Pequot Lakes Historical Society gears up for summer with resort exhibit

PEQUOT LAKES — Minnesotans will be smug about their long, cold winters, but some of that tolerance comes from knowing there will be an ending to it, and a late winter snowfall is doomed to out-and-out scorn.

With a recent covering of snow on the ground, it is slightly out of sequence to be thinking of summer activities, but we know that within days, we will be smack in the middle of all the hubbub and hoopla that can only spell summer.

The summer fun and summer weather that seemed so far off a month ago is suddenly close upon us; and we are sort of ready, and sort of not.

The Pequot Lakes Historical Society Museum will be open on Memorial Day, and then on every Saturday through Labor Day in September.

We are expanding our exhibits to include a rustic cabin representing the mom and pop resorts that used to dot the lakes in our area. Construction on this exhibit will go on through the summer and visitors will not be restricted during that time.

This project does not amount to a major upheaval in the museum. The work crew is small and a good job takes time.

We’re looking forward to hearing positive feedback from the museum-going public. Who knows, it might lead to expansion of other displays.

We are in the process of setting up an Oral History Project with the long-range goal of putting together a history of Pequot Lakes. We’re currently collecting forms and protocols for protecting the information that is gathered.

It is more complicated, of course, than I thought it would be, but we want to do a good job of it as well. We will contact potential interviewees by mail and proceed from there.

For something off the beaten path, I’m recommending visits to the local historical museums and sites around the area. There is the fabulous fire tower just outside of Pequot; pioneer villages in Nisswa and Crosslake; fabulous county museums in Walker, Crosby and Brainerd; and Pine River’s 150th Year Celebration.

Lots to do. Check the Echo Journal for details.

And, last but not least, the Pequot Lakes Area Historical Society has come up with yet another change in meeting date and time. We will meet in the Cole Memorial Building at 6 p.m. May 2. It will be the first Tuesday, as opposed to first Thursday of the month, due to a minor scheduling conflict.

We will keep that schedule through the summer season.

Karen Bye is vice president of the Pequot Lakes Area Historical Society and loves history.