I was trying to find an old photograph last week and I did not find what I was looking for but I did find something that only a history nerd, Duluth loving, public space adoring, Lake Superior worshiping kid like me would appreciate. So naturally I am posting images here as best I can.
Several images after the jump, so you might not want to try this over dial up or on your smartphone, and if anyone knows how to ge the full image in a downloadable PDF or another handier document type, knock yourself out. I’d love that.
Mrs Goose’ close pal Justy Dodge has the Joke of the Week on Time Out New York. Who knows? Maybe the right person will crack a smile and who knows where that could lead in a city that has launched the careers of ten thousand entertainment icons?
Justy Dodge Photograph: Jakob N. Layman
I remember talking with Justy about leaving a few years back and she had a lot of people telling her to forget it and just stay and sling hash in a diner or something. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but I also admire her pursuit of her dream and I thought I’d share this accomplishment however large or small it may be in the grand scheme of things I was glad to hear about it. It gave me a chuckle anyway.
File:Duluth MN Panorama circa 1890s.jpg
TITLE: Duluth, Minn. CALL NUMBER: PAN US GEOG – Minnesota no. 8 RIGHTS INFORMATION: No known restrictions on publication.
MEDIUM: 1 photographic print : albumen ; 4.5 x 41 in. CREATED/PUBLISHED: [between 1886 and 1905]
RELATED NAMES: Newton, George A., photographer.
This may have been posted before but I don’t remember seeing it. I found it on one of my new favorite sites, Wikimedia Commons. Click the image to go directly to the page, you should be able to enhance it there as well.
I believe this picture was taken close to my current domicile but I can’t exactly say. Could anyone else tell where it appears to radiate from? I’d also love to see one of you photoshop wizards try overlaying modern images so I can compare side by side, but that’s asking a lot on a rare warm summer day, I know.
I just watched this powerful video about a Duluth woman still reeling 10 years on from the death of her young mother to lung cancer. The video was a project created by our friend Amy Berg Louhela for her MFA in photography. Duluthophiles will recognize some of the scenery and maybe even some of the faces. The music is … perfect. I hope they don’t disable the track, but they might, so better listen in now while you can.
Amy is collecting comments for her project so here’s a direct link you can use if you wish to help her that way.
I had been wanting to see if we could have a somewhat level-headed informed and nuanced discussion on the challenger pool for Chip Cravaack in MN 8th Congressional District. I figured I’d wait until after the homegrown fog burned off to post anything, but this morning the Duluth News Tribune has a bombshell from John Lundy saying Tarryl Clark is running for the seat. Was that a bombshell for anyone else besides me?
Before I knew about Clark’s bid, I wanted to talk about other un-announced candidates. In addition to Daniel Fanning and Jeff Anderson who appear to be in Pawlenty mode, that is, campaigning-but-not-campaigning not officially in other words. Here are the people who are not campaigning but that I think might make the race interesting: Tom Rukavina, Tom Bakk and Don Ness (Donny says he doesn’t want the job and that is fine with me, I’d like to keep him as mayor for a term or 3 more). The DNT identifies a few other candidates in the article that I did not know were considering a run, including Yvonne Prettner Solon, but most of them I don’t know so I can’t comment (but you can).
So we’ve already got a half dozen “local” candidates mulling a run and then Clark rolls in from St. Cloud and changes the entire chemistry of the race. Or does she? Banter away PDDers but please save the frothy mouthed passion for the Troll Zone thread. I’m looking for thoughts and analysis here, not bile. Thanks.
Update: I discovered that MN Brown Iron Range writer/college instructor Aaron Brown, already wrote about this a couple of months ago, including the possible Clark bid.
Also, I forgot to add Karen Diver, Chairwoman and CEO of the Fond du Lac Band to my potential candidates list. She has a great deal to recommend herself for the position and to me, she’s actually the most interesting potential candidate, although I have no idea if she or anyone else besides Tarryl Clark is actually gonna run.
Update 6/14/11
“I filed today my paperwork to seek the office of the presidency of the United States today and I very soon will be making my formal announcement.”
Michele Bachmann last night on CNN one of her classic headline stealing moves that has to have Tim Pawlenty’s stomach all tied up in knots today. But this means that Bachmann can not run for her 6th District seat and president at the same time.
So Today MinnPost is asking the same thing I want to know: Does this mean Tarryl Clark will give up her bid for the 8th District so she can run for an open seat in the 6th? She recieved 38% of the vote there vs. Bachmann’s 52% in 2010 according to those geniuses at wikipedia
I had a chance to take a pack of kids out to a working orchard near Wrenshall, MN (pictured above) and it was just a fantastic experience, I’d never seen anything like it before, except in books. There used to be groves like this, and “wild” groves used by people and critters for sustenance all around our region, but there aren’t many left anymore according to the experts at UMD.
