Two of the area’s newest medical professionals were among those who introduced themselves this month at a community gathering to spotlight new residents.
Physician Mitchell Moe and nurse practitioner Marlo Dworsky were two of five people who spoke at the July 21 “Meet New Elyites” program, held during the weekly Tuesday Group gathering at Grand Ely Lodge.
About once every three months, the Tuesday Group devotes its weekly luncheon to introducing people who are new to the area - usually a mix of retirees and those who have come here for employment.
Moe, a native of Montevideo, is a new family practice physician at Essentia Health’s Ely clinic.
He became familiar to the area on family trips to the region as a youth.
“My family would come up to the North Shore every summer and we came to Ely some of those summers and those were always my favorite trips,” he said.
Moe, who moved to Ely with his husband, said that as he was looking for a place to practice that, “I knew I wasn’t going back to the prairie. The woods are more my scene.”
In a short time, Moe has already become immersed in the community, joining the board of both Ely Community Resource and Northwoods Partners, adding that “all the events around those things have kept us busy.”
Moe is also enamored with the outdoors, loves running and is planning a backpacking trip in the fall on the north side of Lake Superior.
Dworsky became a fulltime resident of Ely about a year ago, telling the Tuesday Group audience, “I wanted to get up north since 2012 but there wasn’t enough time or life things came up. I’m super happy to finally be here (and) I feel so lucky to live and work in this beautiful area.”
The only nurse practitioner at the Ely clinic, Dworsky sees patients three days per week and spends two days “making calls or taking more time to look at results.”
She worked for medical giant Fairview prior to joining Essentia and the Ely clinic.
Dworsky grew up in Seattle, Washington and said, “This area reminds me a lot of what the state of Washington was back in the 70s.”
She said her interests include “hiking, biking, really anything outdoors.”
“I wanted to come back to a small town,” said Dworsky, the mother of three adult children. “That’s what I grew up in and I really enjoyed it.”
Macy Bernard has lived in Ely about a year-and-a-half and is a biologist at the North American Bear Center. She joined the organization after first serving there as an intern.
“I get to make breakfast for bears and feed bears every day and take care of them,” she said. “That’s really been an awesome opportunity.”
A native of Ramsey near the Twin Cities, Bernard graduated from Bemidji State University and like so many other Elyites, she loves the area’s natural surroundings.
“I really like to get outside, which is probably no surprise for somebody who is a biologist,” said Bernard. “I’m into hiking. I’m really into birding and seeing how many different birds I can find. I like fishing. I also do some wildlife photography. Anything that gets me outside.”
Bill Heldt was born in Minneapolis in 1955, grew up in Bloomington near the old Metropolitan Stadium and has known explorer Paul Schurke since his youth.
It was that connection to Schurke that brought him to Ely in 1979.
“I was invited by Paul Schurke to help lead canoe trips in the Boundary Waters through a program called Wilderness Inquiry,” said Heldt.
Heldt fell in love with wild places and that interest soon expanded into winter.
He moved to Alaska but returned to help Schurke and Will Steger prepare for their historic 1986 polar expedition.
“It was an experience I will never forget and it strengthened my connection to Ely and the area,” said Heldt.
Heldt soon married and had a family and lived first near Duluth and later Isanti County and became heavily involved in sled dog racing.
More recently Heldt has traveled via camper and “often found myself in the Fall Lake campground.”
In retirement, Heldt has now called Ely home and, “I continue to be impressed by all the welcoming people I meet here, and I’m very grateful to be here.”
Ben Austin grew up in Duluth, spent four years at American University in Washington, D.C., majoring in journalism.
He has only recently moved to the area to take a job for the Tower-based Timberjay newspaper, here as a Report For America Corps member.
“They match people up with newsrooms,” said Austin. “I have a two-to-three year contract with them, and part of it is a question of how long I will stay. I have an interest in doing post-secondary education, and I’m in my early-20s still figuring things out.”
Of the move to the Ely area, he said, “I’ve been in a medium place, a larger place, and I thought I’d try a smaller place and see what I like best and I have to say it’s been really lovely here. I’ve been having a great time.”
