96th annual Fisherman’s Picnic wraps up with awards and prizes

The Grand Marais Lions Club wrapped up their 96th annual Fisherman’s Picnic on Sunday, Aug. 3. The weekend featured music, games, contests, vendors in downtown Grand Marais, class reunions, and of course, bingo.

Each year the Lions Club recognizes one community member as Citizen of the Year. This year the honor went to Steve Duschene. When presenting him with the award, Lions Club President Pete Kavanaugh mentioned Duschene’s work on food access, restorative justice, Medicare counseling, and tax assistance.

Kavanaugh said, “We’re so grateful to what Steve has done for the community and continues to do for our community.”

For his part, Duschene took the opportunity to encourage others to volunteer their time and share their skills with the community.

While Citizen of the Year is the most serious honor bestowed during Fisherman’s Picnic, it is far from the only award handed out. Other community members won contests for skipping rocks, loon calling, having the cutest puppy, and for the fish toss.

The festivities ended with the yearly raffle, which included a slew of gift cards and other donations from local businesses, in addition to three top cash prizes.

This year’s top prizes went to:

• $10,000 – Sabrina Bains
• $1,000 – Hardy Geobel
• $500 – Matt Sass

A full list of raffle winners can be found here. Those who have not yet picked up their prizes can do so at the Cook County News Herald office. The Lions Club is also contacting all winners to arrange mailing for those who need it.

WTIP’s Chuck Olsen was at Fisherman’s Picnic to photograph the weekend’s events!

Kirsten Wisniewski August 4, 2025