Imagine an apple production and consumption culture within a thriving orchardist community, small orchards dotting the landscape, filled with heritage varieties locally adapted to our region. This was the reality of the area around Duluth, Minn., during the first half of the 20th century. But the advent of the industrial food system divested this community of its heritage, although those abandoned orchards beckon our call back to a more sustainable way of life.
Last fall, I read about a new orchard coming in near 6th Ave E in Duluth’s Hillside. Today I found out about this chance to win an orchard for the Duluth Area from Edy’s Fruit Bars. Here’s a link to sign in and vote, vote early and often.
As of today Duluth was placed 3rd in the nation: Not too shabby. Hopefully if people can stay on this we can come out on top. Almost forgot: Duluth community members and organizations will get the fruit. If this is successful expect a surge in NICE homegrown Duluth pies & cobblers in the next 5-10-15 years.
This is an actual “Where in Duluth?” since I cannot tell exactly where it is. I have a couple of guesses but the PDD brain trust will know for sure, and I’m hoping you’ll have a little color or perspective to add, too.
This is exactly the kind of dangerous, unhealthy, mindless college prank that kids these days should probably be doing more of instead of being plugged into a screen or an IPod, or both.
“What we do for fun in Duluth.” (Possibly NSFW due to lot of F-Bombs)
I was reading this month’s new FDL Band Newspaper (PDF) and about halfway through I found a breezy little history piece on Chief Buffalo: Hero of the Lake Superior Ojibwe by historian Christine Carlson. The article was already interesting, then I notice mention of Duluth’s Point of Rocks which has been discussed extensively here on PDD. It sounds like the area surrounding Point of Rocks was selected by Chief Buffalo as part of one of the articles of the Treaty of 1854. The area would have also included Wisconsin Point and much of what is now considered Downtown Duluth and West End/Lincoln Park. (more…)
This will only be of interest to the biggest Duluth-o-philes, Twitter nerds (like me) and possibly hockey fanatics.
Last night for about 10-15 minutes Duluth East was trending on Twitter in the United States. This means that there was an enormous amount of “chatter” about Duluth East’s victory over Edina in the MN State High School League AA Hockey Semi-Finals. (more…)
This Saturday, March 5th from 9 am to 3 pm is the 3rd Annual MN Fathers Forever at Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College, it is a collaboration of many people who have worked hard to put together a quality program that can reach fathers wherever they are at in their parenting journey.
There will be about a dozen child support officers on hand helping men (or women) to submit paperwork to update and modify child support orders. There will be a family law clinic, a cooking class and over 20 local vendors plus a light lunch for the first 200 people that come through the line.
The biggest draw this year will probably be remarks given by MN Supreme Court Justice & NFL and Viking legend Alan Page (as I have written about previously here).
Transportation is available, call Al at Fathers and Children Together by noon on Friday to reserve a spot on the bus.
In the Ojibwe tradition there are hundreds of stories, some as old as the earth itself. Traditionally, these stories can only be told when there is snow on the ground. This Saturday about a dozen storytellers will be at the Sawyer Center to share some of these amazing stories. Everyone is welcome, the cost is free, but they are asking people to pre-register at the site.
Stopped down at the Canal Park Adventure Zone today with Mrs. Goose and the Goslings. Had to be dragged there is a little more like it. My wife got some free passes to the Laser Tag so I couldn’t very well say “no,” could I? So we went.
Yesterday I was cruising along the highway at 60-odd miles per hour when another car came speeding down a ramp and almost was on top of me. I thought about changing lanes but there was a car coming up in the left lane.
I watched the situation develop, waiting to see if Captain Clueless on the ramp was going to slow down — or speed up enough to “beat” me — but there was no adjustment. With a car length or two between us I hit the breaks and the horn hoping to avert catastrophe. No one hurt, thank God. But I’m tired of people merging into traffic expecting me to change lanes to suit them. (more…)
Sure the Packers won (another) super bowl victory tonight. Congratulations, I guess. But hey, for those of us that are Vikings fans, we may not have a gillion Lombardi trophies like Green Bay does, (we don’t have one even, Packer fans will be sure to tell you), but we’ve got something even better than the Packers:
A state supreme court justice. SO there.
Here’s MN Supreme Court Justice and former Viking great Alan Page talking about education, transcending politics, and the importance of strong families last week on MSNBC
The Greater Downtown Duluth Council and a bunch of other organizations are offering free rent for a year plus free advertising, business planning and technical support for two businesses in Downtown Duluth. Click the picture for contest details.
One of my obsessive Duluth-oriented twitter feeds led me to this on the Star Tribune website. I couldn’t find mention of it in the online Duluth News Tribune, but they are a sponsor so I’m sure it will get in there sometime, (unless maybe they’re hoping to bring in outside ideas first).
Free rent for a year? And who said this town wasn’t business friendly. I’m all for revitalization in Downtown Duluth. I hope it works.
