SHELL LAKE, Wis. -- Downtown Shell Lake has always been a haven for visitors to the area. Thanks to the hard work of many volunteers, now there’s an information kiosk to welcome and assist visitors in finding out about all of the great things to see and do in the area. The kiosk was a partnership between the City of Shell Lake, Washburn County Tourism Association and many great volunteers including Ken Schultz and Mary Dosch. Several years ago a community assessment was completed in Shell Lake; fast forward two years and the Shell Lake Focus group is in full swing and working hard to make Shell Lake an even better place to visit, work and live.
One of the first projects of the group was to build an information kiosk for downtown. The group worked with the City of Shell Lake to apply for a $1,000 sponsorship from Washburn County Tourism Association through their Satellite Information Kiosk program. “The goal of our kiosk program is to assist all of our communities in installing information kiosks to better serve visitors to our area,” said Michelle Martin, Executive Director of Washburn County Tourism Assn., “I am thrilled to see the results of our first sponsorship. Shell Lake did an excellent job of designing and building this kiosk. It is not only a showpiece for their community, but a great example to other communities of how the program works.”
The kiosk itself was designed by the Shell Lake Focus group with the help of artist, Michael Macone. Ken Schultz built the kiosk and Mary Dosch led the charge of creating two incredible mosaics to put on the kiosk. The overall cost of the kiosk was roughly $3,000, but Schultz was able to find generous businesses and individuals to help defray the cost. The information racks and signage for the kiosk will be installed in the coming weeks. “This kiosk is a result of the partnerships between the City of Shell Lake, its businesses and organizations, Washburn County Tourism Association and the Wisconsin Department of Tourism,” stated Andy Eiche, City of Shell Lake Administrator, “I would like the thank all of the organizations involved, Michelle Martin from Washburn County Tourism Assn. and Drew Nussbaum from the Wisconsin Department of Tourism for their dedication to the community. We’re really starting to see the result of those partnerships and look forward to seeing where this takes us.”
Pictured Left to Right: Ken Schultz (Shell Lake Focus), Andy Eiche (City of Shell Lake), Mary Dosch (Artist), Sally Peterson (City of Shell Lake), Shannon Klopp (Shell Lake Chamber), Michelle Martin (Washburn County Tourism Assn.), Tara Burns (Shell Lake Arts Center/Shell Lake Focus), Bill Sumner (Theatre in the Woods). Not pictured: Michael Macone (The Potters Shed), Mary Hemshrot (Shell Lake Focus), David Bridenhagen (Shell Lake School), Becka Cusick (Town & Country Days), Keri Jensen (Shell Lake School)
Last Update: Jun 08, 2017 10:01 am CDT
