Just Add Salt(ies): That's the final ingredient for an official opening of the Lake Superior maritime season (after the lakers have already gotten underway). The official 6:48 a.m. arrival of the Maria G under the Aerial Lift Bridge Monday made it the first saltwater vessel to make its way from the Atlantic Ocean all 2,342 miles to Duluth-Superior and, this year, as the first to make it all the way through the 60-year-old St. Lawrence Seaway. A First Ship ceremony followed Monday afternoon with official greetings and gifts from local dignitaries near the propeller of the vessel docked at Riverland Ag/Duluth Storage. Maria G , which dropped off a load of steel in Oshawa, Ontario, before locking through at the Sault, was loaded with 21,000 metric tons of spring wheat for Italy, according to a story by BusinessNorth. Grain is the Twin Ports No. 1 overseas export, with coal logging in as No. 2 export both to Canada and overseas. As of this morning on ais.boatnerd.com, Maria G already passed the Soo Locks, downbound on its way back through the St. Lawrence Seaway. (As a side note: In celebration of the 60th anniversary of the St. Lawrence Seaway opening, the Chamber of Marine Commerce posted an opinion piece praising the binational nature of the Seaway.)
At the First Ship ceremony in Duluth, Maarja Anderson Hewitt of Visit Duluth came both to greet Maria G's captain and crew and to announce that Debra Keech of Stillwater, Minnesota, submitted the winning guess in the 36th annual First Ship contest. She guessed that the first ship would enter the port at 6:30 a.m. April 15, just 18 minutes off the mark. There were more than 2,100 entries this year, 85 of which chose April 15. As winner, she earned a grand prize Duluth getaway package that included passes to four Duluth attractions, gift cards to Duluth Coffee, Duluth Cider and Lake Avenue Restaurant & Bar as well as a one-night stay in Canal Park Lodge. The runner-up, Linda Williams of Cambridge, Minnesota, guessed 6:23 p.m., and also wins a prize package that includes lodging and gift certificates. Also at the ceremony, Maria G Capt. Ievgen Medvedenko graciously agreed to pose (as you see here) with one of the many gifts he received, this one a trucker cap – now a freighter cap – that was part of a gift package from Lake Superior Magazine. This year's April 15 arrival is not too far off last year, when the first saltie (Federal Weser) arrived April 12. According to the Duluth Seaway Port Authority, the latest arrival of the Port’s first saltie was May 7, 2014 (Diana) and the earliest was March 30, 2013 (Federal Hunter).
Raising of the Roses: Ah, we have so many signs of spring in the Northland, perhaps because it takes so long to get here. There’s the arrival of the first laker, then the first saltie, and, of course, the opening of our seasonal Dairy Queens. Around Duluth, there's the anticipated openings of Gordy’s Hi-Hat drive-in (opened March 20 in Cloquet for its 59th season with those double cheeseburgers and onion rings) and of The Portland Malt Shoppe (opened April 6 and people were indeed outside ordering ice cream). Now comes another season starter – the raising of the rose plants at Duluth’s Rose Garden. From 9 a.m.-noon Saturday and 3-6 p.m. Tuesday, volunteers are sought to help city park’s staff dig out the rose plants buried to protect against winter. Bring work gloves and signing up in advance is encouraged, but not required. Of course, it won’t yet look like this photo the Rose Garden in summer, but we are dreaming the dream. Send us signs of spring and photos from your shore to edit@lakesuperior.com, and we’ll try to gather them for a future newsletter post!
De-trashing Beaches: The Alliance for the Great Lakes is in mid-kickoff this week (April 13-29) for its Adopt-a-Beach program, encouraging folks to sign up and show up to clean the beaches. Grand Marais, Minnesota, expects 50 folk to pick up on the downtown beach (seen here) between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Saturday. At the Washburn, Wisconsin, Boat Launch Dock, 10 a.m.- noon Saturday, it’s a beach cleaning surprise birthday party to honor a local fellow known for his daily walks on the beach and cleanups after storms. So whatever you do don’t tell Bob Steel, or his dog and stroll companion Maddie, about the surprise. Duluth has two scheduled cleanups Saturday: 3-5 p.m. at Brighton Beach and 3:30-5 p.m. at Park Point’s South Pier Beach (gather first at Harbor City International School downtown). Adoptions go on all year, so check the alliance webpage to find out more.
Worthy Makers of Music & Film: The nominees for Northern Ontario Music and Film Awards posted on SooToday this week include a number of people from Sault Ste. Marie and Thunder Bay. Music and Film in Motion will host the awards Saturday, May 25, in Sudbury.
Among the Lake Superior-region nominees are:
• Outstanding feature film: “Giant Little Ones,” directed by Keith Behrman, Sault Ste. Marie.
• Outstanding short/mid-length film: “Bonsai Dream,” directed by Jimmie Chiverelli, Sault Ste. Marie; and “The Last Wish,” directed by Vladimir Sokolskyy, Sault Ste. Marie.
