that behavior look or feel then? Through light-hearted story-telling, John's presentation points out how the field of learning found a home and settled down in the land of Positive Behavior Supports. By addressing what the behavior means, the person providing care and the person in need of support become partners for an even more meaningful relationship. John Kopp RETIRED in 2020 from a 38 year career as a behavior consultant. In 1983, when he graduated with a Master’s Degree in Clinical Psychology with an emphasis in applied behavior analysis, John made a couple of commitments to the profession. One was to work across age ranges and levels and types of challenges. The other was to promote positive behavior procedures. During his career, John was employed in state and private organizations and in private practice. He provided behavior consultations through positions he held as psychologist, behavior analyst, direct care professional, program coordinator, and behavior support director. John and his family have often enjoyed the outdoors around Ely and the BWCAW. Now that he moved here in 2020, he enjoys meeting and getting to know people by frequenting the coffee shops and getting involved in activities. He is on the Friends of the Library Board, belongs to an area writers group, is a member of a book club, does the water clarity readings on Fenske Lake, and does the loon watch on Everett Lake. One of the places he most thoroughly enjoys is the Ely Folk School. There John teaches, takes classes and volunteers. His most recent teaching has been on playing a board game to make story which was offered to families as a weekly game night. His dream is to teach families through a class he is developing entitled Writing With Your Child For Your Child. John loves to tease that his kids are jealous of his living in the beauty of the Northwoods. “I moved to Ely to live out a dream my wife and I shared of retiring in a rustic cabin in the woods and to be around other creative spirits.” He is grateful for all the synchronistic events that led him into this re-enchanted world.

The February 20, 2024 Tuesday Group program featured Cary J. Griffith, author of Gunflint Falling: Blowdown in the Boundary Waters. Cary Griffith is the author of four non-fiction books and three novels. His non-fiction includes Lost in the Wild (Borealis: 2006), Opening Goliath (Borealis: 2009 – winner of a 2010 Minnesota Book Award), Gunflint Burning: Fire in the Boundary Waters (U of MN Press: 2018, Finalist for a Minnesota Book Award), and Gunflint Falling: Blowdown in the Boundary Waters (U of MN Press: 2024). His novels include Wolf Kill (AdventureKEEN: 2021), Cougar Claw (AdventureKEEN: 2022), and Killing Monarchs (AdventureKEEN: 2023). His upcoming novel, Dead Catch (AdventureKEEN) is set on Lake Vermilion and will be published June, 2024. Griffith is also the recipient of a Midwest Book Award.

Our Tuesday Group program on February 13, 2024 was an opportunity to learn about a topic of critical importance: stress management. Our presenter, Sharon Gilbert, briefly reviewed the different types and sources of stress, as well as identified some simple techniques to deal with stress. The program ended with a hands-on demonstration that participants can re-create on our own. We've also posted the clip of that exercise separately, if you're looking specifically to access that part of the presentation. Sharon Gilbert is a retired psychotherapist with 28 years of clinical experience. She has worked in Community Agency, Psychiatric Hospital, Corrections and Private Practice settings. In addition to her clinical work, she was an adjunct professor for 21 years.

Our Tuesday Group program on February 6, 2024 was an opportunity to learn about lynx with Taylor Brannock. Taylor Brannock is a Wildlife Technician for the Superior National Forest on the Kawishiwi Ranger District. She moved to Ely in 2019, and started working for the Forest Service in 2020. Before moving to Ely, Taylor worked across the country on various wildlife research projects, from marten and fisher work in the Adirondacks and Northern Cascades, nesting birds in the Prairie Potholes, Sage grouse in Colorado, and spotted owls in Arizona, New Mexico, and northern California. She is very grateful to have landed in Ely with the plethora of wildlife, wild lands, and community. In her free time Taylor enjoys hiking, mountain biking, birding, skiing, volleyball, disc golf, fly fishing, and anything on the water. Taylor is also a ceramic artists who is currently showing work in the Ely Art Walk (you can see her work at the Ely Mercantile!). She shares her life with her husband, and their dog and two cats.