A Special Visit from Tim Walz, the 41st Governor of Minnesota

“Wow...this cabin!” the governor exclaimed as he walked out onto the porch to greet me. Our smiles met.

“I’m Kellie,” I said, offering my hand in greeting. He shook it warmly. “This place is incredible!” He swept his hand wide as though he’d seen the whole Camp.

The well-worn words I’d said dozens of times came readily to my lips. “Oh, my grandparents deserve all the credit. This was their life’s work. The artistry in that cabin? That was the happy bi-product of the loong, cold winters.” I drew out my O’s in the mock exaggeration of someone who knows and has lived it.

Tim laughed.

He introduced his staffers and they each shared a kind word about the details they’d noticed. The hand-wrought iron cabinet latches all shaped as different wildlife. The diamond willow staircase. The intricate carvings and handmade lamps.

“And the braided rugs are my grandmother’s handiwork,” I offered. We talked about the log work and the process of building them one by one in the early 60’s as they could afford it.

“It’s an honor to keep it going,” I told him.

“And a lot of work,” I laughed. “Everyone warned me, but I sure do love it.”

Knowing intrinsically that most resorts are in their August lull, Tim asked how the summer was going. For a few moments, I talked business with the governor of Minnesota.

The Nothernmost Point buoy has been a big draw, I told him, but stays are getting shorter. More requests for campsites and tenting are coming in than ever before.

“People are needing to save money,” he nodded.

I asked if he was going to be able to get out fishing – that is still the main attraction up here – and he said they did indeed have a guide lined up.

But first... they were going golfing. He was excited to try the pressed-gravel greens. “There’s less than a hundred of those in the whole country!”

“Yep, it’s the perfect course for this place,” I agreed. Rustic and a little rough, with a lot of natural beauty built right in. You might have to work harder, but it’s worth it. Just like living and running a business at The Angle.

In parting, he took my hand again and said, “you let us know if there’s anything we can do for you.”

I didn’t hesitate. “Well, if you wouldn’t mind a picture...” I had my phone ready and one of his team stepped up to help.

“Here,” Governor Walz offered. “Let’s stand in front of The Founder’s Cabin sign.”

When my grandmother finally retired from running the resort at age 90, she insisted my kids and I should move into their home. The Founder’s Cabin – named in their honor - is a showpiece, a work of art, a one-of-a-kind home that deserves to be preserved and celebrated and enjoyed by more than my kids and me. It’s special – special enough for a governor apparently. And as we tidied it up in anticipation of his team’s visit, the whole resort buzzed like a happy beehive.

Later in the evening, Governor Walz walked down the short trail through the cedars to the waterfront, the docks and the Trading Post -our little store and lodge my grandparents always called The Post.

They took in the view from the new sundeck – rebuilt from cedar trees that died in the flooding of recent years. The old deck had taken a beating in the high waters and then sat unused during the Covid years. This area has seen tough times being north of the Canadian border - good neighbors that they are - and it benefits every business and family up here to use our tax dollars bringing the state’s highest ranking government official to our shores.

Two of my kiddos along with some youngsters staying in Cabin 4 who have come to the resort every year of their lives wandered down to greet him. Tim walked right up and offered a fist bump to my adopted 3-year old, Malcolm, and then asked the bigger kids about fishing and other fun stuff to do.

The sun was dropping over the inlet at that point; the muskeg and wild rice teemed with the evening foraging of waterfowl and ground birds.

Governor Walz is the kind of person you want to keep talking to. The conversation flowed easily, and as a group we laughed and shared stories. He presented each of the kids with a heavy coin stamped with a loon – the Minnesota state bird. Malcolm carried it for the rest of the evening showing everyone around the campfire, as proud as he could be while not even knowing he’d just met history.

The next morning, they left very early.

I gave them space and then wandered down to raise the flags, brew coffee at The Post and later go start the cabin cleaning. I’d wondered if, for security reasons, he might sleep upstairs in the room overlooking the woods. And yep, there, unlike the other rooms, the bed was already stripped, the blanket and the quilt neatly folded military style at the end of the bed.

Ever an officer, still a gentleman and one of the best of us Minnesotans, Governor Walz, you’d be welcome back to our little family-run resort and this community anytime. Thank you for the visit.