Midwest Lion: Cougar, puma, catamount, mountain lion – the Puma concolor may need to add Big Lake lion to its long list of monikers. While none of the U.S. states by the Lake claim the cougar as a "resident," sightings continue. That was the case this week with a cougar captured on videos in two Duluth neighborhoods. The one here came from Nathaniel Smith, who lives in the Kenwood area of the city. After hearing a noise outside at 3 a.m., Nathaniel checked on his Nest webcams and spotted the cat on camera. The video is posted on the MPR News YouTube channel. Another video, perhaps of the same cat, showed a cougar helpfully gliding by the yard of Les Grumdahl Window and Siding near Lester River. Helpful because the video, with the company trailer prominently displayed, got lots of news coverage, even from Newsweek, which quoted Ryan Grumdahl about the video. "I knew it was [a cougar], as I have seen them previously while hunting in western states," Ryan told Newsweek. "I shared the video with Minnesota Conservation Officer Kip Duncan, who confirmed it was a mountain lion." Although this is about the 60th confirmed or likely sighting since 2004, the Minnesota DNR still believes there is not enough evidence to call the cougar a "resident" of the state. The experts believe these are transient cats. Michigan DNR's confirmed cougar tracker records 82 sightings in 14 counties, many of them by the Big Lake, since 2008. In Wisconsin, the state DNR also has a confirmed sighting tracker with a map showing probable sightings from January 2017-May 2023. The last cougar noted in our Big Lake region – in Ashland County – was in 2022. "While there have been several verified sightings of cougars in Wisconsin recently, there is currently no evidence that they are breeding here," says the Wisconsin DNR site. "Biologists believe any confirmed sightings are transient male cougars dispersing from a breeding
population in the Black Hills of South Dakota."
Meanwhile … a big cat was not the only rare sighting in Duluth. Rubin Stenseng in the Piedmont Heights took photos and a video of a mom black bear with quadruplets. That's right, four baby Boo-Boos (for Yogi the Bear fans). "She was training the cubs to look both ways before crossing the road!" Ryan joked. We feel she deserves a special subspecies name of black bear: defessus mater ursus americanus - tired black bear mom.
Heritage for Sale: There are two pieces of history up for sale in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Tahquamenon Falls Train & Riverboat Tours now has a "Buy Us" button on its website. This is the operation's 96th season, and 42nd season with the Stewart family at the helm. "The Stewarts will be heading into well deserved retirement," says the site, "but have no one to take over day-to-day operations. Are you interested in owning and operating one of the most iconic businesses in the Upper Peninsula?" The Stewarts, descendants of original founder of the tours, Robert Hunter, a lumberman and sawmill owner, who commissioned the Duluth South Shore and Atlantic Railroad to build a railroad spur from Soo Junction, Mich., to his property by Tahquamenon Falls. The standard-gauge railroad, completed in 1910, was named the Hunter and Love line. Today, the company, which ferries tourists and residents rather than lumber, offers a 6-1/2 hour wilderness tour that starts
with a 35 minute narrow-gauge train ride, followed by a two-hour, narrated riverboat cruise. If owning a riverboat/train company is not your style, perhaps a lighthouse might sound more appealing. The General Services Administration has put the Keweenaw Waterway Lower Entrance Lighthouse on the auction block after the previous steward could not comply with the requirements of the National Lighthouse Preservation Act of 2000. The light opened in 1919 at the end of a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers breakwater near Jacobsville. "Marking the southern end of the Portage River, the lighthouse stands 68 feet tall and contains approximately 1,000 square feet of interior space. Known also as the Portage Entry Light or the Portage Lake Lower Entry Light, this active aid to navigation was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2014," the GSA auction site notes. The most current bid is $16,000. Bids close on Aug. 30.
Join a Record-Breaking Concert: The Lake Superior Big Top Chautauqua features national and international acts all the time under the canvas tent in Bayfield. But on Sept. 2, a Big Top stop on
“See It All” American Tour the venue might join 50 others as a Guiness World Record. The musical duo is attempting to set an official world record with 50 shows in 50 states in less than 50 days. “I’ve had this idea in my back pocket for the better part of a decade," Devon says. “50 shows in the 50 United States in 50 days. I think growing up reading the World Record books; it’s just always been a fantasy to go after a world record." The two have interesting backgrounds. Donavon has traveled the world, first as a professional surfer and now as a musician and has released more than a dozen albums. Devon, son of rock legend Gregg Allman, is a blues music award-winning singer, guitarist, songwriter and producer, who co-founded the Royal Southern Brotherhood and The Allman Betts Band, amassing a recording catalog of 11 albums. The tour kicked off on the East Coast in August, and Wisconsin will be the 30th state as the duo works their way through the rest, including Alaska and Hawaii, before the tour concludes in Los Angeles later in September. Tickets are available online and the grounds open at 5 p.m. that day. Even if you can't make the attempt to make a world record, the Big Top still has a lot of season left, including Garrison Keillor and His Prairie Home Friends on Sunday (Aug. 27), a performance of the perennially popular "Riding the Wind" on Sept. 1 plus a full schedule up until the Big Tap Chautauqua Fest on Sept. 23.
Make Plans: Here are a few events coming up soon to put on a fun-do list:
Michigan
Today-Saturday, Aug. 25-26: Come to the mountains for music. The Porcupine Mountains Music Festival brings Jackie Venson, The Commonheart, Myron Elkins, Kat Wright, The Slocan Ramblers, Seth Walker, H.C. McEntire, Charlie Parr, The Way Down Wanderers, Gabe Stillman Band, Humbird, Buffalo Galaxy and more to the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park near Ontonagon. Find a downloadable guide online.
