June of ’71: Ports-Range Expressway nearly done
The final four-way segment on Highway 53 between Duluth and Virginia was nearing the end of construction 50 years ago. The June 25, 1971 Duluth Herald reported that “full expressway travel” between the two cities was “10 years in the making. The 12-mile segment between Pike Lake and Independence was expected to open in September. Reconstruction and resurfacing of the 73-mile highway began in 1961. (more…)
Job Opening: Director of Glensheen
The University of Minnesota Duluth is seeking a new leader to provide strategic leadership in the professional administration and management of Glensheen. The director of Glensheen shall develop and implement long range and annual work plans; provide fiscal, business and facility operations management; direct the hiring, training, supervision, and motivation of staff, and student workers; demonstrate entrepreneurial initiatives in programming and business management; support fundraising efforts; oversee the site’s public relations, marketing, and outreach community development efforts. (more…)
Eight Wolf Pups Scampering Along the Trail
The Half-Moon Pack of wolves at Voyageurs National Park had the largest litter of any pack observed at the park this year with eight pups. The largest litter ever documented by the Voyageurs Wolf Project was nine pups. The project is focused on understanding the summer ecology of wolves in the park, located about 120 miles north of Duluth. (more…)
June of ’71: Election Day liquor sales coming to Duluth
Off-sale liquor stores in Duluth were closed on Memorial Day and on election days 50 years ago, but things were about to change. The June 23, 1971 Duluth Herald reported that the city’s alcoholic beverage board voted in favor of letting the stores open, leaving it up to the city council to follow the recommendation. The action was authorized by a March 15 action of the state legislature. (more…)
Selective Focus: A Year of Sunrises with Ron Benson
Stoney Point, March 6, 2021
Ron Benson, a Duluth glass and ceramic artist, began posting daily photos of sunrises over Lake Superior to Facebook during the first winter of the pandemic. I hadn’t known him as a photographer, so I was surprised. He posted these images almost every day, and they were amazing. I knew, and eventually thousands of people knew, that he’d be out perched on rocks as ice water slammed or sloshed, aiming a camera at the sunrise, every day. It was impressive. (more…)
Where in Duluth? #187
I went for a hike in a spot I’d never been before and encountered this.
June of ’71: Last Duluth “Gooney Bird” retired
The last C-47 “Gooney Bird” military transport aircraft based in Duluth was retired 50 years ago. The June 23, 1971 Duluth Herald reported that the C-47 left the Duluth Air Force Base to join other obsolete aircraft in the Air Force Logistics Command’s Military Aircraft Storage and Disposition Center in Arizona. The “Gooney Bird” was a 1944 model that was used in World War II. (more…)
Spur of the Moment Road Trip to Two Harbors
If I don’t have plans for the weekend, Friday evening looms like a desert with me standing at the edge sans camel or water or compass. And since the pandemic started, my “plans” consist of shopping for people food or dog food, so I wander the shifting sands of the weekend looking for an oasis.
This Friday when my daughter-in-law arrives to pick up my grandkids, I ask if Clara, nine, can spend the night. Her mom agrees, and Clara agrees, performing a double-fist pump while jumping up and down. (more…)
Low – “Days Like These”
Duluth band Low has a new album on the way. Hey What is schedule for release on Sept. 10. The video for the first single, “Days Like These,” was directed, produced and edited by Karlos Rena Ayala.
Perfect Duluth Day Outdoor Summer Concert Primer 2021
A Band Called Truman, seen here performing as part of the Chester Creek Concert Series in 2017, returns to Chester Bowl on Aug. 10 as part of the 2021 series. (Photo by Brian Barber)
Last summer was such a bummer, Perfect Duluth Day didn’t even bother publishing its annual preview of outdoor concerts. There was nearly nothing to report. With the pandemic seemingly under control in 2021, however, the list of options is lengthy. Rock, however, seems to have barely survived the pandemic. Bluegrass, folk and country dominate the concert scene. (more…)
June of ’71: Gravel pit site to become Chester Grove Apartments
An old city gravel pit on College Street near the University of Minnesota Duluth was sold to a Duluth construction firm 50 years ago. The June 22, 1971 Duluth Herald reported that Johnson Builders had plans to build “a student-faculty apartment complex worth nearly $700,000.” (more…)
The Slice: Sean Connaughty’s Art at Sugarloaf Cove
Artist Sean Connaughty seeks to repay nature for what human’s gain from it. The installation at Sugarloaf Cove Nature Center, about 65 miles northeast of Duluth, is sponsored by the Grand Marais Art Colony and will remain on display as long as nature allows.
