Wooden Boat Show, Summer Solstice Pageant

 

The Summer Solstice blew in with lots of thunder, lightning and torrential rains on Wednesday with major flooding in Duluth and along parts of  the North Shore, knocking out cell phone and Internet service in Cook County for hours on Wednesday. Here’s a link to the photos of flood damage in Duluth.

Cook County didn’t get nearly the rain nor the road washouts that they did in Duluth. Today, everything is drying out, and there should be plenty of sun this weekend.

That’s great news, because this is the Wooden Boat Show & Summer Solstice Pageant weekend at North House Folk School and nobody wants to miss that.

The event kicks off  on Friday at noon with a full schedule of demonstrations, speakers and events throughout the weekend  as well as mini-workshops and the Boat-to-Tools Auction.

Highlights on Friday include the Harborside Barbecue (5-7 p.m.), the Small Boat Regatta and Boat Parade  (6-8 p.m.), the Sea Shanties and Lumberjack Jam (7-9 p.m.)  and a Family Dance followed by a Contra Dance with Over the Waterfall (7 p.m.)

On Saturday, there will be a number of boat-building demonstrations during the day with Erik Simula (birchbark canoe) and John Beltman (Susan Skiff) as well as a wide variety of craft demonstrations. Restaurants in the area bring in big pots of chowder for the Lake Superior Chowder Experience at noon followed by the Boat-To-Tools Auction at 1 p.m.

The featured speaker this year is Douglas Brooks, who studied wooden boatbuilding in Japan for years.  He will speak at 2 p.m.

And Sivertson Gallery will hold a Solstice Party from 5-7  p.m. at the gallery with music by KGBS. All invited.

That will be followed by The Summer Solstice Pageant at North House Folk School featuring life-size puppets created by the Good Harbor Hill Players and music by GAMAPALAG. The pageant begins at 8 p.m.

On Sunday is the Steam-Bent Brunch (reservations required: 387-9762) at 11 a.m., followed by a panel discussion about boats and stories on Isle Royale with Howard Sivertson, Gene Skadberg and Tim Cochrane.

And, of course, throughout the weekend, there will a wide variety of speakers giving presentations about everything from boatbuilding craft traditions in Japan (Douglas Brooks, 4 p.m. Friday) to kayaking from Port Huron to Grand Marais (Bryan Hansel, 3 p.m. Saturday.) And there will be lots of beautiful wooden boats on display.

Click here to see the complete schedule for the Wooden Boat show.

Actually, the weekend kicks off tonight (Thursday) when The Cactus Blossoms perform at the Arrowhead Center for the Arts. It should be a great show.

The country music band includes Page Burkum,  Jack Torrey, Mike “Razz” Russell, Liz Draper and Randy Broughten. Tickets can be purchased at the door.

In other art news, the exhibit, “Minnesota Potters: Sharing the Fire” at the Grand Marais Art Colony continues this weekend when potters Bob Briscoe and Jason Trebs give a gallery talkat the Art Colony at 7 p.m. Friday. Then on

Saturday, the potters will give an all-day workshop in the ceramics studio from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Call the Art Colony to register for the free workshop at 387-2737.

Also on Saturday, bronze sculptor Tom Christiansen celebrates the completion of a year’s work on a pair of larger than life-size bronze statutes that will be installed at the new law enforcement center in Duluth.

The statues will be transported to Duluth soon and there will be a coffee and donut send-off at Last Chance Gallery on Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon. All invited. To read about the project, check out Christiansen’s blog here.

Later that day, Marcia Hyatt, author and co-owner of Last Chance Gallery, will talk about her book, “What Have We Mythed? at a Witer’s Salon at Drury Lane Books at 5 p.m. Saturday.

And Michael Monroe will give a Log Cabin Concert at his home in rural Grand Marais at 7 p.m. Saturday as well. Call 387-2919 for reservations.

There are some interesting art shows to see this weekend, too.

