​It was a glorious evening as the Walking Lake Pepin group gathered in Old Frontenac to walk and learn about the history of this special community.
Jim Schreck narrated the walk telling the group how Old Frontenac was settled starting with the Native Americans to the French and Spanish fur traders to James Wells and finally to Evert Vestervelt and the Garrard family, who in the 1850's really put time and resources into developing what is now Old Frontenac. The WLP group is pictured at The Winona Cottage, built in 1889, which was built on Garrard Avenue between Faribault and Sumner Streets by Israel Garrard as a wedding present to his son George and wife Virginia. A mortar less stone wall is constructed by teams of Native Americans led by tribal elder Little John.
The group also walked down to the site of the Lakeside Hotel (1867) the first resort hotel in the Upper Midwest which established Frontenac as a key resort area serving Mississippi River travelers. The hotel site and building eventually was turned into a Methodist Bible Camp and is now a site of restored single family dwellings.
Thanks to Jim for doing such a fabulous job with recalling the rich history of this idyllic place. (Rumor has it Jim is starting an Old Frontenac weekend tour business with a Food Truck on the weekends) JUST KIDDING!
The WLP group was encouraged to take part in the 160th Anniversary celebration of Old Frontenac scheduled for Sept 21 and 22, 2019. Check out this website to find out more information about the schedule of events, http://www.frontenac160.com/index.html 

​Our host last night, Dag Knutson, gave an enlightening slide show and narrative about healthy soils and the consequences that we, our children and grandchildren will be facing unless we change the way we care for our soils. He also handed out the newsletter that he puts out twice a year. Please not in the title space that he dedicated this newsletter to the Walking Lake Pepin group. Copies of the newsletter will be available at our walk next week if anyone wants to have one. We had 25 walkers last night. A slip for the door prize drawing will be entered in the box for each of you.