Vikings add Duluth’s C.J. Ham to roster
The Minnesota Vikings announced today rookie running back C.J. Ham of Duluth has been signed to the team’s 53-man roster.
Ham joined the Vikings during rookie camp on a tryout basis and signed to the practice squad after final roster cuts. He played high school ball at Denfeld, graduating in 2011. At Augustana College in Sioux Falls, S.D., he totaled 2,662 rushing yards, 949 receiving yards and 35 total touchdowns in 43 games.
Minnesota (7-7) visits Green Bay (8-6) on Saturday. (more…)
Selective Focus: Hansi Johnson
For years, Hansi Johnson has worked as an advocate for outdoor recreation in our region, and his photography shows the rest of the world how lucky we are to live here.
H.J.: I am a photographer and I generally shoot full frame DSLR. However I am not married to any one camera, aspect ratio or format. I have published photos from my Iphone, my cropped camera as well.
I am generally considered an action photographer but like all labels that description is not quite right. My style is more around environmental photographs but instead of shots that only show landscapes I love to position a person interacting in that space as well, generally enjoying some form of adventurous outdoor recreation.
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Ingeborg von Agassiz – “Jolly Old St. Nick”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZ0ut8AIkSE
A reharmonization and altered melody for the traditional holiday classic “Jolly Old St. Nicholas” by Duluth’s Ingeborg von Agassiz.
Brewhouse gets new master brewer
Ted Briggs, the new brew master at Fitger’s Brewhouse
Just Take Action announced Ted Briggs as the new master brewer for Fitger’s Brewhouse this week. “Mr. Briggs will continue to build on the great legacy of quality Lake Superior craft beer first initiated by Dave Hoops and later, Frank Kaszuba,” the company stated in a news release. (more…)
Video Archive: 1964 Great Lakes Adventure
This 16mm film documentary was produced by Detroit Public Schools and the Ford Motor Company. It chronicles a trip aboard the Ford Motor Company freighter as it voyages from the River Rouge Factory Complex to Duluth and back with a load of iron ore.
The program is sexy throughout, but since it’s an educational film you might want the cheat sheet or Cliff Notes. The Duluth segment of the adventure starts at the 13-minute mark and ends at the 17-minute mark.
Much appreciation to the Detroit Historical Society for making this gem available to the masses.
Jean Du Luth Farm, Duluth, Minn.
This page from the Dec. 16, 1915 issue of The Breeder’s Gazette is not easy to read in this format, but there’s a funny tidbit in there. Apparently someone at the farm named a cow after J. Proctor Knott, the U.S. Representative from Kentucky who in 1871 ridiculed a bill to subsidize westward expansion of railroads by lampooning Duluth in a famous speech that was later published under the title “The Untold Delights of Duluth.”
From the list of stats in the right column:
14 of Proctor Knott’s first daughters in milk average 428 lbs. fat, official. Half of these are heifer records.
Knott and his speech were the theme of a PDD Quiz back in January.
Stolen from Sam Hanson
This ceramic ashtray raises a few questions, the primary one being: Who was Sam Hanson?
UMD Snack Exodus
During finals week, the UMD Student Association provides a 9 p.m. snack. This video, shot early last week, shows the mass migration of students as the library empties out.
Boulevard Lake, Duluth, Minn.
This undated postcard must be showing one of what Duluthians call the “Twin Ponds” these days. Skyline Parkway was commonly referred to as “The Boulevard,” short for Rogers Boulevard, before taking its modern name in 1929. (more…)
Backyard and Pond Hockey
Looking for people who play hockey in their backyard or on a pond/lake/river to share their stories for a documentary.
Duluth’s Cascade Hotel
“Your home when you’re in Duluth” is the Cascade, “the friendly hotel.” Located on the corner of First Avenue West and Third Street, it features “kitchenette apartments – hotel rooms” that are “transient – residential.” The hotel opened in 1924. (more…)
PDD Quiz: Christmas City, Wonderful City
You’ve been hearing it. You’ve been humming it. You probably know it by heart. Or do you? How much do you know about Duluth’s official Christmas song? Let’s find out!
Time Lapse Video: Lake Superior Sea Smoke
Photographer Travis Novitsky got up early on Dec. 15 to make the trek up Mt. Josephine to photograph sea smoke on Lake Superior. (more…)
Sixteen Years on the Superior Hiking Trail: Two Harbors Vicinity
The final four of my 16 years on the Superior Hiking Trail were spent filling in a series of gaps, the biggest of which was an 85-mile stretch from Martin Road outside Duluth to Split Rock State Park. I covered nearly three quarters of that distance in 2012 and 2013 through somewhat random day hikes. The 2012 hikes were in areas that are among the most beautiful on the trail. The 2013 hikes were marred by biting flies and scenery that doesn’t quite measure up to better parts of the trail.
When people find out I’ve hiked the entire SHT, they sometimes form a grandiose opinion of my outdoorsmanship and general machismo. Like I’m the kind of guy who walks around with a Leatherman multitool at all times, practically lives off the land and is prepared for Armageddon. In reality, I wouldn’t have slept a single night in the woods on my hiking trips if there were an easier way around it. Once I’d knocked the northernmost 180 miles off my checklist, there was an easier way around it, and I took full advantage of the opportunity to get dropped off at a trailhead and get picked up eightish miles away just a few hours later. (more…)
Homegrown band registration ends Christmas night
Duluth-area musicians interested in performing in the 2017 Homegrown Music Festival must make their intentions known by filling out a registration form at duluthhomegrown.org. The deadline is Dec. 25 at midnight. The eight-day festival runs April 30 to May 7.
Paulucci complex sold for $7 million
Business North is reporting, via Finance & Commerce, the Paulucci Building at 525 S. Lake Ave. in Canal Park was sold in November for $6 million.
