The Holt & Balcom Logging Camp Museum in Lakewood completed its restoration project in 2013. The restoration took over seven years and cost over a hundred thousand dollars. The museum is now a popular tourist destination and memorable educational field trip experience for area fourth-graders studying Wisconsin history.
With an eye toward the future, curator Kathleen Marsh envisioned planting white pines along the McCauslin Brook, which flows by the site.
“Gigantic white pines once covered the northwoods so densely that sunlight barely penetrated the woods,” she said. “Our camp manager, Bob Brown, and I knew that we would not see our trees achieve the majestic height of those cut a hundred years ago, but we still thought it would be nice if the children and our visitors could see and touch a white pine.”
Seedlings planted last year didn’t survive the winter, and larger trees were too costly, so the idea was shelved.
Then a few weeks ago, Ruth Theobold Probst and her husband, Tom, friends of Kathleen and her husband, Jon, reconnected. When told about the restoration, the Probsts, who have a summer place on the Peshtigo River east of Lakewood, asked if there was anything that still needed to be done.
When told about the tree idea, Probsts donated five 3-year-old white pines.
Tree expert Jim Kingsbury, of Mountain, a longtime member of the Wisconsin Woodland Association, agreed to plant the pines along the brook.
“I was happy to help,” he said. “So much time, effort and money has gone into preserving the camp. I think this is the perfect finishing touch. The pines are looking healthy and robust; new growth is already appearing. With proper care and a little luck, they should thrive.”
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