New 360° Video – Minnesota in 360
First 30 seconds is from the North Shore. Click and drag to pan the video line-of-sight.
Prize Inside: Cereal Toys and Premiums Through the Decades
Part three of our conversation with Robb Berry, who has been collecting toys from cereal boxes since he was a kid in the 1970s.
See Part One — Honeycomb Hideout: Robb Berry’s Basement Cereal Box Museum
See Part Two — Cereal Brands: The Good, the Bad and the Sugary
Lutsen New Gondola
Lutsen Ski Resort began erecting a new $7-million gondola on June 23. It should be operational by the 2015-16 ski season. Above you can see they are sticking with the iconic red for the new eight-passenger gondola, which will speed up the gondola lines.
Cereal Brands: The Good, the Bad and the Sugary
Part two of a conversation with cereal box collector Robb Berry of Duluth, who fills us in on some of the stories behind the development of cereals that have come and gone through the decades.
See also Part One — Honeycomb Hideout: Robb Berry’s Basement Cereal Box Museum
Part Three — Prize Inside: Cereal Toys and Premiums Through the Decades
Duluth 2015 Primary Election Sample Ballot
Keep in mind:
District candidates will appear on the ballot only in the specified districts. Duluth City Council District 5 represents West Duluth and neighborhoods farther west. Duluth School Board District 2 represents the Endion, Congdon, Chester Park and Kenwood areas.
Honeycomb Hideout: Robb Berry’s Basement Cereal Box Museum
Hidden away in a West Duluth basement is a one-of-a-kind museum — Robb Berry’s cereal box collection. He has been collecting cereal toys and premiums since he was a kid in the 1970s, and started collecting boxes shortly after that.
Unfortunately, Berry’s basement is not open to the public. But if you’re interested in the vast history of cereal, he also manages the Cereal Boxes and Prizes Archives 1900-Present Facebook page, where collectors and enthusiasts share their finds and questions about the hobby.
PDD was granted access to the catacombs that hold Berry’s collections. He is a fountain of information, so we present this special PDD Back-to-School series in three parts this week. Grab the milk, a spoon and a bowl and enjoy.
Part Two — Cereal Brands: The Good, the Bad and the Sugary
Part Three — Prize Inside: Cereal Toys and Premiums Through the Decades
Cloud Cult returns to Bayfront
Cloud Cult comes back to the area for the Twin Ports Bridge Festival at Bayfront Park on Sept. 11. Craig Minowa talks about some big surprises for the group’s return.
Summer Music in Review
The summer is over, and there is so much music I heard that I have not yet written about here.
The most complicated performance of the summer, for me, was watching Tim Kaiser and Robot Rickshaw at Beaners. (All the videos that follow are not the performances I saw, but just tasters.)
It was a study in noise and the relationship between noise and music. (more…)
This Week: chili, lotsa music, fresh produce and more
Here’s a bit of what you’ll find on this week’s PDD Calendar:
The 2015 United Way Chili Cook-Off is heating up the DECC, the Duluth Art Institute is opening three new exhibitions, a man named Achilles will play his trombone at Weber Music Hall, Tony Dierckins presents his book on the famed Congdon estate, the Twin Ports Bridge Festival hits Bayfront Park and George Thorogood will bring his message of bad-to-the-boneness to Black Bear Casino.
Instrumental post-rockers Portrait of a Drowned Man and three other bands will rock R.T. Quinlan’s, the Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra kicks off its latest season, the Engwalls Corn Maze opens to the public, the 2015 Lake Superior Harvest Festival is happening at Bayfront, 5k runners get stuff thrown at them during the UV Splash Color Dash and Big Top Chautauqua folds up their tent for the season.
Video Archive: Paul Hlina on the Superior Hiking Trail in 1995
With a fused spine and partially paralyzed legs, Paul Hlina hiked the entire Superior Hiking Trail on crutches in 1995. He is credited as the first person to through-hike the trail, which at the time spanned almost 200 miles. It’s about a 300-mile trail today.
