North Shore Morning

Wednesday is "Friends Day" on Arrowhead Transit in Cook County.  WTIP volunteer Tracy Benson spoke with Arrowhead Transit marketing coordinator Larry Rodgers about a special offer in Cook County enabling friends to ride free on Wednesdays.

Arrowhead Transit provides public transportation in all 8 counties of Minnesota's Arrowhead region.  The service is provided by the Arrowhead Economic Opportunity Agency (AEOA) and is the largest rural public transportation system in Minnesota.  To learn more, visit  http://arrowheadtransit.com/services/cook-county/

(Click on audio mp3 above to hear the interview.)

Two major projects broke ground in Lutsen Tuesday afternoon. WTIP’s Kelly Schoenfelder has this report from the events.

[click above for audio]

Lissa Radke is the U.S. Coordinator of the Lake Superior Binational Forum and a regular guest on North Shore Morning.  In this interview with WTIP’s Veronica Weadock, she discusses changing lake levels on Lake Superior and the other Great Lakes.

{photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons}

Dr. Seth Moore is Director of Biology and Environment with the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. 

The Grand Portage Reservation is located in the extreme northeast corner of Minnesota, on the North Shore of Lake Superior in Cook County. Bordered on the north by Canada, on the south and east by Lake Superior and on the west by Grand Portage State Forest, the reservation encompasses an historic fur trade site on scenic Grand Portage Bay.

The band engages in fisheries and wildlife research projects throughout the year, working with moose, wolves, fish, deer, grouse, and environmental issues. Dr. Moore appears regularly on WTIP North Shore Community Radio, talking about the band's current and ongoing natural resource projects. 

In this segment, Dr. Moore talks about the Grand Portage band's 6-year effort to gain representation on two Great Lakes fisheries management committees.  Produced by Carah Thomas.

Minnesota's trapping season got underway Saturday, October 19.  WTIP's Carah Thomas spoke with trapper and dog owner John Reynolds about the loss of his dog "Penny" in a 220 bodygrip trap in 2011, and his ensuing efforts to protect other dogs. Reynolds is the founder and president of the Minnesota-based non-profit Dog Lovers 4 Safe Trapping MN.

Click on audio mp3 above to hear the interview.

Photo courtesy Dog Lovers 4 Safe Trapping MN.

[click above to hear audio]

West End teens have a great opportunity coming up at the Clair Nelson Community Center in Finland.    A weekly class called “Cooking Matters” will be available starting Friday, Nov. 1 from 1 to 3 p.m. 
 
Local chefs Nancy Olson and Marc Smith will start each class with a cooking demonstration, which will be followed by hands-on cooking by the participants. At the end of each class the student chefs will be sent home with all of the ingredients for the demonstration meal so they can prepare it for their own family.
 
“Cooking Matters” is co-sponsored by the Friends of the Finland Community and the University of Minnesota Extension Service.  The course is open to people from 13 to 18 years old.  It’s limited to 15 participants and is expected to fill up, so call the Clair Nelson Community Center quickly to register.  The contact person is Marc Smith at 218-253-0300.  You can always contact WTIP for full information.
 
Take it from a guy who never progressed much beyond Kraft macaroni and cheese; learning to cook well is the best favor you can do for yourself and your loved ones as you go through life.
 
Another West End blood drive is on the horizon.  The Bloodmobile will be at Zoar Lutheran Church in Tofte Nov. 12 from 2:30 until 6 p.m.  Contact Julie Rannetsberger at 663-7111 to schedule a time.
 
It’s fun to have Julie back organizing the blood drive. She did it for many years before putting it in the capable hands of Polly Erickson.  I don’t know if the baton is being passed back to Julie, or if she’s just filling in this time.  Stay tuned for more details next week.
 
The North Shore Stewardship Association at Sugarloaf Cove in Schroeder has a couple of interesting events coming up.
 
“Bats In Peril” is the title of a program scheduled for Friday, Oct. 25.  Tettegouche State Park naturalist Amy Funk will talk about the recent discovery of the “white nose fungus” in Minnesota.  This is the fungus that has decimated bat populations in the eastern United States.  Amy will talk about what this means for the future of Minnesota’s bats.  The program is free and starts at 7 p.m. 
 
Sugarloaf will also be holding their annual “Sugarloaf in the Cities” event Sunday, Nov. 3 from 5-8 pm.  This is the 11^th year that Sugarloaf has held this important fundraising event in the Twin Cities, for the convenience of their members who live in the metro.
 
This year’s speaker will be Dr. Jay Austin, a renowned researcher of climate change in the Lake Superior region.  This is a great event for anyone who loves the North Shore.  Not only will it be an interesting lecture, but it also includes a light supper, a live auction and time for conversation with other fans of the North Shore.  This is Sugarloaf’s biggest fundraiser of the year.  Google Sugarloaf Nature Center, email [email protected] or call 218-525-0001 for details and registration.
 
