Birch Trees Strip Tease

Some of you may remember our valiant effort to save the birch trees at our shoreline last summer after a momentary microburst tore apart about 400 ft. of our lakefront. Most of the trees uprooted or snapped in half by the sudden wind gust could not be saved, nor could the boat house they smashed. But the stand of four birch trees at the east end of the property were pulled back into position by our “muscle boat.”

Here is a link to a video documenting the birch tree rescue.

Seventeen years ago when we moved to the Northwoods, the previous owner of Sandy Point told us “all of the birch trees would be gone in ten years.” Given we still have hundreds of them on property, happily his prophecy didn’t come true. We have, however, lost several hundred to both a birch blight and a birch bore. Evidence of dying birch trees is around every corner in the Northwoods.

Because they tend to die from the top down and regularly drop branches and large sections of trunk, they can be a hazard. Twice now, we’ve had our friends, The Good Family, (who are Sandy Point regulars and happen to be lumberjacks) come in the fall and take down all the dead birches in the common areas of the grounds.

When we returned to Sandy Point in the spring, we were happy to see our rescued lakefront stand had re-rooted and survived a particularly harsh winter.

But it was a sad sight to see the holocaust pile of dead birch logs piled just off of Sandy Point Lane, on the fairway of long-hole 9.

Because I couldn’t bear see these trees go to rot, I found a way to preserve their beautiful paper white bark. Armed with plenty of mosquito repellant and a utility knife, I stripped many of these beauties bare and opened the birch bark factory.

So far my creations have been canoe ornaments and switch plate covers. Unfortunately I just ran out of sewing sinew.

More is on the way, though, and I’ve got these beautiful pieces of classic Northwoods beauty for sale in The Shop at Sandy Point.

I don’t know how much longer nature will supply my materials, so don’t hesitate to get your hands on these items. They make great gifts, and even better reminders of Northwoods’ beauty.