Rebecca Pauly: “I’m just walking home from working at the elementary school. I work with the special ed kids and help them throughout the day and support them any way that they may need. I’ve lived in Ely for about four years now. I moved to Ely because my husband got a job at the Ely Vet Clinic and we’ve loved living in Ely and getting to know the community, via the kids at the school and the animals he services. We just enjoy interacting with the community with the kickball games in town, and I teach ASL, which is American Sign Language, at the Folk School as well. It’s a good class, I hope. It’s a lot of brain power.” (Do you also translate somewhere?) “No. I am also hearing impaired so it is hard to translate if I don’t hear it but I will help sing songs in sign language if I know the information prior.” (It’s so beautiful, it’s like a dance.) “It is. It like paints a picture with your hands. Now, I am going to go home and hang out with my cats, read a book and later I’m going on a run with a friend I met here locally and enjoy the beautiful weather. I enjoy the Folk School barn dances. The next one is in November. They are dances that anyone can do because they will give you the instructions while you are there. It’s accessible not only to children but also to adults. I don’t remember the date but look online with the Folk School. I love going to those and doing swing dance and line dance. The dance is at the barn called Ethel’s Acres just outside of town. They have horses there, and goats and chickens and the barn is there... Treat everyone with kindness any chance you get even if you are having a bad day. My job is actually something I have a strong compassion for. It’s very rewarding to help the kids grow and get stronger in their abilities.”Tyler Heesaker: “You probably don’t remember me but when I was like 8 years old on the baseball team here in Ely, you got my picture. I was in the paper a couple times.” (Are you Jeremiah’s son?) “Yep. And Mark’s grandson.” (Oh yes I know your grandpa too. I used to work for him at the resort.) “I just turned 18. Big accomplishment. I work for a construction company now and make decent money.” (I know your dad and grandpa are hard workers too.). “I definitely picked it up from them. It’s backbreaking work, though, and it sucks getting up that early. I get up around five or six to start the day and be there by seven. I didn’t work today. I actually just went and picked up my paycheck. So I got paid. There was no work today. I’ve been hanging out and looking at other opportunities, like mines and whatnot. I’ve got a bunch of family members all around at the mines. It’s a good industry. Trades. It’s the best thing to do. I’m a tradesman. Pretty much all around, do a lot of things. Now I am heading over to my buddy’s and hang out. He’s going to go hunting so I’ll hang out with him a little bit before then. It’ll be nice. I’ve only been hunting a couple times in my life. It’s pretty nice being out in the woods, all quiet and everything. How have you been? Peace and love to the world.”Eric Gantt: “I had a great time at the Embarrass Fair and it was fun seeing everybody from Ely. They have an annual car show and they were showing their cars there and were also there for the other activities. I am a retired car painter. I am a frequent landscaper for friends. I do a lot of lawns. I’ve been getting all my fishing stuff ready and getting my boats ready for fishing season. We usually call the fall: the fishing season. The trout are at Miners and all the other lakes are better fishing in the fall. They put in new curbs here and painted them yellow so you can see it. I mow this lawn for the lady because her husband died a while back and he was fussy about it so I am fussy about it. A person should be happy. If you have your health you have everything. And you can always make other people happy. There’s no substitute for that in your heart. I have another lawn to mow for Matt the pizza man with the wood-fired pizza. I’m going to be mowing his lawn in about 10 minutes. I would like to thank the ELY ECHO for bringing attention to all the fires. I think the ELY ECHO made a big difference in the nation for how everyone knew about the fires so quickly because the ELY ECHO has a nationwide following because all the people who come here start subscribing to the ELY ECHO... The ELY ECHO is a big help on everything and also WELY was a good help with the fires because it broadcast all the time what was really happening. I really like that they put the fire signs down in the park and I would read those every day, to see how the fires are doing. I make sure I walk all around to make sure I get exercise when I’m not mowing. Right now I am using my blower to clean up the edges... They all wanted to see my truck at the Embarrass Fair so this will give them a chance to see the red, white and blue.”Zach Klinkenborg: “Right now I just got done volunteering. I volunteer with AmeriCorps, so I help students from Kindergarten till third grade learn how to read. Get them a good start. It’s important that they know how to read because once you know how to read, we say: Students who know how to read, know how to lead, which I think is very true. I’m actually from St. Paul and my wife and I moved up here in 2020 and we started managing Northern Air Lodge. We did that for a couple seasons and then we moved into town. I started going to college at Southwest Minnesota State University and I can do that all online. So I am able to teach part time and do school part time. Moving up to Ely was the best decision we have ever made in our lives. It’s just like we’re probably going to be here forever now. It’s wonderful; it’s really nice. We like the sense of community more than anything. The fact that you flagged me down in your truck to have this interview, you’re not going to get that anywhere else, it’s such an Ely thing. I love it. Yeah, community and great places to eat and we love hiking and we have a dog too, an Italian Greyhound. We like to take her on walks. I wish you could have gotten a picture of our dog, she is about this big. She’s like if you put a greyhound in the dryer and you shrunk her down. She’s a mini greyhound.” (About a foot long?) “A foot long and very fast. I am going to go home and brew some afternoon coffee and I’m going to start my schoolwork. I love the ELY ECHO and keep up the good journalism.” (I will pass that along...)
