Tourism picks up after slow spring

I first started at the Bemidji (Minn.) Pioneer as an intern in the summer of 1996. That would begin six years as a news reporter, sports reporter and copy editor for a small, six-day-per-week daily newspaper in northern Minnesota. I wrote a large range of stories from multiple beats, to features to sports, my favorite being the coverage of the Red Lake Reservation High School basketball team named the Warriors. Here is a collection of my stories from my time at the Pioneer.

June 18, 1996

By Devlyn Brooks

Staff Writer

It does not matter who is asked, the answer is still the same: This spring, the Bemidji area's resorts and retailers are suffering from a late winter and a slow starting summer.

Reports from area resorts and downtown businesses all sound the same: The tourism industry did not fare well during the end of spring entering into June, and only has recently showed signs the summer's business may be better.

Some businesses have done better than others, but all said they are looking forward to a good summer to recover from the lousy spring.

The Bemidji Area Chamber of Commerce's tourism committee Chairwoman Lynn Short, who also owns A Place in the Woods Resort on Turtle River Lake, said almost all of the resorts have reported slow starts.

She also said she has not heard anything good or bad from the downtown retailers, but she said those businesses were probably not seeing any "big tourist boosts" like they usually do this time of year.

Short said the late winter and slow rising temperatures have contributed to the tourism slump.

"When the weather in Minneapolis is good, we receive lots of calls," she said. "When it's bad, we don't."

However, things are picking up, Short said, and when the resorters start seeing better numbers, the retailers will also.

One event everybody is looking forward to is the all-school reunion that will be held in August, she said. With an expected 3,000 visitors in town for the celebration, the businesses hope it will help make up for the slow start in June.

"We're a lot like farmers," Short said. "We depend a lot on the weather to make our bread and butter."

This is how some area resorts and downtown businesses summed up their business thus far:

* Jean Ryan, owner of Chocolate's Plus in Union Square, said late spring was very slow, but within the last week business has increased. She said business has not been better this year than last year so far, but it has been comparable.

* Sandy Wrolstad, owner of Snow Goose Gifts, also in Union Square, said the spring was slow and business has been running about two weeks behind for this time of year. She said she did see a dramatic increase in traffic during the second week of June, however.

* Jerry Brucki, owner of Break-on-the-Lake resort on Cass Lake, said it was a slower spring than he expected. He said he has usually been able to pass business on to other area resorts in the past, but that has been tough to do this year.

* Shirley Marty, owner of Joe's Lodge on Lake Andrusia, said the first week in June was slow, but that was normal. As for the rest of the summer, she said the lodge should be full from mid-June to mid-August, which also is normal.

* George Wosika, owner of Sunset Beach Resort on Portage Lake between Cass Lake and Bena, said although there was a slow melt, this looks to be the best year he has had in 26 years. He said he has had almost 100 percent occupancy, and 95 percent of his guests have re-booked for next year.

* Pat Miller, owner of Wolf Lake Resort on Big Wolf Lake, said she has had a poor spring for business. She said she feels part of the reason was because of the negative publicity of the late winter in the Bemidji area by newspapers and on television. She said she hopes the fall and next year's spring seasons will pick up.

* Roxi Mann, manager at Morell's Chippewa Trading Post at the corner of Third Street and Bemidji Avenue, said business has been up a little from last year, but last year's numbers were below average. She said she hopes the Bemidji centennial celebration will bring in some business.

* Terry Bretzman, manager of Clementine's at 205 Second St. N.W., said the eatery had a slow start, but business picked up "significantly" this last weekend. "I pray for rain," he said. "When people can't be on the lake or outside grilling, they come in here."