The SS Edmund Fitzgerald. (Image via the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers)
A new collection of works by Duluthians speaks to their changing relationship to Lake Superior. I am including the intro, which I wrote, below. For more, visit openrivers.lib.umn.edu.
Bob Dylan arrived in Duluth for a holiday ski party at Spirit Mountain on Dec. 20, 1975. The ski hill had just opened one year prior.
Duluth’s Steve Solkela partners with Maria Voltaine, Miska Kajanus and Jaakko Manninen to form the Finnish-American novelty band Hauliwood Dreams for this parody of Kim Wilde’s 1981 hit “Kids in America.” The “Finns in America” lyrics are by Voltaine.
Duluth artist Jonathan Thunder’s new movie, Ish Meets a Mermaid, is in the submission process for the national film festival circuit. The story invovles an artist in a slump who meets a mysterious woman from a realm beneath Lake Superior and finds success in the last place he ever expected — death.
This postcard was mailed 115 years ago from Duluth, and therefore presumably shows a home in Duluth that might still be standing.
Steve Solkela performs the Christmas song “En Etsi Valtaa, Loistoa” or “I Seek Not Power, or Glory,” composed by Jean Sibelius. He dedicates the song to the recently departed Rev. Martti Hyhkö of Ontario, Canada.
The animated adventure comedy In Your Dreams, which premiered on Netflix in November, references Duluth six times. The four relevant scenes are in the pirated video embedded above.
Plot: The family life of 12-year-old Stevie and her younger brother Elliot is threatened when their mother announces her desire to move the family to Duluth.
How well do you know the song “Christmas City”? Put your knowledge to the test with this edition of the PDD Quiz.
A 2025-in-review quiz comes your way on Dec. 28. Please submit question suggestions to Alison Moffat at [email protected] by Dec. 21.
[Editor’s note: For this week’s essay we’ve once again pulled out a relic from the archive of Slim Goodbuzz, who served as Duluth’s “booze connoisseur” from 1999 to 2009. Twenty-five years ago the Sultan of Sot paid a visit to Tyomies, 601 Tower Ave. in Superior, and composed this article for the Dec. 12, 2000 edition of the Ripsaw newspaper. Tyomies closed at some point prior to 2014, when Sweeden Sweets took over the space.]
This restroom is huge! And everything is squeaky clean, but already there’s a dude in here christening the place with a bleeeeeeeee yyyyyyyyyy aaaaaaaaa kkkkkkkkkkk. He’s paying homage to the porcelain god, and the porcelain god is shiny new and still has a sticker on it. When he finishes, he positively springs back up on his feet — happy as can be — then flushes and gives me a wink and a thumbs-up before heading out the door.
I love when a new bar opens in town. For one thing, there are usually a lot of drink specials to attract new clientele. Also, unlike in every other bar in this rat-ass city, no one there knows me, so the staff is usually pretty friendly to me. In addition to that, new places are usually pretty empty, so there’s little chance of someone there ruining my buzz for me. I try to hit a new bar a couple of times before all of you losers discover it and wreck the place by making me deal with you.
Patrick and Sandy Baumann, dressed and ready for families to arrive at the fourth annual Quiet Santa event in November. (Photo by Julia Guttenfelder)
Each year, as the snow begins to fall, families crowd into chaotic shopping centers and join the staggered lines, waiting for their turn to meet Santa Claus. It’s a beloved holiday tradition, but it can be overwhelming for children with sensory processing challenges.
Among the smiling, happy faces found on a Google image search for “kids on Santa’s lap” are many photos of wailing youngsters squirming on Santa’s knee while he tries to keep a pleasant and slightly strained smile, unsure of what to do next.
Recognizing the need for a more subdued St. Nick to greet children with autism or other sensory needs, Fairlawn Mansion in Superior held its first Quiet Santa event in 2021.
Duluth’s Chuck Haavik has a new EP, Friend For the End of the World. The single “Nothing to Say,” embedded above, features Dave Mehling on electric guitar, Emily Haavik on backing vocals and Luke Mirau on drums. Mehling produced and mixed the album.
Haavik’s EP release show is Dec. 27 at Wussow’s Concert Cafe.
The latest video from “The Frozen Photog” Adam Jagunich features scenes from sunset at Park Point and Brighton Beach in Duluth.
These photos of Duluth Streetcar 166 were purchased recently on eBay from a reseller who didn’t know anything about them or the other Duluth transportation photos in the lot. This one above is labelled with the time 2 p.m., date 10/27/30 and the initials ETM.
This postcard of Duluth’s friendly West End was mailed 115 years ago today — Dec. 8, 1910. The recipient was Mrs. Joseph Lindquist of Kerkhoven, Minnesota. The perspective is from the Point of Rocks at West Fourth Street, looking southwest.
