Testimonial
January 2009
Karen:
I hope you and the Museum have a great 2010. Thank you for the book you sent with our order before the holidays. It is a very well written book and I look forward to reading various sections over again and using it as a reference guide. My parents liked the window panel you made and my sisters/brother enjoyed the plates. With luck, our family will make a trek to Grand Marais this summer. We enjoy all of the Great Lakes and like the small lakeside towns. Keep warm.
John Leblanc from Wisconsin
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Hi Karen, |
Hi Karen;
I met you last week at the East Grand Rapids Schoolhouse Arts and Craft Show. I bought a small agate pendant and your book.
I found your book fascinating! I've have always had a soft spot for pretty stones, semiprecious and gem stones, and fossils. I think I may have to try agate hunting next spring, too!
I live in the Grand Rapids area. I take it that is doesn't pay to watch for agates around here. Is that correct? If not, my boyfriend and I are going to have to decide where to vacation next spring because I certainly want to try to find agates. I have doubts on being able to identify them appropriately, so I'll try to do more reading about it over the winter.Thanks for creating such a fascinating and informational book. I'll be sure to watch your website as well.Sincerely,
Janine Herin
Hi Karen,I had a few days off last week to spend with my family, and I shared your agate book with my dad since he is a rock lover. We both have enjoyed reading it! He collected agates from other countries but didn’t know much about Lake Superior stones, so I said he has to get himself to your shop and get going!It was kind of you to give me a copy, and I thank you for such good reading.Peace on,Lissa Radke
U.S. Coordinator
Lake Superior Binational Forum
Northland College
Ashland WI
Hi Karen!Meant to drop you a note a couple of weeks ago (upon returning home from G.M.), but got caught up in the getting-ready-for-school mode and didn't get to it.I very much enjoyed chatting with you when I stopped in your shop! And....the scoop has proven to be very handy! (Unfortunately, here isn't much to scoop in Lansing, but I did use it while in Petoskey this last weekend.)I continue to appreciate the piece of seashell jasper that I purchased from you...such wonderful energy that stone has! And, of course, the agates I purchased are great as well! The "peeler", I believed you called it, is one I especially like!Speaking of agates...when you and I were talking, the evening before I had to leave G.M., I mentioned that I had yet to find an agate. Well, the next morning, prior to heading home, I decided to pop down to the beach one last time. Yup...you guessed it...I found an agate! It was so exciting! It's a little one, but an agate nonetheless.Enjoy the remainder of the summer!Marsha from Lansing, MI
I received the following email from Lynn and Lon Emerick of Skandia, MI:
"We (and our visitors) are enjoying the two agate panels you designed and installed in our overhead light. The agates, the design, and the surrounding colors all complement our log home in the woods. Your skill in the design as well as in the exact measurements (so that the panels you made from long distance JUST FIT in the space needed) is impressive!"
Hi, Karen!
You have a truly marvelous website for the museum, and it's very easy to navigate. I've enjoyed reading especially about agates and the history of Grand Marais in preparation for my wife and my FIRST TRIP to your part of Michigan.
We live in Three Rivers, south of Kalamazoo and not far from the Indiana border, but love visiting 'up north' every summer for a week. We've already made arrangements for a week in Grand Marais. . . . and for sure we'll want to take one or more of your courses in agates and local history when we visit the museum. I've always wanted to explore the hobby of lapidary, and now that I'm recently retired I think that will be a reality. What better way to start than to find a few agates along the Lake Superior shore?
Looking forward to the sunsets, which I understand are incomparable in Grand Marais with any others!
Sincerely yours,
Vic EichlerAlthough the web page has a separate testimonial section, two correspondences deserve to be featured. The first was an email received from Traci Bradshaw:
Dear Gitche Gumee Museum:
I recently took a trip to the U.P. for the first time in my adult life. We camped out in a state forest campground located on Lake Superior. My main focus for the trip was collecting rocks. Before going on my trip I tried to do some research as to what kinds of rocks I was going to be collecting. Other than locating a few pictures online, I was unable to find any good information on agates specifically. I knew very little about them, but I was determined to find at least one. On the second to last day of our trip we went through Marquette and stopped at the mall, where I purchased a copy of your book Understanding and Finding Agates. I wish I had known about this book prior to going up north. I just wanted to tell you that I found it by far the most informative book of its kind, and although it helped me figure out that most of what I found were not agates, it definitely has gotten me more prepared for my next trip (which is currently being planned). Thank you for publishing such a great book for rockhounds like me to use. I look forward to visiting the museum during our next trip.
From one rockhound to another.
Traci BradshawThe second letter was received recently from Jim Carter, a native of Grand Marais who has lived in Marquette for many years.
Dear Karen:
I’ve been meaning to write for some time commending you on your excellent guide, Understanding and Finding Agates, which I bought at the Museum several months ago.
It is obviously very well done by a professional in the field. Its excellent organization and clear writing style leads the reader through what is some rather complicated material, and giving in the end a good, informed picture of what this agate business is all about. This publication has all the marks of becoming a standard resource on the subject. The References, Glossary and Index sections are extremely useful features.
The layout and quality of printing are also very good. The Book Concern has always done a top job in printing (although their physical plant isn’t very impressive). I’ve had work done there since the late 1960s--the most recent was my large-scale map of logging railroads in the east-central U.P. and its accompanying historical narrative, done by the Book Concern last year.
For over 20 years I was director of the Northern Michigan University Press, a book publishing operation, and during that time I reviewed many manuscripts, with accompanying illustrations, art, maps, etc. At the same time, I chaired the book publishing operation of the John M. Longyear Research Library here (as a volunteer)--a private non-profit organization not connected with NMU. So a lot of stuff has come across my desk over the years. Yours ranks with the best.
Axle Niemi would pop his buttons with pride over what you’re doing with the museum and publication. By the way, I don’t know if he ever told you the circumstances around his finding of the “big agate.” I was in Grand Marais when he found it. As I recall, he found it on the beach west of Second Creek. I asked him, “What did you do when you found it?” He said he hollered and “did a jig” on the beach. It isn’t hard to picture that scenario!
All the best, Karen. Hope you enjoy the holidays and have a good year ahead.
Sincerely, your friend:
Jim CarterYou can read more testimonials here.
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Gitche Gumee Museum.
E21739 Brazel Street
Grand Marais, Michigan 49839