Hot Toddy is swinging back from Los Angeles to do several shows in February. He’ll also be at Clyde Iron with The Fractals and Aces in Superior with John Seguin.
After a great showing in the still ongoing Google fiber campaign Duluth has another chance to “Cheer” for ourselves in the “We Hear You America” contest from Reader’s Digest.
I guess the contest has been running for a few months, but I’m not much of a Reader’s Digest Reader so I just found out about it yesterday. I “cheered” and I encourage other PDDers to play along. Yeah, I’d love for us to get the $5 million bucks or whatever it is, but I also like the idea of people mobilizing to be positive about our town. It has been fun to do with Google Fiber and this should be no different. (more…)
I meant to post this last year, but I forgot. This is a picture that my daughter made in kindergarten. I found it in with some papers when I was cleaning her room and it just struck me right between the eyes. First, I thought it was all wrong: “What is that school teaching my daughter about Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr? I mean, she took away his whole essence, she’s stripped away his race, she’s missed the whole point …” (more…)
Karen Diver seated next to President Obama at the 2nd White House Tribal Nations Conference in December. You can read about it in this months’s Fond Du Lac Band Tribal newspaper.
This story also made the DNT but somehow it only rated a “Faces and Names” mention in the DNT, below Shania Twain, Jermaine Jackson and Stephen Baldwin in the online version that I called up today. Who knows? Maybe they did another story somewhere but I missed it.
Here’s another t-shirt gift idea for the person that has everything from former Duluthian Emily Kuznia. Emily lives in Florida now but she is a product of Duluth’s Central Hillside (began her artistic career at Nettleton, in fact). I was just thrilled to see that this t-shirt design of hers was a “derby” winner on shirt.woot.com
Ah crap … I guess you can’t buy it anymore, it’s a competitive t-shirt design site, and man are they ever competitive. Much to my own chagrin, it looks like her shirt was only available for a couple weeks, not nearly long enough for a procrastinator like me to get them into the various stockings that I host. But as long as I’ve gotten this far I might as well leave the post up, Hey, maybe it will generate enough demand to get more available. Or you could also contact Emily via her blog and tell her how cool the shirt is.
Fortunately, Duluth-Superior put together a great bid for Google Fiber in the Spring as Google Twin Ports. We generated tons of buzz nationwide, and even worldwide and mobilized thousands of community members in support of the project. I was a tiny (miniscule, really) cog in the wheel that was the ad-hoc Google Twin Ports steering committee in the first part of this year. And just like everyone else, I have been anxiously waiting for the end of the year for the community (ies) that will get Google Fiber to be announced.
Unfortunately, as noted in another PDD post, Google has said they can’t decide yet and they’ve kicked the announcement date down into 2011.
Fortunately, that aforementioned PDD post from Brian B was on the coveted first page of “links” on the most recent official Google Fiber blog post!
This could mean anything or not much so try not to call me too naive here. But one thing is certain: They haven’t forgotten us. I say that means we are still in the hunt folks, and I think we’re a front runner when I consider all the factors I can think of, climate, community support, integration, availability of “dark” fiber, competing delivery systems (WiMax, 3G, Cable, DSL, even Superior Broadband’s nifty radio thing) attractiveness of the community and the list goes one. And I’ll just add in one more huge asset we have: Perfect Duluth Day. And that there screenshot proves they know that, too.
[T]he president called at breakfast Wednesday morning … Staffers who were gathered with Oberstar at the Duluth Holiday Inn heard Oberstar tell Obama, “Mr. President, I want you to know that while my service in Congress has ended, my commitment to public service has not, and I’m ready to assist your administration in any way.”
To which, the president reportedly replied, “Let’s let the dust settle and talk again.”
I woke up today with an otherworldly, twilight zone-like feeling similar to the one I had in November of 1998, like where I had to check multiple news sources to see if I was understanding the election results correctly and then check back again to make sure. Shocked I tell you. Shocked.
My question to the PDD brain trust: What was more shocking Jesse’s win or Chip’s? And you can do a “where were you” personal memory or two if you want for color and flavor.
Nice trip down memory lane with some snapshots of Young at Heart Records from 1996 and recollections to fill them out. The pictures themselves are just snapshots, as I said, but upon close examination they do capture the feel and the spirit of that place nicely. I just wish there were more of them. Click the image to go to the post and see it all in context.
“Let us realize the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice.” — Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
“If I can’t dance I don’t want to be in your revolution.” — Emma Goldman
I was shocked and deeply saddened to hear of the untimely death last night of Cathy Curley – founder of Safe Haven, the Lake Superior Regional Justice Center, domestic violence prevention and intervention pioneer, community activist, mother, friend, mentor, lover of life.
It just might happen if the band gets enough votes in this online contest:
(It’s #5 of 5 so scroll down or you’ll miss it.)
I just love seeing that iconic MTV logo up in the corner, makes me smile, but then again I’m a child of the 1980s and maybe it means something different to me than others.
