December 2022 Posts

Award for global engagement goes to Duluthian

Dan Nolan recently won a statewide award for teaching about internationalization. Below is the news release for the announcement, but I thought it might be more important to remind folks of the cool work Dan has also done for internationalization for the city of Duluth.

Initiatives in telehealth, as reported by CSS students

I have a pet interest in rural health issues. So I was very interested in a presentation recently to Wilderness Health.

What was the WEBC Traffic Tower?

According to the Duluth News Tribune, this WEBC Traffic Tower was located in a glass enclosure on the roof of the building on the northwest corner of Fourth Avenue West and Superior Street.

The Embassy presents Boubville

Duluth’s finest art cult, the Embassy, is planning an unusual fundraiser. WDSE-TV‘s Julie Zenner and Dennis Anderson chat with Emily Koch and Zanta about the irreverent version of a holiday festival called Boubville in this Almanac North segment.

WDSM: Queen of the Towers

Collected here are 1950s-era advertisements for WDSM-TV, the forerunner to KBJR-TV. The ads appeared in Broadcasting and Sponsor magazines and can be found in the Media History Digital Library.

When Bobby Heenan broke Greg Gagne’s nose in Duluth

Retired professional wrestler Greg Gagne mentions a match in Duluth on the new Vice cable television series Tales from the Territories. The anecdote occurs after the 19-minute mark in episode 3, titled “AWA: Bodyslams in the Heartland.”

Comparing Little Italy to Duluth

Oddly, this ad uses Duluth as a benchmark against which a reader might understand how many Italians are in New York. For a while, Duluth was one of the 100 biggest media markets in the United States, and so among media professionals it could serve as a benchmark.

From the Media History Digital Library.

Mary Mack ribs Duluth on Tonight Show

Comedian Mary Mack performed on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon on Friday. During the set she mentions her mother is “from that very bland Scandinavian country called Duluth, Minnesota.”

Mack’s parents are both Duluth natives and Mack herself was raised in Webster, Wis., about 50 miles south of Duluth.

PDD Quiz: Holiday Tunes

Whip up a Tom & Jerry, spin a festive record, and settle in for this week’s quiz about local(ish) holiday tunes!

The final PDD quiz of the year will look back at headlines from 2022; it will be published on Dec. 25. Submit question suggestions to Alison Moffat at [email protected] by Dec. 21.

Traditional Christmas folk musical stylings of Goat Hill Quartet

On Saturday, I was at Wussow’s for coffee, and midway through the morning Goat Hill Quartet appeared. The group’s traditional Christmas folk musical stylings raised money for Loaves and Fishes.

Media Excavation: WHYZ in the Age of the Seaway

WHYZ was the ABC affiliate in Duluth — I think it would become WDIO? Or did WDIO begin after WHYZ died?

Alyson Hannigan: Duluth Streetwalker

During its nine-season run on the CBS television network, the sitcom How I Met Your Mother dropped numerous references to Minnesota, the home state of one of the show’s primary characters, Marshall Eriksen. In season 8, episode 10, titled “The Over-Correction,” Duluth finally got mentioned.

The episode aired 10 years ago today — Dec. 10, 2012.

Boots: A Love Story

“A hoarder is someone with an unusual ability to see beauty in the ordinary.” I heard Malcolm Gladwell say that during a harvest, and had to pause and write it down (the Dragon Psychology 101 episode, which aired at the midpoint of 2020).

Exactly two years and twenty days ago, I rescued these ancient Red Wing boots from the trash. The sound of the garbage truck trundling down the alley produced a pang of regret, so I pulled them from atop a frozen bag of excrement at the last possible moment:

Reunion with these works of art wrought rhapsodic joy. A rabbit hole opened. I dove way down, even though I knew it didn’t make much sense. Every drop of value had been squeezed from them already, or so I thought.

I set them in the sun, and admired them. My adoration, combined with the angling sun’s illumination, bordered on the beatific. I shot several photos. Perhaps that would be enough to say goodbye. Sensing more, however, I kept going.

KDAL sells the Duluth-Superior-Iron Range market

KDAL 610 AM is a commercial talk radio station in Duluth, owned and operated by Midwest Communications. There was also a KDAL-TV, which later became KDLH and then merged with KBJR.

Selective Focus: Mana Bear Bolton’s Paintings and Murals

Mana Bear Bolton live painting on Tower Avenue in Superior in August 2021. (Photo by Jess Morgan)

Between colorful murals, acrylic paintings of beloved pets, playful watercolors and flow arts, Mana Bear has been making the Twin Ports region and beyond more beautiful for nearly a decade. Learn more about Mana’s work in the interview below.