Great Place Project funding has been awarded to 11 groups and individuals who submitted proposals for 2018, reports Jim Boyd of the Cook County Chamber and Maren Webb of Sawtooth Mountain Clinic’s Moving Matters Project. The Great Place Project is a collaborative effort of the two organizations. 

“We had $9,150 to award after paying for the Langford canoe we raffled last fall and for the canoe we hope to raffle this fall,” Boyd said. “With that, we were able to cover 11 applications.”

“Next year, we will only have one canoe payment to make, not two, so we expect the amount we have to award will go up. Plus, we actively are seeking grant funding to match what we raise locally. This isn’t a large program, but it adds more to our quality of life per dollar spent than most efforts. We hope to keep it going indefinitely. Stay tuned for more information on the canoe we hope to raffle this fall. If it turns out as we hope, it will be a really exciting raffle.” 

For this year, those projects to receive funding included:

. Betsy Bowen Gallery and Studio, $800, to turn a buckthorn tree “into interesting art appropriate to a gallery and studio building.” 

. Trinity Lutheran, Hovland, $1,000, to convert a garden area into a public gathering point with benches, tables and plants that will attract members of Trinity and passersby to stop, relax, reflect and enjoy a Great Place. 

. Cook County Extension and partner organizations, $1,000, creation of a large community garden space with raised beds between the Community Center and the Little League ballfield. It will be a Great Place with a practical purpose. 

. Schroeder Township, $250, dog waste station next to a ballfield that will be closed off for a community play area/ dog park. It is being increasingly used for those purposes now, but absence of a waste station is a hindrance. A Great Place requires proper pet hygiene. 

. Sara Hingos, Crooked Spoon, $800, mural by a local artist on the west side of the Crooked Spoon building, next to the walkway leading to the Crooked Lookout. The mural would evoke the waves of Lake Superior a stone’s throw away. A Great Place celebrating a Great Lake. 

. Cross River Heritage Center, Schroeder, $1,000, for a new bike rack with metal work that will evoke the Cross River Bridge and waterfall. Adding additional greatness to an existing Great Place. 

. Gunflint Trail Historical Society, $300, planters to landscape new buildings at Chik-Wauk Museum. Great Places need not be expensive. The beauty can be DIY. 

. Mila Horak, $1,000, for year 3 of Mila’s epic public-paint-by numbers mural on the north side of Birchbark Books & Gifts. The mural evokes the allure and beauty of the North Shore and the North Woods. Truly a great place being constructed with the help of many hands. 

. Abby Tofte, $1,000, two cedar benches for in front of shops at 12 First Avenue West, the Gunflint Mercantile and Tofte’s new shop, The Big Lake. Tofte and her partners aim to create a Great Retail Place, an “Up-and-Coming Shopping District” along First Avenue West. 

. Grand Marais Art Colony, $1,000, for installation of an interactive metal sculpture by Greg Mueller of Lutsen titled “Inspiration Exchange.” 

. North Shore Winery, $1,000, for cedar benches to be installed along a popular trail the owners have developed on the winery acreage.