Paul Lundgren
Found: The Elusive West Duluth Snowy Owl
If you’ve followed Perfect Duluth Day closely for more than a year, you might know that my wife and I are the world’s laziest and lousiest birders. We have cheap binoculars and cameras, and basically just try to keep an eye out while we are engaged in an activity like cross-country skiing. Last year, during an owl irruption in the Duluth area, we saw zero owls. The only snowy owls we had seen in our lives, before today, were in captivity at the Lake Superior Zoo and the World Bird Sanctuary in Missouri.
We had a few failed missions last year, seeking the elusive snowy at Rice’s Point and the Bong Airport. After hearing reports of sightings near Duluth Business University and Wade Stadium this year, we decided to give it another try. We saw a bald eagle at Grassy Point within minutes, and figured that was a good sign. We knew from reading Sparky Stensaas’ blog post about Superior Snowy Owls that it’s generally easier to find them in a stupid place, like on a football scoreboard (in his case) or a piece of industrial equipment (in our case) than in a beautiful wilderness environment, so we were only moderately surprised to find our gal at Erie Pier in West Duluth, perched on a bulldozer.
Poll: Best Local Album of 2014 (Final Round)
A previous round of voting identified the top three albums by Duluth bands in 2014. Now it’s time to pick the award winner. Ire Wolves’ The Ascetic and Wolf Blood’s self-titled album can be listened to on Bandcamp. Red Mountain’s Scowl Lightly isn’t available for free listening in its entirety, but the single “Home” is on SoundCloud and there are videos for “Forestasia” and “Put Me Through.” Listen up, then pick your favorite.
[poll id=”76″]
This poll is now closed. The results are:
Red Mountain’s Scowl Lightly – 40.6 percent
Wolf Blood’s self titled debut – 34.4 percent
Ire Wolves The Ascetic – 25 percent
2014: The Year in Duluth Gig Posters
This is by no means a comprehensive collection of the past year’s gig posters, just 126 of them that caught my eye.
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Where in Duluth?
Time for another installment of Perfect Duluth Day’s ultra-thrilling photo-trivia sensation. Where in Duluth was this shot taken?
Poll: Best Local Album of 2014 (Elimination Round)
Among the 50+ albums released by Duluth-area musicians in the past year, the nominees are in for Best Local Album of 2014. Log in and click away to help us identify the strongest in the field.
[poll id=”75″]
This poll is now closed. The three albums below will advance to the final round of voting:
Ire Wolves – The Ascetic
Red Mountain – Scowl Lightly
Wolf Blood – self titled
Balloon View of Duluth/Superior Harbor
This postcard, captioned “Balloon View Harbor, River and Natural Breakwater; Duluth to Left, Superior to Right” raises a few questions. Perhaps the most important one is, how did that tree on the left edge get so tall? (more…)
Favorite Duluth Albums of 2014
Yes, it’s time once again to get all judgmental about the local music scene and pick the best albums of the year for further breakdown into a fancy PDD poll. There were at least four-dozen albums released by local musicians in 2014, which means few people have listened to them all. So, how do we begin?
Well, it’s fairly simple. In the comments to this post we ask you, the local brain trust, to mention your favorite albums from the past year, then we use that list to generate the nominees for the poll we’ll run a few days from now. It is acceptable, by the way, to nominate an album that came out late in 2013 and maybe didn’t capture much attention until 2014.
With so much local music being produced, of course, it’s hard for even devotees to feel like they have much of a grasp on everything that’s out there, but note that the list of albums linked above contains numerous links to Bandcamp pages where you can listen to many, many tunes for the low, low price of free. So browse, listen, or just spout off about how good the new album by your best friend’s band is and consider yourself an expert. It’s only rawk and/or roll, after all.
The Zamboni Explosion and Peterson Arena Fire of 2004
Peterson Arena on Grand Avenue in West Duluth was gutted by fire on Dec. 19, 2004. The image of the wreckage at left is a Bob King photo for the Duluth News Tribune, boosted from USA Today‘s story about the unfortunate and scary, yet still undeniably comical, Zamboni explosion. The fire marked the end of Peterson Arena, which served as the only indoor ice rink in western Duluth from 1971 to 2004. It was replaced by the Duluth Heritage Sports Center at Clyde Park, which opened in 2008.
Larson announces she’ll run for mayor
City Council President Emily Larson has announced she will run to replace Duluth Mayor Don Ness, who has said he will not seek a third term.
“I’m running for mayor because the next chapter for Duluth is critical,” Larson wrote on her Facebook page. “I’m running because our community’s continued progress will require new ideas, and because I want to ensure we write Duluth’s next chapter together.”
