A few weeks ago, the staff at WELY radio came across a 1970 recording of a program that had not been broadcast in several years.

Prior to that discovery, General Manager Joany Haag said she had gotten some encouragement from the station owners, the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa, to produce a show about life in this unique land. In particular, she had discussed the idea for a long time with Bois Forte Development Corporation CEO Gary Gotchnik.

And it set the staff to thinking about resurrecting an old theme but with current characters and a fresh voice.

So they came up with End of the Road Ventures, a new show that aired for the first time last Sunday. According to WELY Program Director Brett Ross, it’s more about the outdoors than anything.

“We want to highlight the myriad of ways people use the wilderness up here,” he said.

When he first started at the station 11 years ago, Ross said he heard a lot about two popular programs. One was Fisherman’s Headquarters.

“Many people told me, ‘that’s the best outdoor show I’ve ever heard,’” he said.

The other program was Camp Talk and featured people like Bob Cary, Jim Brandenburg and Steve Piragis. He said the station wanted to return to those types of shows.

“There are a lot of syndicated shows. But we’re trying to do something truly unique with the Boundary Waters region,” he said. “I think it will be better than a lot of the syndicated shows.”

The host for End of the Road Ventures is Sarah Levar, familiar to many as the director of the Dorothy Molter Museum.

Haag said she knew of Levar’s past radio experience and had been in contact with her intermittently regarding possible on-air openings. By chance, Levar called her at the time the outdoor show was being discussed. She told Haag that her schedule was more open in winter and she would be willing to fill-in behind the microphone. But Haag introduced more extensive plans.

“At first, Sarah wasn’t sure if she wanted [an entire show],” Haag said. “But she thought about it and I think it’s a creative outlet for her.”

Ross said he doesn’t think they could have picked a better host. Levar’s position at the Dorothy Molter Museum situates her well for understanding local history and she knows a lot of the old characters around Ely.

“She’s connected to anyone still around who knew Dorothy Molter. Her husband works for the DNR. She’s deeply involved in the outdoors around here. They run sled dogs and do a lot of ice fishing,” Ross said.

Levar said that though the general theme pertains to anything related to the outdoors, her focus and interest are twofold: 1) to have a fun Sunday evening show, and 2) to create an oral history of incredibly interesting characters in northeastern Minnesota.

She recently attended an oral history workshop at the Association of Midwest Museums conference in St. Paul and she knows the importance of old tales.

“There are so many stories in this area that need to be captured and voiced. If we don’t get them now, it will be too late,” she said.

Her first show featured long-time seasonal resident Bob Cotton who has spent summers in Ely since 1962. He told tales of a core group of people he camped with on Knife Lake over the years. Levar said they ran out of air time for a lot of his stories, so he’ll need to return for more.

“He had to get back in the woods to check his whitefish nets on Fall Lake,” she said.

The show isn’t limited to just tales from old-timers. Levar plans on a mix of other components as well.

“I’m married to a hunter and fisherman and I have quite a repertoire of wild game recipes,” she said.

She’ll also offer readings from outdoor books. The first in the series is The Last Light Breaking by Nick Jans who wrote about his 14 years of outdoor adventure while teaching in the Native Alaskan village of Ambler.

Levar is not one to horde all the fun. She encourages contributions from anyone who is willing to pass them along. This includes wild game recipes, stories of their own and maybe other things.

“I wouldn’t mind sharing a clean joke or two, but they’re few and far between,” she added.

Ross said on-line capabilities extend their audience for the show by keeping long-distance visitors in touch.

“One of the most frequent comments I get from on-line listeners is they like getting a little slice of what’s going on in Ely when they’re at home,” he said. It keeps them connected when they’re not here. They’ll hear reports from just down the road from their cabin or what Ely is like in winter.”

With hunting season coming up, he said he hopes they’ll get stories from deer camps. Though the show is recorded, he encourages hunters to either send or call in their adventures. The e-mail address is welydj@wely.com.

Those who call in will need to leave their story on the station’s voice mail. The recording will be put into their computer system for possible broadcast on the show. The best times to call are evenings during the week, and after noon on Saturdays and Sundays. The phone number is 218-365-4444.

“I’m really excited about it,” Ross said. “We put in a lot of time to make it smooth, easy to listen to, fun and informative.”

End of the Road Ventures airs on Sunday evenings from 6-7 p.m. This week’s guest is retired conservation officer Jim Charles from Lake Vermilion.