Virginia Danfelt’s iconic photography exhibit, “People: A Sense of Place” continues at the Johnson Heritage Post Gallery. The gallery is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, 1-4 p.m. Sunday.

Also, the Cross River Heritage Center has opened for the season featuring an exhibit of historic photos of logging on the North Shore as well as fiber art by Nancy Hansen, Mary Brislance and Mary Jane Huggins. The Heritage Center is open from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, 1-4 p.m. Sunday.

Also, if you’re interested in logging, the Hedstrom Lumber Company will hold  a free guided tour from 10-11 a.m. Friday. Call  387-2995 for reservations.

The county will be hopping with great music opportunities this weekend, too. Here’s the schedule.

Wednesday, June 20

• Pete Kavanaugh, Birch Terrace Lounge, 7 p.m.
• Joe Paulik, Bluefin Grille, 9 p.m.

Thursday, June 21

• Bump & Barbara Jean, Harbor Light Supper Club & Bar, 6 p.m.
• The Cactus Blossoms, Arrowhead Center for the Arts, 7 p.m.
• Timmy Haus, Gunflint Tavern, 9:30 p.m.

Friday, June 22

• Eric Frost, Devil Track Resort Lounge, 7 p.m.
• The Whiskies, Harbor Light Supper Club & Bar, 7 p.m.
• Community Music Circle, What’s Upstairs, above Betsy Bowen’s Studio, 7 p.m.
• Bump & Barbara Jean, Bluefin Grille, 9 p.m.
• Andy & Amy Schmidt, Grand Portage Lodge & Casino, 9 p.m.
• Pete K Group, Gunflint Tavern, 9:30 p.m.

Saturday, June 23

• KGBS, Sivertson Gallery, 5 p.m.
• Briand Morrison, The Pie Place, 6 p.m.
• Eric Frost, Devil Track Resort Lounge, 7 p.m.
• Michael Monroe Log Cabin Concert, 387-2919 for reservations
• Joe Paulik, Cascade Lodge Pub, 7:30 p.m.
• Pete K Group, Gunflint Tavern, 9:30 p.m.

Sunday, June 24

• Pete K Group, Devil Track Resort Lounge, 5 p.m.
• Jim Miller, Harbor Club & Bar, 5 p.m.
• Adam Moe, Gunflint Tavern, 6:30 p.m.

Monday, June 25

• Joe Paulik, Bluefin Grille, 9 p.m.

There is an eclectic mix of photographs this week. Take a look:

Many images of the flooding in Duluth are hitting the web. Here’s  one that Paul Ryan took that begins to tell the story.

 

 

Waterfalls in Cook County were revived yesterday, too. Here’s a shot taken by Wanda Keefe.

 

Now that it has been raining … here’s a shot of wildflowers by Bob Pranis.

 

Nace Hagemann posted this flower shot on his Facebook page.

 

Jeremy Lopez got this shot of cotton grass.

 

Don Davison took this shot of leaves in golden light.

 

Kathleen Gray-Anderson took this shot of a “friend” in the garden.

 

And Nace Hagemann got this shot of our favorite boreal forest animal.

 

Count the ducklings!

How many did you see? Michael Furtman took this photo last week. There are 18 of them, a huge clutch. Here are his comments:

“Though not my greatest photo, it is a photo of the greatest mother duck I’ve ever seen. This mallard hen has 18 ducklings in her brood (the average number of eggs laid is nine). While ducks sometimes gather ducklings in a creche (a couple of joined broods), these mixed brood groups are obvious because not all the ducklings will be the same age or at the same stage of development. But these are all the same age and size, and she’s doing a helluva keeping them alive — no small task when every small predator this time of year is looking for baby birds of all kinds to eat.”

Here’s a different take on”lots-of.” Travis Novitsky took this inspiring shot.

 

And last, but not least, we’ll leave you with this gorgeous shot by Stephan Hoglund.

 

May you have a wonderful weekend!