Two articles relating to Peninsula State Park from the 1974 Door County Advocate
[from May 16, 1974]
Ralf Halvorsen has retired after a career in Wisconsin state park administration. —Henry Shea
Halvorsen saw changes, growth in park system
By JANE SHEA
Picture a man relaxed, leaning against a tree, and you supposedly catch a perfect retirement portrait.
Ralf Halvorsen doesn't quite fit this picture. He's been literally on the move since his retirement as Peninsula park superintendent several weeks ago. Tree leaning is only incidental right now.
The Halvorsens have been involved in moving household goods and getting their Ephraim residence in order. They've also done some traveling.
Taking over Halvorsen's position at the park is Gary Patzke, who comes here from the park system at Dodgeville. He isn't settled either. His family will be moving here at the end of the school term.
PATZKE
Although Halvorsen never gave the impression of being uptight about his work with a bureaucracy (our word, not his), and he is now in a position to look back at his career from a different vantage point, and he has some interesting observations.
He has an extensive career to examine. He began at the Poynette Game farm, serving from 1936 to 1942. From then until 1948 he was at Peninsula park working as assistant manager and on other assignments. Following a two-year stint at Wildcat Mountain State park, Halvorsen managed Devil's Lake State park in Baraboo for 10 years. Moving to Madison, he worked as area supervisor for the next four years and from 1964 to 1968 was supervisor of operations for the entire state park system.
To complete his term of active service Ralf and Dorothy Halvorsen chose to return to this area where they had many friends. He took up his duties as park superintendent here in 1968.
Peninsula park, employing 50 at peak periods, is a 3,500 acre tract, second largest park in the state. It is the only state park with a golf course. Operating on an approximate $170,000 budget, the park had an income last year of $270,000 through camping fees, stickers and the golf course. Between 750,000 and 800,000 people visit the park annually. Revenue beyond the budgeted amount goes to the support of other parks.
Halvorsen has long favored isolation of the golf course and abolishment of stickers for those using only this part of the park. The stickers now, by state action, have been abolished for golfers, and greens fees raised. It was Halvorsen's idea, in isolating the course, to dead end the present Ephraim entrance road in the vicinity of the park tower. But as he pointed out, superintendents are answerable to state park planning and can only make suggestions.
The big continuing job, he says, is maintenance.
On the subject of camping, Halvorsen thinks it should be soft pedaled from now on, with the emphasis turning toward private camp grounds. He points out that in providing "improved" camping areas in the park, the land itself has suffered. He would like to see rotation use of the present camping areas, a program much like crop rotation. For example, one camping area should be allowed to lay fallow for a time and in that period the soil (now cement hard from over use) could be aerified and a shrub and tree planting ' program instituted.
Halvorsen said that last year 4,500 trees were cut within the used areas of the park, most of them aged and diseased. One of these, a sentimental favorite known as the wishing tree, hung over the roadway, dripping lower each year. After vain attempts to brace it the tree had to be cut for safety's sake.
Halvorsen thinks better balance should be maintained between campers and daily visitors. He added that in the 3,500 acres, only 12 acres are now set aside as transient picnic areas. Halvorsen isn't sure whether the traveling public, visiting the park on a daily basis, still has an interest in picnics. But he thinks they do, especially families with several children to feed.
Regarding his theories on emphasizing private campgrounds, it's Halvorsen's thought that this would relieve the load on public property, enabling the state park system to set aside scenic and historic sites. "If we don't preserve them they will be gone," he declared.
At the present time Door county doesn't yet have enough private campgrounds to satisfy the demand, but the state as a whole has, according to Halvorsen.
He believes that emphasis could well continue on park skiing and hiking, and snowmobiling on controlled trails.
Asked about septic systems within the park, a still critical but presently dormant issue in surrounding areas, Halvorsen said that three of the campgrounds — Welkers, Tennyson and Nicolet — use the lagoon system and this has proved successful. Weborg's point, the clubhouse and service areas have their individual septic systems.
