Fall 2013 Newsletter

Message from the President

Engagment Announcement

Engagements are always monumental times in our lives. Usually, two people of similar interests and thought, announce their intentions to commit themselves to a long lasting relationship. Here at Crossroads we constantly celebrate engagements.

People becoming engaged to projects and events at Crossroads have led to many long lasting and productive marriages. Some of our engagements this summer included:

• Researchers from UW-Oshkosh were engaged in water quality and beach testing.
• Master Gardeners and the Sturgeon Bay Home and Garden Club have loved and cherished our Heritage Garden.
• Door Peninsula Astronomical Society landscaped the Utah Street Entrance, plan to add a parking lot to the Astronomy Campus and will partner with Crossroads to present Astronomy Day 2013 on October 12.
• Collin Mirkis, Mike Everett and Scott Mathison have made a commitment to become Eagle Scouts by doing projects at Crossroads.
• Friends of Crossroads and an array of sponsors (see page 5) presented another successful Running Green Event and …

More Space for Learning

Constructing our Maintenance Building was only half of the project! By emptying the lower level of the Collins Learning Center of vehicles and shop equipment, Crossroads can focus on the second objective of creating an additional and much needed education space.

The inclination is to call in the volunteers and start slapping paint on the walls and throwing up temporary dividers, but we want to do it right. Thanks to grants and designated gifts, we were able to engage Marc Isaksen Design, LLC to create a schematic design for our proposed education space.

A Half Year of Generosity

Gifts from Januar y 1 – June 30, 2013
(Gifts from th e s econd h a l f o f the year will be listed in our holiday issue)

$10,000 and above

• Paul and Fran Burton
• Don and Coggin Heeringa

$5,000 to $9,999

• Anonymous

$2,500 to 4,999

• Ministry Door County Medical Center
• $1,000 to 2,499
• Father Anthony Birdsall
• Meissner Family Foundation
• MMG Foundation

$500 to 999

• Lee and Susan Basten
• Door County Master Gardeners
• Grace and Bruce Frudden
• Fran and Arliss Everson
• Diane Jome
• Bob and Carol Moellenberndt

$250 to 499

• Anonymous
• Bonnie and Daniel Balch
• Herb Kohl Charities
• Katie (Claire) Malvetz
• Ray Stonecipher
• Norman and Mabel Watkins

$100 to 249

• Birmingham Builders
• Mary Ann Blahnik
• Bob and Nancy Davis
• Anonymous
• Eagle Mechanical
• Edith Fulkerson
• Bill and Cleida Galligan
• John and Chris Guenther
• Jane Guthrie
• Dave Jordal and Linda Hinkston
• Howard Hintze
• Robert and Rebecca Hoover
• Huehns Funeral Home
• James and Elsbeth Knutson
• Norb and Pat Lenius
• Nancy Mattke
• Jan Olson
• Madelyn Ostrand
• Eric and Dee Paulsen
• Bill and Barb Perloff
• Kathy Rowe
• Anonymous
• Gordon and Diane Saron
• Gretchen Schmelzer
• Daniel Tomaszewski
• James and Donna Urban
• Terry Ulman/Door County Candy
• Rob and Cathy Vuksanovic
• Joan and Brian Wake
• David and Judith Ward
• Mari and Dick Weidman
• John and Carol Zago
• Dwight and Pam Zeller

$50 – 99

• Jeanne Barnard
• Pat Blizel
• Randy Bumgardner
• Barb Chisholm
• Margaret and George Collier
• Mike and Sue Eliason
• Harold and Catherine Gerdmann
• John M. Glessner
• Earl and Ruth Hellamnn
• Mel and Ruth Henrichs
• Nicole Herbst
• Carol Hobson
• Brian and Lori Holtz
• Dave Holzinger
• Karen Johnson
• Paul and Kanani King
• Cathy Laba
• Arlene Lenius
• Ellen Looker
• Roy and Charlotte Lukes
• Marion Mailand
• Joyce Miller
• Gretchen Montee
• Matthew Propsom
• Anna Quale
• John Rosenthal
• Jeanne Schopf
• Edward Schriner-Schmitt
• Thomas and Margaret Schueppert
• Carol and Pete Schuster
• Bernice Shumway
• Brent Sieling and Megan Schleisman
• Kay Stack
• Scott Steebs
• Trish Stocking
• Scott Wake
• Randy Watermolen
• Carmen Youra
• John and Carol Zago

$1 to 49

• Heidi Bader
• Cheryl Choronzy
• Rose Coisman
• Cathy Eckers
• Travis Grooters
• Dori and David Holzinger
• Deborah Jeanquart
• Tammy Kroll
• Thomas and Suzanne Kuffel
• Connie and Chris Larsen
• Roger and Sara Pinkert
• Bill and Sonja Polster
• Rachel Pratt
• Belinda Richard
• Debra Swanson
• Jim Telstrom
• Jolene Wilson
• Cliff Wind

In Memory Of

Tom Austad
Anonymous

John Collins
Catherine Tilden

Mary Dorchester
Philip Dorchester

Ruth G. Edwards
Lee and Susan Basten
Coggin Edwards Heeringa
Jane Guthrie
Howard H. Hintze
Lori and Brian Holtz
Curt and Evelyn Mingle
Eric and Dee Paulsen
Jan Olson
Carmen Youra

