High Flying: Our section of the United States and Canada has been dubbed "fly over" country, a term that usual holds a bit of sting … except this week when fly-by visits from military planes brought displays of solidarity in hard times to our shores. The Minnesota Air National Guard's 148th Fighter Wing, stationed in Duluth, flew its F-16s over hospitals in recognition of their work as part of Operation American Resolve. The Cloquet Police Department videoed the flight over the Community Memorial Hospital. Along the Ontario shore, the famed Canadian Forces Snowbirds did loops and turns over Thunder Bay (in this Karen Ramsdale photo) and Sault Ste. Marie as part of their Operation Inspiration cross-country tour. The Snowbirds crew posted a video inside the cockpit, too. Tourism Sault Ste. Marie posted a grand video. Uppermichigansource.com posted a video of the 127th Wing of the Michigan Air National Guard, which flew over Houghton and Marquette as part of their Michigan Strong mission.
Artfully Done: Artist Lori Sleeman did a series of new murals by the National Park Service headquarters near the Houghton Waterfront Trail in Michigan. The Keweenaw Chamber of Commerce posted images of the wall works this week.
Welcome Virtual Visits: Two Wisconsin area tourism bureaus have put together videos encouraging people to plan visits and remember our shores. The Bayfield Chamber & Visitor Bureau posted "Bayfield Will Be Ready" (in photo) with scenes of orchards, sailing, northern lights and Apostle Islands. Various downtown businesses in Hayward show signs – actual hand-held signs held by real people – for "Downtown Hayward Better Together." As of now, Wisconsin is fully open after the state's Supreme Court decision this week, and local businesses are making plans for their safe reopenings. Watch on the local chamber of commerce and visitor bureau websites for updates before traveling.
Victoria Day: Despite the stay-at-home, party-alone orders, this is Victoria Day weekend along our Ontario shores. The day became a holiday in 1845 to honour then Queen Victoria and was placed on May 24 (her birthday). These days, the continuing holiday celebrates the reigning queen and is scheduled on the closest Monday before May 25. The Canadian Encyclopedia chronicles the history of the day. For those wanting something special to celebrate this weekend, you might consider an outing for take out or essential shopping. The Walleye in Thunder Bay has a nice list of open businesses as does SooToday in Sault Ste. Marie. Party hardy, or make that "healthy," Ontarians!
Eggs-actly: Huffington Post tracked down Lucie Amundsen, co-founder of Locally Laid Egg Company in Wrenshall, Minnesota, to get her take on whether it's safe to eat eggs with those odd spots of blood in them or those with double yolks. Lucie, along with a former poultry science prof from Connecticut, say most of those red specks are rare and are safe to eat … or just scrape them away before cooking the egg. As to the double yolk, it's like lucky protein lottery. Lucie, besides being a go-to egg expert, also wrote a memoir, Locally Laid, about creating the egg operation with her husband, Jason. Some might remember the super hype leading up to the 2014 Super Bowl when Locally Laid was runner up out of 15,000 small businesses nationwide in a competition to win an ad to be shown during the big game. That runner-up position is familiar to our Minnesota Super Bowl teams (think 1970, 1974, 1975 and 1977 … or don't think about it; it's too painful). Lucie wrote a blog about the experience with links to their videos promoting Team LoLa. Funny stuff … way funnier than the winner. we think. Another cool Egg-Splainer video on the company website (seen here) notes the difference between cage-free, hormone-free or pasture-raised eggs.
Not Our First Rodeo: As a reminder that this virus and the responses to it are not the first the world has encoutered, the Sault Ste. Marie Public Library did a history story for SooToday about the 1917 flu pandemic that killed more people than the recently ended World War I. In the Sault, Ontario, region, the first identified case was of a young lumberjack north of the city. "In an attempt to limit the spread of the flu all public meetings were cancelled and ferry service across St. Marys River was suspended," the story continues. Religious services and other gathering sites were closed. The newspaper advertised "preventative" products like Cowan's Nourishing Cocoa and "Fruit-a-tives." Read the full fascinating history of that earlier pandemic.
Snovid-19: It a pandemic lockdown, plus it's the first week of May and it's snowing. You could whine or you could be Village Media's Heather Green-Oliver. Heather and her children headed out onto the slightly snow-layered lawn in Sault Ste. Marie, sand buckets in hand, and created a 5-foot snow sculpture of that pointy coronavirus pictured behind every broadcast news anchor these days, so it seems. A video posted on SooToday, a part of Village Media, shows the fast-motion building of the Snovid. We hope it melts away quickly.
Tell Us Your Besties: Now is the time to cast your vote for Best of the Lake 2020. We encourage online voting; in fact, it's all we've got. Big Lake lovers and residents, please take a few minutes let us know your picks in the categories of Best Beautiful Wayside Pullover; Best Roads for Motorcycles; Best Camping Site (tent or RV); Best Shopping Stop (name any kind of store, shop or gallery); Best Place for a Local Fish Dish (name a restaurant/eatery); Best Indulgent Overnight Stay; Best Wacky Attraction; and Best Day Trip. You get one vote for each shore – Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan and Ontario – in each category. We're especially looking for votes from those who recently completed a Lake Superior Circle Tour. Or you can just tell us the Best on your favorite shore. The Chosen Ones will be published in the August/September issue of the magazine.
Photo & graphic credits: Karen Ramsdale; Keweenaw Chamber of Commerce; Bayfield Chamber & Visitor Bureau; Locally Laid Egg Company; Village Media