Month: December 2021
2021: The Year in Duluth Gig Posters
It wasn’t quite the wild and crazy return to rawk that Duluthians longed for, but 2021 did mark the transition away from livestreams to in-person concerts. Sometimes outdoors, sometimes masked, sometimes with vaccine cards required and often just with fingers crossed, music fans edged back into the concert scene in year-two of the COVID-19 pandemic. If one thing remained normal, it was that Perfect Duluth Day collected a bunch of gig-poster images to share at the end of the year. (more…)
Superior looking to save Princess Theatre
The building at 1310 Tower Ave. in Superior — known in modern times as the home of Frankie’s Tavern — is the subject of a feasibility study to determine the cost of saving it. The Superior Telegram reports it was built as a theater. (more…)
Jazz Time
Duluth Public Access Community Television presents Duluth band Jazz Time, performing six tunes. (more…)
New restaurants abound in Duluth/Superior; trend is tacos
Aaron Maloney and Alex Giuliani prepare tacos in July during a popup preview of their future Canal Park restaurant, Chachos Taqueria. Image via Facebook
Though 2021 was another year punctuated by pandemic problems, new Duluth-area restaurants proliferated. The Twin Ports gained more than a dozen restaurants, as seasoned and fresh-faced entrepreneurs alike took the leap to open eateries. (more…)
Among 2021 restaurant closures were two of Guy Fieri’s favorites
Television personality Guy Fieri poses outside Shorty’s Pizza and Smoked Meats with members of the restaurant’s staff. Fieri visited four restaurants in the Twin Ports area in 2014 — Shorty’s, Gannucci’s Italian Market, Pak’s Green Corner and the Kounty Quarthouse. All four have since closed.
The effect of COVID-19 on the restaurant industry is tricky to quantify, but in the Duluth area there is one noticeably positive trend. More new eateries are opening than existing ones are closing.
While the ongoing pandemic played a role in pushing some eateries that were in trouble over the edge, in most cases other factors were at play. At the top of the list of closings in 2021 were three family-owned ethnic restaurants. (more…)
It Takes a (Shipping) Village: Duluth’s Harbor springs to life
Since 1871, when the Duluth shipping canal first opened, the St. Louis River has seen many changes. This video from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency briefly outlines a century of river use by many industries, and how cleanup and restoration of the estuary began. For St. Louis River Area of Concern resources visit pca.state.mn.us.
Selective Focus: Snow Day 2021
A few select images from today’s blizzardry via Instagram. (more…)
Great Lakes Now: Resilient Duluth
“Great Lakes Now checks in with Duluth mayor Emily Larson in an update on the improvements being made to the Lake Superior city’s waterfront, which resiliency efforts were featured in a ‘Resilient Duluth’ segment in June. “
On the Water Trail
On the Water Trail is a six-part series that explores the science of the St. Louis River Watershed. Host Emily Lockling, student researcher from Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College, introduces the people who are working to improve the waterway after decades of dumping sewage and other legacy contamination. (more…)
Moment of Nature: North Shore of Lake Superior
Today’s episode of CBS Sunday Morning concluded with the usual “Moment of Nature,” segment. The focus of videographer Scot Miller was the north shore of Lake Superior. The televised clip was only a few seconds long, but the expanded version, embedded here, is a full minute.
PDD Quiz: 2021 in Review
Put your memory to the test in this week’s year-in-review quiz!
The next PDD quiz will preview upcoming events for 2022; it will be published on Jan. 16. Submit question suggestions to Alison Moffat at [email protected] by Jan. 12. (more…)
Postcard from Duluth’s Shipping District
This postcard was mailed 110 years ago today — Dec. 26, 1911. John Sisco of Scottsdale, Penn. was the recipient.
Not much is recognizable in this view of the western downtown area and waterfront. The steeple of Sacred Heart Cathedral still stands today at Sacred Heart Music Center. The Board of Trade Building is now Board of Trade Lofts. What other structures in this postcard have stood the test of time? (more…)
Saturday Essay: Select Gems from 2021
Typically the “select gems” feature on the last Saturday of the year has nothing to do with Google Analytics popularity contests, and instead is more of an “editor’s choice.” But 2021 wasn’t an ordinary year for Perfect Duluth Day’s “Saturday Essay” series. As reported last week, a single author swept our annual list of the five most-read essays.
So this year’s “select gems” are the five most-read essays of the year that weren’t authored by Jim Richardson. Because the rest of us aren’t exactly chopped liver.
