By Genevieve Williams '03
Reprinted from the Boynton Society Newsletter, a publication for supporters of Björklunden vid Sjön.
When my grandmother graduated from Lawrence in 1937, Björklunden as we currently know it was not in existence. Lawrence did not yet own the property; it was still the summer residence of Winfred and Donald Boynton, and the Chapel was only in its beginning conceptual stages.
Still, my grandmother, Hester White Maury ’36, had her own version of a Door County experience: childhood summers spent on Coral Hill Road in Ephraim, swimming in the lake, playing on the rocky coastline, and eating ice cream at Wilson’s. She was married in the yard of a house on Coral Hill Road overlooking Lake Michigan, and when she had children, they made the trek from Connecticut during several summers in the 1950s and 1960s to spend weeks at a time in Ephraim.
In June 2002, I somewhat unwittingly continued the family tradition of Door County summers by becoming a staff member at Björklunden.
Each year, eight students are hired as Björklunden staff, responsible for the daily workings of the lodge. We quickly discover the importance of the dishwasher and acquire adept chopping skills in the kitchen. We learn how to orchestrate the traditional Door Country fish boil and how to execute the kerosene-induced boil-over. Every week we perform a staff talent show, at which the guests are shown that the performance talents of the staff range far past clearing tables and sweeping floors.
In return for our work during the summer, we get to live on one of the most beautiful stretches of coastline in Wisconsin, meet interesting seminar participants, and eat as much of Chef Steve Martin’s cooking as we can handle. It is quite the good deal.
Student workers get to know the guests and inevitably learn from the seminar topics for each week. Each new seminar brings a new group of participants and instructors, changing the dinner table conversation greatly from week to week. One of the interesting parts of the summer staff job is that, while you serve the guests, you are also encouraged to interact with them.
Usually, the guests are just as excited as the staff to be in Door County in the summer, so we exchange stories of trips and new discoveries in the area. Indeed, we take trips all over Door County: to beaches, state parks, and theatre performances. Throughout the summer, the words of Shakespeare flow from the Björklunden Garden, as Door Shakespeare practices and performs its annual plays.
Also, as per tradition, we eat ice cream at Wilson’s and watch the sunset, as did my grandmother in the 1930s and my mother in the 1950s. The spirit of Door County still thrives in my family, with an assist from Björklunden.