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Lakeland Public Television presents Common Ground brought to you by the
MInnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and the citizens of Minnesota.
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Fishing in Minnesota is almost an institution so we're off to Little Falls
to a museum to learn more about this great heritage in our state.
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My name is Jeff Doty and I'm the president of the board of directors
for the Minnesota Fishing Museum. We are standing here in the middle of
the present Minnesota Fishing Museum. We have about 10,000
square feet of space. We have over 10,000 artifacts
available for the public to answer the questions
where did come from in Minnesota's fishing history. The mission of the
Minnesota Fishing Museum is three fold. One is
to preserve the artifacts of the history of the fishing culture here in the
state of MInnesota. The second is to provide an
educational forum and facility
so that when we get school groups coming in on their field trips in the spring.
We want them to be educated about Minnesota's
fishing and Minnesota fishing history. We have scavenger hunts that we have kids do
when they come around. We have a coloring area back there for the little kids.
They get to color all different kinds of fish and then they learn
about what that fish is. When we grow out of this facility and end up in
a new facility. One we want to expand the kind of experiences
that kids have and make it more of an education center.
The third leg of our stool when it comes to mission
is to provide recognition for the people in the industry
and the companies in the industry that have historical
significance also. Well our Executive Director
here at the Minnesota Fishing Museum is Mavis Buker. Mavis is our only
full time employee. Mavis came to us after our previous director
who was Leann Luset who was here from the very beginning.
We've enjoyed great expansion and growth under Mavis's
directorship. She has just been a joy to work with.
My name is Mavis Buker. I am the Executive Director
here at the Minnesota Fishing Museum. We are located in Little Falls, MN.
We are a collection of
we like to say rather loosely over 10,000 artifacts
related to fishing in this land of 10,000 lakes.
Now obviously we don't have 10,000 artifacts on display. We are a fairly small
location at this time. Growing always though.
So some of our collection is on display. Some of our collection is kept in storage.
and we do rotate our collection. So that when people come for a second or a third
or a fourth visit. They are going to see something different the next time they come by.
When a person walks in to the fishing museum, first of all you will enter our
gift shop. Where you will walk in on our pretend dock.
You will note that our front counter is actually a boat.
It's a 1946 Larson wooden strip boat that had been donated to the
museum as has everything in the museum. We are a non-profit
organization. All of our artifacts that are on display
have been donated from people across the state.
And are happy to preserve that piece of the past. Our goal is to
tell the story of fishing in Minnesota from the early days right
forward to the present. So in our collection you will find boats
and motors and tackle boxes and minnow buckets and
lures and rods and reels. We have winter fishing.
Which some people like to call hard water fishing because we all know.
Minnesota the lakes freeze over and that becomes very hard. We also
have open water fishing. We have fly fishing exhibits.
We have a collection of the Minnesota state record catches.
The fish of each species the largest ones caught.
Those are replicas of course. For some reason when someone catches a record fish
they want to keep it. So we didn't get those just the duplicates. But we
have those so people can kind of compare. You know that walleye that I caught last week
how does it match up to the state record. And they can get a visual expression of that
as well. We have an aquarium a 280 gallon aquarium.
with some native fish. We have sunfish, crappies, perch.
That is always a fun little thing to watch, very relaxing and just so much more.
The fishing museum started here in Little Falls in 1998.
Our founder is Al Baert. Al lives just down the river
from us in Sartell. How much of this did you want to see?
Al is the go getter behind the whole operation.
And I do believe he'll be able to tell you the whole story. This particular
lure on the top here is a Surf Oreno. This guy
that was suppose to evaluate these lures shoved
five of them away. He said this is a 1919 lure
Well look Al it's got two props and glass eyes
He said I'll buy it from you. I said I don't want to sell it.
I want to have it appraised. So after about 15 minutes
he had the audacity to offer me $3 for that
lure. Well this book that I had received from ***
showed it was worth $75- $100 that's 23- 24 years ago.
I got mad and I went home and I told my wife
I'm going to start the Minnesota Fishing Museum.