In the past six years PDD has published 263 essays showcasing the work of 43 different writers, and we’re always looking to expand that roster. Anyone who has an original piece of literary excellence that seems to fit (or appropriately defy) the established format should email paul @ perfectduluthday.com to get involved.
And now, links to a few select gems from season six … (more…)
Roy Halvorson: Christmas Tree King
From the December 1957 issue of Flying magazine, “the world’s most widely read aviation magazine,” comes the story of Duluth’s Roy Halvorson, “Christmas Tree King.” (more…)
Literary History of Duluth: Duluth Benedictine Books
It looks like (from the Online Computer Library Center records and the books I found at Gabriel’s) Duluth Benedictine Books was a brief experiment in recording the lives and institutions of sisters who live at St. Scholastica. (I just finished a jar of strawberry rhubarb jam I purchased at their most recent jam sale — so yummy.)
I wonder whether this was a project fueled by one of the sisters? By someone determined to write down history or by someone who recognized that telling these stories could also help recruit for the sisterhood (whose numbers are dwindling)? (more…)
LEAN Duluth Citizen Blotter: December 2021
The Citizen Blotter is the monthly newsletter of LEAN Duluth — Law Enforcement Accountability Network — a volunteer-run data-analysis group and public communications resource for organizers working for police accountability. To support LEAN’s work, email leanduluth @ gmail.com. (more…)
Duluth Underground Ice Tunnel
Trudge through the icy underground of the Brewery Creek drain tunnel in this new video from Duluth Urbex.
The Last of the (I Think) Futter Collection
So, this is the last batch of records purchased at a $5 bag sale at Gabriel’s Books in Lakeside. (more…)
New Lincoln Park housing takes over old furniture row
The Anderson Furniture Building, 2032 W. Superior St., was recently purchased by a Duluth developer. The building was constructed in 1910 for use by the Otis Elevator Company. (Photos by Mark Nicklawske).
A historic “Furniture Row” anchor store in Duluth’s Lincoln Park Craft District has new owners who plan to renovate the building and add more housing and retail space to the booming neighborhood. The former Anderson Furniture building at 2032 W. Superior St. was purchased earlier this year by Ohana Holdings LLC of Duluth. St. Louis County property tax records show the company purchased the three-story, 37,000-square-foot property for $500,000. (more…)
Emily Haavik – “All is Bright”
Duluth native Emily Haavik released an original holiday song and music video today. A group of her friends recorded segments to help put the video together. Haavik performs the song with Phil Miller on cello and Dave Mehling on bass and guitar. The mix is by Mehling and the mastering by Eric Martin. Proceeds from downloads go to help Haavik’s friend Sonya Goins fight breast cancer.
Sherman Associates plans to develop Duluth Armory
Plans are in place for the Duluth Armory at 1305 London Road to “serve as an economic, cultural and entertainment hub for northeastern Minnesota,” according to a news release from the Armory Arts and Music Center. The organization announced a partnership on Monday with Minneapolis-based Sherman Associates to rehabilitate and develop the armory building, targeting an opening in 2024. (more…)
Postcard from the Wilbert in Cotton, 1961
The Wilbert Café was founded in 1922. This postcard bears the year 1961. The modern day version of the Wilbert is located at 9105 Highway 53 in Cotton — about 30 miles northwest of Duluth.
The Duluth News Tribune profiled the Wilbert in 2018, noting it “gets its name from its original owners, combining the first names of William Lyman and Bert Robinson. In 1941, John (Tobie) Lackner took over management after William Lyman’s death, and Tobie and his wife, Ann, went on to establish the famed Tobies Restaurant and Bakery in Hinckley, Minn. … The current Wilbert was rebuilt in 1991, and it was purchased in 2004 by longtime employee Sandy Simek and her husband, Steve.”
Bentleyville 2021 Aerial Video
Videographer Adam Jagunich flies his Yuneec Typhoon H Plus hexacopter over Bayfront Park in Duluth during the Bentleyville Christmas light display while the bulk carrier Drawsko sails under the Aerial Lift Bridge and into the Duluth Harbor.
For ghosts of Christmas’ past, check out “A Perfect Duluth Christmas: PDD’s Holiday Video Showcase.”
PDD Bandcamp Playlist: A Holiday Sampler
Assembled here for your holiday listening pleasure, a sampling of Christmas or “Christmasish” tunes by artists in the Duluth music scene. It’s not even close to a comprehensive collection of local holiday music, just a sampling of a few tracks available on Bandcamp. (more…)