• Outstanding screenwriter: Lee Chambers and Kris Ketonen, “Norbert and the Gnomes,” Thunder Bay; and Lee Chambers and Nick Murphy, “Slade,” Thunder Bay.
• Outstanding director: Michelle Derosier, “Angelique's Isle,” Thunder Bay.
• Outstanding album: Kalle Mattson (in photo), “Youth,” Sault Ste. Marie; and Mike Mikus, “Mike Mikus,” Sault Ste. Marie.
• Outstanding engineer: Chris Dorota, “Glory Days,” by Greenbank, Thunder Bay.
• Outstanding songwriter: Coleman Hell, “Manic,” Thunder Bay; The Honest Heart Collective (songwriter: Ryan MacDonald), “Separate Ways,” Thunder Bay; and Kalle Mattson, “Astronaut,” Sault Ste. Marie.
• Outstanding video by a northern Ontario musical act: Frank Deresti and the Lake Effect, “Truth,” Sault Ste. Marie; Kalle Mattson, “Kids On the Run,” Sault Ste. Marie; Kutch, “Bottleneck,” Thunder Bay; and Webby D, “Alright Okay,” Thunder Bay.
• Outstanding album by an Indigenous artist: Graeme Drum, “Eclectic,” Thunder Bay: Collin Clowes, “Blackbird,” Thunder Bay; and Mike Mikus, “Mike Mikus,” Sault Ste. Marie.
Wild Things in the Library: Our artistic friend, Jamey Penney-Ritter of Bemused Design & Photography, posted pictures of her just completed mosaic mural in the Washburn Elementary School. The project was funded by the Washburn Community Education Foundation. The students, teachers, parents and staff helped to create the mosaic artwork and Jamey also posted a video showing their fun efforts (with one artist seen here). The brightly colored mural showcases our Northland flora and fauna, including this fawn-a and dozens of bugs, birds and beasts.
Spring? Yes. - Warm? Not So Much: As of yesterday, it had been 197 days since Marquette hit 60° F, reports Mark Torregrossa for MLive, breaking the previous below-60°-stretch record set in 1970. The last time the city reach 60° was October 3. The stretch may go one day long, according to Jim Salzwedel, observation program leader at the National Weather Service in Negaunee. Jim says 60° seems a bit of a reach for today, but the weekend outlook for warmer temps is good. “It’s going to be close today; Saturday there’s going to be a better shot.”
A Hundred Healthy Miles: Since 2007, the vice chair of NorthShore Inline Marathon Inc., David Hyöppönen, has run 31,434.55 miles – the equivalent of running the length of the Earth 1.25 times. You’d think for David, running 100 more miles might not be a big thing, but on Monday, he will be running for the health of regional children. From 6 a.m.-10 p.m. in the lobby at the Dululth YMCA, David plans to run 100 miles on a treadmill to raise money and awareness for healthy food access. The money will support food at YMCA summer programs. Monday, which happens to be “Healthy Kids Day” for YMCAs, those who want to support David and the cause can even drop by and “run” with David on one of the other treadmills set up in the lobby. (Or just drop in to donate.) Throughout the day, Duluth Running Co., the event sponsor, will be at the Y to raffle off running shoes, $100 gift cards and other awesome prizes. All donations prior to the start of the event through the first hour will get you into the first raffle. David hopes his lobby run of 100 miles in 16 hours nets $10,000 for the food program. The effort is a great one, and generated, for us, a delightful battle cry posted on YMCA’s event page that’s truly Northland Finnish: Run, Hyöppönen, Run!
Climate-proof Duluth?: The New York Times this week posted a video that claims Duluth might be your best refuge in the future. In “Duluth, Minn.: The ‘Most Climate-Proof City’ in America?”, Times reporter Kendra Pierre-Louis interviews Harvard University climate adaptation expert Jesse Keenan about cities that will be best situated to resist climate changes. (We love that she took him out on Lake Superior in mid-March.) According to Kendra’s story, “Climate projections suggest that, because of geographic factors, the region around Duluth, the Great Lakes area, will be one of the few places in America where the effects of climate change may be more easily managed.” A generally cool climate and location besides a huge body of fresh water count as two major factors. It’s fun to follow Kendra and Jesse around the city, chatting with some locals. They should come back in summer, though, when things are a little brighter. They might even want to move here (though Jesse believes not). Duluth’s current infrastructure could handle at least 64,000 more residents, Kendra notes, and only 56 smart people moved here from 2010 to 2016. So come on up and stay awhile.
Photo & graphic credits: Konnie LeMay/Lake Superior Magazine; Explore Minnesota; Bob Berg/Lake Superior Magazine; Gordy's Hi-Hat; Jamey Penney-Ritter; Tone Coughlin/YMCA; New York Times