In its series The Slice, WDSE-TV presents short “slices of life” that capture the events and experiences that bring people together and speak to what it means to live up north.
Glensheen drone fly-through
Jay Christensen, the talented drone pilot and former Duluthian who captured the amazing Bryant-Lake Bowl fly through a couple of months ago, sent his camera spinning through the halls, rooms and grounds at Glensheen Mansion.
June of ’71: Concert Under the Sun
A rock concert staged on a farm field about 20 miles south of Duluth was in the news 50 years ago. The June 21, 1971 Duluth Herald reported that “about 300 young people” attended what was called the Concert Under the Sun, “along with 30 sheriff’s deputies, reserve offices, rescue squad personnel and state game wardens.” (more…)
Duluth is the Summer City of the Continent
Happy solstice! This magazine advertisement from 1918 promotes the summer weather and charm of Duluth, including the “hundreds of miles of perfect roads.” (more…)
Wop Wap Wopatui Wopatusi Whatever
Back before the pandemic, when sharing germs was cool, human beings gathered around buffets of food and troughs of alcohol. It was a simpler time.
A meme in my Facebook feed a few months back featured a blurry image of someone pouring Hawaiian Punch into a cooler with chunks of fruit floating in it. In the background of the photo were various bottles of booze. I instantly recognized what was happening; someone was mixing up a wop.
But the caption on top of the image read: “This is what a WAP was back in the day …”
A wap? As in, rhymes with snap? What the hell is that? And why is it capitalized? Is it an acronym? Wild Ass Punch?
Don’t overthink it. This awful group-cocktail-in-a-bucket idea is worthy of the poorly crafted meme that celebrates it. (more…)
Video Archive: Grandma’s Marathon of 1979
WDIO-TV assembled these 16mm film clips of raw footage from the third annual Grandma’s Marathon, held on June 23, 1979. British runner Ricky Wilde won the race that year with a time of 2:14:44; he can be seen in some slow-motion footage taken from a vehicle riding alongside him on the racecourse.
June of ’71: Foster homes needed in Duluth
Duluth’s 290 licensed foster homes were falling short of meeting the need 50 years ago. The June 18, 1971 Duluth Herald reported “a crucial situation,” in which “good kids” wound up in detention centers for lack of foster homes. (more…)
The Ethel Ray Nance Story
Karen Nance — author, public speaker and attorney — is the granddaughter of civil rights activist Ethel Ray Nance, who was part of one of the few biracial families in Duluth in 1920. The family lived just four blocks from the site of the 1920 lynchings of Elias Clayton, Elmer Jackson and Isaac McGhie. (more…)
Mysterious timber crib disappears from Canal Park beach
A large timber crib, shown here in 2010, was beached for almost 15 years. City officials said the structure was removed and demolished as part of the recently completed Lakewalk improvement project. (Photo by Kip Praslowicz)
A mysterious wooden structure that had been shipwrecked for years on a Canal Park beach has disappeared following a year-long project designed to improve a popular Duluth walking trail battered by Lake Superior storms. (more…)
June of ’71: Kenwood 1 & 2 movie theaters open
Kenwood 1 & 2, a twin movie complex in Duluth, opened 50 years ago. The June 17, 1971 Duluth Herald reported work was being rushed for the formal opening on June 18. The two theaters, situated in the Kenwood Shopping Center, had seating capacities of 520 and 280. The opening films were the science-fiction thriller The Andromeda Strain and a reissue of Lawrence of Arabia. (more…)
Heely Tricks with JamesG: May 2021
Another installment of wheeled sneaker stunts by former Duluthian James Geisler, also known as the hip-hop artist JamesG.
Summer of ’71: Model City, Model Residents
The Duluth Model City Administration issued a directive 50 years ago to local contractors requiring them to hire more neighborhood residents. The June 16, 1971 Duluth Herald reports that “contractors who bid for work funded at least in part by Model City monies must agree that Model Neighborhood residents be given a certain number of jobs in all construction, rehabilitation, alteration and repair contracts.” (more…)
Aerial Video: Duluth at Night
Adam Jagunich takes a night time flight with his Yuneec Typhoon H Plus around the Aerial Lift Bridge as the American Integrity sails into port to pick up a load of ore.
Old Morgan Park Apartment Houses
Former Duluthian Ina Wesenberg contacted Perfect Duluth Day with the hope that someone can provide information about an old apartment complex she lived in as a child in the 1950s. She recalls it was on the western edge of the Morgan Park neighborhood, away from the concrete homes of the planned community. (more…)