Month: February 2020
Electric Fetus, Juice Pharm and More
I visited the Juice Pharm in the last days of its Skywalk location yesterday. It is moving to 208 E. First St., the former Red Herring Lounge location. The beverages are always tasty, and feel more like a meal than a drink. I will miss the Skywalk location, though I admit I don’t get there as often as I would like. (more…)
UMD considering sale of KUMD radio station to WDSE-TV
KUMD has entered into a nonbinding letter of intent with Duluth-Superior Area Educational Television Corporation that could lead to the station being acquired and operated by WDSE-WRPT.
After months lying in wait, Boreal House open in West Duluth
Katie Fast, left, and Julie LaTourelle stand outside their new drinking establishment last summer, before remodeling work began. (Photo by Mark Nicklawske)
Duluthians Katie Fast and Julie LaTourelle will open the doors to West Duluth’s newest drinking establishment at 3 p.m. today. The Boreal House at 330 N. 57th Ave. W. sits adjacent to the neighborhood’s oldest drinking establishment, the Kom-on-Inn. (more…)
Video Archive: Attempting to save UMD’s Old Main
During WDIO-TV’s annual March of Dimes Telethon circa 1990, Dennis Anderson introduced a Colder by the Lake Comedy Theatre slide presentation by Bruce Ojard featuring old Duluth buildings as a plea to convince the city to preserve the University of Minnesota Duluth’s Old Main building instead of tearing it down.
The building was destroyed by fire on Feb. 23, 1993.
Postcard from the Ski Tournament at Duluth in 1910
This postcard was mailed to Mrs. May Hagberg two years after the ski tournament shown in the image. The postmark is Feb. 15, 1912. (more…)
Lake Superior Magazine 2020 Photo Contest Winners
Duluth photos took first and second place in the Artsy/Altered category of Lake Superior Magazine‘s 25th Annual Photo Contest. Lou Nicksic of Bellingham, Wash., shot the first-place ship image in Canal Park. Dan Lee Vander Ark of Duluth shot the second-place image with the Bong Bridge in the background. Numerous Duluth photos received honorable mention in various categories.
Galleries of all the winning photos and runners up can be seen on lakesuperior.com. The winners are featured in the magazine’s February/March issue.
The overall grand prize went to Shannon Hart of Williamston, Mich. for an image of Lake Superior at Miners Castle in Munising.
Beijing reopens; Valentini’s on the move to Hermantown
The restaurant options on London Road in Duluth are changing: Beijing Restaurant is reopening this week after a fire kept it shuttered for more than a year. Valentini’s Vicino Lago Italian Restaurant will close later this year as the business transitions to a new Hermantown location. (more…)
Duluth Trivia Deck Sampler #40
Another trivia card from a board game purchased at Savers. (more…)
The Playlist Presents: Ingeborg von Agassiz
WDSE-TV‘s The PlayList Presents is a series of 5-minute segments featuring emerging musicians, including interview clips and a live performance. The Feb. 6 episode focused on electro-folk artist Ingeborg von Agassiz, with footage from the 2019 Catalyst Content Festival.
Ingeborg von Agassiz is playing acoustic brunch sets at Pizza Luce on Saturdays throughout February.
The PlayList Presents airs Thursday nights at around 8:20 p.m., after Making it Up North.
PDD Quiz: Dear John
Ascend the trivia throne with this week’s quiz on notable Northland bathrooms!
The next PDD quiz, reviewing February headlines and happenings, will be published on Feb. 23. Please submit question suggestions to Alison Moffat at [email protected] by Feb. 20. (more…)
Ursa Minor offers Duluth’s first non-alcoholic craft beer
Ben Hugus with Ursa Minor’s new NA beer – Photo by Lissa Maki
Ursa Minor Brewing quietly became the first Duluth-area craft brewery to offer a non-alcoholic beer option back in December. The brewery’s Constellation Cream Ale, is now available sans intoxicants. (more…)
I Demand a Lakewalk
I demand a Lakewalk.
Retired engineer and geologist David Hoag wrote in a Jan. 22 Duluth News Tribune op-ed piece that he feels, “It would be much better to retreat,” than to “shore up, harden, and improve the lakeshore in areas near the Lakewalk and Brighton Beach that were battered by recent storms.”