Bud Evenson

Carol and Barry Hobson Family
Jim and Valerie Maki

Leif Everson

Bill and Sonja Polster

George Gay

Jim and Valerie Maki

Hervey and Anne Hauser

Gerry and Denice Bernstein

Claire Hogan

Eric and Dee Paulsen

Elymira “Elly” LeRoy

The Hobson Family

Omer Mickelson

Anonymous

Leroy and Claire Olsen

Susan Nelson

Herb Peterson

John and Janis Anderson
Suzanne and Tom Kuffle

George Pinney

Jim and Valerie Maki

Frances Ranson

Chris and Connie Larsen

Matt Scheinder

Dee and Eric Paulsen

Marion Schuster

Don and Coggin Heeringa
Jan Olson
Pete and Carol Schuster

Mary Walter

Eric and Dee Paulsen
Brian and Joan Wake

In Honor Of

Luke’s Outdoor Classroom

Tim and Barb Graul

Sunset School Staff

Jeanne Barnard
In honor of Rebecca and Josh Kerwin

Brian Wake

Scott Wake
John and Carol Zago

Joan Wake

Scott Wake
John and Carol Zago

Thank You To

Funding for Phase I Archaeological Survey

Fran and Paul Burton
The Raibrook Foundation
Don and Coggin Heeringa
MMG Foundation

Funding for the Education Space Project

Peter G. Horton Charitable Remainder Annuity Trust
Meissner Family Foundation
Friends of Crossroads
Herb Kohl Charities

Very Special Thanks to:

Little Hoppers
Ministry Door County Medical Center
Master Gardeners of Door County
Door County Advocate
Door County Daily News.com
Door Peninsula Astronomical Society
Peninsula Pulse
WDOR
UW-Oshkosh Microbiology Department

Running Green/Walking White

Photo by David Harsh

Running Green for Crossroads 2013 was, in all ways, a success. The run was conceived as a way to introduce the concepts of sustainability to the community. But we are becoming increasingly aware that exercise in nature has significant mental health benefits. But what about exercise in winter?

For years, as a part of their wellness initiative, Ministry Door County has underwritten year round  trail maintenance at Crossroads. Friends of Crossroads promoted winter exercise by loaning skis and snowshoes to the community – free of charge – on Sunday afternoons.

Obviously, we don’t want people to walk on ski trails, so we also have groomed a designated hiking trail. But that trail was long and for the most part, traversed upland fields and meadows. In fall these areas are stunningly beautiful, but on blustery winter days, we have our own frozen tundra.

Archaeological Survey at Crossroads

Photo by Randy Dickson

We know that Native People have visited the land we now call Crossroads since the end of the last Ice Age, and we always have had the feeling that at some time, prehistoric peoples may have lived on the preserve. Multiple springs would have been an attractive feature.

So strong was our belief, that before we paved our parking lot and built the Collins Learning Center, we conducted an archaeological survey under the direction of Dr. Victoria Dirst. A shovel testing regimen was conducted between the parking lot and Big Creek, and it revealed some artifacts which indicated a Middle to Late Archaic Native American component.

As they looked forward to reforestation and trail building projects throughout the property, the Board of Directors of Crossroads agreed that it was appropriate to survey the rest of the land. We obtained a proposal from Midwest Archaeological Consultants of Sturgeon Bay for a Phase I Intensive Archaeological Survey of the Crossroads property.

Through grants and gifts, we obtained enough money to start the project…but not enough to survey the entire property. So, we had to ask ourselves, should we just grid the entire land and work until we run out of funds? Should we survey the areas where we suspect evidence of habitation is most likely?

Photo by Amy Dickson

Or should we survey the specific areas that are slated for disturbance?

Last spring, as a part of their Earth Day Celebration, the students of Sunrise School planned to plant trees in the area east of the Astronomy Campus. For that reason, the Crossroads Board decided to have an archaeological survey conducted upon that parcel before we established a forest, and then to use the remainder of the funds to survey other areas around Big Creek.

Photo by Amy Dickson

The archeologists found small flakes of stone up on the high ground in the southeast corner of Crossroads that could be consistent with a very short-term occupation site, but they did not find evidence of a more permanent campsite/village. So the Sunrise students went ahead and planted 380 trees.

Early in September, archaeologists from Midwest Archaeological Consultants began the preliminary portion of their project by shooting a N/S line with a transit with which to form a grid along both sides of the creek corridor.

This October, we plan to implement a shovel testing regimen along the grid in a systematic attempt to locate prehistoric sites. This is when our outreach/educational efforts will begin, and we want to include all interested learners. Specific dates will be weather-determined, but if you would like to participate, call 746-5895 to sign up for a time, or “Like us” on Facebook. We will post our schedules as soon as we know them.

Astronomy Day 2013

The Moon

Saturday, October 12 2:00-4:00 PM

Family Activities (includes daytime moon viewing)
Collins Learning Center and the Astronomy Campus*

7:00 PM – Presentation
“New Theories on the Origin of the Moon”
Collins Learning Center Featuring Dr. Ray Stonecipher

8:00-11:00 PM

Viewing of the Moon and Night Sky Leif Everson Observatory and StarGarden*

Free and Open to the Public.

* Please use the Utah Street Entrance to reach the Crossroads Astronomy Campus

Download a pdf of our Fall 2013 newsletter