The biggest problem was to break the ice. I had a lot
of people retired from the state of Minnesota
So I had a lot of friends that knew me
and they actually helped start up
donating things. But the general public they didn't know me.
It took a while
for them to understand that I wasn't doing this to collect this stuff for myself.
It is unbelievable the support we get.
So we have today this beautiful collection
to preserve the heritage of fishing.
Well here is some of the favorite items.
First of all a 1902 submergable motor. This is the
6 volt submergable motor. You steer it by turning this
you control the rpm by this rheostat.
It was built over in Wisconsin.
Now we look at a boat like this.
This is a boat that was built in Alexanderia, MN. Completely
refurbished and donated to us. Dates back to the early
1900's. Then we have these knucklebusters.
Outboard motors. These knucklebusters
is you start by grabbing a hold of this and if you start it clockwise
you go forward. If you start it counterclockwise you go backwards.
You steer by steering only the lower unit.
You don't steer the whole thing.
Now that's not a good idea because if you hit a rock it won't tilt up.
Now you go to this Evinrude. This is
a very nice, old motor.
It's a knucklebuster but it has a
retractable *** and you steer this from any place
in the boat. It's got a rudder on the back end.
One of our famous
lures.. This lure came out of
a box, a fishing tackle box that had it in
a compartment and this piece of paper was wrapped up with it. It's called
a Hoefer Lure Company on West Lake
in Minneapolis. Nobody has ever visited
the museum that has ever seen this lure.
You know it's just amazing the things that we have.
You know we have a cabin that depicts a 1920 or
1930 fishing cabin. For two men and
you can look in there and this is the size and equipment
of a cabin dating back in 1920 - 1930.
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This particular cabin is using a cooker of my grandma's indoor plumbing.
People just can't believe that fisherman used
to enjoy a cabin like that.
Now this is my favorite display of the whole museum.
This is my dad's fishing stuff.
I could never convince dad that when they said 6 fish
was the limit that that's all he would keep.
After I retired from the Airforce, dad and I
we'd fish in many many lakes and alot
of trips all over Minnesota and Canada.
The most enjoyable trip was the first
shore lunch I ever fixed dad on island up in Canada.
Now you talk about what's different?
Here is another lure that nobody's ever seen.
This lure looks like that when it's first baited up.
This lure you squeeze it together and push that pin back. While
you are trolling it's twirling. And as you troll
and a Northern hits it the pin pulls forward
and this spreads out and it opens up and automatically
hooks the fish itself.
We have a donation on fly fishing equipment.
When I went to get a picture from this gentleman
who happens to live in Sartell.
I questioned where he lived because the telephone book said Highview
Trailer Park.
Jim, when I called him... Jim where do you live?
He said how did you get my number? Telephone book. That's where I live.
I couldn't believe it. I go over to Highview and he's living in a very
modest house trailer. He's driving
a beat up old Pontiac. He donated over
$3,800 worth of fly fishing equipment that dates back to 1890.
That was handed down.
I said why did you
do this? He said Al if I would of sold it nobody
would of appreciated it. This is the fly
fishing equipment that I told you that the gentleman in Sartell
donated. You can see it's very very old.
and very beautiful. It has a folding
trout net, that you can just push the button and it folds.
It has a fly book and this has flies tied
to each one of the pages. I'd never seen one in my life
until I saw this. I did see
that type of book in that picture.
Now in here
this is our ice pond.
This was a dream come true. We have an artist by the name of
Les Kouba that lives in Hutchinson, MN.
His famous picture was the Dark House.
So we recreated the dark house
and we have a northern coming in and the lure and so on.
Now I would
never had this if it wasn't for the ice decoy association
Jeff Doty and when you talk about
us appreciating things. I had a guy
by the name of Les Cronin from Maple Lake, MN
He came in
and he walks into the museum and
he has something behind him. Oh Al he says
I'm glad your here. Look what I got
for you.
He had spent 7 years trying to get this
spear donated.
