Artist & Her Monkey Hit the Big Time: In the not-too-distant future, you’ll be able to see a Duluthian in a regular series on Netflix. At least, that’s how we think of Chico Bon Bon, the resourceful Monkey with a Tool Belt who is the creation of Duluth artist/author Chris Monroe. Netflix announced this week that it’s commissioned three original children’s animation series, including one based on Chris’ main monkey. Chris decided last week to set aside her 22 year old cartoon strip, “Violet Days,” after it was dropped from the Star Tribune, a sign, she told the Duluth News Tribune, where it also regularly appeared, that the universe was nudging her along in a different direction. For now, at least, Chris will continue working as a bartender at Vikre Distillery in Duluth. She won’t have any direct creative input into the animated series, she tells us, while admitting, “I did always want Keanu Reeves as the voice of Chico, though. Wish I could’ve had that input.” Chris has authored nine books, including five (at least) in the Monkey with a Tool Belt series for Lerner Publishing Group in Minneapolis, plus Bug on a Bike, Sneaky Sheep and Cookie the Walker and the adult-oriented Ultra Violet: 10 Years of Violet Days. She’s also illustrated numerous children’s books. We sat down with Chris in 2016 for a chat at her annual book signing at Marshall Hardware in the Lakeside neighborhood where she grew up. She worked as a clerk in the hardware store and that’s where she was inspired to write Monkey with a Tool Belt.
Helping the Lemon Wolf: Patrons of the Lemon Wolf Café in Beaver Bay, Minnesota, know the top-quality restaurant as a small place with a big heart – the heart provided by owners Rick and Susan Scheradella who started the business 17 years ago. Some may have noticed the café has been on a sporadic schedule since July last year and that is because Rick was diagnosed with esophageal cancer that has metastasized to his liver. As with any small business, Rick and Susan are the mainstays of the staff, Rick as chef and Susan up front. That has had to change with Susan filling in when Rick’s health has not allowed him to work. She’s learned all sorts of dishes, like two guest favorites, Chicken Wild Rice Fettuccini (pictured above right) and Swedish meatballs. “I am taking Chef Rick’s place cooking – a smaller menu, he has taught me well, but we have had to hire more people to cover my spot, and at this time of the year, that is hard,” Susan told us this week. “I cannot cook anywhere near as fast as Rick, so we had to cut back seatings as well as group size, all taking away from the bottom line when we need it strong to make it through the winter. … We use only quality ingredients and the profit margin is so very thin …” This week, a friend, Nancy Kasner, posted the details of what the Scheradellas face and suggested letters of support and donations to help. You can send both to the Lemon Wolf Café, PO Box 308, Beaver Bay, MN 55601; www.lemonwolfcafe.com. “Everyone has been so kind and thoughtful,” Susan said of the support they’ve received so far, “and we appreciate everyone of you!”
A New Sault: Algoma Central Corporation gave a nod to its former home port on its most recently launched vessel, the Algoma Sault, an Equinox class self-unloading, 740-foot bulk carrier built in Yangzijiang Shipyard in China. “The vessel name pays tribute to the long-standing relationship between Algoma Central Corporation and the City of Sault Ste. Marie and recognizes the important role that marine shipping plays within this community,” the company notes on the webpage dedicated to the ship. Another page has an interactive graphic showing the attributes of the Equinox class vessels. Algoma Central, incorporated as the Algoma Central Railway Company in 1899 in the Sault and now based in St. Catherines, Ontario, took charge of the ship and it departed the shipyard Feb. 3, scheduled to arrive in the Great Lakes about the time the Soo Locks open in late March, reports Northern Ontario Business.
