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Pickwick isn't a community in name only Tuesday, May 17, 2005
Agri News staff writer
PICKWICK, Minn. -- There's a lot of community pride in the unincorporated town of Pickwick.
The pride shows through in the Pickwick Mill, a 151-year-old flour mill built in this Winona County community a couple miles west of the Mississippi River.
A flash flood on Sept. 20, 1980, the result of 11 inches of rain, destroyed the county road that winds through town, claimed a house and damaged the dam, said Opal Fitch, who's a treasure-trove of town and mill lore.
When the floodwaters receded, mud remained in three of the mill's six floors.
Rather than let the mill crumble in disrepair, a group of locals formed the non-profit Pickwick Mill Inc. in 1982. They purchased the mill for $35,000 and set about making repairs.
They don't receive government support, Fitch said. Pickwick Mill is run by volunteers and donations.
"We lean on a lot of people for volunteers," said Vic Gardner, a board member who schedules tours and volunteers.
Membership in the non-profit group is open to anyone, Fitch said. A board of directors of at least nine manage the mill.
"And no one gets paid," Fitch said.
The group's current project is secure state permission to dredge the mill pond, known as Lake LaBelle. They must raise $150,000 to $170,000 to have the five-acre mill pond dredged. The pond was dredged once about 20 years ago, but sediment has filled in the bottom so it's no longer 15 feet deep, Fitch said. |
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