Yesterday I ran across this snippet of video we recorded near the end of the Summer of 1987. At the time our little family was touring all around the U.S., mainly on business. We had helped start National Software Systems in the early 80's, and it took us to every state in the country. Our home office was in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, but when vacation time rolled around, the one place we chose to be was the Copper Country, exploring every historic site in the Keweenaw.

At the time this was filmed, our goal was to actually move to Eagle River. Little did we know at the time, exactly one year later our company would be bought by our largest competitor, enabling that dream to come true. The land of our vacations would become our home.

In the short video, you barely see Becky. Only 6 at the time, Becky would go on to become 'The Pasty Girl' about 15 years later. Hers is the voice you hear when ordering Pasty Central pasties (which, by the way, will resume shipping on September 19th :o). There's just a couple of brief glimpses of Edie in the video, 34 at the time, entering what had been predicted the final year of her life expectancy. By the grace of God she had almost 30 years more, a life filled with adventures, and the joy of seeing her children grow up and have children of their own.

As for the 'waterboy' in the film... over the next decade the first commercially available digital still cameras would appear on the market, and Jonathan would get his hands on one in 1998. He snapped the first photos of the Pasty Cam... and went on to do the next few years of daily pictures. An army of others have joined us through the years, so we've never missed a day bringing you a glimpse of life from the U.P.

Thanks for coming along on a stroll down memory lane. Have a good week :o)

Isn't it wonderful how God works out all these circumstances, like your move to Eagle River? And now the possible change in the way you do business with the member owned cooperative!

We sure enjoy the sweet memories you're sharing ~ keep 'em coming!

What a wonderful story, Charlie. We're so very
lucky that fate intervened and you guys moved here
to start our very favorite site.

Thanks for sharing your memories!

Such a fun video of your family at Fort Wilkins, Charlie! Our children grow up so quickly. It's nice to look back, and remember when they were young, and we were, too. I like the still of Edie and your children peering through the window. Thanks for sharing! :)

I hope 2 visit Fort Wilkins someday. Thanks 4 sharing.