What is new for Northwoods Drifter in 2026
When Chelsey Leet looked at that cramped storage closet in Walker’s General Store, she saw possibility. Her friend Rachel Budzynski, cutting hair across the street in a space barely big enough for one barber chair, needed room to grow.
What happened next earned Tomahawk two honors at Wisconsin’s 35th Main Street Awards ceremony — proof that small-town vision can hold its own against projects from Milwaukee and Green Bay.
Rae’s Barbershop and Walker’s General Store won Best Interior Small Scale Renovation for transforming what used to be a 1950s optometry office into a fully accessible modern barbershop. The space Budzynski moved into isn’t just bigger — it’s thoughtfully designed.
Eleet Carpentry, a local contractor, restored the original ceiling while installing new windows that flood the shop with natural light. New floors and walls blend vintage barbershop character with contemporary style.
“My old space was very small,” Budzynski said. “We had talked about adding an additional barber at some point and I could not do that in my other space.”
The renovation gave Budzynski something rare in small-town businesses: space to expand. She now has room for a second barber, a wheelchair-accessible sink, and her own washer and dryer.
But the real win? The community atmosphere that thrives in those extra square feet.
“There’s a lot of people who will come in and they’ll know the person before them or the person after them, so it’s just like an old school barbershop where they just sit and chat and catch up and we really like that vibe.”
That’s the kind of gathering spot Northwoods towns need — places where neighbors connect while waiting for a trim, where local news travels faster than social media.
Tomahawk didn’t stop at one win. The Rainmakers, a volunteer group that tends downtown flower baskets and planters along W. Wisconsin Avenue during those early summer mornings, earned the 2025 Community Champion award.
Jennifer Turkiewicz, Executive Director of Tomahawk Main Street Inc., was recognized for five years of service. She noted that Tomahawk held its own competing against much larger Wisconsin cities — a point of pride for a town that knows its downtown matters.
Walker’s General Store manager Chelsey Leet made clear this wasn’t about trophies. “One of the main things we wanted to do was to continue to grow this space as it was and contribute to and grow Main Street,” she said. “Our main goal for being on Main Street is to help Main Street flourish and have businesses that operate.”
The Wisconsin Main Street Awards, administered by the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, celebrate downtown revitalization across the state. This year’s ceremony took place at the Grand Theater in Wausau.
Several other Tomahawk projects landed as finalists:
That’s a lot of recognition for one downtown. It signals something bigger than individual projects — a community committed to keeping its heart beating strong.
Walker’s General Store isn’t trying to be some big-box retailer. It’s an all-trades store where you can find what you need, run into folks you know, and maybe discover your neighbor just opened a barbershop in back.
That’s the advantage small towns have — the ability to adapt old spaces for new purposes, to build community into every renovation, to know that a bigger barbershop means more than square footage.
Budzynski’s customers sit and chat while waiting. They catch up on life. They know each other’s names. Try getting that at a chain salon off the highway.
Tomahawk’s Main Street success shows what’s possible when business owners invest in their downtown rather than abandoning it for strip malls. When volunteers show up on summer mornings to water flowers. When a storage closet becomes a gathering place.
Other Northwoods towns watching Tomahawk’s wins might see a blueprint — or at least an invitation to imagine what their own empty storefronts and underused spaces could become.
Written by
Mike has been coming up or living in the Northwoods since his childhood. He is also an avid outdoorsman, writer and supper club aficionado.
NewsRetired Wabeno teacher Betty White turned decades of classroom dreams into published children’s books—and she’s donating every dollar to help animals at Oneida County Humane Society.
NewsVoters in Merrill and Tomahawk shared what mattered most this spring election — from road repairs to leadership that gets results in Lincoln County’s Northwoods communities.
NewsVilas County residents shared divided but candid views on national direction during spring elections, revealing generational splits and economic anxieties shaping local politics in the Northwoods.
NewsWhat happens after you send that DNR water sample to the lab? Inside Northern Lake Service in Crandon, precision chemistry hunts for forever chemicals at concentrations smaller than a drop in a swimming pool.