Month: September 2015
Lutsen New Gondola
Lutsen Ski Resort began erecting a new $7-million gondola on June 23. It should be operational by the 2015-16 ski season. Above you can see they are sticking with the iconic red for the new eight-passenger gondola, which will speed up the gondola lines.
Cereal Brands: The Good, the Bad and the Sugary
Part two of a conversation with cereal box collector Robb Berry of Duluth, who fills us in on some of the stories behind the development of cereals that have come and gone through the decades.
See also Part One — Honeycomb Hideout: Robb Berry’s Basement Cereal Box Museum
Part Three — Prize Inside: Cereal Toys and Premiums Through the Decades
Duluth 2015 Primary Election Sample Ballot
Keep in mind:
District candidates will appear on the ballot only in the specified districts. Duluth City Council District 5 represents West Duluth and neighborhoods farther west. Duluth School Board District 2 represents the Endion, Congdon, Chester Park and Kenwood areas.
Honeycomb Hideout: Robb Berry’s Basement Cereal Box Museum
Hidden away in a West Duluth basement is a one-of-a-kind museum — Robb Berry’s cereal box collection. He has been collecting cereal toys and premiums since he was a kid in the 1970s, and started collecting boxes shortly after that.
Unfortunately, Berry’s basement is not open to the public. But if you’re interested in the vast history of cereal, he also manages the Cereal Boxes and Prizes Archives 1900-Present Facebook page, where collectors and enthusiasts share their finds and questions about the hobby.
PDD was granted access to the catacombs that hold Berry’s collections. He is a fountain of information, so we present this special PDD Back-to-School series in three parts this week. Grab the milk, a spoon and a bowl and enjoy.
Part Two — Cereal Brands: The Good, the Bad and the Sugary
Part Three — Prize Inside: Cereal Toys and Premiums Through the Decades
Cloud Cult returns to Bayfront
Cloud Cult comes back to the area for the Twin Ports Bridge Festival at Bayfront Park on Sept. 11. Craig Minowa talks about some big surprises for the group’s return.
Summer Music in Review
The summer is over, and there is so much music I heard that I have not yet written about here.
The most complicated performance of the summer, for me, was watching Tim Kaiser and Robot Rickshaw at Beaners. (All the videos that follow are not the performances I saw, but just tasters.)
It was a study in noise and the relationship between noise and music. (more…)
This Week: chili, lotsa music, fresh produce and more
Here’s a bit of what you’ll find on this week’s PDD Calendar:
The 2015 United Way Chili Cook-Off is heating up the DECC, the Duluth Art Institute is opening three new exhibitions, a man named Achilles will play his trombone at Weber Music Hall, Tony Dierckins presents his book on the famed Congdon estate, the Twin Ports Bridge Festival hits Bayfront Park and George Thorogood will bring his message of bad-to-the-boneness to Black Bear Casino.
Instrumental post-rockers Portrait of a Drowned Man and three other bands will rock R.T. Quinlan’s, the Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra kicks off its latest season, the Engwalls Corn Maze opens to the public, the 2015 Lake Superior Harvest Festival is happening at Bayfront, 5k runners get stuff thrown at them during the UV Splash Color Dash and Big Top Chautauqua folds up their tent for the season.
Video Archive: Paul Hlina on the Superior Hiking Trail in 1995
With a fused spine and partially paralyzed legs, Paul Hlina hiked the entire Superior Hiking Trail on crutches in 1995. He is credited as the first person to through-hike the trail, which at the time spanned almost 200 miles. It’s about a 300-mile trail today.
Pride.
Sharon Needles at Bayfront Park during the Duluth Superior Pride Festival.
Iron Range restaurant reviewed in New York Times
Mr. Roberts Restaurant and Resort in Pengilly will be featured in this Sunday’s edition of the New York Times. Duluth-based writer Robert Lillegard reviews the “surprising new flavors” chef Sarah Master has brought to the lakeside eatery. The article was published online today:
In Minnesota’s Iron Range, Midwestern with a modern twist
Master is a Pengilly native who left her position as executive chef at Minneapolis’ Café Barbette to form a business partnership with Dan Beckwith, opening their restaurant and resort in early June.
First Listen: Low’s Ones and Sixes
The new album by Duluth band Low is available to stream above, via NPR’s First Listen. CDs, LPs and mp3s will be in stores on Sept. 11.
Landscape photographer Peter Lik is on the North Shore
Selective Focus: Hold on Summer
Ann Klefstad, untitled
A recent New York Times article noted how difficult the end of Summer can be, especially for people “of a certain age” who focus on what’s left in the hourglass, and rue the many things undone that likely will remain so. But it ends on a hopeful note, in finding solace in the smaller things we managed; I had my 1st swim in Superior, I’ve been working steadily on my first book with numerous local colleagues, and I’ve eaten several Rustic Inn pies. Hardly a squandered season. (more…)
Woods by College of St. Scholastica
Woods by CSS with xylophone bridge
Does anyone know of a map to these woods — the one with the chimney from an old cabin, an empty grotto and a super-sized Jesus statue?
Does the place even have a name? My tickling of the Google has not been fruitful.
Duluth Air Line: Taking in the sight in 1908
What in tarnation is going on here? Well, this postcard image is clearly a photo studio gag and not a snapshot of two handsome fellows in a hot air balloon over Duluth. (more…)
We have a Historic Preservation Corps?
Northern Bedrock Conservation Corps is run like a New Deal program teaching young people skills in the field of historic preservation (apparently there will be lots of jobs as tradespeople retire). Who knew? They’re readying for their next excursion fixing a historic building in the BWCA. I want to run away and go.