The craft beer craze is finally permeating Minnesota’s Iron Range. Before the year’s end, the area will support two new breweries: Klockow Brewing Company in Grand Rapids and BoomTown Brewery & Woodfire Grill in Hibbing. Another, Rapids Brewing Company, is in the works.
The Iron Range’s first craft beer festival is on tap this Saturday in Virginia. In addition to a craft beer village, the Olcott Fountain Brew Fest will feature food, live music and kids’ activities.
The event is a fundraiser organized by the Olcott Park Fountain Restoration Committee, whose mission is to restore the park’s historic fountain to its former glory.
“It’s the first brew fest north of Duluth. We seem to have a lot of interest from all over the Iron Range, which is awesome,” says Carly Gobats, who curated the event’s brewery and music lineup and serves as the its volunteer coordinator.
In honor of a decade+ of writing for the Duluth Budgeteer — gone forever — I wanted to share this piece. At just 45 miles from Duluth, the Wirtanen Pioneer Farm is a swell destination to add to your summer bucket list. A quiet place, with little programming, it’s the sort of environment that might bore some of you. If you have ears to hear, however, there is much to be heard. We can learn a lot from the work ethic of pioneers like Eli. I jotted down some thoughts at Ed’s Big Adventure, and am curious about yours.
In this video from WDSE-TV‘s The Playlist, Hibbing native Paul Seeba returns to the Iron Range and the historic Mitchell Yards to share music inspired by the 1906 roundhouse. His 2014 album, Mitchell Yards, celebrates the now-endangered place and the role it played in handling ore during World War II.
Bonus sidebar: Dan Turner’s inside look at Mitchell Yards from his Substreet blog.
Aurora, the Iron Range city about an hour north of Duluth, was home to Francine York. “From the 60s and into the 70s, she was a guest-star on dozens of series, with some of her most remembered roles from Batman, Lost In Space, Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie, and The Streets of San Francisco.”
Bleeding Cool has the obituary for this Northland celebrity.
Lilah Crowe, executive director at Itasca County Historical Society, talks about the rich native history of Itasca County in the first of a four-part presentation.
This short-form documentary was produced by A Plus B Productions as part of the Itasca Conversations series.
This undated postcard depicts “Alice in Wonderland,” one of more than 30 scenes from favorite fairytales at Fairyland, a roadside attraction that operated from 1948 to 1972 just west of the village of Marble, about 80 miles northwest of Duluth. Pretty much anything one might want to know about Fairyland can be found on a PDF compiled by Tim Wick, son of Melvin and Faith Wick, who bought the park in 1960.
Dr. Lee Jess cuts a promo for Tall Timber Days, the 35-year-old festival he helped start in Grand Rapids. Video produced by A Plus B Productions.
This film footage from 1928 shows U.S. President Calvin Coolidge arriving in Hibbing on the Duluth, Missabe, and Northern Railroad to view mining operations and see the highly acclaimed Hibbing High School. Modern-day aerial footage of the school concludes the video.
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.
Bovey is an historical jewel on the Iron Range, known for its rich mining history in the early 1900s. It’s also the home of the world-famous 1918 photograph Grace.
I heard it referred to by one of the locals as “Beirut.” It’s actually quite the normal-looking bar on the inside.
The effects of the state budget deficit will be felt by many, but one example I’ve been talking about is the potential loss of Hibbing Community College Theater. (Disclosure: I work for HCC as a communication instructor).
HCC has developed a top notch two-year theater program and community theater series. For years it has demonstrated to the blue collar Iron Range the importance and possibility represented by the fine arts. Unfortunately, the program is now on the chopping block. But the community isn’t taking this lying down. A deal was struck that if some money could be raised externally the program could continue in some form.
For one night only, a big show will be held that could save a precious community treasure from budget cuts. Yes, that is exactly like the plot of the 1980 musical “The Blues Brothers.” Which is why the cast of HCC’s 2004 production of the Blues Brothers is reuniting for the show. The HCC Blues Brothers and Blues Brothers band is top notch, as good or better than any of the other revivals you might see touring the country and is predominantly stocked with Minnesotans.
We need to fill this massive, historic hall to save theater at HCC. Consider a road trip to Hibbing to send a message in support of the arts.
HCC Theater Support Gala
7:30 p.m.
Thursday, July 2
Hibbing High School Auditorium
(easily the most impressive high school auditorium in the country, and Dylan played there before he was Dylan)
First, enjoy the hilarious promotional video featuring Elwood Blues (Hibbing’s Jaime Tintor, an actor in L.A.). This is well worth the click.
HCC Theater Support Gala featuring the Blues Brothers: July 2 in Hibbing
Send this out. Tell your friends. Tweet and Retweet. Blog and Share. Every town has something to fight for in this unfortunately political battle, but this one is awfully important to the towns of the Iron Range, knocked down by the economy and in need of the healing power of the arts. Tell the people: “We’re getting the band back together.”
Follow some hilarious updates all next week at my blog MinnesotaBrown.com
