About the New Owners
Pine Stump has new owners as of May 1, 2011!
Locals Larry & Genna White, Father and Daughter
have lived 5 miles north of Pine Stump Junction on Perch Lake since 1993. Larry has been a builder for over 30 years. He is an avid outdoorsmen and snowmobiler. His oldest daughter Genna has worked in food service & restaurant management since 2004 and has a bachelor's degree in Fine Art from MSU.
A LITTLE BIT ABOUT LARRY WHITE:
In the mid 1980’s I started visiting the area to snowmobile. After awhile we bought property on Perch Lake and built a small polebarn for our sleds and threw in some beds and a woodstove. My cousin Johnny helped put in a make-shift kitchen, bathroom and outdoor hottub that we left running so it would be ready upon our arrival. When we had to leave we would roll up the carpet and pull the sleds in. The girls loved sleeping in bunk beds, playing in the snow, running their Kitty Cat snowmobile around the yard and hottubin’. All my snowsledding buddies loved coming up and we would pack on the miles, enjoy drinks in the hottub at night and eating breakfast in the hot tub in the morning.
In 1993 my wife Shari, our 3 daughters, the dog, the cat and I moved into that 24’ by 24’ converted polebarn because we were so excited to move to the lake. There’s nothing like living on Perch Lake with the Two Hearted river literally in the front yard and Lake Superior in the backyard. We love the freedom of living in the middle of the woods, catching huge fish and experiencing awesome deer hunting “out at Deer Camp”.
We broke ground on our new house in the spring of 1994. Lucky for me Mickey Schmidt introduced me to Mick McNamara; both have camps on Perch Lake. Mick has lived in Newberry his entire life and knew all the locals I needed to talk to. From Howard Baulks the Excavator to Gary Moore the Well Driller and our ole’ buddies Gus and Louise Walker who cut all of our cedar logs. It was even more convenient because Mick is the owner of McNamara Logging and helped me locate all of the logs for rafters, paneling, flooring, and even Cherry for our kitchen cabinets from Donny Craig. Our entire home is built out of local wood.
I spent the next several years building our log home and collecting Lake Superior stone for our 10’ x 30’ fireplace. As our home was reaching completion I started taking on additional building projects in the area. I’ve built everything from decks, sheds, garages, polebarns, additions, and camps. I’ve worked with ceramic tile to tin roofing and everything in-between. Now my only project is to help my daughter remodel and run Pine Stump, just 5 minutes from home at Perch Lake.
A LITTLE BIT ABOUT GENNA WHITE:
Growing up on Perch Lake was great. My sisters and I spent the summers swimming, 4-wheeling and working at Deer Park Lodge and winters skiing, snowmobiling and cheerleading at Tahquamenon Area Schools. After graduation I was on a mission to try out pretty much every college major and career path imaginable. My resume includes: Stained Glass Expert, Jewelry Instructor, Warehouse Worker, Accessories Store Manager, Restaurant Hostess, Office Assistant, Waitress, Substitute School Nurse, Librarian’s Assistant, Bartender, Professional Painter, Restaurant & Banquet Manager, Ceramics Instructor, Special Events Coordinator, Bank Teller, once again a Cashier/Housekeeper at Deer Park Lodge, State Park Assistant Ranger and a Substitute Teacher at Tahquamenon Area Schools.
Many of these jobs I did while attending college full time. I finally stuck to a major long enough to graduate in 2009. I earned a Bachelor’s Degree of Fine Art in Ceramics and Graphic Design from Michigan State University. As is often the case with college students, I’ve had 9 different addresses in 10 years. I’ve lived in Newberry, Lansing, East Lansing, Warrensburg Missouri, Haslett, a short time in Florence Italy and now back in Newberry. Always exploring and trying new things I’ve learned a million life lessons along the way. While in Italy I learned one of the most valuable lessons of my life: if I can survive being ill and lost, at night, in a foreign country where I don’t really speak the language, thousands of miles from anyone I know and make it back to my room in one piece, I can do anything!
With this newly found strength it occurred to me, while I was home visiting, that I didn’t want to live in the city anymore. As reluctant as I was to the idea of moving home at 27yrs old I really, really didn’t want an urban lifestyle ANYMORE. So two hours later I called my poorly paying, part time job and quit. By the next week I had two full time jobs and started trying to figure out what I wanted to do, longterm. The pieces were coming together slowly: I like being creative, working with people, and living north of Newberry again. I had worked for many small business owners over the years and I kind of liked the idea of owning my own business. While discussing possible business ventures in the area my Dad threw out the idea of Pine Stump.
It made sense! I’ve managed restaurants before, waitressed, bartended, and done lots of office work plus my Dad is a builder so he could transform the place to my specifications! So here I am, back in my hometown, happily dating an old high school boyfriend, and opening Pine Stump with my Dad.