Should a combined sewer system within a district covering Ephraim, Fish Creek and Egg Harbor, ever come to pass, he said it would be logical to tie in Weborg's point and the service area at the south, and the clubhouse at the north end. He said he had no information and could not speculate on what future approach the state park planning department might advocate.
While here Halvorsen has seen the inauguration of bike and snowmobile trails, which he thinks are good. He liked the Tennyson bay shore road as it was, not as a campground.
Years ago in what might be described as "the Doolittle era," a time when the state system was not so vast and communications a little less swift, there was perhaps a little more contact between local residents and the park itself.
Some of this was good, some of it bad. At one time, according to Halvorsen, the late A. F. Doolittle decided that if the north end of the park had a tower, the south end should have one, too, for the benefit of those using that portion of the park. This was built, but the structure known as Sven's Tower is now gone. One unsuccessful venture involved golf. Doolittle thought there should be another golf course at the south end and he got as far as a partial layout before the state authorities said no.
Back in those good old days — maybe not so- good when examined too closely, park-resident relations came to the point of hollering and set-tos. There are many stories about those days involving encroachment on state property. One such confrontation occurred between the late Rufus Bagg and Doolittle. The later contended, apparently correctly, that Bagg had built a cottage on part of state property. He also built a fence out into the water to prevent park users from walking the beach in front of his land. Doolittle responded by making the beachfront a horseback riding trail. The two men went at it with such vigor that while the ultimate results weren't changed they both landed in a book called "Especially Father" written by Professor Bagg's daughter, Gladys Taber. Peninsula park became nationally known.
The confrontation between people and state began early and there have been echoes ever since. Halvorsen feels he has personally enjoyed good rapport with local residents although some of their wants, as far as the park is concerned, have been out of his control. Cooperation between park and county law enforcement has been very good, Halvorsen said.
Ahead now for the Halvorsens is time for more travel and in his post as worthy grand patron of the Order of Eastern Star, Ralf has a lot of this to do in Wisconsin and neighboring states.
Leisure moments may find the Halvorsens having picnics — in the park.
[from October 3, 1974]
Ephraim men hear speaker
By HENRY SHEA
A large turn-out for the Ephraim Men's club, Thursday night heard Peninsula Park superintendent Gary Patzke describe recent changes in procedures in handling campers and proposed improvements in park facilities.
A recent departure, Patzke said, has been a system whereby campers from Wisconsin can make specific reservations, requesting a favorite camp site, up to 60 days in advance of arrival. The method may well be outlawed in near future, he said, since some federal funds are used in the park and special treatment of Wisconsin residents would be viewed as discrimination by federal authorities.
Fees on the Peninsula Park golf course have been raised to be more or less in line with private courses, while the requirement of having a park sticker for auto parking near the course has been dropped.
Fees on the Peninsula Park golf course have been raised to be more or less in line with private courses, while the requirement of having a park sticker for auto parking near the course has been dropped.
Snowmobile facilities are constantly being improved, Patzke noted, with bicycle path surfacing requiring further study. Among the ongoing improvements are steel campfire rings at many sites and consideration of new methods in handling firewood sales. The campfire rings, fabricated by DNR to provide more cooking convenience to campers, are also a safety device.
In regular club business, a suggestion was made that a commemorative bronze marker, on a suitable stone monument, be erected on Eagle (Horseshoe) Island to honor early settlers who are buried there. Appointed to a committee to look further into this were Charles Larsen, Morris Larson, Amos Rasmussen and H. Shea.
Secretary Abbot Byfield read excerpts from a letter of 1902, approximately, in which the Fish Creek Progressive club took exception to recent letters to the Madison authorities complaining of the actions of Peninsula Park superintendent Henry Doolittle and supporting "that benefactor". The writer of the derogatory letters was not noted but it may be suspicioned that it was local historian Holand, who with a Prof. Rufus Bagg of Lawrence, had a constant feud with park management.
Discussion of street numbers and fire markers was postponed until the next monthly meeting.
Articles are courtesy of the Door County Library Newspaper Archive
Articles by Jane Shea:
https://doorcounty.substack.com/t/jane-shea
Articles by Henry Shea:
https://doorcounty.substack.com/t/henry-shea