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Southwire on WCCO’s list of up-and-coming Minnesota bands
Duluth band Southwire topped WCCO’s list of the five “Best Up-And-Coming Minnesota Bands of 2014.” The trio performs at the Red Herring Lounge on Friday as part of Sarah Krueger’s album release party.
Southwire debuted eight years ago, so the term “up-and-coming” seems a little odd, but the band’s debut album is not yet three years old and its popularity indeed seems to still be on the rise.
Lonely Planet names Duluth a top destination for 2015
Duluth pulled a #9 ranking in Lonely Planet‘s “Best in the U.S. 2015” travel guide. “With trails in every direction, Lake Superior’s waves crashing on one side, and snowy mountains rising on the other, Duluth has emerged as the Midwest’s premier outdoors hot spot,” the panel of authors and editors wrote. “The 290-mile Superior Hiking Trail hugs the lake from Duluth en route to Canada, passing waterfalls, red-rock overlooks, and the occasional moose. Without even leaving town, the mountain biker (and snowshoer) fantasy known as the Duluth Traverse is in the works, linking several existing trails to cover the 26-mile length of the city.”
Related post: “What else is Duluth the best at?“
Select Images from the 1934 Denfeld Oracle
Back in the day, Denfeld art students competed in the Proctor and Gamble contest, the Scholastic Award or the House Beautiful Cover Design contest. Miss Genevieve Bancroft was the art instructor, with the assistance of Miss Nellie Smith. (more…)
Found: Your phone, lighter and two dimes
In general this is a public service announcement: Keep in mind during the winter months that if you reach into your pockets and pull something out from the bottom, everything else is likely to come out with it and land in the snow next to the railroad tracks. You probably won’t even notice.
Well, that’s at least my theory of what happened. If this is your stuff, inquire about it at the West Duluth Police Substation.
Aldi coming to Duluth and Superior?
The Germany-based discount supermarket chain Aldi has posted online ads for store manager trainees in Duluth and Superior, a strong indication the company is planning to open stores in the Twin Ports. The website cdinduluth.com first reported rumors of Aldi’s interest in Duluth back in January. Aldi has over 9,000 stores in over 18 countries. It is known for carrying inexpensive grocery staples and household items, generally with unfamiliar brand names (often contracted by Aldi), and for practices designed to lower grocery costs by lowering store expenses — i.e. quarter-deposits for use of carts, high credit-card processing fees, no free bags and limited store hours.
Duluth opens second dog park
Duluth’s Parks and Recreation Division announced today that a fenced, off-leash dog park has officially opened at Observation Park, located on West Third Street between Ninth and Tenth avenues west. Features of the new dog park include a double-gated entry so leashes can be removed safely before entering the dog park, a separate small dog area for dogs 20 pounds or less, and off-street parking (at the Tenth Street dead end). Observation Dog Park is the second such park in Duluth. The first, Keene Creek Dog Park, located in Keene Creek Park in West Duluth on Grand Avenue and 62nd Avenue West, opened in 2006. Both dog parks are open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Individuals interested in supporting Duluth Dog Parks are encouraged to email Denette Lynch at duluthdogparks @ yahoo.com.
Tin Can Gin
Video by Kelsey Marrin.
Duluth featured in Bicycling magazine
The hyperbolic headline “The Town Cycling Saved,” is a tad unfortunate, but the interview with Duluth Mayor Don Ness in this month’s issue of Bicycling magazine is now online. In the print edition, the headline is “Transformer Man,” which is maybe only a little better. Other than that, however, it’s a fun and quick read. The mayor clarified on his Facebook page today that the recent improvements to bike trails is just one part of Duluth’s turnaround, saying “it’s because of Duluth’s revitalization and the new energy around town that groups like COGGS have taken on ambitious goals and have inspired hundreds of volunteers to take ownership of these trails.”
College football’s coaching nun in New York Times
The story of Sister Lisa Maurer, who serves as a football coach at the College of St. Scholastica, is featured today in the New York Times. Maurer is a Benedictine nun with St. Scholastica Monastery in Duluth, which shares a campus with the College of St. Scholastica. She joined the ranks of the coaching crew this fall, after spending years as one of the Saints’ biggest fans. Maurer will be on the sidelines Saturday as the Saints take on Saint John’s University in the first round of the NCAA Division III playoffs in Collegeville.
1984-85 UMD Bulldog Basketball Card Set
The 2014-’15 UMD Bulldog basketball team plays its first home game tonight against UW-Superior. In recognition of that, we roll out this nostalgia from 30 years ago. (more…)