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Artist Jan Wise donated this image to promote a postcard contest being sponsored by the Superior Council of the Arts. Entrants will be unveiled July 15 for Lake Superior Day.
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Children’s activities, like learning to cast last year, are part of the festivities at the Lake Superior Maritime Visitor Center in Canal Park.
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With her “shopping bag,” artist Tonya Borgeson asks “Is water a fundamental right or is it a commodity?” Her exhibit at the Whole Foods Co-op in Duluth runs to August 7.
Kayaking, speakers, tables with information about issues and opportunities and a postcard contest. All of these are part of the events that will make up the Lake Superior Day celebrations around the lake in 2012.
Last year, more than 50 groups and communities participated in events from beach cleanups to concerts, library displays and special church services, according to the Lake Superior Binational Forum, which monitors and helps to foster events. The same is expected this year.
Lake Superior Day is the third Sunday of each July, but many organizations plan events that stretch into the preceding week.
One of the newest organizations on the lake, the Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR) in Superior will join in playing host on Barker’s Island to numerous activities July 15, including the annual presentation of stewardship awards by the Lake Superior Binational Forum. On that day, the Superior Council of the Arts will unveil 20 entries in the “Postcards from Our Estuary” contest that will be enlarged as small billboards at the Broadway Community Gardens and on the grounds around NERR headquarters. Tents with different organizations and activities will be up throughout the day. Details are at www.superiorcfta.org.
In the other Twin Port, Duluth, activities begin Thursday, July 12, with informational tables set up at the Lake Superior Maritime Visitor Center run by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Minnesota Sea Grant, Minnesota Environmental Partnership, Lake Superior Magazine, the Duluth Seaway Port Authority, the Lake Superior Marine Museum Association and other organizations have representation there. Speakers on lake topics will be featured. Mike Link and Kate Crowley, whose book about their walk around the lake has just been released, will speak Saturday afternoon at the visitor center. Watch for details of all related activities at our magazine’s website.
Also in Duluth, artist exhibits on water issues at the Whole Foods Co-op will lead into and through Lake Superior Day. “Respect Protect Fulfill – We Humans Need Water to Exist” will feature six different artists from June 6-28, followed by a solo exhibit June 29-August 7 by Tonya Borgeson at the Whole Foods Co-op on East Fourth Street in Duluth.
North on the lake at Terrace Bay, Ontario, Lake Superior Day events continue to gain popularity. More than 200 residents and tourists participated in 2011. This year on July 15 at the Terrace Bay Beach starting at 11 a.m., there will be a beach cleanup then activities, including free boat charters to Lyda Bay, tandem kayaking, kid games and food. Thunder Bay also plans activities for the weekend.
The Wisconsin communities of Port Wing, Herbster and Cornucopia are coordinating activities for Saturday while planning is under way for events in Ashland, too.
Watch for details as other communities add events and activities at either the Binational Forum website, www.superiorforum.org, or on the here on Lake Superior Magazine's website.