July 2020 Posts

Selective Focus: Comet Neowise

A collection of stunning comet Neowise photos from across northern Minnesota. Here’s a link to some info from Astrobob. The comet should be visible for one more night tonight.

Patrick Nelson – “Someone Like You”

Superior native and University of Minnesota Duluth alum Patrick Nelson has a track on Elliott BlaufussAirwavs quarantine collaboration record. Blaufuss is the producer; Nelson handles drums, bass and vocals on the track.

Thirty-three artists from across America started a long-distance musical collaboration resulting in a six-track EP.

Ingeborg von Agassiz – “Alive”

Another new track by Duluth’s Ingeborg von Agassiz.

A Swimming Hole at Lester Park

The Library of Congress dates this photo from Detroit Publishing Company as circa 1904.

Confronting racism with a ‘hello’

Clinton’s Bog Ventures: Battle of the Nest-building Creek Chubs

Clinton Dexter-Nienhaus, head naturalist for the Friends of Sax-Zim Bog, presents the fascinating world of creek chubs, which build ridge-pit nests out of small stones they move in their mouths.

Video by Kristina Dexter-Nienhaus, with editing by Sparky Stensaas.

Airplane View of Grain Elevators, Lift Bridge and Duluth Harbor

This undated postcard from Zenith Interstate News Company offers a view of grain elevators on Rice’s Point, the Duluth-Superior Harbor, Aerial Lift Bridge and other waterfront locations.

The caption on the back reads:

Duluth-Superior Harbor ranks second in the world, second only to New York City in tonnage handled annually. More than ten thousand vessels arrive and depart annually from the Duluth-Superior Harbor. In this picture you see featured part of the great grain elevators and docks in the harbor. There are also the world’s largest iron ore and coal docks in this magnificent harbor.

Presque Isle scrapes stone base of Duluth Ship Canal pier

The 1,000-foot Presque Isle struck the base of the Duluth Ship Canal’s north pier shortly after 7 a.m. today. The video above is by Conner Blaukat. The perspective below was shot by Mike Burbul.

Duluth You & Me: Willard Munger State Trail

This edition of Duluth You & Me needs an historical footnote. The Willard Munger State Trail is referred to in this 1993 illustration as a 14-mile trail. It now spans 70 miles to Hinckley.

Use the link below for a printable PDF for your drawing and coloring pleasure.
Duluth You & Me: Willard Munger State Trail

Follow the Duluth You & Me subject tag to see additional pages. For background on the book see the original post on the topic.

PDD Quiz: Northland Swimming Spots

What better way to beat the summer heat than to visit your favorite local beach or swimming hole? Whether you prefer a secret pool in the woods or a popular beach, options abound. Dive into this week’s quiz to test your knowledge of area swimming spots!

The next PDD quiz will review the headlines from July 2020; it will be published on July 26. Submit question suggestions to Alison Moffat at [email protected] by July 22.

Postcard from the U.S. Coast Guard Woodrush Breaking Ice in Duluth Harbor

It was July 12, 1950 — 70 years ago today — that some dude with the initials H.E.W. sent this postcard from Duluth to Mr. Joe Rigatti of Pittsburgh, Penn.

The Slice: Gary-New Duluth’s Skatepark

A new skatepark is in the works in the Gary-New Duluth neighborhood. Mark Boben, president of the GND Development Alliance, describes how this undertaking is a community-wide effort. (Update: This video appears to have been removed from YouTube.)

In its series The Slice, WDSE-TV presents short “slices of life” that capture the events and experiences that bring people together and speak to what it means to live up north.

Heely Tricks with JamesG: June 2020

An early-summer montage of wheeled-sneaker stunts from former Duluthian James Geisler, also known as the hip-hop artist JamesG.

He has more than 44,000 followers on TikTok.

An exotic village on the Lester River

Barbara Kiser, a former Duluthian who has lived in London since the 1980s, has published an essay that prominently references the Lester River Fish Hatchery. The article appears on Arizona State University’s Zócalo Public Square, which syndicates “ideas journalism.”

Article link: Where I Go: From Northeast London Back to Duluth

Ingeborg von Agassiz – “The Alchemist”

Another new track by Duluth’s Ingeborg von Agassiz.