Queries Posts

What is this?

Is this man still in Duluth?

Yesterday my uncle was in Cafe Coco in Washburn, Wisconsin, and saw this poster on the wall. If I had to guess, I would say the person shown is a founding member of Colder by the Lake Comedy Theater. But does somebody know for sure?

Shaky Ray Records Reissues?

I don’t remember where I heard this, but is it true that Shaky Ray Records is planning to reissue its local music recordings?

Suggestions for a Minnesota Authors Class: Song Lyricists

I’m teaching a Minnesota authors class for the first time this year, and I want to make sure it’s hip and current and that it’s Duluthy. So I’m asking for help.

I want to do a brief (two-week) unit on song lyrics. I’m looking for Minnesota’s best song lyricists and their best lyrics.

The Duluth Artwork of J. W. Perry

The photo of a painting above comes to Perfect Duluth Day via Dean M. Brickson, who wondered why there was no information online about the artist J. W. Perry.

The Will and the Way

Judy Gibbs introduced me to The Will and the Way series of books about the creation of a number of Duluth institutions.

Is the Postal Service OK?

It recently snowed about thirteen inches here on the hill in the very middle of Duluth. Right here, in the urban middle.

That thirteen inches took three days to fall. It stopped snowing three days ago. The roads in my neighborhood have been entirely passable the whole time. Slick, perhaps, at times, but entirely passable.

Neighbors have been coming and going. School buses. Fed X, UPS.

But no Postal Service. No mail. Not a single truck since last Saturday.

Are they OK? Should we check on them?

Found: Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show Pictures (from Duluth?)

I found a group of photos I believe show Buffalo Bill Cody in a procession on Duluth’s famous carriage path. Then there are a few photos of the show itself with a lot of people, including many American Indians highly adorned, milling around a circle. If you look closely you see white people sitting on chairs.

Are these all related to Cody’s time in Duluth?

Heart at the Duluth Arena in 1980?

I’ve searched high and low, but I cannot seem to locate any information about the Heart concert on March 5, 1980 at the Duluth Arena.

I was there with five friends but can’t seem to locate anything about it.

I need a gym floor …

… so my kid and I can race these cars around at the speed at which they are intended.

Emerson? Washington? Where’s a good gym floor in Duluth that some dad off the street can access these days?

Community Resource List: Freelance Grant Writers

I’m seeking entries for a community resource list. The category of resource I am hoping to build first is “Freelance Grant Writers.”

If you’d like to be on such a list (one I am hoping to convince the University of Minnesota Duluth would be good to have both internally and to serve its community better), please comment below with your name, your electronic presence (e.g., website, LinkedIn, or social media) and the areas you are comfortable writing grants in (e.g., arts, the environment, education, etc.).

Duluth Arrow Chevrolet

The Arrow Chevrolet West was on the corner of Grand Avenue and 59th Avenue West — the modern-day location of City Center West. (Photo via University of Minnesota Duluth Archives and Special Collections)

I am looking for folks with information about either Duluth location of Arrow Chevrolet — West Duluth or Downtown.

Chevy dealers across the country were sponsors of the Soap Box Derby and I am hoping to get a few folks to respond with their memories of the Arrow Chevrolet clinics and parts distribution. Did you race the Soap Box Derby? What memories of the Chevy dealers do you have?

Soap Box Derby History

I am looking to talk to folks who might have a memory of being in Duluth’s Soap Box Derby — either on London Road but especially the last few years that it was in Hartley Park.

The elm tree in the center of the photo above stood in the stream bank where the old farm road/junction of Stornaway Street was until the blowdown of 2016. The photo is from Hartley Nature Center where the Dale Mell’s 1964 derby car is displayed.

Whither the Depot Foundation?

As there is such a tussle coming about the Depot, I wondered — what is the role of the Depot Foundation in keeping the Depot afloat?

Seeking Urban Ground Café Photos

Seeking photos/videos of the Temple Opera Block (inside and/or outside) from 1995-6 when it housed the Urban Ground Cafe.