Where are they now?

Woodcarver Bruce Futterer with a small sample of his work on display during a class at North House Folk School. Photo Rhonda Silence

In this segment of Where are they now?, WTIP’s Rhonda Silence speaks with Bruce Futterer, an educator and master woodcarver.

Futterer grew up in Cook County and graduated from Cook County High School in 1972. He now spends part of the year on the North Shore and part of the year in Arkansas. He explains he is trying to live where it is 60 degrees year-round.

Futterer had a 41-year career as a teacher, mainly as a high school history teacher. He eventually became an administrator but did not enjoy that as much as teaching. He says it took him six years to get back in the classroom where he belonged. He is now retired and able to focus entirely on the art of wood carving.

WTIP asked Futterer how he got started woodcarving and he credits the late artist John Spellman, who was an art teacher at Cook County High School for a brief time. He also learned the craft from his brother-in-law Orton Tofte. He says he “carved in ignorance for 20 years,” when he took some classes.

He now teaches woodcarving classes himself. Rhonda Silence caught up with him during a break in a class at North House Folk School to learn more. See a video and hear an interview below.

Futterer demonstrating the before and after of woodcarving. Photos Rhonda Silence

Woodcarver Bruce Futterer creates tiny figures and large tableaus--all with character.

Many of Futterer's pieces reflect his Scandinavian heritage.

Some pieces adorn walls instead of shelves.

Enjoy this short video demonstration of Futterer at work, while being interviewed by WTIP!

In this segment of Where are they now, WTIP’s Rhonda Silence speaks with 2020 graduate Jaymie Kirk, who is attending the University of MN-Duluth, but back in Cook County for the summer.

Jaymie will be working at the Chik-Wauk Museum and Nature Center as the director of the Nature Center for the summer. However, WTIP has received word from Chik-Wauk Museum and Nature Center that the season opening has been delayed because of high water levels on the road leading to Chik-Wauk. All hiking trails at the museum and nature center are also closed.

In this interview, Chik-Wauk Nature Center Director Jaymie Kirk joked about kayaking to work. That was almost the case after the recent rains.

Jaymie also shares information about her studies at UMD, which she hopes will include DNA research. WTIP’s Rhonda Silence learns more about that in this interview.

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If you know of someone with ties to our North Shore community that could be featured, please contact Rhonda by calling 218-387-1070 or email rhonda@wtip.org

Where are They Now is made possible in part with funding from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.

Tony Hegg at Tsung-Dao Lee Institute, Shanghai, China. – Photo courtesy of Tsung-Dao University

In this segment of Where are they now?,  WTIP’s Rhonda Silence speaks with 2004 CCHS graduate Tony Hegg, living in Shanghai, China, via Zoom, about his career and what led to his decision to move there to work at the Tsung-Dao Lee Institute.

Information and photos of Tsung-Dao Lee University and Institute can be found on the organization’s website. The website is interesting with the majority of information user-friendly for Americans, as it is in English.

Hegg recently moved from working at the University to the Tsung-Dao Lee Institute. In this news clip from Shanghai television, you can see Hegg interviewed at about the 2:10 mark. Interestingly again, the majority of the TV segment is in Chinese, but Hegg speaks in English, as a representative of the international scientific community.

Hegg is passionate about his work and likes to share what he can. He talked about the work of getting research published. It is a meticulous and lengthy process. He shared this paper Geometric frustration produces long-sought Bose metal phase of quantum matter, which was published by the National Academy of Sciences in November 2021.

Hear the conversation about all this below.

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If you know of someone with ties to our North Shore community that could be featured, please contact Rhonda by calling 218-387-1070 or email rhonda@wtip.org

Where are They Now is made possible in part with funding from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.

In this segment of WTIP’s Where are they now? series, WTIP’s Rhonda Silence speaks with Kalli Hawkins, a 2006 graduate of Cook County High School who has been living in Colorado until recently. Kalli has turned her personal adventure journal into a career as a freelance outdoor writer. Here’s their conversation.

