.jpg)
Desoto Hood from around Tallahassee, Florida; Mason Kostka and Kelbee Woodham; Chris Arambula from Colorado: Mason from Eau Claire, Wisconsin: “I’m in northern Minnesota playing baseball at Vermillion Community College and going to school here. I’m just doing my general eds. I like it. It’s my second year here and I’ve enjoyed my time here. I’ve been hanging out with the guys. I like to fish. I like to hunt, a little bit of everything. Right now it’s in the middle of baseball season so I’m busy with that. After the school year I’ll be going back to Eau Claire, Wisconsin to find a job. We’re about 25 games in on the year already. We got like, 14 games left on the year.” Kelbee: “I’m from Panama City Beach, Florida, a long ways from home. I like it here. It’s different. But I really do enjoy the falls up here and even the winters. It’s nice to see the snow. The snow is beautiful. But up here mainly I just play ball, go to school, hang out with my friends, my roommates. Go see the lakes. The lakes are beautiful. Yes, ma’am. I’m not really a big hunter, fisher. I would say just going more going out exploring Minnesota. Going out seeing different cities. See how things are different. Like the foods are different than back home. It’s nice to try out all the different foods.” (Have you discovered a favorite?) “Poutin, we don’t have that back home. The Boat House poutine. After this I gotta go set up the cage for the Little League try outs and next I gotta go speak to my advisor about classes. We just have baseball practice today. We play Saturday and Sunday. Saturday here in Ely. We’re doing pretty good this year. We got off to a rocky start but we’re hoping to pick things up.” (Along came Desoto and Chris to join in). Desoto: “My cousin Kelbee, the guy you just interviewed is my cousin. He committed up here and then coach Tom Coombe reached out to him and he reached out to me. I came up here on a little visit and I really liked the school and I really like the area. So I’m committed up here. I had a good year last year and I decided to come back. Having a good year this year so far. I’m just getting my AA. I’m just doing generals and playing baseball. I like this school. It’s a small environment. You get to know the teachers pretty well, talk to them on a name basis. I like it. I love that it’s so much more outdoorsy than where I’m from. It’s way more beautiful and the scenery is way better than where I’m from. I love that about Ely. And the lakes. The lakes are beautiful. I went ice fishing with a couple of my team mates last year but we weren’t able to go this year. We were busy and the weather really wasn’t the best to get out on the ice.” Chris: “I was at a four year last semester just doing studying there. And then one of my buddies that goes here from back home told Coach Coombe about me and asked if I could come and play this semester. I really missed baseball so I came up here and gave it a try and ended up liking it. Yes mam. I’m a freshman. So last semester was my first semester in college. Coach Coombe called me toward the end of my last semester to ask me if I was still willing to play baseball. Yeah, I have a love for the sport so I came back to Minnesota to play some more. I like Ely. It reminds me a lot of my town. I came from a small town. I graduated with about 45 kids as well. So I just like knowing coaches on a personal level. We know players on a personal level. We get a really tight bond more than at a university. So I’m glad I came here first before going some where else. The rest of my day? I’ve got to log down on some homework and then probably go to the weight room and do some workouts and just go about my day. Maybe go watch a baseball game or just go hangout with the baseball boys.”
Sam Rogers: “I came from North Carolina and I came up here in 2016 to visit the BWCA. I fell in love with the place so I came back and started living up here. I started working at the Boy Scout Base in 2019 and then I worked every summer until 2022 and I moved into town and I became a plumber’s apprentice. Big jump. Big career change. I’m still a plumber’s apprentice. I’m actually getting my car ready to go out for like five days, four nights into the BWCA before you have to start paying for permits, since they are free right now. I’ll just paddle around. It’s going to be my first solo trip so I figured I’d just go to a place that I know pretty well. Like I said I was a guide for four summers and that’s got me over a thousand miles in the BWCA and over probably five or six months if you want to count all the days straight of just being in the wilderness. So I feel pretty at home out there.”
Jill Ellerbroek: “We’re just having track practice. We’ve got the girls outside running their warm up laps. I am the head girls track coach this year.” (Is your daughter Elsa running?) “Yep. She’s out there running. We’re doing well. Not a whole lot else going on. Lots of track. The girls are doing pretty well. We had one meet so far and we have two next week. We have track until about five.”
Keller Strom: “You probably know my parents. They work at the Brain Storm Bakery.” (Yes!. Say hi to them. Brian and Andrea. And look at you. I haven’t seen you since you were about this high... four or five years ago. How’s school and what’s been happening?). “It’s been going good so far. Now that I got this new scooter, of course I love riding it. I love going over to my friend’s house. Usually we fly kites. But he said he had no use for his kite and it was a lot of money. And you know what? He just let me have it! So now I have a brand new kite! It’s amazing! It’s like a rainbow and it almost looks like a bird.” (Did you get to fly it yet?) “Yeah! On that windy day! And also I was making like a makeshift fort out in the woods and I forgot to carve things that you could like, stake it in with, and the wind made it look like a bonfire pile because it was strewn by the winds all over.” (Will you rebuild it?) “I tried but it wasn’t much use. But I’ll try again on a warmer day probably. I was just following the track team as they are on their route.” (Do you need to catch up to them?) “No, no. You can keep talking.” (Ok. What other stuff have you been up to?) “Oh, I started selling pictures again.” (What kind?) “Just art work in general. I make them myself and I’m trying to get a bit of money. I am saving up for a Nintendo Switch. It’s a gaming device that you can play with and stuff like that. I’ve been wanting one my entire life so I just decided well, why not save up. It’s $200 and I already have $68 in.” (What kind of art work do you do?) “Abstract. Animals. All of everything pretty much. Anything actually.” (Painting?) “No. With markers and colored pencils. People can also make requests if they want something special. Like if they want a customized birthday card. I haven’t had any requests yet but I’m just giving out as an example. And like if they want a this and a that, I have my thing at Brain Storm Bakery. I probably better get on my way soon. I’m going to see if I can play with my friend.”
