West End News - December 14
West End News 12/14/17 by Clare Shirley
The Birch Grove kiddos will be putting their seasonal cheer on display in the annual winter musical this Tuesday, December 19th. The performance, entitled a Bear-y Merry Holiday, will run twice. Once at 1pm and again at 6pm. After each performance you can squeeze in some last minute holiday shopping at the Scholastic Holiday Book Fair, also at Birch Grove.
Former Birch Grover Joshua Schmidt is coming home for the holidays. While that might not seem all that newsworthy, it is worth noting that he will be playing music at the Poplar River Pub at Lutsen Resort while he is back. Josh is part of the successful Twin Cities based band The Step Rockets and he will be bringing an arrangement of classic folk rock with a modern flavor to the north woods. He’s playing on Tuesday, December 19 from 6-8pm. If you can’t make it then, don’t worry, he’ll be back at the Pub again on Thursday December 21 also from 6-8pm.
We’ve had quite a bit of snow this past week in the West End, especially up over the hill. There are roughly 18 inches on the ground up here, with about six inches of new sparkly snow covering the trees. The inland lakes are more frozen every day. Jessica Hemmer drilled a hole in Sawbill Lake just yesterday to measure the ice. She reports that there are 12 inches of clear, solid, ice. We ventured out on the lake not 2 hours after her report and found that the hole she had drilled was already frozen over, enough that we couldn’t break through it. Brr! All the recent snow brings an end to ice skating season. However, the high winds have created a nice firm wind-packed snow on the lakes making for a fast start to cross country ski skating season.
Lutsen Mountains is making good use of the cold temperatures and fast falling snow. As of this Friday December 15, the ski hill will be open daily. Daily lift ticket rates are still pre-season, meaning a little cheaper, until December 21st so now is the time to go if you want to get the most bang for your buck.
Whatever your winter activity, I hope you are out and about enjoying the glittery landscape and soaking up the last sunsets of 2017. I can’t think of a better way to close out one year and begin the next here in the beautiful West End.
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