University of Wisconsin - Extension

Every stroke of the paddle into the icy waters of Lake Superior carries the little band of travelers further through time.

Starting as members of a 1793 voyageur brigade during the North American fur trading era, time travelers paddle the Dream Catcher, a 600-pound, 34-foot canoe, past virgin forests, loggers, farmers, iron ore docks and, finally, tourists, as they glide from the past to the present.

¿We¿ll paddle all day long for 16 to 18 hours, stop at night, take our trade goods out, then have rubbaboo ¿ grease and peas ¿ for dinner,¿ teases their leader, ¿Etienne Loire.¿

Wearing red sashes, tobacco pouches, loose shirts and breeches tied around the leg to keep mosquitoes out, brigade members are actually UW-Extension educators sporting French accents and dressed like French-Canadian voyageurs. They¿re hamming it up during ¿Paddle through Time,¿ a 2 1/2-hour class offered Friday mornings in the summer through the Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center outside Ashland.

Under the fun, though, is a serious purpose.

UW-Extension Education Coordinator Cathy Techtmann (alias Etienne Loire) created the ¿ed-venture¿ as a way to teach students, 4-H and scouting groups, elderhostel participants and other center visitors about environmental sustainability.

During the class, participants discover the history of Lake Superior¿s boom industries and the need to balance natural resource use, economic development and society¿s needs.

They also learn about the dress and customs of voyageurs, the expert canoeists who ferried goods and beaver pelts back and forth from the Great Lakes region to Montreal and Quebec through the St. Lawrence River.

¿You could say they were the truck drivers of the fur-trading era,¿ says Techtmann, who developed a 17-page curriculum for the class.

Before coming ashore, Techtmann and Extension educators Kathleen Morgen and Elizabeth Post share a Native American prophecy about the importance of making good choices.

¿We can use the lessons of the past,¿ they say, ¿to make wise decisions for the future.¿

Classes offer summer fun, cure for cabin fever

If you¿ve ever traveled ¿Up North,¿ you¿re probably familiar with the Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center ¿ with its five-story observation tower, coastal wetlands boardwalk and stunning exhibits ¿ just west of Ashland on County Highway G. About 150,000 travelers and regional residents stop at the center every year.

What you may not know, however, is that UW-Extension is a partner in the center and offers environmental education year-round for community residents and visitors.

A winter ¿cabin fever¿ series features local experts who team up with Extension educators to offer natural resource education with artistic interpretation through photography, drawing, writing and music.

A ¿summer fun¿ series includes classes on toads, frogs and self-esteem for kids; wildflowers and butterflies; and a wildlife class taught by UW-Extension wildlife specialist Scott Craven called ¿Hooo¿s Living in Your Backyard?¿

On-the-water programs include ¿Paddle through Time,¿ ¿Leadership Secrets of the Voyageurs,¿ which uses the Dream Catcher as a floating classroom, and the ¿Coastal Wetland Explorations¿ program conducted in double-seater kayaks.

Programs on forests, wildlife, plants, Native Americans and immigration reach more than 2,000 students a year. An elderhostel was added this summer in cooperation with UW-Superior.

And that¿s just a snapshot of the hands-on learning UW-Extension offers at the Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center. For more information, visit the center¿s UW-Extension website at http://www.uwex.edu/ces/nglvc">www.uwex.edu/ces/nglvc.