The buyer: Star PB LLC
The seller: Etor Properties LLC
The story notes that “in a second related transaction, Star PB LLC paid $1 million to Buckeye Corp., another private investment entity, for a 16,000-square-foot retail and office building next door, at 501 Lake Ave. S.”
The Paulucci Building is named for the late Duluth businessman Jeno Paulucci. It was built in 1915 by Gowan-Lenning-Brown, a wholesale grocery firm. The neighboring structure was built in 1909 as the Buckeye Building for National Biscuit.
Vikre Distillery is the most prominent business operating out of the two buildings.
Selective Focus: Ivy Vainio
Ivy Vainio is a self-taught photographer and this week she talks about how she got started, how her photography has grown, and where she would like to take it.
I.V.: I started taking photographs in about 2001 when the office that I work in got a Olympus SLR camera to help document our programs and events. With time, I became better at taking photographs and started to have a yearning to try this art form outside of the University. My husband surprised me, in 2011, and bought me a Canon Rebel camera from a local pawn shop in Duluth one day and that is all I needed to fuel my passion for digital photography. I took that camera out in our woods, and played around with it. It was in the summer of 2011 when I got my big break. I was at a powwow with my camera and I got a call from Jana Peterson of the Pine Journal newspaper in Cloquet. She heard that I was at the powwow and she asked if I would take a couple photographs for the newspaper. I told her yes and I have been taking photographs ever since with more intent of getting the perfect shot.
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South Shore Brewery expands into Washburn
After a 102-year absence, the steam plume from a brewery has returned to the Washburn skyline. On Nov. 30, South Shore Brewery’s kettle fired up its inaugural batch of Nut Brown Ale, which will be bottled on Solstice Wednesday, Dec. 21.
South Shore Brewery was founded in May 1995 with brewing facilities in the basement of the Deep Water Grille in Ashland. It was northwestern Wisconsin’s first microbrewery and the state’s seventh. Bo Bélanger, South Shore’s original brew master and president, bought the business in 2004.
In February he expanded operations into Washburn, opening the Lake Superior Tap House, a satellite tasting room and retail outlet. The recent move of the brewing facilities to the Washburn operation was done with the goal to make the brewery more efficient and competitive while increasing output.
In addition to the expanded brewing facility, the Lake Superior Tap House features a tasting room with a variety of South Shore beers on tap, windows that look into the brewery, and a shuffleboard table handcrafted from a piece of bowling lane preserved from the old Super Bowl Lanes, which previously occupied the building.
Downtown eatery supports aviation education
Lark o’ the Lake Café is an eatery with an unusual secondary purpose: to promote aviation education. “The Lark,” as it’s more commonly known, celebrated a year in business last month.
Sandra Ettestad, Mark Marino and Don Monaco own the restaurant at 231 E. Superior St. in the Greysolon Plaza. All three are trustees of the Duluth Aviation Institute and founders of its Gilruth Continuum Path to Aviation program. (more…)
Great Lakes Trader arrives coated in ice
The ice-coated Great Lakes Trader floated steamed into Duluth at 10:30 a.m. on Dec. 13 to load iron pellets. Video by Dennis O’Hara.
Duluth, you’re terrific!
This old plastic grocery bag from the Denfeld Super Valu asserts Duluth is terrific. The grocery store at 4501 Grand Ave. closed in 2001 and was replaced with a Walgreens.
Superior record store announces closing, huge inventory for sale
Vinyl Cave owners Tom Johnson, left, and Tom Unterberger will close the Superior record store Dec. 31. They hope to sell the store inventory to a single buyer.
The largest used record store in the region will go out of business this month after owners struggled to meet the demands of younger music lovers buying and selling collectible vinyl on the Internet.
The Vinyl Cave, 1717 Belknap Street in Superior, will close its doors Dec. 31. Owners Tom Unterberger and Tom Johnson hope to find a single buyer for an inventory that includes more than 10,000 albums, 300,000 singles, rock memorabilia and vintage stereo equipment. (more…)
Max Wolpoff thinks he’s Chad Salmela
Max Wolpoff, a Boston University student announcer working the Terriers women’s hockey game against the Gophers this past weekend, was almost as excitable as Duluthian Chad Salmela working the Sochi Olympics in 2014.
The Event of the Century: Standing Strong for Our Precious Water
The Standing Strong for Our Precious Water Art Exhibit and Concert Benefit for Standing Rock took place this past Friday at AICHO Galleries and was an amazing success. 400+ people showed up, raising a preliminary estimate of above $7,000 for Standing Rock water protectors and Honor the Earth (and that number continues to rise as more artwork is purchased over the course of the next month). The evening featured artwork by roughly 100 different visual artists, with musical performances by Annie Humphrey, Keith Secola, Jamie Labrador, #theindianheadband, Oshkii Giizhik Singers, Jake Vainio, and Richie Townsend. (more…)
The parking meters in Hartford vs. Duluth
A few weeks back PDD reported a Duluth reference in a new episode of Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, prompting vague assertions that Duluth had been mentioned in an episode of the original run of Gilmore Girls.
Well, a more specific tip finally came in.
Duluth was name dropped in season 2, episode 3, “Red Light on the Wedding Night.” Lorelai’s fiance Max has his bachelor party cut short because his brother leap frogged a parking meter and didn’t make it, resulting in a hospital visit. According to Max, his brother “claims he wasn’t drunk. He’s saying that the parking meters in Hartford are taller than the parking meters in Duluth, so he just miscalculated.”
The episode originally aired Oct. 16, 2001. The Duluth reference is just after the 18-minute mark of the full episode; the bootleg clip above isolates the reference.