Month: June 2015
Selective Focus: Bloom
Aaron Reichow, “Trees in Bloom, East Hillside”
Though this past Winter wasn’t meteorologically devastating, it was personally; so I needed a keen reminder that “there is a time to every purpose,” as the homily goes. This Spring in my new home has been that sermon, as greige gives way to hues of lilac, cherry, and peach, and all becomes fructive, damp, and pliant again. We grow, we ready, we labor in hope of Summer rest, and a coming harvest. (more…)
Our very own “odd couple” produces food and art organically
Annie Dugan and Janaki Fisher-Merritt are two of the most fascinating individuals I’ve ever met. When considering that they are forged together in the partnership of marriage, farming, and as catalysts of unique art, the combined effect is like lightning captured in a bottle. Duluth is beyond fortunate to have them influencing our lives in unique and whimsical ways. Learn about the masterminds behind the Food Farm, Free Range Film Festival, the Duluth Art Institute, and more, here.
Select Images from the 1930 Denfeld Oracle
With graduation ceremonies taking place this week, we look back 85 years ago to see what the Denfeld class of 1930 looked like. That year the school’s Oracle strove to inspire students “with a steadfast purpose to build well upon the foundations of the past,” and was dedicated to “the spirit of industry and progress which has existed in the hearts and minds of the citizens of Western Duluth.” The inside folds of the book feature a “Decorative Map of Western Duluth, with which we begin this post.
The senior class held two successful paper sales, a Christmas card sale and a class play to fund the yearbook in 1930. The organizations that typically funded the Oracle instead gave money to the pipe organ fund; Denfeld’s pipe organ had been purchased in 1926 for $25,000.
Rich Mattson and the Northstars album out
Youa Vang has the story for City Pages: Rich Mattson & the Northstars channel Iron Range on new LP
Here is the iTunes link and the CD Baby link for the album.
Duluth release party is Friday, June 5, at the Red Herring.
Here is the link to PDD’s list of local albums released in 2015.
Duluth Food Truck, Cart and Trailer Guide for 2015
As Duluth residents and tourists head outdoors, it’s time for the food trucks, carts and trailers to hit the streets, offering up fast and easy food on the run. To keep up with these restaurants on wheels, we present PDD’s 2015 rundown of who’s cooking what and where.
Listed below are the mobile food services licensed to operate on the streets of Duluth. Not listed are the various vendors who serve exclusively at events or specific locations, such as the Green Mill pizza trailer or various purveyors of mini donuts. Also, we should note Duluth has at least one pop-up restaurant — Izakaya 218 — which recently resumed its weekly Taco Tuesdays at the Red Herring Lounge. (more…)
Great Lakes Trail
If all the existing trails, trails under construction and trails in the planning phases in Duluth aren’t quite enough, here’s a rather ambitious plan that would upset a few local backyards. The Detroit Free Press reports of a plan for the “Great Lakes Trail” — a 10,900-mile trail spanning at least eight states and two Canadian provinces, following the shores of the five Great Lakes.
World’s longest marked trail proposed around Great Lakes
As the Great Lakes states were admitted into the Union, the federal government granted them the lake beds and waters of the Great Lakes up to the ordinary high-water mark — from the point on the bank or shore where continuous wave action has made a distinct mark, to the water.
This was affirmed by a U.S. Supreme Court decision in 1894, in the Shively v. Bowlby case. The justices found that lands below the high-water mark were “for the benefit of the whole people.” (This may come as news to owners of $750,000 lakefront homes whose deed tells them the shoreline is theirs.)
This Week: flicks, beer, the zoo and more
Here’s a bit of what you’ll find on this week’s PDD Calendar:
The Tweed Museum’s offering up another of its Tweevenings, the Chester Creek Concert Series is back in action with the North Shore Big Band, the Duluth Superior Film Festival gets underway with its five days of free programming and the watercentric Reel Paddling Film Festival also joins the film fray.
The Duluth Playhouse opens the play Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, Fitger’s Brewhouse serves up its 4000th (!) batch of beer, Duluth’s Parks and Rec department holds a public meeting on what the future might hold for the zoo, a shop is popping up at the Depot, Pete from Beaner’s is throwing his big ole music festival again and Rich Mattson is releasing a new album with his band the Northstars.