Veterans on the Lake Resort

1982 Disabled Veterans Recreation, Inc. was organized for the explicit purpose of working on a program to create a recreational facility for the disabled veterans of our country. The idea for a non-profit facility to specifically serve the special needs of the disabled veteran, veterans, their families and friends came about in 1982, when a group of northeastern Minnesota citizens met and organized Disabled Veterans Recreation, Inc.

1983 Sunny Dene and Squaw Bay resorts were purchased by the federal government under the provisions of the Boundary Waters Canoe Wilderness Act of 1978. That act, which severely limits the use of outboard motors and snowmobiles in the wilderness area, gave the resort owners the option of having the government buy them out which they did. The owners of these resorts felt that without the use of motors, they faced loss of customers and financial ruin. These properties are usually demolished by the US Forest Service but a provision of the 1978 act allows the government purchased resorts to be used in programs designed for the disabled and handicapped. Veterans on the Lake was established with the explicit purpose of providing a recreational opportunity for our disabled veterans. It was the feeling of many that there is a national debt owed to these people and this was one wayto repay them.

1984 Veterans on the Lake provided recreational opportunities for 800 disabled veterans. In 2002 that number had increased to 1,300 disabled veterans.

Veterans on the Lake (VOTL) offers close proximity to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. VOTL is one of the few recreational facilities that are exclusively for disabled veterans and non-veteran disabled in the nation. VOTL is a private non-profit facility not affiliated with the Veterans Administration or any veteran's organization and there is no government subsidy.

Support for VOTL over the years has come from: the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board, Boundary Waters Conservation Alliance, Crane Lake Commercial Club, State of Minnesota, Tip of the Arrowhead Association, S.P.O.R.T.S., Area Miners and Steelworkers Association, Range Actioneers Club for the Handicapped of Hibbing, MN, Ely Area Development Council, Disabled American Veterans of MN, Assistant Commissioner of Veterans Affairs, Minnkota, Sterns, Luhr Jensen, Parker Brothers, Bi-Lateral Amputee Club of America, Military Order of the Purple Heart, Inland Steel, Lions Clubs, Women's Life Club #81, Elk's Clubs, American Legions, VFWs, US Rep. James Oberstar; US Sen. Dave Durenberger; Governor Albert Quie; US Rep. Joe Begich; Linda Wold, Chief of Recreation, Veterans Administration Medical Center, St. Cloud, MN; Governor Rudy Perpich; US Senator Doug Johnson; US Rep. David Battaglia; US Sen. Rudy Boschwitz; Paralyzed Veterans of America; American Ex-POWs; and the many, many individual donors.
The following veterans homes have visited VOTL annually since the early years: MN Veterans Home of Hastings; Iowa City, Iowa Veterans Home; MN Veterans Home, Fergus Falls; Minneapolis Veterans Home, Minneapolis; St. Cloud Veterans Administration Hospital patients. With the facility being primarily oriented towards recreation and not for therapy the experience is still highly therapeutic.

Feedback from guests routinely has been positive with two areas scoring high: the food service and the quality of staff.

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Soundings, Section B, page 2, April 1983