Thru Saturday, Aug. 24-26: Feeling spooky? It might be because the annual Michigan Paranormal Convention has again come to Sault Ste. Marie for the 13th year. Much of the convention hovers around the Kewadin Casinos Hotel & Convention Center, with experts and television stars on hand to cover paranormal investigating, psychic powers, demonology and UFOlogy. It’s crazy fun.
Saturday, Aug. 26: The Emberlight Festival in Ironwood is wrapping up with a few screenings today and Saturday for the International Film Festival and the Showstoppers Grand Finale at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in the Historic Ironwood Theatre. Appearing alongside pianist and festival music director Adam Rothenberg will be violinist Chelsea Starbuck Smith (Carnegie Hall; Elbphilharmonie) and Broadway star Arica Jackson (Caroline, or Change; The Book of Mormon). Starting at 6:30pm, Dan Mykkanen opens the evening with piano favorites from the Great American Songbook and current top 40s hits. During the finale, emcee and festival founder Miles Mykkanen will announce prize winners from the Art in the Park and International Film Festival.
Minnesota
Tonight, Aug. 25: Silver Bay ends its Music in the Park season appropriately with a performance of The Scarlet Goodbye. The free concert starts at 7:30 p.m. in City Center Park. Bring a blanket or lawn chair along with friends, family and a picnic.
Today-Saturday, Aug. 25-26: The Tribute Fest in Bayfront Festival Park raises fun while raising funds for homeless veterans. Tonight's evening headliner is the AC•DC tribute with Noise Pollution and Saturday's is a tribute to KISS by Kissin'. But both days have full schedules on two stages. Veterans and active-duty military members and their families get free entry.
Saturday, Aug. 26: Two Loons Gallery & Boutique in Duluth from 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. welcomes authors Thomas Peacock and Betsy Albert Peacock for signings of their books and selling of books by their company, Black Bears and Blueberries Publishing.
Saturday, Aug. 26: Poet and musician Ken Waldman performs 6 p.m. as one of the Living Luminaries for a series at Northerly School of Music in Duluth. From Anchorage, Alaska, Ken has published 20 books, including 16 volumes of poetry, a book of acrostic poems for kids, a memoir, a creative writing handbook, and a novel. He also plays old-time Appalachian fiddle, clawhammer banjo and mandolin.
Sunday, Aug. 27: Cook County Higher Education is ready to party down with its 2nd annual CCHE Summer Block Party, from 1-3 p.m. at the CCHE lot in Grand Marais. The free event features the North Shore Swing Band, plus cake, treats, children's activities, bingo and prizes. Bring a chair!
Monday, Aug. 28: Come to the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Duluth at 6 p.m. for a two-person presentation on "Restoring Peatlands: Lessons from Finland and Minnesota." Tero Mustonen, PhD, of Finland and Kristen Blann, PhD, of the Nature Conservancy will speak about their important work in restoring and rewilding peatlands in the face of human exploitation and climate change. The event is free but donations for Tero’s expenses will be gratefully received.
Sept. 8-9: Registrations are still being accepted for the Indigenous Writers Gathering, two days of presentations by lead area Native authors and poets at Fond du Lac Tribal & Community College near Carlton. The free event is open to all, but registrations are limited.
Wisconsin
Saturday, Aug. 26: New Moon Ski & Bike partners with Beehive Botanicals for a day of “Bikes, Shoes & Beauty.” The Hayward shop will host demos and information on Icebug Footwear and Beehive Botanicals, and there will be a Pivot bike demo at the OO trailhead. Basic repair clinics and storewide sales continue all day. Beverages and snacks will be served from Backroads Coffee and Angry Minnow.
Tuesday & Thursday, Aug. 29 & Aug. 31: Warren Nelson (Tuesday) and the final Bayfield Concerts by the Lake (Thursday) with Champagne Glitter Train in Memorial Park.
Wednesday, Aug. 30: Join in Washburn’s last Music in the Parks of the season at 6 p.m. in Wikdal Park. Idle Rose will perform. The concert if free, just bring your own family, friends and something to sit on.
Ontario
Tonight, Aug. 25: Get over to the Sault Ste. Marie Museum for a show by the Hollow Heads, starting at 8:30 p.m. There will be chairs, benches and tables out on the Durham Gallery floor to hear the young alternative indie rock band.
Tonight, Aug. 25: Northcrest Lanes in Sault Ste. Marie hosts “The Great Summer Send Off Bowling Night” to raise funds for Pauline’s Place. Gather up a team of 4-6 people or just visit for the silent auction. Starts at 6:30 p.m.
Friday-Sunday, Aug. 25-27: It’s the belly-filling Ribfest TBay on the C.L.E. Grounds in Thunder Bay with barbecue, music and brews. Admission is free, but bring a non-perishable food item to donate. Starts 11 a.m. each day, ending 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 8 p.m. Sunday.
Saturday, Aug. 26: Artists around Thunder Bay will set up shop in their yards for the Drive-by Art Gallery. There is an app for a tour or check out details on Facebook. Runs 11 a.m.-3 p.m.
Sunday, Aug. 27: Red Lion Smokehouse brings it outside for a Summer Chef’s Table, starting at 6 p.m. Tickets should be purchased in advance for the four-course meal on the patio (weather permitting, of course).
Photo & graphic credits: Nathaniel Smith; Rubin Stenseng; Tahquamenon Falls Train and Riverboat Tours; General Services Administration; “See It All” American Tour; Emberlight Festival/Silver Bay Music in the Park/New Moon Ski & Bike/Hollow Heads