On July 22, Col. John Christensen from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul Office, accompanied by Ray Nelson, manager of the USACE Crosslake Campground, and Paul Bunyan Scenic Byway board members Linda Ulland and Lynn Scharenbroich toured the Veterans Walking Trail located along Crow Wing County Road 16.
The USACE and the Paul Bunyan Scenic Byway are official partners under an agreement that has been in force since November 2004. That agreement will be renewed this year at the Paul Bunyan Scenic Byway Association's Nov. 9 annual meeting at Breezy Point Resort.
Christensen was invited not only visit the Byway, but to hear about how the partnership between the Corps and the Byway Association has benefited both organizations and to learn about the many other working and funding partnerships that have developed between these and other groups and businesses over the 11 years that the Paul Bunyan Scenic Byway has been an official byway route.
For Col. John Christensen from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul Office, a local tour included a stop at A-Pine Restaurant, where the connection to the Paul Bunyan story is evident.
The tour of the Veterans Walking Trail was an opportunity to see the results of many Byway partnerships at work. The group then had a dinner stop at A-Pine Restaurant, where the connection to the Paul Bunyan story is one of the clearest and strongest along the route.
Owner Rick Beyer told the curious story of his first Paul Bunyan purchase, a huge wooden cut-out of Paul holding a sign promoting the Paul Bunyan Cookie Company. The cut-out hangs in the restaurant today. Last year, the Beyers added the big "waving, welcoming Paul" statue in the park next to the restaurant, and this year a new character, Bad Jack and his Bad Jack burger, was added to the A-Pine's menu.
Christensen continued exploring the Paul Bunyan Scenic Byway on Thursday, focusing on the Crosslake sites along the route. The Corps of Engineers Crosslake Campground is a Byway site and he completed his area tour there.
To learn more about the Paul Bunyan Scenic Byway and how to "Explore the Lore" yourself, visit www.paulbunyanscenicbyway.org. For more information on the Corps of Engineers campgrounds, visit http:// camping.about.com/cs/campgrounds/a/public04.htm.
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