By Carol Stiffler
Curtis resident Betsy Pollaski gets things done. She’s a wife and mother, a licensed realtor who operates the Key Realty office in Curtis, an outdoorswoman, and a helper. You may have seen her at the former Chamberlin’s Ole Forest Inn, where she worked for two decades.
Pollaski spends her waking hours accomplishing: finding answers and solving problems – almost always for other people. If she’s not doing that, she’s probably outside fishing or snowmobiling.
Pollaski is a 2000 graduate from Newberry High School and has lived in Curtis since 1989.
When her husband, Jason, and friends who love fishing were complaining about the declining quality of the Manistique Lakes fisheries, she searched for something to do about it.
“I still remember the day that the boys were sitting around complaining about the fish in the lakes,” Pollaski said. “And I’m like, ‘Well, isn’t there a club out there that helps stock the lakes and stuff?’ And they’re like, ‘Yeah, I don’t know.’”
Betsy started asking questions, and she learned from Mick Triber at Mick’s Bait Shop that the Portage Angler’s Club was looking for a new president. You can guess who wound up being president: Pollaski.
“When I took it over, what I noticed most was I started asking questions because I couldn’t find the information. And so, right away I decided, okay, we need to get the public involved,” she said. “Let’s let them know that we’re going to ask questions and we’re going to do something about it.”
Now in her fourth year as president of the Portage Angler’s Club, Pollaski has put together an impressive resume. She’s helped raise tens of thousands of dollars to purchase fingerling walleye to stock in the lakes. Pollaski has established a cooperative relationship with the MIchigan Department of Natural Resources and relies on their extensive research on local lakes, their guidance, and permission to stock the lakes. She has helped install fish cribs in Big Manistique Lake so young walleye have a place to grow up. She campaigned for and helped secure help culling cormorants from Big Manistique Lake. She attends overnight fishing surveys to see how the walleye are faring. She plans and manages the Curtis Fish Clash and Frostbite Pike Challenge contests, and brings in donations for the Portage Anglers. And so much more.
She’s a natural.
“I’m a mediator,” she said. She handles challenges efficiently and with a gentle hand. Members of the community and the DNR talk about her with respect and work well with her.
She also loves the act of service. Pollaski mastered that at Chamberlin’s.
“I feel like I grew up at Chamberlin’s,” she said. “My kids grew up at Chamberlin’s. I probably learned my love of serving people at Chamberlin’s and my love of the community from Chamberlin’s.”
Plus, being outside is practically in her DNA.
“Being outside and being on a boat was just part of what we did [growing up],” she said. “I do remember fishing with my uncle on Torch Lake for lakers and the fish weren’t biting. And I remember telling him, ‘Just give it five more minutes.’ And then I caught a nice big laker.”
That quote reached nearly legendary status in her family.
“Like, you know, ‘If you’re ready to give up, Betsy says give it five more minutes.’ And it’s played out for me a lot,” she said. She has requested those five more minutes and hauled in beautiful fish because she stuck it out.
She and her family love to fish and eat those fish, which is part of what drives her to protect and enhance local fisheries.
If trends continue, her efforts will help improve walleye fishing for decades to come.
“What I can do is put my best foot forward and keep trying. And I feel like it gives me a purpose,” she said. “I asked questions and then it’s worked out so far.”