Pride.
Sharon Needles at Bayfront Park during the Duluth Superior Pride Festival.
Iron Range restaurant reviewed in New York Times
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.
First Listen: Low’s Ones and Sixes
The new album by Duluth band Low is available to stream above, via NPR’s First Listen. CDs, LPs and mp3s will be in stores on Sept. 11.
Landscape photographer Peter Lik is on the North Shore
Selective Focus: Hold on Summer
Ann Klefstad, untitled
A recent New York Times article noted how difficult the end of Summer can be, especially for people “of a certain age” who focus on what’s left in the hourglass, and rue the many things undone that likely will remain so. But it ends on a hopeful note, in finding solace in the smaller things we managed; I had my 1st swim in Superior, I’ve been working steadily on my first book with numerous local colleagues, and I’ve eaten several Rustic Inn pies. Hardly a squandered season. (more…)
Woods by College of St. Scholastica
Woods by CSS with xylophone bridge
Does anyone know of a map to these woods — the one with the chimney from an old cabin, an empty grotto and a super-sized Jesus statue?
Does the place even have a name? My tickling of the Google has not been fruitful.
Duluth Air Line: Taking in the sight in 1908
What in tarnation is going on here? Well, this postcard image is clearly a photo studio gag and not a snapshot of two handsome fellows in a hot air balloon over Duluth. (more…)
We have a Historic Preservation Corps?
Northern Bedrock Conservation Corps is run like a New Deal program teaching young people skills in the field of historic preservation (apparently there will be lots of jobs as tradespeople retire). Who knew? They’re readying for their next excursion fixing a historic building in the BWCA. I want to run away and go.
Bar in Duluth that will show more than one football game
What would be your choice of Duluth venue if you wanted to see a game that wasn’t being broadcast on regular television, or if you were with a group that was interested in a couple games … preferably a place where you wouldn’t pay much for food and drink?
NorShor Theatre renovation funding in order, ready for approval
The city of Duluth announced in a news release today the restoration Duluth’s historic NorShor Theatre could begin before the end of 2015, with a grand reopening expected in mid 2017, now that the project has finalized its funding sources.
David Montgomery, Duluth’s chief administrative officer, shared details with the City Council during its Monday committee-of-the-whole meeting. He said none of the funding will come from property taxes. (more…)
2016 Minnesota DNR Trout and Salmon Stamp
Duluth artist Dean Kegler won the 2016 Minnesota Department of Natural Resources trout and salmon stamp contest with this painting of a brown trout. His artwork was previously featured on the 2009 pheasant stamp.
The trout and salmon stamp validation is sold for $10 along with fishing licenses and is required for Minnesota residents age 18 to 64 and non-residents older than age 18 and under age 65 to fish designated trout streams, trout lakes and Lake Superior, and when in possession of trout or salmon.
Save the LS&M Railroad for the enjoyment of future generations
The struggling Lake Superior & Mississippi Railroad in West Duluth has persevered against all odds as a scenic, historic railroad since 1980 despite receiving virtually no public subsidies. Running on the very first tracks to enter Duluth, dating back to 1870, 145 unbroken years of history are on the line right now. A dedicated all-volunteer group, none of whom has ever received a paycheck, is keeping this history alive. The railroad costs the city virtually nothing, has proven to be largely self-sufficient, and is an irreplaceable treasure that needs community input in order to survive the massive cleanup now being planned for the U.S. Steel site near Morgan Park. The two newspaper columns linked below will shade things in a bit for you. Take a trip on the LS&M during one of the next six weekends or you just might miss your chance, forever.
Duluth Budgeteer: Save the train for future generations
Duluth News Tribune: Massive cleanup plan emerging for U.S. Steel site in Duluth
Summer of ’65: Strike postponed at U.S. Steel Duluth Works
Fifty years ago — Aug. 31, 1965 — the DNT reports the announcement of an eight-day postponement in the steel strike deadline means United States Steel Duluth Works will resume normal operations. (more…)