The Crossroads at Big Creek in Sturgeon Bay is getting financial help for the sixth annual middle school Big Dig.  The nature preserve received a $5,285 grant from the Wisconsin Humanities Council.  That money will be used to hire professional archaeologists to supervise the 2020 dig.  While past excavations have yielded pre-historic Native American artifacts, Coggin Heeringa, the Crossroads Program Director and Naturalist, says this year's dig will focus on a site settled by Europeans.  She hopes it may also give some clues on how Native Americans were impacted by previously unknown diseases.

A date for Big Dig 2020 has not yet been set.  Heeringa says among the details being worked out are practicing social distancing during the dig while giving participants ample opportunity to take part.