(Photo by Henry T. McLin, via Flickr)

Photo by Henry T. McLin, via Flickr

By Glenn Rolloff, Village of Grantsburg

Besadny 25th logoThe Grantsburg, Wisconsin, area is surrounded by 1000s of acres of wildlife reserves including the 17,000-acre Crex Wildlife Area and the 14,000-acre Fish Lake Wildlife area. These large sanctuaries attract trumpeter swans, Canadian geese, sandhill cranes and even a lone garganey duck from far off Asia shores! The “big birds” certainly have a home.

But nestled in the four square miles of Grantsburg Village is tiny Memory Lake. On its shores, near the downtown area, we have a group of small entertainers. Several years back a gentleman from Pine City, Minnesota, Daryl Lindstrom, asked if he could erect a few purple martin houses. A young biology instructor by trade, Daryl adored the martins and thought our park would be a perfect place to help these struggling birds find sanctuary.

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The houses were completely funded by Daryl and his passion for the purples. Last year, the Village applied for a C.D. Besadny Grant for $100 with a matching fund from the Village President. The grant money afforded Mr. Lindstrom the opportunity to maintain and upgrade the houses based on the growing population he had created.

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As you can see from the photos, our little guests love the town as much as we enjoy watching them fly and dance around our lake. With sandpipers screeching, below the purple martins dart about with such a stir, it’s hard for park walkers to not stop and watch the commotion.

The Village of Grantsburg is forever indebted to Daryl Lindstrom and the C.D. Besadny Foundation!