West End native Noah Horak is continuing his epic around-the-world adventure motorcycle trip.  Noah is a native of Tofte and the son of Jan and Kathy Horak.  He’s been riding his specially equipped off-road motorcycle for about a year and half around the U.S., Europe, North Africa, twice around the Asian continent and is now in Japan.
 
Noah completed the BAM route in Russia during August and September.  BAM is short for the Baikal-Amur Mainline.  It is a road across all of Siberia that was essentially abandoned after many years of construction starting in the ‘70s.  Much of it is now a single lane dirt track with rickety or non-existent bridges through some of the most remote parts of the earth.  It is considered by many to be the ultimate in adventure motorcycling.
 
Noah is keeping a detailed and colorful blog of all his adventures, which is fascinating to read.  If you type “Around the world with Noah” into your search engine, his blog will be the top hit.
 
Noah plans to keep riding for at least another year and a half, heading for Southeast Asia, Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand.  He’ll finish up with a tour of every country in South America before a quick ride home via Central America and Mexico.
 
I have to admit to being extremely jealous of Noah.  There is no question that he will return to Tofte as a man who has literally seen the world.
 
For WTIP, this is Bill Hansen with the West End News.

{photo courtesy of Noah Horak}

Welcome back to Magnetic North, where I’m in a spot of bother with ducks…my ducks, primarily. Although, with the sheer number of mallards that show up for breakfast, lunch and dinner on my driveway, I’d never know if a migrating stray dropped in for a square meal.
 
It started small. As do all hot messes.

 
Last winter found my duck population quite pitiful; only two laying ducks, four domestic drakes, three wild drake mallards and one lone female mallard.
 
Oh, and then there is the faux domestic drake, a mallard who weaseled his way into the chicken and duck run. The cozy coop with its six inches of sweet warm straw was his reward for leaving the wild. But his punishment was harsh.
 
The domestics wanted nothing to do with him. Shunned by the females, pummeled by the drakes, his feathers soon lost their brilliant color and sheen, A clear case of “mallard-adaption.” Sorry, I just couldn’t resist that one.
 
So when most Cook County folk were poring over seed catalogs, I was up to my dewlaps in hatchery offerings. I ended up ordering three female domestic ducks and 10 female mallards. 
 
Not that I have anything against males, but when drakes outnumber the females by three or more, it’s not a pretty sight. The one wild female that overwintered with her three consorts put up with all sorts of abuse last spring. So much that I finally lost it one fine day after what seemed like hours of duck porn viewing out my kitchen window, I ran into the back yard wielding a broom and shrieking for all the neighbors to hear, “Fly, you hussy, fly. I know you can, I’ve seen you do it!”
 
Well, the duck’s endurance paid off for her. In late May she hatched out 11 ducklings. Nesting under the back steps, out of view for weeks, I had given her up for lost when lo she paraded the lot up over the deck and out into the sunny gravel drive.
 
By that time, my hatchery ducklings were in a brooder inside the garage. Oh, dear. Eleven plus 10, plus mom and the two domestic girls....An even two dozen ducks!?
 
“Well,” I reassured myself and friends, “most of them will fly off in the fall.” 
 
Sadly, two of the wild ducklings were taken by a hawk. And one of the ordered mallards failed to thrive. Then, the two adult domestics got picked off by something. Nature appeared to be cutting me a break. But no.
 
On July 30, mother mallard appeared with nine more ducklings in tow. So cute, so adorable. So hungry!
 
Just about then the new ducks from the hatchery were ready to release on the pond. I bundled them into three cat carriers and carried them down, knowing that once they got on the water and away from the featherless monster who so rudely grabbed, squeezed and imprisoned them, I might never see my little charges up close again.
 
That night, I tippy-toed to the pond’s edge to check on them.
 
Gone.
 
Only the wild ducklings and the spring porn stars swan in the moonlight, Crushed, I went about my evening chores, closing up barn and coop and, surprise, surprise! The newly released youngsters were waddling about in the wildflowers by the chicken run waiting to be let back into the coop. 
 
Amazed, I shone the flashlight on each beak, counting one, two three...11?!

 
Aha! My old nemesis, the wild drake who would not live wild, had rounded up the newbies and convinced them that the good life lay - not in freedom - but in the sure thing of the well-heated chicken coop,
 
But did I open the door to the run? Did I go all soft and mushy at the return of the little darlings? I did not.
 
Hardening my heart, I left them there in the dark. Oh, I did put a little feed out and a motion sensor light so as to startle any passing predator. But I had the new babes to think about, didn’t I?
 
Mother mallard didn’t do as well with her second brood. Only four of the nine made it to adulthood. But those, added to all the others, gobble up more than three pounds of scratch feed a day, more if they can skinny into the garage and hit the tray of food set out for my retired hens.
 
“All you have to do is stop feeding them and they’ll leave,” more than one acquaintance has told me.

