Up & Boating: Many of the cruise tours and services will fire up and sail on starting in June. Saturday (June 1), Vista Fleet in Duluth launches its season (see the story below). Apostle Islands Cruises in Bayfield, Wis., launches June 6, also with new safety measures. It will offer only non-stop cruises, including morning and evening Grand Tours (where you can reach Devils Island, as in this photo), Sea Caves & Lighthouses Tour, Wrecks Rocks & Lighthouses Tour. It has cancelled all shuttle service for camping, hiking and guided lighthouse tours this season. Pictured Rocks Cruises in Munising, Mich., plans to restart on June 15 with 50% passenger capacity and other safety measures and recommendations. June 15 is also when Pictured Rocks Kayaking, a service for launching kayak tours from a powerboat, plans to open. Madeline Island Ferry Line, which turns 50 this year, has been operating all winter between the mainland at Bayfield and La Pointe on Madeline Island, but with the island welcoming for broader visitation on Memorial Day Weekend, it has kicked up the frequency of trips.
Launching the Season: Vista Fleet will begin giving public tours within a week, though fewer trips with fewer passengers. In a live-streamed video, owner Justin Steinbach announced the June 1 opening of the Vista Fleet store within the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center complex across from the tour-boat boarding dock opens. Private boat tours for events such as wedding receptions and other private gatherings can also commence. Public tours start 10:25 a.m. Friday, June 5, with the Duluth Waterfront Tour on the Vista Star. The Star usually has a 225-passenger capacity, but the fleet will limit passengers to only 99 per tour, allowing ample distancing space. “A big component of that is going to be reduced capacity,” Justin says in the video. “It limits the amount of people who are going to be on the boat, limits how we can board the vessel.” Each of the vessels’ decks also will note capacity limits, and guests will be asked to respect those numbers while circulating on the vessel. Guests also will be strongly urged to wear masks both on board and in the gift shop. All staff members will have PPE – personal protective equipment – throughout the cruise. The fleet’s COVID-19 Safety Plan is posted online. Justin emphasized that guests and staff need to be respectful of others. “If you’re not feeling well, stay at home or stay in your hotel. It’s not good for you; it’s not good for the other passengers.” Full refunds, an equivalent gift certificate or an exchange for later tickets will be offered for those who cancel because of feeling sick. The city, Justin adds, is waiting and ready. “Our hope is that people are going to realize that Duluth is going to be a great place to travel, just a little bit different this year. … It is our hope to be able to service and to have opportunities available for people who are going to be in town.”
Launching a Mask Force: Zietgeist in Duluth has created a Mask Force to produce "artist made, face approved" masks for the community. For those who can pay, $10 buys a handmade mask for you and donates a mask to Damiano Center and the American Indian Community Housing Organization. Renegade Theater costume designer Sasha Howell (in pic) has been hired to lead the project with help from local artists Stephanie Stone and Tascha Balsaitis. “While the state is recommending that people wear face coverings in public, they can be very difficult to acquire,” said Zeitgeist Community Development Director Amy Demmer. “When the state ordered the shut down of Zeitgeist's Renegade Theater, we mobilized our network of costume designers and fabric artists to make masks. In our mind it has a two-fold impact: We've been able to continue to pay artists for their work while helping to get more masks into the hands of our community." The makers use a mask pattern recommended by Essentia Health. All masks are reusable and machine-washable. A children’s size is also available. Sasha says of making masks, “It was a natural fit for me to put my sewing skills to a good cause.”
Also on the Mask Front: The call for the Land of 10,000 Masks project from Duluth's major medical systems – St. Luke's and Essentia – flooded them with donations. Four weeks into the campaign to get cloth masks for patients, visitors and some staff members, 12,976 have been sewn and donated. "Essentia Health and St. Luke’s are excited — and humbled — to announce that our 'Land of 10,000 Masks' campaign has been a smashing success," an announcement noted this week. "And we hope to maintain the momentum."
A Hero's Remembrance: For its Memorial Day remembrances, Madison.com posted a story about northern Wisconsin World War II hero Richard I. Bong. The story, done by Eric A. Johnson of the Racine Journal Times, talked about the war career of America's Ace of Aces, the Poplar farm boy who downed 40 enemy aircraft in the Pacific Theater. Richard became intrigued by planes, the story notes, while watching air delivery of mail to Pres. Calvin Coolidge, who spent summers fishing on the nearby Bois Brule River. “The president’s mail plane flew right over my house," Richard said in an interview later. "I knew then I wanted to be a pilot.” After logging his 40th air victory, Richard was sent back to the United States to a hero's welcome and to promote the war effort. He married Marjorie Vattendahl. Eric also wrote about a letter Richard sent to his mom about his brother's interest in joining the air service. “He must not get contemptuous of any airplane, no matter how simple and easy it may be to fly. Don’t just get in and fly it, but know what makes it tick … If he forgets, why, any airplane in the world can kill him if he isn’t its complete master.” It was after he left the battle in the Pacific that Richard lost his life Aug. 6, 1945, during a test flight of a new P-80 jet fighter developed by Lockheed. That was the same day the Enola Gay dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. The Bong name appears prominently around our Lake Superior region, including on the Richard I. Bong Memorial Bridge spanning between Duluth and Superior. The Richard I. Bong Veterans Center in Superior, which houses a P-38 fighter with Marge emblazoned on it like the one he used in the war, was created with strong support from his wife, Marjorie, who died in 2003.
