On Deck Clothing Company has been in business for 31 years, but owner Mitch Larson’s family traces a Door County history that dates back several generations. It’s no stretch to say that his family has helped to build today’s unique local community.
Mitch’s mother’s grandmother, Mrs. William Wenzel Bunda, opened a drug store in Sister Bay in the late 1800s. Located at the corner of Maple Drive and Highway 42, she owned and operated the store for many years. Her first cash register could calculate no sale greater than $2.99 and the majority of her business was actually conducted through a barter system. Basically, bolts of cloth, boots, hatpins and pocket watches were exchanged for eggs and butter. Destroyed by a fire in 1912, the store was rebuilt and subsequently sold to Mrs. Bunda’s son, William Bunda. He operated the store until it was destroyed by a fire in 1941. Interestingly enough, the entrepreneurial William also leased the C.E. Lundberg General Store of Fish Creek, now known as On Deck Clothing Company.
Hazel Elquist Larson, Mitch’s grandmother on his father’s side, also grew up in Door County. She was born and raised in Liberty Grove Township on land that is now part of Newport State Park, and her father, Emil Elquist, Mitch’s great grandfather, was a carpenter by trade. Hazel was once quoted as saying of her father, “Dad walked to work every day, there was nothing to ride in those days. So he walked. He built the Edgewater Hotel in Ephraim — that was a long walk — and all kinds of homes in Ellison Bay.”
As a teenager, Hazel worked in many restaurants in the county, including the Garrett Bay Hotel, the Birchwood Hotel and the Pine Grove Hotel. While working at the Pine Grove she would wait on the vacationers who visited the county via steamers from Chicago. She was quoted as saying of the tourists, “They came by Goodrich Steamer and when they left they usually left me a $10 tip.”
Hazel married fisherman and cherry grower Everett Larson in 1933. Following her marriage, Hazel worked in local hotels and in the orchards. She canned pickles and was quoted as saying, “I still can 50 jars of pickles every fall but they all walk out of here. Mitch can’t get enough of my pickles.”
Hazel and Everett had two children, Wink and Betty. Wink, Mitch’s father, ran a summer fish boil and founded the now-defunct “Nor-Ski Ridge.” The ski ridge was a ski hill in Fish Creek that taught an entire generation the art of downhill skiing. Wink had been on ski patrol in Garmish, Germany while with the U.S. army in the 1950’s. Following a trip to Aspen, Colorado, he was inspired to build his own ski hill in Fish Creek. Nor-Ski offered a variety of hill types that appealed to skiers of all abilities.
Mitch grew up working alongside his father in all of his varied endeavors. He peeled potatoes for the fish boils and worked on the ski hill. Not surprisingly, Mitch brought all that hard work, attention to quality and detail to On Deck Clothing Company and today is simply following in the rich tradition of his many Door County ancestors.
