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Walking Lake Pepin

The Walk Talk

WLP 2025 Season Finale at Bremer Orchard

8/24/2025

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Walking Lake Pepin (walkinglakepepin.org) concluded it’s 2025 season of walking challenges and group walks on Wednesday August 20.
The finale event was held at the orchard farm of Chuck and Judy Bremer atop a bluff in rural Lake City. 
The evening started with Chuck sharing the 5-generation history of the farm and orchard.  The original 200 acre farm was a typical dairy operation. Apples were first planted on the farm in 1983.  In the 1990’s Chuck decided to transition to growing apples instead of milking cows.
The farm now has 40 acres of apple trees that produce 12,000 bushels of apples per year.  Most of the harvested apples are sold to regional apple distributors who bring them to the retail market.
Many of the popular varieties, such as Honey Crisp and First Kiss, which were developed by the University of Minnesota, are grown in the orchard. Chuck explained that it can take as long as 30 years to develop a new apple variety. 
After sharing the orchard history, Chuck led the walkers along a mowed bluff side trail that ended at a site outlooking Camp Lakeview National Guard training camp and a southern down-river view of Lake Pepin. It was a beautiful vista that reminded the walkers how special Lake Pepin and the surrounding bluffs are. 
Following the bluff side walk the group met on the farm house patio for fellowship and prize drawings. 
Forty-three people signed up for the WLP Challenge in June. Participants were encouraged to keep track of the minutes or miles they walked during the 10 weeks of the event.  
For those who turned in their walking log sheets a drawing was held for a $20 Lake City Chamber Bucks prize.  Julie Diepenbrock logged in 3,755 minutes of walking and was the winner of the drawing for LC Chamber Bucks.  
Drawings continues for door prizes for those that attended the weekly group walks and everyone went home with a prize. 
The Walking Lake Pepin organizers would like to thank Treats and Treasures and Anytime Fitness for providing sign up locations. Also, Jim and Ann Schreck for continued monetary support, Tom Dwelle and Jim Schreck for sharing local history during the walks and Denny Robertson for guiding the walkers on the Tree Trail in Patton Park. Special thanks to Tim and Jenny Schlagenhaft and Chuck and Judy Bremer for sharing their bluff top trails for this season’s group walks. 
Walking Lake Pepin will be back in 2026.  All community members are encouraged to participate.  Until next year, “Walk More-Stress Less”.

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Another walk through the historic Jewell Nursery

8/17/2025

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​The WLP walkers met up at Underwood Park to take a walk in the historic Jewel Nursery site. This is a walk WLP has taken almost every year in different locations of the nursery property.
Jim Schreck, who worked at the Jewel Nursery during the late 1950s and early 1960s has spoken to the WLP group about his experience working there as a laborer several times. This year after doing some extra research he shared the history of the business side of the nursery.
The Jewel Nursery was started by Phineas Jewell with just 10 acres of land that grew to 1500 acres by 1923.
After Jewell's death in 1878, J.M. Underwood led the nursery to be the largest landscape nursery in the nation and he a leading horticulturist in Minnesota.
Some of the most amazing facts about this enterprise was the volume of trees, shrubs, fruits and vegetables that grew there; 1,870,000 deciduous windbreak stock, 91,000 flowering scrubs, 42,000 ornamental evergreens and 310,00 apple trees were recorded in 1923.
The nursery employed 200 workers and had a bunkhouse and dining hall for 125 seasonal workers. The payroll in 1897 was $25,000 which is nearly a million dollars today.
The nursery was sold to Wm Lindmeier in 1944 and manager by his sister Agness until 1996 when it was sold to developers of the Mississippi Jewel.
Thanks to Jim Schreck for sharing the incredible success of the Jewel Nursery

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Patton Park Tree Trail led by creator Denny Robertson

8/9/2025

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Wednesday August 6, Denny Robertson led the WLP group walk on the Lake City Tree Trail which he developed.
The group met up at Ohuta Park and was introduced to the Cottonwood tree the grows rapidly along rivers and streams and can survive for a hundred or more years.
The Cottonwood is a heritage tree that was important to early river boats for fuel and for early settlers for shade and streambank stability. Cottonwoods along the river are also prime nesting trees for Eagles.
The group then walked to the LC Public Library to observe another heritage tree on the boulevard, the Ginkgo. This tree was planted at the time of the library renovation and represents one of the oldest species on the planet dating back 170 million years. Native to East Asia it is a hardy tree having survived the atomic bombs in Japan in WWll.
Heading to Patton Park the group learned that the park was created and planted with the support the LC Women's Club and the Jewel Nursery.
Native trees such as white pine, burr oak, sugar maple, ash and spruce were pointed out. Nonnatives, European Larch and Douglas Fir, were also identified.
It was a pleasant evening to stroll through Patton Park and learn about the trees that make Patton Park a spectacular place to visit.
Tree Trail brochures are available at the LC Chamber Office and the LC Public Library.
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WLP Explores Lakewood Cemetery

8/9/2025

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After a cancelled Walking Lake Pepin (WLP) group walk on July 23 due to a threatening storm, the WLP group had an interesting walk-through Lakewood Cemetery on Lakewood Avenue across from Bluffview Elementary on Wednesday July 30th.
Sixteen walkers gathered to walk through Lakewood Cemetery where many of the early citizens of Lake City are buried. Familiar names such as Patton, Doughty, Hoyt and Schmauss were noted on the gravestones and monuments in the cemetery. 
The Abner Dwelle (1805-1888) family was one of the earliest to settle in Lake City and is represented in the Lakewood Cemetery by a monument with several grave sites.  
Tom Dwelle, a decedent of Abner’s, joined the walkers at the Dwelle grave site and shared the story of how his family came to settle in Lake City. Tom read portions of an 1854 letter from Abner urging his family to join him and file a claim for property being platted in Lake City.  Abner’s sons Thomas and Merrill eventually settled in Lake City.  A YouTube video tells the story of the Dwelle family in Lake City, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LM5A7LbScmQ 
Tom’s great grandfather Glenn Merrill Dwelle established the Dwelle Telephone Company in 1905. Tom’s father Glenn Dwelle Sr. joined the telephone company in 1946 and managed the company until 1973. 
A street in Lake City honors the Dwelle family and several members of the Dwelle family reside in Lake City to this day. 
Wednesday, August 13, the WLP group walk will explore the area and review the history of the Jewel Nursery.  Jim Schreck will lead the walk and has new information to share about the history of the nursery.
All are invited to join the walk at 6:30. The group will meet up at Underwood Park on 10th Street. 
Information about Walking Lake Pepin can be found at walkinglakepepin.com or at the WLP Facebook page. Watch the LC Graphic for updates.  Questions? Contact [email protected].

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    Author

    I'm Patty Svien and I started Walking Lake Pepin as a part of my Graduate studies in 2008.  This is the 13th year that our grassroots committee has promoted this event to raise awareness of the health benefits of walking.  We hope you join us again this year or sign up for the first time and enjoy the beautiful surrounding of Lake City as you commit to Active Living and a healthy lifestyle.

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