The gentleman that owned it was a banker in Maple Lake.
After he died his widow donated this to him.
It's the first time I've ever seen a cross spear.
This is a sample of our oldest spear that we have.
This here dates back in the 1920's.
Then we go to today and here is our most modern spear
ad this is developed by Jeff Doty.
It's all laser cut. Beautiful. Ingenuity of people.
Here is an ice auger that was built with a bicycle handle
bars, a Plymouth starter and this lower
gear unit. So they don't
have to use the augers. Then we have down here
a lot of fish sticks that are used for ice fishing
This particular one was used by Vince Meyer.
Vince because of polio
had a limp. So his brother developed this
fish stick out of a cane. Put a reel on it
for his brother to go fishing and not fall. We can
see this ingenuity in just about everything that you see from
the ice sled for ice fishing,
to the hand made collapsible fish houses. I have a motor
I'd like to show you. Are you are gambling man?
Not at all. I was willing to make a bet
with you. I'll bet that you've never seen
this type of outboard.
Now this outboard you take it out of the suitcase
out of the trunk of your car and you open
it up and you have a folding outboard motor.
This is a 1966, 3 horse
Evinrude.
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You see this picture here in this case
This is a picture of ice decoys that are
all carved by Minnesota carvers and there on display
here. We have the largest collection of ice decoys
in the country.
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Over here alphabetically by
carver in that case is ice decoys.
Al is the man with the mission. If it wasn't for his impetus
this would not exist. If someone my age were
to have started this a lot of these artifacts that were collected
in the last 13 years would already be gone.
Imagine how much of this stuff gets rusty and thrown in the garbage.
That's what I like about a show like this is that it gets the message out
to people so that we can preserve the value of the
artifacts available to us before their gone. Because once their gone
they are gone forever. As you were taping and I was following Al around here
I heard stories that I've never heard before.
You can look at an old reel and see that it's a cool old reel. But if you know the story
of the person that donated it and why they were significant
that's the most important part. Another thing that happens
quite frequently here at the museum is that people will look at something
and I can't tell you how many times we hear my dad
and used to .... and here comes the story. My grandpa
used to have a lure just like that one. So it can be quite emotional.
I had a women visiting one day and she was alone and I introduced her
to the museum, encouraged her to take a look around
So I went to greet her once again and said how's it going? And she turned
to me with just tears coming down her face and she said you caught me crying.
And I glanced at where she was looking and we have
a little display with a table set up for fly fishing. She said
my grandpa had a set up just like that and when I
saw that I couldn't help it. I just felt so connected to my grandpa.
So there is that personal element that the fishing museum has.
It's not our sole reason for existing but it certainly
is something that makes us a special place to visit.
Museum acquires artifacts by the generosity of people.
They want to preserve the legacy of a parent or a grandparent.
Or maybe it's something they came across that they think
is just so cool that this is where it belongs. For example
we have all kinds of motors here. But we also have a motor that
clamps on the back that's a big air fan. It's the only one of those
that I've ever seen. Well that's unique and that's special.
It's special to the person who donated it to us and
it's special to us because of that. Fishing history with each person
is very very personal. It all triggers memories
Telling people about the 1902 electric submersible
trolling motor. When you think about it that's the same thing
as all these electric trolling motors that people use today.
Think about the time and history of 1902.
It was before the model T. We were washing clothes
with scrub boards in wash tubs. All of sudden
here we have this new trolling motor, that's electric
the battery was huge. And when
someone was back scrubbing clothes somebody else was fishing with an electric trolling motor.
It's just mind boggling. It's all about the
stories, because to look at an old motor you can say oh yeah that's an old motor.
But when you see the history or understand
the history or know the history of this. That's where the stories are
and that's what we are trying to preserve here. When we receive artifacts
we want the story that goes along with them.
Everything in our collection has been donated from people across the state.
It's not unusual when someone walks through the museum
to go well that's my neighbor, that's my uncle, that's my cousin I didn't know
they had this item. If people are interested in something
they might have in their garage or their tackle box or a family
treasure related to fishing and they are thinking about what can I do with it.