Retreat to where? Are we going to let the lake have the rail line, and Fitger’s? Are we going to cede Canal Park to the lake? Are we going to abandon all infrastructure because it needs fixing? Are we going to tear down the bridge and the canal and move them to higher ground? Set fire to the ports? Should we flood the highway and designate it “boats only”? Is Leif Erikson Park to be abandoned to the waves, and we’ll just watch as it crumbles? Should we watch as Lake Superior undermines and claims the Rose Garden? Are our Park Point citizens to be forgotten? (more…)
Postcard from Congdon Park in 1940
The message on this postcard was composed 80 years ago today — Feb. 7, 1940. The card is postmarked the next day. (more…)
Julia Louis-Dreyfus in NYT: BWCAW “unfathomably beautiful”
Actors Will Ferrell and Julia Louis-Dreyfus are featured in the New York Times series “20 Odd Questions” today, promoting their new movie Downhill. When asked to name the “most underrated destination in America,” Louis-Dreyfus gave a nod to Quetico-Superior country, responding:
“The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in Minnesota. I went canoeing and I loved it. It is just unfathomably beautiful.”[clearfix]
Selective Focus: Member Show at the DAI
Tonight (Thursday, Feb. 6) from 5-8 p.m. is the opening of the annual Duluth Art Institute Member Show. It’s a great way to see and meet people from around town who make all kids of art. From painting, to sculpture, to photography, to mixed media, there’s a wide variety of mediums and experience on display until March 1 in the Great Hall of the Depot. (more…)
Monthly Grovel: February 2020 Edition
In the past year — from February 2019 through January 2020 — the PDD Calendar published 8,040 Duluth-area events. Each one was edited by a human being before the “publish” button was pushed.
It’s a tremendous amount of work to keep up with all the submissions from the more than 1,000 organizations that have sent us info about their concerts, plays, cooking classes and snowball fights. That’s why once a month we set our dignity aside and remind readers how much we appreciate their financial support. (more…)
View of Duluth from Skyline Parkway
This undated photo of Downtown Duluth, Canal Park, the Aerial Lift Bridge, etc. is from Gallagher’s Studio of Photography. The biggest clue to when the photo was shot is the scrapyard where the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center stands today. So we know the image was captured prior to construction of the Duluth Arena in 1966. Are there any other clues in there? (more…)
Glitteratti – “Plans”
“Plans” is the second video from Duluth band Glitteratti‘s debut full-length album, Among the Wild, set for release on March 6. The group performs at Pizza Luce on March 13.
Upper Deck restaurant at Bong Airport will become hangar
The Upper Deck Restaurant at 1415 N. 46th St. in Superior has been closed for more than a year. Its contents were auctioned off on Jan. 31. According to the Superior Telegram, the new owner will be turning the building into an airplane hangar. (more…)
Duluth Trivia Deck Sampler #39
Another trivia card from a board game purchased at Savers. (more…)
TV News Spots Covering the City-Wide Snowball Fight
https://www.wdio.com/neighborhood/duluth-community-citywide-snowball-fight/5631641/?fbclid=IwAR3WMb2w4j0Hyo6BDpm1B4G-ueE0ScxXgYUg9_2uFmED8vwy9ReVDVflXyM
https://kbjr6.com/2020/02/02/warm-weather-made-for-a-perfect-snowball-fight-at-leif-erikson-park/?fbclid=IwAR1iPbRma5VXxgBFJFxZEPdgRl-0HGjiIuerdHBJY_dlYx1U6ol99H8x5E8
The Playlist Presents: Life Parade
WDSE-TV‘s The PlayList Presents is a series of 5-minute segments featuring emerging musicians, including interview clips and a live performance. The Jan. 30 episode focused on the pop-rock band Life Parade, with footage from the 2019 Catalyst Content Festival.
The PlayList Presents airs Thursday nights at around 8:20 p.m., after Making it Up North.
Images from Duluth’s Citywide Snowball Fight
Montage of photos by J.P. Rennquist from Duluth’s Citywide Snowball Fight at Leif Erikson Park.
Red Cape Tango at DSSO
Last night I sat alone in the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center’s Symphony Hall listening to the “Red Cape Tango” of Michael Dougherty.
There were hundreds of other people there, to be sure, some of them friends. But I feel almost certain that I was the only one who, listening to the piece, conjured mental images of the comic that inspired it. (more…)
Goldfines in the 1940s: Picnics and Fishin’ Trips
In the year 2000, Duluth businessman Monnie Goldfine recorded a voiceover track for his family films, most of which he shot himself between 1939 and 1946. Perfect Duluth Day has divided the footage into three segments:
- Part one: “The Goldfines Go East” depicts a family trip to the World’s Fair
- Part two: “Duluth Parades, Ski Jumping and Coal Shipping Circa 1941” is a collection of Duluth footage
Part three: “Goldfines in the 1940s: Picnics and Fishin’ Trips” features scenes of family and friends in Duluth or on picnics and cabin retreats in the region.
(more…)