Bamboo Bend Project
In 1992, Shadows on the Wolf and several other donors contributed to the Bamboo Bend Sturgeon spawning habitat. Every year in Spring, hundreds of people come to Shiocton's Bamboo Bend to watch the Sturgeon.
Project by Shadows on the Wolf & Sturgeon for Tomorrow
Bamboo Bend Upgrades
Bamboo Bend is a popular area along the Wolf River in Shiocton. Every year, hundreds of individuals and families gather to see the Spring Sturgeon spawn. Upgrades: rip rap, stone and paving on the trail. Both organizations members and volunteers made this project possible.
Completed: October 2024 Project Cost: $27,427
Hwy X Sturgeon Trail Project
Completed 2020
A major habitat project to benefit Lake Sturgeon spawning areas was completed in 2020. The area along the Wolf River known as the Sturgeon Trail, County Rd X west of New London, is the site of this habitat improvement project. The rock along this bank was smaller than optimal size and has sloughed down the bank over the years due to gravity and current flows from the river. Approximately 1500 feet of river bank was re-rocked with 12-24" stone. Major sponsors of this project are WI DNR, Shadows on the Wolf, Sturgeon for Tomorrow and Waupaca County Parks. Corporate players involved in facilitating this project include: Wisconsin Interstate Contracting, Lunda Construction, Ort Trucking, Storm Equipment, and MCC.
Clintonville Pigeon Lake Kayak Rental Kiosk
by Jon Pahl
The Kayak Kiosk Saga
June 13, 2025
The Dedication of the Kayak Rental Kiosk at Pigeon Lake, Clintonville
By Jon Pahl
Well, it’s not exactly kayaking weather, is it? But it is Friday the 13th—and we’re claiming that day to celebrate what is the result of years of work and great community collaboration.
The idea of a kayak rental kiosk was conjured at our dining room table, inspired especially by my wife, Lisa—who thought it would be great to give people an opportunity to get on the water. Lisa and I love being on the lake—in a kayak or on our pontoon boat, and more often than not we discovered when we moved here eight years ago: we had the lake to ourselves.
Now, that’s not so bad—we’re happy there are no wake-boats and very few jet-skies on Pigeon Lake, but we sincerely hoped that others would come to enjoy the birds, fish, and shoreline views that we did, and the gentle lapping of waves as we paddled placidly on the water. There’s nothing quite like the feeling of being right down on the water—on the margin of another aquatic world. What we also discovered from participating in the Cops and Bobbers event was that LOTS of children and families in greater Clintonville had never been on the water of Pigeon Lake—in any kind of watercraft.
So, as the team working on our 5-year Lake Management Plan sat around the table in our dining room, this kiosk project was born.
That was nearly three years ago. And there have been many struggles since. To our surprise, not all of the Board members thought it was a good idea. And not everyone in the community thought providing this service to the community was a good idea. Getting this done was a fight, in fact. The first time it came up for a vote in our Annual Meeting, it was voted down—in a tie vote. The acrimony, even hatred, that was stirred up by this modest effort to provide a service that many other communities around us have madeavailable to citizens was truly unfortunate. More than once, we considered just dropping it.
And let’s be clear: this isn’t about making money for the Pigeon Lake District—even though we can, with robust usership, earn our money back in five years. And, once we got past that first bad meeting, the project gained increasing community support. The City of Clintonville’s Tourism Commission made a generous contribution of $5,000, for which we are grateful. And Shadows on the Wolf made the same generous contribution: again, we’re grateful. And the community came out in force to the 2nd Annual Meeting when this kiosk was on the table—and the vote passed by a 2 to 1 majority, after a lively, and spirited (to put it nicely) debate. We’re grateful for that community support—including the Chamber of Commerce and Tina Schulke, the City of Clintonville—City Administrator Caz Muske and Director of Public Works, Justin McAuly, Shadows on the Wolf and Dan Bouchette, and many, many others. Thank you all.
And I’d be remiss if I didn’t thank our Special Projects Coordinator, Trish Dawson, for guiding the project from beginning until now, doing the research on providers, gathering data and publicizing the request for proposals, and seeing the details through regarding insurance, permitting, and coordinating with the city. Thank you, Trish.
We do not, again, expect this kiosk to make money. That’s not what this is about. Obviously, our partner in the project—Whenever Watersports, is eager for people to make use of these four single kayaks, two tandems, and two stand-up paddle-boards. They’re here for the community. We hope they’ll be widely used—once summer actually shows up!
But the deeper significance of this modest kiosk is to point to how community good will can get things done here in Clintonville. We did this, and we’re not done, yet. We hope to install a safe and easy kayak launch here, to facilitate the use of these watercraft, and for the use of other kayakers as well (I don’t know about you, but as I get older, my knees don’t bend like they used
to!) And we’re planning to bring back our kayak race—pitting teams from different city agencies and non-profits against each other for some fun rivalry.
So, stay tuned! We’re thankful to dedicate today this kayak kiosk to the citizens of Clintonville, and we’re grateful for the support that brought it here. Thank you for coming today. Let’s cut that ribbon and get back to our fireplaces!
