Shell Lake dedicates Beach House to volunteer Kenny Schultz after decades of service

Mayor Rowie Hansberger dedicated the Shell Lake Beach House to long-time volunteer and council member Kenny Schultz at the Aug. 12 City Council meeting, recounting Schultz’s decades of civic work and his role in multiple city projects.

In remarks introduced as the Beach House dedication, Hansberger reviewed Schultz’s history in Shell Lake, noting his work on building projects including the pavilion, the new library and city hall, the beach-site registration building and the police station remodel. Hansberger said Schultz ‘‘offered to DONATE his mother's home, to make room for the construction of the present Washburn County Service Center,’’ and said that action helped retain county offices in Shell Lake rather than move them to Spooner.

Hansberger credited Schultz with hands-on volunteer work during the Beach House rehabilitation — including helping with chinking, carpentry, doors, windows and other repairs — and thanked multiple volunteers by name, singling out Jim Boigenzahn for creating the new Beach House sign that includes the dedication. Ken Schultz thanked the community in a brief response, noting his appreciation and recognizing prior mayors and council members.

The council agreed to rehabilitate and rent the Beach House for community use; Hansberger said the restored building—with its large logs and a distinctive fireplace—was now ready for public use and rental. The dedication ceremony recognized Schultz's more than 45 years of volunteer service to the city and the volunteers who worked on the rehab.

The dedication is a ceremonial action recorded in the council minutes; no formal vote on the dedication is recorded in the Aug. 12 minutes.