This afternoon’s phone call asking for “the owners” was a far cry from the usual telemarketing dialogue we usually end up in with such calls. This time it was the grandson of Emil Iverson, the Gopher & Blackhawk Hockey Coach we wrote about this past fall. He had just happened upon our Blog post reporting on our discovery of a discarded board of siding from the Everett Bay Lodge baithouse, and found himself surprised to be reading the missing details of a history lesson about his Grandfather’s operation of Iverson’s Outdoors (later Everett Bay Lodge) that for 30 years prior he had been unable to piece together. Of course our first question was to see if we had our end of the story correct, and Jim Iverson was quick to confirm things were accurate.
Jim told us of family trips made each year over the past 30 years to this Northeast Minnesota area from Cary, IL. He even offered to share some of the contents of boxes he inherited containing photos of his Grandfather’s operation. A mere few minutes into the conversation and we were both sharing the stories of our appreciation for our own kids’ hockey pursuits. Jim has boys who have played (Emil’s great grandsons). Needless to say, Eric and Val’s trips to play in the Minnesota State High School Hockey Tournament likely confirmed to Jim and the rest of the Iversons that the significance of the found piece of wood wasn’t lost on the Goodens.