Wood Brothers Step in as Valentini Prepares to Leave the Gunflint Trail

GUNFLINT TRAIL – Mi­chael Valentini rarely picks up his cell phone. The fact that he did last summer, inside the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, Tenn., of all places, is something of an anomaly.

“I see the phone ringing and it’s a number from Kansas that I don’t know and for some rea­son I stepped into the corner of the room and said hello,” Val­entini recently said from inside his large garage at the end of the Gunflint Trail. “I’m standing there in the Country Music Hall of Fame and the person on the phone says, ‘I want to buy your business.’”

The person on the phone was Shawn Wood. He was calling from his home near Topeka, Kan. Less than a year after that phone call was made, Wood and his brother Luke are indeed running Valentini’s business. In fact, they now own it.

Valentini Property Services, a handyman enterprise widely recognized for installation and up­keep on sprinkler systems that pro­tect homes during wildfires, is now operating under the name Wood Brothers Property Services. The sale and transfer of the business name started last fall and was com­pleted over the winter. Valentini sold the business to the Wood broth­ers for approximately $150,000.

Michael and his wife, Sally, first arrived to the Gunflint Trail in May 1999. In the 26 years that have followed, Michael and Sally have impacted the Gunflint Trail in the way people who leave a mark here do: By embracing it. They’re both dedicated volunteers, serving for many years with organizations like the Gunflint Trail Historical Soci­ety and the Gunflint Trail Volunteer Fire Department.

For his part, Michael became what current residents of the Trail described as “the go-to person” for anything that needs to get accom­plished up the Gunflint. He installs docks for home and cabin owners with lakeshore property. He builds structures. He repairs water lines. For Valentini, there’s no task too small, and seemingly few too large. This business model is being trans­ferred to Shawn and Luke as they take over operations. And they’ve literally hit the ground running.

“We’re working 15 hours days most days,” Shawn said recently from the end of the Gunflint Trail.

Shawn, 30, and Luke, 24, along with their partners Emily (who is now working as a nurse at the hos­pital in Grand Marais) and Aspen, and another acquaintance who trav­eled north from Kansas, are resid­ing at a property on the north side of Loon Lake. The Wood family has owned the property since the early 1970s. Shawn and Luke’s great-grandfather, Ernest Schmidt, was a longtime friend of the Ker­foot family on nearby Gunflint Lake. Schmidt was also friends with the likes of conservationist and writer Sigurd Olson over on the Ely side of the Boundary Waters. In fact, the family cabin the Wood brothers occupy on Loon Lake is a replica of Olson’s iconic cabin at Listening Point on Burntside Lake near Ely.

“From what we hear about him, our great-grandpa was real­ly well known around here and involved in a lot of things back in his time,” Shawn said.

Similarly, and much like Val­entini did, the Wood brothers are getting involved in many as­pects of Trail life. They recent­ly signed up to join the Gunflint Trail Volunteer Fire Department. They attended the canoe races on Gunflint Lake July 16 helping to raise money for the fire depart­ment. They’re meeting new peo­ple every day, Luke said, and they’re busy getting their Loon Lake property ready for what will be their first winter up the Gunflint.

As they navigate a whirlwind of change, including moving some 800 miles from Kansas to the Gunflint Trail, the Wood brothers are also grieving. In early June, their other brother, 25-year-old Tyler, lost his bat­tle with depression, Shawn said. Tyler spent time up the Gun­flint Trail last fall learning some of the ins and outs of the work they’d be doing if they bought Valentini’s business. Tyler met sev­eral people who live on the Gun­flint during that time, and the loss of their brother has added a layer of unexpected sadness to their first summer on the Trail.

“We’re doing our best,” Shawn said of the emotions involved with losing their brother.

Just down the road from Loon Lake, where the brothers are resid­ing, is Shari Baker at Gunflint Pines Resort. Shari met Tyler last fall and has become a friend and patron of the Wood brothers and their business.

“It’s nice to see the younger generation with history in the area move here to set up a live­lihood,” she said. “I appreciate that they enjoy the North Woods as it is, rather than bring the city with them.”

Shari said the Wood brothers seem to have a wide array of knowledge, abilities, and “the desire to be part of the commu­nity.”

“In my experiences with them so far,” she said, “they’re good, honest, hardworking North Woods type people.”

Luke said the people they’ve met working on the Gunflint Trail this summer, and the way they’ve been embraced by the local residents, has been a wel­come complement to all the la­bor they’ve been doing in recent months.

“This community is unlike any­thing we’ve ever experienced,” he said. “It’s a fantastic place.”

To contact the Wood Brothers for handyman services, dock installa­tion, sprinkler system maintenance, or plumbing, or other assistance you might need with a property in Cook County, visit their website: https://www.woodbrothersps.com/.