Talk
Chalk
Spring 2025 Volume 9, Issue 1
…from the Hessel School House, home of The Avery Arts & Nature Learning Center
Rich legacies of the past…
Ten years ago, the acquisition and restoration of the Hessel School House was still a dream unfolding, but several dedicated souls, including descendants of Sewell Avery, one of Les Cheneaux’s earliest summer residents in the late 1890s, knew it would happen in time if they stayed true to what it represented…a remarkable reflection of this area’s historical importance and its unique and diverse heritage.
With the celebration of our 10th anniversary less than a year away, this issue of Chalk Talk is focused on the legacies that have enriched the mission* of the Hessel School House and Avery Arts & Nature Learning Center to sustain the values of the Les Cheneaux Islands area and its people through the ages. *Note: The mission was written by Sewell
Avery’s granddaughter, Lenore Follansbee Broughton.
In keeping, E. J. Mertaugh Boat Works is celebrating the 100th Anniversary of its founding in Hessel in 1925 by Eugene J. (Gene) Mertaugh, and the vital role Gene played in the world of wooden boat building through acquiring Chris-Craft’s first franchise. Including Gene, all eight children of early Hessel settler Patrick J. Mertaugh attended the first Hessel School, which was located in what is now the Hessel School House’s parking lot. The latter was built in 1938, with three of Gene’s children and two grandchildren and a number of nieces and nephews attending until it closed 20 years later to merge with Cedarville Schools. As fate would have it in a wonderful way, the following email from Michael Mertaugh was received on March 4th, to evolve into one of our treasured legacies.
Dear Friends at Hessel School House, My Father was born in Hessel in 1911 and attended the former Hessel School. I was not born in Hessel, but I have been coming to Hessel for 80 years (since the summer before I was born). Later, when I married and had a family, Hessel became a cherished part of the lives of my wife and me and of our children and grandchildren. For most of that time, we have had at least one wooden boat in Hessel. We now have a wooden boat stored in Hessel that we would like to offer as a gift to the Hessel Schoolhouse to use in your educational programs, or possibly to help in your fundraising efforts through an auction or raffle. The boat is a fine cedar-on-oak rowing skiff, with copper clinch-nailed laps, and mahogany transom, sheer strake, inwales, and thwart (photos attached). She was built in 1993 by North River Boats in Albany, New York, and has lived in Hessel since we took delivery of her in July 1993. She is equipped with two spruce oars and silicon
Mertaugh Boat Works 1930-31, courtesy of ChrisCraft archives. Adrian Mertaugh is on the right.
Michael rowing his skiff on Hessel Bay last summer.
Continued on next page...
1