We do continue to accept donations for the collection.
One would simply need to call the museum, talk to myself or the assistant director Diane.
We will fill you on all the details of making that donation.
Again we are a non-profit organization so all donations
whether they are cash or in kind are tax deductible.
The Minnesota Fishing Museum is a 501C3 non-profit
organization. As a result of that all the stuff
that is here is a result of the efforts of Al
our founder, the board of directors, and the volunteers
of this organization. Whatever you've done
you've got skills that will help us here at the Minnesota Fishing Museum. We need
more volunteers and we need lots more members.
I believe there is 6 million people in the state of Minnesota and 2 million
people buy fishing licenses.
Well we don't quite approach 2 million in terms of our membership so we really encourage people
to come and join us. And help us preserve this. This is a significant
part of Minnesota's history. I guess that's why I'm
involved is because it's too important
to watch it be sold at garage sales and go far far away.
In Minnesota we pride ourselves on our fishing heritage
and of course we want that strong tradition to carry on into
the future. One of the exciting developments here at the fishing museum
is this spring 2013.
Our board of directors agreed to merge with the Fishing
Hall of Fame of Minnesota. This is organization located in
Baxter at the Gander Mountain store presently.
These two organizations share a common bond
and that is to recognize leaders in the fishing
sport in Minnesota, recognize leaders in the industry
and most importantly to encourage that this sport
continues by educating youth and other folk about the whole industry.
of fishing and the fun and the sport there of. So with these
two organizations merging there is of course a need for
more space. So what will be happening in the near future
is we are looking for an expansion. In the meantime we will definitely
be here as we are for a couple of years at least. So folks
don't need to worry about will I lose them or will I come to see them only
to find a door shut and not know where to go next. All of that will be taken care.
The Minnesota Fishing Museum is merging with the Minnesota Fishing Hall of Fame.
We are going to become The Minnesota Fishing Museum
Fishing Hall of Fame and Education Center.
With that new responsibility is going to have to come a new space.
As you look around we are full up. For example we have
73 motors on the floor. If you zoom in down the hallway here
you will see another 40 that could be out in display
but we can't do it because we don't have the space. When we add
the Minnesota Fishing Hall of Fame we have no space to put them. Our vision
is to be out on Highway 10 before the split that goes up to Brainerd
and the other split that goes up the Battle Lake/Perham area.
That other large fishing area in the state of Minnesota. We want to be
before that so that every fisherman that is headed north
gets the opportunity to stop in at the museum and we want to be in a convenient location.
for them. So whether that be leased space
whether we buy existing buildings or whether we develop a new place.
We are just now starting in the process of developing a mission
and then determining the location
for the new Minnesota Fishing Museum Hall of Fame and Education Center.
I want to see this museum
out on the highway where we have more exposure and a bigger
building where we can where we can have more dioramas.
We have that diorama for ice fishing. We would like to have a
proper display of a diorama to show native american artifacts
Somebody that donates a large amount of things
that the are very rare.
We're full right now and we don't want to put anything more in here
until we get a bigger building because we don't want it to be junky.
Ah dad would be very very proud.
Very happy. I think he'd bust. He would be so proud to be
in a museum. That ice sled I showed you in the back in the diorama
The gentleman that build that he was 89
He stood there and cried. I said what's the matter?
He said I never thought I'd ever be in a museum.
It's not only what my dad would have felt
but all of my brothers, and sisters and grandchildren and great grandchildren
and so on appreciate seeing dad's stuff.
And this goes on for every family that's in here.
Thank you so much
watching join me again for another episode of Common Ground.
If you have an idea for a Common Ground piece that pertains to
north central Minnesota. Email us at legacy@lptv.org
or call us 218-333-3022.
To view any episode of Common Ground on line
visit us at lptv.org
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To order individual segments or entire episodes
of Common Ground please call 218-333-3020.
Common Ground is brought to you by the
Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund with money
from the vote of the people on the 4th of November 2008.