The Madeline Island Wilderness Preserve is deeply honored that Tom Vennum included a gift in his will to the Preserve. Tom had spent summers on Madeline Island since he was a teenager. He died in the fall of 2017, at age 82. Tom was a true Renaissance man: pianist, organist, teacher, ethnomusicologist, author, lacrosse historian, and nature lover.

“I think one of Tom’s most enduring connections to the Preserve is his ethno-documentary, Earl’s Canoe. This beautiful traditional Ojibwe canoe was fashioned by Earl Nyholm from the bark of a large, near-perfect paper birch that Earl and Tom found on the Wilderness Preserve’s Reuel Harmon Forest (and used with MIWP permission). That canoe, the documentary, and Tom’s long-term support of the Preserve are an important part of his Island legacy.”

— MIWP board member Dan Engstrom

If you would like to learn about providing for the future of the Preserve through your will, please contact MIWP.