New Dining in Duluth: A new dining venue opened this week in Duluth. Martha’s Daughter, owned by Nyanyika Banda, fills the 107 East Superior Street location long occupied by the Original Coney Island. The new restaurant keeps the old counter bar, but refreshes space with an inviting, almost Scandinavian interior with a row of white chairs, light colored tables and festively large paper lanterns. The precise one-page menu features globally inspired, locally focused foods. (Our editor tried the Chituka Chicken Curry, seen at right, developed by Nyanyika’s father, and she can vouch for the tasty richness of it.) Menu items range from $5-9 “small plates” or soups and salads to $10 to $14 “large plates.”
Restoring the Restoration?: Again this year, President Trump’s proposed budget severely slashes the Great Lakes Restoration funds, dropping it by 90 percent from $300 million to $30 million, eliminates last year’s $167 million for Clean Water Act programs and cuts 25 percent of the EPA budget, reports John Myers of the Duluth News Tribune. Most believe that at least the restoration funds, popular in the eight Great Lakes’ states that benefit, will be restored in part or in full before the actual budget is approved by Congress.
You Tweeted, Big Lake?: Like any celebrity, the Big Lake gets help with its Twitter postings, apparently. The Star Tribune did a Q&A with the anonymous Marquette spokestweeter for @LakeSuperior, who says the Big Lake seeks social media contact because, “Mom just left us here after the Wisconsin Glaciation. She never came back.” Knowing, the general “pretty good” humility of our region, we gotta admire the Lake for boldy Tweeting: “There are 117 million lakes in the world. Only 5 of them are great. And only 1 is superior.”
Wahoo-ewwwwwww! Donna Hopper of SooToday posted 51 excellent images showing the wild and wacky fun to be had at a Polar Bear plunge, this one being the 55th annual Bon Soo Polar Bear Swim at Bellevue Park in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, during the Bon Soo Winter Carnival last weekend. Polar bear swims and plunges are done for a variety of charities. Duluth has one tomorrow.
We Missed One: Our photographer friend in Marquette, Tom Buchkoe, pointed out to us that we missed an Olympic contender with ties to our region in our newsletter of last week. Chicago native and super speedskater Shani Davis, though his biographies do not list his stays in Michigan, actually graduated from the Marquette Senior High School while he was training at the U.S. Olympic Education Center, now the Northern Michigan University Olympic Training Site. In 2006 in 100-meter speed skating, Shani became the first African-American athlete ever to win a gold medal in the Winter Olympics and has two golds and two silvers from the 2006 and 2010 games.
New with the Caribou: Caribou Island in eastern Lake Superior will have real caribou once again from Michipicoten Island thanks to a helicopter transport being organized by the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry and Michipicoten First Nation, reports Erik White for CBC News. Caribou Island, although in Canadian waters nearly on the border, is owned by a private U.S. conservancy foundation. The island, according to CBC, was named in the 1700s when sailors saw plenty of caribou on the island. The modern day herd on Michipicoten is desperately being relocated to avoid it being wiped out by the wolves that have migrated there. That already happened to the once thriving Slate Islands herd, but with the wolves gone there, nine Michipicoten caribou were relocated to the Slates earlier this winter.
They’ve Got Balls: Michigan Technological University students unofficially broke the world record for the most snowmen built within an hour, rolling together 6,684 balls for 2,228 snowmen and topping the 2,036 record set in 2015 in Akabira, Japan. Because it’s the Guinness World Record, there were rules – the snowmen had to be 3-feet tall made of three snowballs and sporting eyes, noses and arms. Because it’s Michigan Tech, Lewis Marshall, treasurer of the Blue Key Honor Society that puts on the campus Winter Carnival every year, charted how many snowmen could fit into Sherman Field (65,000, by Lewis’ estimates). The evidence is now on its way to Guinness World Records, reports Donny Miller for TV6.
Photo & graphic credits: Chris Monroe Fan Page; Jeff Peabody; Bob Berg/Lake Superior Magazine; Lemon Wolf Café; Algoma Central Corporation; Konnie LeMay/Lake Superior Magazine; Donna Hopper; Team USA; Lewis Marshall/Michigan Tech.