Programs – Current Programs

2012 - Summer Schedule on Mallard Island

Contact Beth Waterhouse for more information: (952) 401-0591, home/ofc, or cell # (952) 607-6879 or e-mail:

Last updated December 27, 2011

Week 1 Work Week /Mallard and Gull Islands May 20 -26 no fees
We begin the summer with hard work, good food, lots of laughter, and gratitude. Volunteer muscles keep the island "looking old" yet working smoothly. This week brings ten people to clean, repair, paint, caulk, make kindling, dig and pitch. Don Maronde et al.

Week 2 Work Week / Gardening May 27-June 2 no fees
Gardens and landscapes are the main focus in this second volunteer work week, though the repair projects do continue. Somehow dominoes or cribbage also show up. Ober Board Meeting = Sat, June 2nd.
Caretakers: Don Maronde and Beth Waterhouse

Week 3 Readers'/Book Care Work Week June 3-9 no fees
Thousands of books need our care and attention, and also receive our love and admiration. This is a week of book inventory, cleaning, and repair--we'll complete another 3-year rotation of the Oberholtzer collection this year!
Caretakers: Beth Waterhouse and Jim Fitzpatrick

Week 4 Bird Banding and Photography June 10-16 $200/week*
Last year we banded over fifty songbirds on Mallard and the year before nearly that many. This gives us a recent history of the migration activity of several species. Join the group of birders and photographers learning and wondering.

Week 5 Individual Projects Week June 17-23 $200/week
This year we are expanding the criteria of this week to include anyone with an ongoing body of work who will benefit from time on or the resources of the Oberholtzer Islands. This may include architects, ecologists, other researchers, and artists!

Week 6 Healer Evolving June 24-June 30 Pd / Self-contained Group**
There is a tradition of healing on Mallard, going back to the Anishinabe practicing the medicine of their people. This week will bring a group of healers and physicians focusing on finding and maintaining balance. They come asking, "What do the trees have to teach us?" or "How can we learn to be still, listen, and Be?"

Week 7 Rest Week / Tree Trimming July 1-7
Elaine and Steve Thrune, co-caretaking and doing tree work. No program this week.

Week 8 Ikwewag / Women Gather July 8-14 Pd / Self-contained Group
As activists, artists, farmers, thinkers, or writers, these women are leaders who run organizations/companies or use their artistic talents for the common good. They'll focus on understanding indigenous rights and cultural differences, Ojibwe language, natural history, and environmental stewardship. Working on a herbarium.

Week 9 Heart of the Continent Partnership July 15-21 Pd / Self-contained Group
This week brings leaders together to develop a common identity and sense of belonging in the region along the Ontario-Minnesota border. Last summer, they completed a "congress" of activities, and this week may consider next steps in that effort. Clearly, they represent work to which Ober would have brought great support and enthusiasm.

Week 10 Composers and Creative Sources July 22-28 Pd / Self-contained Group
Again hosted by Dan Cavanagh of Arlington, Texas, this week allows artists from different fields to dive deeper and explore the origins of creativity itself. Quiet and nature are crucial to that which "happens rarely in our hectic modern world." Each of these artists is also a teacher.

Week 11 Jon Romer Intermediate Flute Workshop July 29-August 4 $200/week*
Jon Romer, from Cass Lake, teaches for a third and final week on the traditional native flut--this time mostly focused at learning on the intermediate level. The group will work on more music ideas, duets and small performances, adding new songs. Mallard Island fills with the tones of the wooden flute. Newcomers welcome. Lottery for spaces mid-January as needed.

Week 12 Creative Collaborators August 5-11 Pd / Self-contained Group
A creative collaborating team is one in which the two support, encourage, and help navigate each other's original works of art. Even when the media differs, they influence each other. Imagine a visual artist interpreting a song or a poet's words captured in a painting. This week is hosted by Yata Peinovich and Jean Accola of Arkansaw, Wisconsin.

Week 13 Rest Week August 12-18
Minimal use is made of the island so that all ecological processes can rest. Two caretakers will be present on the Mallard. No program planned this week.

Week 14 Ojibwe Language Group August 19-25 Pd / Self-contained Group
This group hearkens back to the heritage and family members related to Billy Magee, Ober's canoe guide and friend. The focus last year was clearly the origins and development of the Ojibwe language--words were mined all week.

Week 15 Children's Book Writers / Illustrators Aug. 26-Sept. 1 Self-contained
This group of women focused on children's books will give themselves a full week of writing time, nature, other writers, and "all the nooks and books we need to do our work and restore our creative souls." Publishing "shop talks on the dock."

-- NO FORMAL ISLAND TOURS WEEK THIS YEAR DUE TO OTHER ISLAND PRIORITIES --

Ober Board Meeting = Saturday, September 8th.
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No fee for Mallard Work Weeks beyond your travel, time, labor and food! Thank YOU!
* Our Suggested Weekly Donation -- per participant per program week is $200 plus food; meals organized within each group. // Cost for the Jon Romer Flute Workshop might be more this year if not grant-supported. // Deposit of 1/2 due April 1st for all program weeks.
** "Self-contained" means that the week is hosted by an individual who brings together a group of known individuals. Same weekly fees apply and are commonly collected by the host. // Deposit of 1/2 of weekly fee due April 1-- Mail to 818 3rd Av, #305, Excelsior, 55331

See "program" or email the Executive Director, , for an application form. Visit our web site at www.eober.org for more information.
BEW Dec. 2011