Around the Circle This Week: May 19, 2017

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A New Addition to an Old Whaleback

When Superior Public Museums, which oversees Superior, Wisconsin's three major historical sites, asked friends of the SS Meteor museum what they wanted to see on display, the answer was simple: More whaleback and more McDougall. The former is the Meteor itself, the last of the whalebacks (seen above at its 1896 launch) and designed by the latter, Alexander McDougall, who created whaleback vessels in Superior to sail the Great Lakes.

Now after years of planning and preparation, the Meteor and crew will host two days celebrating and revealing the exhibit fruits of the “countless hours of research, writing, design and proofing, not to mention the gathering of photos and artifacts” that have gone into the project. Today (Friday, May 19) there will be a 4:30 p.m. ribbon cutting followed by an “open cargo hold” – in lieu of an open house – with a cash bar and music by local guitarist/songwriter Shane Nelson. Tomorrow (Saturday, May 20) the Grand Opening begins at noon, with beverages, cake and free tours until 4 p.m.

In a story for Michigan History Magazine, Ric Mixter told of how McDougall experienced a Great Lakes' gale as a 16-year-old deckhand, and later, as an adult, he set about fulfilling his dream to create a lake-worthy unsinkable vessel.

Check out the details of the Meteor's open houses and its upcoming summer schedule at Superior Public Museums.

A Bit Fit in Duluth

Can the craft beer capital of Minnesota also be the “Fittest City in America”? Apparently Duluth can, according to rankings released last week by Fitbit  announcing its fittest countries and cities. In announcing the winners, the maker of devices to track health and fitness noted: "As the clear wearable of choice for consumers worldwide with more than 63 million devices sold and 50 million registered device users across 65 countries, the Fitbit platform offers a way to uniquely quantify global trends in health and behavior.” More than 10 million U.S. Fitbit users were monitored to choose the U.S. winners taking into account the duration of sleep per night, “Reminders to Move” goals met, daily steps and active minutes plus the resting heart rate.

Hanging with the Prime Minister

Lakehead University graduate Kathy Cepo got to mingle with some heady – as in head of the

country – company earlier this month when she received the Prime Minister’s Award for Teaching Excellence delivered by, of course, PM Justin Trudeau. “He very quickly put me at ease and made me feel comfortable,” she said in a story from Thunder Bay’s Chronicle Journal. Kathy put the PM at ease, too, we think, giving him a T-shirt from her robotics team at St. Joseph’s Catholic High School in St. Thomas, Ontario, where she now teaches. She also put in a good word for her alma mater. “I highly recommend Lakehead University as a place to earn your Bachelor of Education degree. I met many students from diverse backgrounds in an area influenced deeply by nature and the environment.”

Who Can Resist Spring Babies?

Not us, and not photographer Paul Sundberg with his Photo of the Week blog. (It’s kind of a North Woods counting picture book with 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 fox kits.)

Be Fire Smart

Eight families in Ishpeming, Michigan, were evacuated the day before Mother’s Day because of a wild fire that burned about 25 acres of woods, mostly on private lands, reports Mary Wardell for the Mining Journal of Marquette. Around the Big Lake region, spring is a time of high fire alert, though some wet days this week helped to reduce the threat of wild and accidental fires. Keep up with the fire danger on your shore with the Natural Resources agencies in Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Ontario.