From the WDIO film archive, raw footage of Miller Hill Mall’s grand opening on July 25, 1973 — 50 years ago today. A crowd is seen gathered in the center court near the Flagg Bros store as Duluth Mayor Ben Boo and other luminaries pull apart the ceremonial ship’s chain.
On Jan. 6, 1983, Grant Elementary School reopened after a six-month, $1.4 million renovation project. WDIO-TV’s Nancy Taggart has the report.
WHYZ was the ABC affiliate in Duluth — I think it would become WDIO? Or did WDIO begin after WHYZ died?
Gathered here is silent WDIO-TV b-roll footage dated June 20, 1972. Note there was a “Patio Park” at the time, next to A&E Supply — long before anyone had coined the term “parklet.”
Forty-one years ago, WDIO-TV‘s Liz Wagner filed this report from the Bayfield Apple Festival.
On Oct. 15, 1969, a “Peace March and Moratorium” was held in Duluth to protest the Vietnam War. Participants marched from the campus of the University of Minnesota Duluth to the Duluth Civic Center. This clip is raw 16mm film of the event pulled from the WDIO-TV archives.
In June of 1971, 50 years ago this month, WDIO reporter Stu Stronach did a series of special reports on the then-ongoing process of desegregating the Duluth public school system. This video is a compilation of those reports.
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.
WDIO-TV has pulled this relic from its archive to share during Duluth Dylan Fest week. The news clip is from Oct. 10, 1988. Dylan’s boyhood home was on the market at the time. Reporter Leonard Lee went inside the house and into the former bedroom of the music icon where a shrine of sorts had been displayed. Items of note: an autograph from a pre-fame Bobby Zimmerman and a mezuzah shaped like a guitar.
The moments where the video briefly drops out are glitches in the 3/4-inch tape.
In this 1972 clip from WDIO-TV, reporter Stu Stronach enlists cameraman Mark Ryan to buy an ounce of marijuana on Fourth Avenue West and Superior Street.
Ethan Freel transferred this film to video and added the music.
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.
From the haunted film vault comes this 1970s clip featuring WDIO-TV weatherman Jack McKenna, two mice and Dracula. Also featured at the end are anchorman Dennis Anderson and sportscaster Bill Stefl.
Happy Halloween!
Dennis Anderson, anchor
Bill Stefl, sports
Jack McKenna, weather
Jim Schwinn
Fifty years ago — Aug. 18, 1965 — the DNT reports the Duluth Planning Commission will conduct a public hearing on a proposal to grant a special permit to Channel 10, Inc., to operate a television station.
I am taking this moment to shamelessly plug two stories from last week. Both Renee Passal and myself profiled the Superior-based Genesis Attachments.
The company supplied the gigantic steel shears used to cut the bleeding Deepwater Horizon oil pipe last Thursday.
Fun Fact*
For me, doing this story brought out the unavoidable side of my imagination that creates terrifying, ocean-dwelling robots armed with savage instruments of war. (Not that they truly exist, but if they did, we humans could outfit them with some crazy shit).
Admittedly, Passal with WDIO had the story first. And I’m not saying that my version is better. However, think of it this way:
Could you resist a story about gigantic, robot-controlled, underwater cutting tools?
-MS
