Elvis slept here: Radisson opens Legends Suite

Mark Nicklawske May 26, 2021 No Comments

Radisson Hotel Duluth Harborview Sales and Marketing Director Nancy Kilpo poses with Duluth musician Todd Eckart, impersonating Elvis Presley, in the hotel’s newly redecorated Legends Suite. Presley stayed in the 15th floor suite following Duluth performances in 1976 and 1977. (Photo by Mark Nicklawske)

Elvis Presley fans who want to live like the king of rock and roll now have a special place to stay in Duluth.

The Radisson Hotel Duluth Harborview, 505 Superior St., has redecorated and renamed its 15th floor suite where Presley stayed following Twin Ports performances in 1976 and 1977. The Legends Suite features concert photos, posters, a ticket stub and other memorabilia recognizing the Presley visit as well as tributes to singer-songwriter Bob Dylan — who was born in Duluth — and country music outlaw Willie Nelson.

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History, News and Current Affairs ,

Uh-oh … wait, don’t panic

Paul Lundgren May 25, 2021 No Comments

There are several different species of tent caterpillar. The one’s shown here, photographed in West Duluth, look a tad different than the dreaded forest tent caterpillars that defoliate trees and shrubs in nightmarish fashion.

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Outdoors

The Slice: Spring Wildflowers

PDDTV May 25, 2021 1 Comment

Naturalist Larry Weber talks about early spring wildflowers at Jay Cooke State Park.

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.


Outdoors, Videos , , , ,

Postcard from a Birdseye View of Duluth

Paul Lundgren May 25, 2021 3 Comments


History

Blindfold

PDDTV May 24, 2021 No Comments

From surviving cancer to inspiring others with his beautiful origami creations, Duluth’s Todd Olson has shaped more than just the paper at his fingertips.


Art, Videos

Duluth Dukes bus for sale on Facebook Marketplace

Paul Lundgren May 23, 2021 No Comments

An interesting ad for a 1956 Flxible Visicoach popped up May 4 on Facebook. The destination sign on the bus reads “Duluth Dukes.” Apparently, it’s a former team bus.

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History, Sports , ,

Selective Focus: Deep Cuts Hair Salon

Jessica Morgan May 22, 2021 No Comments

Deep Cuts hair salon opened in August 2020. Bee Golding started the salon after five years of working with hair because they “love meeting and connecting with new people.” They work together with their partner Jes Golding, who helped Bee with the mission and aesthetic of the shop. “In fact, I almost quit cutting hair, but Jes encouraged me to create our own environment instead. Barbershops are traditionally very stereotypically masculine places that don’t always feel the most welcoming to LGBTQIA2S+ folks and I wanted to change that.”

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Art , , , ,

Math, Semantics and the Pandemic

Paul Lundgren May 22, 2021 1 Comment

The COVID-19 pandemic presented a minor math problem for event organizers that seems fairly straightforward and simple to solve. If you promote an annual happening, and it was canceled in 2020, then that year shouldn’t count when you add up how many times the event has occurred. When you announce in 2021 that the whatever annual Whatever Festival is coming up, it should be the same number that it was supposed to be in 2020.

I mean, that’s obvious, right? If I give you an apple every year for 14 years, and last year I didn’t give you one, then the apple I give you this year is the 15th apple, right? It’s not the 16th apple just because I wanted to give you one last year and couldn’t.

The math is fairly straightforward, and for the most part people are getting it right. Take for instance Duluth’s Bayfront Reggae and World Music Festival. The inaugural event was held in 2006. The 2020 event was to be the 15th annual, but it was canceled. Therefore, the promoter is referring to this year’s event as the 15th annual. And that is correct. The 2021 festival will be the 15th in the series.

But I’ve known for quite a while that keeping track of how many times an event has happened in the past isn’t always the top priority of the organizers, who let’s remember have an event to organize with all the tasks that go with it. On one hand, you’d think being willing to get involved in organizing everyone else’s fun might be a thing only math-obsessed nerds do, but that’s just not the case.

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Events

Woodland baseball team of 1921 had grand season

Paul Lundgren May 21, 2021 No Comments

This photo from the May 21, 1921 Duluth Herald shows the baseball team from Duluth’s Woodland neighborhood, which compiled a 7-3 record — a “grand season” by Roaring Twenties standards. According to the photo caption, the team played indoor baseball in the Cobb School gymnasium.


History, Sports , ,

Selective Focus: Carl Gawboy’s Life Well-Painted

Ann Klefstad May 20, 2021 No Comments

A Life Well Painted

This text, taken from the curriculum written by Wendy Savage, serves to introduce Carl Gawboy — a foundational artist in this region.

At Tweed Museum of Art this winter of 2021, Carl Gawboy’s stellar paintings were featured in the exhibition “A Life Well Painted: The Art of Carl Gawboy.” It featured 36 narrative paintings. Carl Gawboy is a highly respected Ojibwe and Finnish artist; he paints the beauty of everyday life of his Ojibwe people. He is an Elder and enrolled member of the Bois Fort Band of Chippewa in Northern Minnesota. Carl has been creating art since he was a child at his Finnish mother’s kitchen table. Carl’s father was a trapper, and his mother was a teacher and farmer. Carl went on to college and studied art and history, and researched the fur trade era.

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Art ,

The First Howls of a Minnesota Wolf Pup

PDDTV May 19, 2021 1 Comment

This four-week-old wolf pup at Voyageurs National Park shared some of its first howls a few weeks ago with one of the Voyageurs Wolf Project‘s trail cameras.


Random ,

The Assailants of John L. Morrison

Paul Lundgren May 19, 2021 No Comments

One hundred years ago the assailants of Duluth Ripsaw newspaper publisher John L. Morrison appeared in court one week after attacking him in his office. The May 19, 1921 Duluth Herald provides an account of the incident.

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History , ,

R.I.P. Duluth Electric Fetus

PDD News Sieve May 18, 2021 1 Comment

View through the glass door to the Duluth Electric Fetus store on April 13, 2021. (Photo by Paul Lundgren)

Duluth’s Electric Fetus store, 12 E. Superior St., announced today it will not reopen. The store was best known for selling compact discs and other music products, though items like jewelry, clothing and gifts made up a larger chunk of the sales. The company’s Minneapolis location will remain open.

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Music, News and Current Affairs, R.I.P.

The Slice: Looking Up from Below

PDDTV May 18, 2021 No Comments

“Looking Up from Below” was a video mural designed by Tom Moriarty and Daniel Benoit that was projected onto the side of Zenith Bookstore in West Duluth during the Homegrown Music Festival. The temporary art installation was meant to showcase whimsy in times of troubles.

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.


Videos , , , ,

Postcard from Stromgren’s Motel

Paul Lundgren May 18, 2021 5 Comments

This undated postcard from Gallagher’s Studio of Photography shows Stromgren’s Motel, located on Highway 61 in Duluth Township.

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History , , ,