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Monday, October 19, 2009
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For Julie Mohs, all trails led back home to Cuyuna Country EVERYDAY PEOPLE Associate Editor DEERWOOD - Julie M. Mohs, the Cuyuna Range Chamber of Commerce president, has lived in St. Cloud and also in the Twin Cities for a few years, but one factor just might have been instrumental in her return to Deerwood.
"I wanted my daughter to be a C-I Ranger," she said.
That feeling of hometown pride is fitting for the person spearheading the chamber's wide-ranging promotions, projects and activities.
One particular project that has Mohs and other area boosters excited is the International Mountain Biking Association's identification of the Cuyuna Country State Recreation Area as a prime location for a ride center that would attract mountain bikers to the area for recreation and even possibly for second home locations.
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Julie M. Mohs has served the first year of a three-year term as president of the Cuyuna Range Chamber of Commerce.
Brainerd Dispatch/ Steve Kohls
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"We're just a huge advocate of trails," Mohs said.
In addition to the 5.1 miles of paved trails that currently exist, there is a one-mile stretch of a test trail for mountain biking. Mohs said that trail supporters tell her the bikers could be interested in eventually cooperating in the construction of more than 20 miles of biking trails.
In an informational brochure the IMBA lauded the Cuyuna Country's "clear lakes, poplar forests, boulder-strewn hilltops and the opportunity for amazing mountain biking." The association maintained that the development of sustainable recreation "will nourish nearby towns with tourism dollars."
Cuyuna recreation area supporters made a presentation on Oct. 8 before visiting members of the Minnesota House Capital Investment Committee at Central Lakes College in Brainerd. They presented a request for $1.25 million in improvements including parking, trailheads, bathrooms, signs and extension of the Cuyuna Trail east from Crow Wing County Road 31 in Crosby to Deerwood.
Julie M. Mohs
Age: 36.
Family: Husband, Travis; daughter, Autumn, 8.
Home: Deerwood Township.
Job: Real estate lender, Deerwood Bank, Deerwood.
Volunteer work: Cuyuna Lakes Chamber president.
Interests: I like doing things outdoors. I love going camping with my family in the summer and golf with friends.
Family: Big Bang Theory.
Cuyuna Range area's best kept secret: The beautiful, undeveloped lakes.
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Mohs, a real estate lender with the Deerwood Bank in Deerwood, said the recreational area has great potential and is already a popular site for fishing, swimming kayaking, hiking and scuba diving. She said studies have supported the economic benefits that can be derived from popular recreation areas and she said that mountain biking enthusiasts tend to earn relatively high incomes.
The connection between community growth the success of individual businesses is one reason Mohs has been active in the chamber.
"We do try to promote the area," she said. "Networking events get leads. Businesses that tend to believe the chamber's mission ... you have more chances of getting your business known."
Her initial entry into chamber activities came because she had organized golf tournaments for the Crosby-Ironton Sports Boosters and was asked to do the same for the chamber. She now has experience helping to organize or promote such diverse events as an ice fishing tournament on Serpent Lake, the chamber's Music in the Park event on the second and fourth Tuesdays in the summer. In the winter months the chambers hosts Christmas in the Park, which can draw about 1,000 people on a weekday night and features horse rides and fireworks. This year's Winter in the Park is set for Dec. 9.
The Cuyuna Range Chamber includes the communities of Crosby, Ironton, Deerwood, Riverton, Trommald and the Bay Lake area.
"We try to do as much as we can to promote all the communities," she said.
The chamber president said Music in the Park attracts families and music lovers of all ages.
"My grandma is 95 and she enjoys going every time," she said. "It's perfect."
Promoting the Cuyuna area isn't difficult for the 1992 Crosby-Ironton High School graduate. Mohs, 36, and her husband, Travis, and 8-year-old daughter, Autumn, live just outside of the Deerwood city limits, in Deerwood Township. Her husband works at a family business, the Deerwood Rice and Grain Processing.
Mohs' banking career began in high school when she worked at the same Deerwood Bank office where she works now. She remembered performing a variety of tasks in high school, trying to be helpful in any area where she could help.
She earned an associate of applied science degree in credit and finance from St. Cloud Technical College. Mohs was hired as a loan processor for consumer and real estate loans at Deerwood Bank. For about two years she worked at a bank in Plymouth. She returned to Deerwood in 1999.
"I grew up here," she explained. "My whole family is here."
Lately, there has been demand for refinancing because of low interest rates. She also said that FHA loans have been sought because of a new product that's being offered. The low prices in the housing market have been a problem for sellers but have offered opportunity for some buyers, she said.
"I've been astounded by the purchase prices for homes," Mohs said. "People are getting into homes for not a lot of money."
She said she enjoys seeing people walk in the bank's door that she knows from her growing up in the community.
"I enjoy working here," she said. "You get to know your customers."
MIKE O'ROURKE may be reached at mike.orourke@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5860.
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