We've been busy working on the next edition of Lakes Country Living, in which we have two very different features.   Filmed many miles apart, one story takes place on a farmstead near Dalton and the other was filmed in a home near Avon.   The men interviewed in each story, at glance, seem very different from each other, too - one has had a lifelong passion for hunting and has collected trophies from 37 countries, the other fellow more inclined to explore his immediate surroundings.

However, I am always amazed at connections - common threads that link seemingly unconnected stories and people.   Geographically speaking, both locations were between Interstate 94 and the same old railroad line, now converted to one of Minnesota's many bike trails: in Dalton, near the Central Lakes Trail, and in Avon just off the Lake Wobegon Trail.   These are basically the same trail; the name change occurs at the county line near Osakis, Minnesota.  This is mere coincidence, but I wanted to point it out.

Steve Slack speaks to an enthusiastic audience of 4th graders at Preserve the Tradition Museum, near Dalton.

Steve Slack speaks to an enthusiastic audience of 4th graders at Preserve the Tradition Museum, near Dalton.

Both of these men started their current occupations - related to their love of nature and the outdoors (another connecting thread!) - following major heart attacks.  Steve Slack created Preserve the Tradition Museum of Natural History, hoping to educate and instill a deeper appreciation of nature and wildlife conservation, and perhaps as a way of leaving a legacy for the next generation.  Already a passionate supporter of the Lake Wobegon Trail, Cliff Borgerding was told to get out and walk by his doctor - which led to his enthusiasm for creating unique walking sticks and other carved objects.  Cliff also appeared in our episode that focused on the Lake Wobegon Trail, earlier in Season 4.  Below is a short excerpt from that show.

I hope you'll tune in and give us your reactions to both of these interesting stories, in another chapter from Lakes Country Living.  And, as Cliff likes to say... "Happy Trails!"


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