Folding the Hoito?: After the Royal Bank of Canada denied a request to defer its $2,000 March bi-weekly payment and facing increasing debts, the Finland Association of Thunder Bay called a special General Meeting and voted to sell off its assets, including the 111-year-old Finnish Labour Temple and its famed Hoito Restaurant. In a May 20 press release, the association noted its pending debts: "Total debt held by the Hoito is just above $300,000. The debt held by the Finlandia Association is just above $1,000,000. The Finlandia Association owes approximately $480,000 to the Hoito for incurred expenses since 2010, approximately $290,000 to RBC, along with $160,000 owed to Thunder Bay Ventures. City taxes of $33,000 and a variety of other debts to reach just over $1 million." A story by Doug Diaczuk of TBnewswatch.com quotes association board member Derek Parks, appointed as an inspector for the liquidation: “The situation arises that we were unable to generate revenue. With the Hoito being shut down, which has been the lifeblood and pulse of keeping this building going for years, because the money raised by the Hoito was used to pay for the building, the taps were turned off. That’s why we find ourselves in this situation. We were unable to find any financing to bridge us until times get better.” The Hoito, the Finnish word for "care," is a popular local and visitor eating spot that celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2018. It started to feed Finnish bush laborers hearty, inexpensive meals and continued to today provide quality Finnish fare. Hopes continue that some alternative plan for the structure and restaurant might be found.
Homesick Views: SooToday did a kind turn for all Saultites who have yet to return home after the pandemic shut the U.S.-Canada border. The short video captures cityscapes with a few pecks of wildlife (think mallards). SooToday promises a series of videos to help cure – or that might promote – your homesick blues. We hope everyone can come home soon.
Popular Views: The Marquette County Board approved $331,000 to improve and add parking on the popular Sugarloaf Mountain, according to a story by Trinity Carey of the Mining Journal. More than 60,000 people visited the mountain last year to hike and enjoy spectacular views of Lake Superior (like this one from Travel Marquette). Trinity quoted the the bid recommendation from Thyra Karlstrom, manager of the Marquette County Planning Division: “A growing number of visitors at the Sugarloaf Mountain Natural Area has resulted in unsafe parking conditions along County Road 550. Recognizing a risk to public safety, a parking master plan identifying options for increasing the amount of parking was developed and capital funds have been allocated for this project. In March of this year, the county board of commissioners made the decision to proceed with a parking expansion project.” A. Lindberg & Sons Inc. came in with the lowest of five bids.
Cocktails with the Author: Zenith Bookstore in Duluth will be toasting the paperback release of William Kent Krueger's best-selling novel This Tender Land with a virtual cocktail party at 7 p.m. Monday (June 1). This Tender Land is a departure from the main of Kent’s previous works. He has written 18 popular mystery novels surrounding Cork O’Connor, the Anishinabe/Irish former sheriff of the fictional Tamarack County in northern Minnesota. His New York Times best-selling thriller, Ordinary Grace, won the coveted Edgar Award for best novel. His latest work, released last fall in hardcover and now in paperback, takes readers on a different kind of adventure. The Great Depression-era story of This Tender Land circulates around two Irish orphans, the only non-Native children in a cruel boarding school in northern Minnesota, compelled to escape with two others down the Mississippi River. Deemed “Part Grapes of Wrath, part Huckleberry Finn,” by Christine Brunkhorst in her Minnepolis Star Tribune review, she adds, “Krueger’s novel is a journey over inner and outer terrain toward wisdom and freedom. We see the cruelty and abuse of Indian boarding schools. We see Hoovervilles and shantytowns, farmlands and meandering rivers, rocky bluffs and flooded river flats. We see poisonous snakes and tent revivals, manhunts, bread lines, soup kitchens. Always there is danger; always there is the threat of capture.” You can sign up online to get a reminder about the free live online Happy Hour. Kent, who lives in the Twin Cities with his family, will be virtually there with you, perhaps cocktail in hand, to answer questions.
Photo & graphic credits: Apostle Islands Cruises; Vista Fleet; Zeitgeist; Richard I. Bong Veterans Center; Jon Nelson via The Finlandia Association Facebook page; SooToday; Travel Marquette; Zenith Bookstore