Submitted photo - Outdoor writer Kalli Hawkins and friends Riley and Remy enjoying some quiet lake time.

Submitted photo - Kalli Hawkins with Riley on a Colorado mountain top

In this segment, WTIP’s Rhonda Silence speaks to a woman who certainly raises the question in a different way: Where in the world is she now?

Listen as Rhonda speaks with Paula Marie Powell, a 1997 Cook County High School graduate who spent much of her childhood at her family’s Chippewa Inn resort on the Canadian side of Saganaga Lake, about her travels. Paula now spends summers living and working in Grand Portage with Grand Portage-Isle Royale Transportation Lines but travels to warmer climates in the winter.

WTIP reached her in Panama to learn about an adventure she had on a trek to Pompano Beach, Florida—an exciting off-shore encounter with a hammerhead shark. Click here to see Paula’s video of the event.

In this segment, WTIP’s Rhonda Silence checks in with David DeSuza Riehm, a 2005 graduate and former Grand Portage resident, now living and working in the entertainment industry in California.

Submitted photo – David DeSuza Riehm now makes his living as a television production manager in Long Beach, California

Submitted photo. Brandon Cole and colleagues – writer Wesley Johnson, actor Chris Mulkey, and Cole.

In this segment, WTIP’s Rhonda Silence speaks with Brandon Cole, now a Duluth resident working in the film industry. Cole’s voice may sound familiar to longtime listeners, he was once a WTIP volunteer radio host.

He went from radio to film and has been working on some interesting projects in Duluth. The photo above shows Brandon Cole (on the right) with colleague Wesley Johnson, a project writer, and actor Chris Mulkey on a recent set.

Cole had some exciting news to share with WTIP about the upcoming Catalyst Film Festival in Duluth taking place from September 29 to Sunday, October 3. He was encouraged by colleagues to submit a script to the festival’s script competition and he did, reviving a film idea he had worked on while in college. He has been invited to share his script at the festival. We learn more about that in the interview below.

You can also see Cole and some of the other participants talking about their work in this PACT-TV Duluth segment.

In this segment, WTIP’s Rhonda Silence speaks with Karlee La Favor, a 2010 graduate of Cook County High School, who is embarking on her career as a family practice physician.

Submitted photo. Dr. Karlee LaFavor in COVID-19 protective gear.

An official photo of Dr. Karlee Axtell. Photo courtesy of the family

In this segment, WTIP’s Rhonda Silence speaks with Elsa Lunde, a 2019 graduate who is still in college but finding important work in the community as the Cook County Firewise Coordinator.

Elsa grew up in Cook County and is currently a student at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, MN. She is working on a double major in biology and environmental studies.

Elsa tells WTIP that being Firewise and educating the public on the importance of fire is very important to her. She is looking forward to working with the many motivated home and property owners who want to prepare the Gunflint Trail for its next wildfire.

Information on the Firewise program can also be found on the Cook County Firewise webpage.

Robert Saethre, a 1983 graduate of Cook County High School, is now working as an electrical engineer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee. He works in the Spallation Neutron Source section at the lab, a group leader for the lab’s accelerator.

WTIP’s Rhonda Silence reached out to Robert to learn more about his engineering career and about his interesting work at Oak Ridge National Labs. Here’s their conversation.

Submitted photo – Former Grand Marais resident Robert Saethre is an engineer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory

WTIP Community Radio is pleased to be a connection to the North Shore for those who live here–and those who used to live here– in our Where are they now? feature.

In this segment, WTIP’s Rhonda Silence reached out to Dehlia Seim to find out what she’s been doing since she graduated in 1997. Here’s their conversation.

In this Where are they now? segment, WTIP’s Rhonda Silence speaks with Dr. Kristine Woerheide of the Ely Veterinarian Clinic. Many North Shore pet owners take their animals to the Ely clinic and some may not know that Dr. Kristine is a former Lutsen resident and 2005 graduate of Cook County High School.

Here’s their conversation.