Rooted

For many visitors, Pattison and Amnicon Falls State Parks are places to spend an afternoon, hike beside rushing water, gather with family, or discover something new. One local family takes reunions to a different level by serving together on the Friends of Pattison and Amnicon Falls State Parks board. Their ties to these prominent landscapes in northwestern Wisconsin represent something even deeper: a longstanding legacy, actively sustaining something for their children and grandchildren, who will one day become their caretakers.

The Sanda family’s connection to the outdoors began well before its involvement with the Friends group. Sisters Sue Sanda and JoAnn Hudacek remember how their father’s work for the City of Superior and its parks helped instill in them an appreciation for nature, recreation, and public service. That influence became part of the family’s identity.

Those values continued into adulthood; JoAnn worked for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, and Sue’s children also gained experience working with the department. Sue’s son, Dave, is a Wisconsin Conservation Warden. Through those roles, the family came to understand that a state park does not sustain itself. Behind every maintained trail, safe bridge, educational program, and welcoming public space, are people committed to caring for it.

Bill Eldred, a ranger who spent approximately 20 years at Amnicon Falls State Park, played an especially important role in bringing that commitment into the Friends organization. When the group needed someone to help carry its work forward, he asked JoAnn to become involved and take the lead. She, in turn, asked members of her family to join her.

What began as an invitation became a Sanda family tradition. Today, the board and volunteers are largely composed of more than ten relatives who contribute their individual talents while sharing a common purpose. They describe themselves as service-oriented, with most of the family naturally drawn to the outdoors and concerned about the environment. Their involvement extends from how they were raised: work hard, care for what has been entrusted to you, and leave something worthwhile for those who follow.

The parks have also come to feel like an extension of home because of the people who work there and the knowledge the Sanda family has gained over time. JoAnn admits to being particularly partial to Amnicon. Years of familiarity have helped her notice quiet features and hidden corners that many visitors may pass without ever discovering. For Sue, some of the strongest connections are personal. She remembers spending time in the park with her mother-in-law, Cheryl. A memorial bench at Little Falls now provides a lasting place of reflection, joining the family’s memories with the landscape itself. These connections help explain why their service is about more than completing a list of projects. Each effort adds another layer to the family’s story while helping thousands of other families create stories of their own.

Bill Eldred working the Apple Press at Fallfest. Behind every maintained trail, safe bridge, educational program, and welcoming public space are people committed to caring for it. The Sanda family has decades of volunteering experience.

PHOTO CREDIT SUE SANDA

The work is not always easy. Sometimes the number of volunteers feels thin, and the list of needs feels long. Yet the family remains motivated by the children who arrive at the parks eager to explore. They want to expand relationships with schools and youth organizations so more young people can experience the outdoors and understand why these places matter.

In an era when tablets, phones, and other electronics compete constantly for children’s attention, introducing young people to hands-on stewardship has become especially important. Sometimes that introduction begins with something simple—planting flowers, creating pollinator habitat, or picking up sticks during an Earth Day project. JoAnn’s granddaughter, Eliana, has already participated in planting efforts, demonstrating how easily a tradition can begin when a child is invited to help. Young volunteers may not immediately understand the long-term effect of their work, but they can see that their hands made a difference.

The Friends group also looks for ways to engage high school students seeking volunteer hours and collaborates with organizations such as the Boy Scouts. During Fall Fest, Scouts have contributed to the celebration by preparing apple cobbler. These partnerships provide needed help, but they also introduce young people to the satisfaction of serving a place without expecting anything in return.

“Not letting the outdoors die” is at the heart of the Sanda family’s motivation. Programs they experienced with their own children should remain available for the next generation. Trails, bridges, gardens, and gathering places should continue welcoming people long after today’s volunteers have finished their work. JoAnn takes pride in her work on the pollinator garden and in placing benches where visitors can rest and appreciate the setting. Like many Friends’ projects, the garden combines environmental stewardship with public enjoyment. It is both habitat and invitation.

Serving alongside relatives has taught the Sanda family lessons that extend beyond park stewardship. Family members who have known one another for a lifetime must still learn to listen, consider unfamiliar ideas, and understand perspectives outside their own comfort zones. They have learned to recognize one another’s strengths as well. One person may bring computer knowledge or organizational ability, while someone else is ready to perform hands-on labor. Another may simply offer creativity. Their success does not depend on everyone contributing in the same way; it comes from allowing each person to bring what they do best to a shared goal. The values guiding these efforts are the same ones their parents taught them as children: maintain a strong work ethic and try to do things correctly the first time. They want to see the parks continue growing and offering new experiences while remaining attractive, cared for, and welcoming

It takes patience, but that collaboration shows up in projects throughout the parks. Family members have assisted with bridge work and painted railings, knowing that these seemingly ordinary tasks help keep visitors safe and make park features accessible. They have organized events that sometimes succeeded beyond expectations and sometimes presented challenges. In either case, they learned, adapted, and carried those lessons into the next project.

That requires today’s visitors and volunteers to take responsibility for results they may never personally see. A newly planted garden will need time to mature. A child introduced to volunteering may not become a conservation leader for many years. Improvements completed now may primarily benefit people the current volunteers will never meet. The reward is the joy of helping without expecting recognition in return. It is the satisfaction of walking through a park, pointing to a railing, bridge, garden, or program and knowing “we had a hand in that.” Their work has helped keep these properties safe, accessible, and ready to welcome others.

For the Sandas, that delayed reward does not make the work less meaningful; it makes it more important. They believe that when people understand the challenges facing public places, they are more likely to help—whether by cleaning up, encouraging others to behave responsibly, volunteering, or supporting a Friends group. Those who carry a passion for the outdoors often need only an invitation to pitch in.

Bench donated in memory of Sue’s mother in law, Cheryl Sanda. This was her quiet place which has become ours. A memorial bench at Little Falls now provides a lasting place of reflection, joining the family’s memories with the landscape itself.

PHOTO CREDIT SUE SANDA

That is the family story they hope will never be forgotten: hard work pays off, especially when it is performed in service to something larger than oneself. Their advice to other families considering a tradition of service is simple: stick with it. Working with relatives is not always easy. Different personalities, ideas, and expectations can create challenges. But when a family learns to listen, relies on each person’s strengths and remains focused on a shared purpose, the experience can be extraordinarily rewarding.

At Pattison and Amnicon Falls state parks, that reward can be found in every completed project, every child introduced to nature and every family that leaves with a new memory. It lives in the connection between grandparents, parents, children, and grandchildren—and in their promise to keep these beloved places cared for long into the future.