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A Walk on the Historic Side
Duluth, Minnesota, financial adviser Tom Wheeler traces
his roots on Lake Superior to 1855, when his great-grandfather, Henry,
left the relative security of southern Minnesota to establish a sawmill
at the Head of the Lakes in Superior, Wisconsin. Henry walked the 150
miles through forests, swamplands and downed timber in April 1855. In
seeking to replicate Henry’s trek, Tom left Stillwater, a suburb of St.
Paul, on April 9 and spent the next 10 days on country roads and rural
trails. He arrived in Superior on April 19 and trudged through the city
to the harbor, where his journey ended at 1:20 p.m. Unshaven, barely
bathed and sporting whiskers and blisters protected by duct tape, Tom
paused ovedrlooking the harbor from Highway 2 and wept.
“I’m not going to build a sawmill, but I do hope to
build a fund so people can undertake projects to promote historical
awareness,” Tom told the press.
That effort is already under way, as Tom pledges
$25,000 in matching contributions to the Henry and Sarah Wheeler
Historical Awareness Fund, operating within the Duluth-Superior Area
Community Foundation, of which he is outgoing chairman. Information
about the fund or the Foundation is available at 218-726-0232 or on the
Web at www.dsacommunityfoundation.com.
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