 
Tell that to any parent of a kid who no longer looks anything like a baby, nor eats like one. Easier said than done.
 
My fervent hope is that when the pond freezes, most of the mallard will, indeed fly away. The hussy and the mallard-adaptive drake will probably stay, leaving me with a manageable number of females in the coop, laying eggs that turn ordinary baked goods into tender fluff. Duck eggs do that, y’know.
 
At least, that is what I expect. Not plan. I know better than that. Anne Lamott, who wrote “Bird by Bird,” once said, “If you want to make God laugh, tell her your plans,” Amen to that, sister! I only expect. And I keep those expectations way, way low.

For WTIP, this is Vicki Biggs-Anderson with Magnetic North. 

A new program at the Birch Grove Community Center is starting up this week.  “Second Sunday Fundays” is just what it sounds like, fun activities for people of all ages from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. on the second Sunday of each month, starting Oct. 13.  The fun will include open gym, cards, games, and will wind up with a pizza from the hearth oven.   As always, cheese, sauce and dough will be provided, so you just have to bring your own toppings.  There is a small charge per person, but I’m sure no one will be turned away. Contact Patty at [email protected] or call 663-7977 for details.
 
Also, at Birch Grove School and Community Center is the West End social event of the year, the annual PTO Halloween Carnival.  This year it is on Sunday, Oct. 27 from 2 until 4 p.m.  This is a really fun event, with the traditional games and costumes, good food and a lot of neighborly visiting. 
 
Each time I attend the carnival, I’m instantly transported back to my childhood and the Endion Elementary School Carnival in Duluth.  I vividly remember how excited I was and how much fun I had racing from game to game.  I also remember being very surprised to see my parents running one of the games.  I won a set of Chinese finger cuffs, which made a big impression on me at the time.
 
Volunteers are always needed for the carnival.  I ran the bingo game for many years before a younger parent took over from me.  Calling bingo was a lot of pressure, because many of the players were experts and I was always worried that I’d make a mistake.  Of course, I made many mistakes, but they were kind to me and always made it fun.  Most of the volunteer positions are low pressure, though, so please help out if you can.  Call Diane at 663-0170 to sign up.
 
It is the time of year for getting your flu vaccine, which most people call a flu shot.  In the West End, the first round of shots will be offered Tuesday, Oct. 15.  The lovely and competent nurses from the Sawtooth Mountain Clinic will be at Moon Dance in Lutsen from 8:30 to 10 a.m. and then again in the clinic office at Birch Grove in Tofte from Noon until 1 p.m.
 
You must be more than 9 years old to receive a flu shot.  If you want to bill it to your insurance company, bring your information and insurance card.  Otherwise, you can pay the reasonable cost by check only.
 
A few years back, Norwegian author Vidar Sundstol wrote a murder mystery called “The Land of Dreams,” set here in the West End.  The protagonist is a Forest Service law enforcement officer named Lance Hansen.  The murder is committed at Father Baraga’s cross in Schroeder.  The subsequent investigation ranges from Duluth to Grand Portage and from present day back to the 19^th century.
 
The novel, which won a prestigious prize for Scandinavian crime fiction, features many actual people from the West End, including yours truly in a bit part as the nephew of the hero.  All of the place names are real and Sundstol describes the places, people and culture of the West End in great detail.
 
“The Land of Dreams” has just been published in English.  Author Sundstol is actually in the midst of an author’s tour and will be visiting Cook County this week.  According to the publicity, Sundstol lived in Cook County for two years back in the early 2000s.  I don’t remember meeting him, but he was connected to the local Forest Service through his girlfriend, who was a Forest Service employee.
 
In the English edition, some names have been slightly altered from the real names, but it’s easy to tell who several of the characters are based on.  For instance, “Becky” Tofte is the paymaster at the Tofte Ranger District and is described as friendly, motherly and the person who takes care of everyone at the station.  It’s not a stretch to see Meg Tofte in that character. 
 
Oddly, Sid Backlund makes a cameo appearance as the owner of Sven and Ole’s Pizza in Grand Marais.  Perhaps he gave permission to use his real name in the English edition?  It will be interesting to find out.
 
I have become Gary Hansen, who owns and operates North Woods Outfitters on Sawbill Lake.  In the story, which I’m only halfway through, my uncle suspects me of having an affair with one of my young employees.  I hope he lets me off the hook on that charge before the end of the book.  He likes my fictional wife of 25 years, Barb, very much and doesn’t want me to hurt her feelings.  Barb is the name of my ex-wife, so Sundstol seems determined to get me in trouble with my real wife, Cindy.  Thankfully, I am told that I’m not the murderer, so I’m at least grateful for that.
 
It will be fun to hear the discussion that the book provokes as it makes its way around the community.  It is the first book of a trilogy, so there should be plenty to talk about for years to come.  It’s published by the University of Minnesota Press and is already available on Amazon.   It surely will be in local stores quite soon, if it isn’t there already.