West End News: March 16

If you, like me, have been a little stymied by the strange midwinter thaw and are in need of some entertainment out in the community, might I recommend heading to Lutsen this weekend. Papa Charlie's, up at Lutsen Mountains, is hosting their annual DuLutsen music weekend this Friday and Saturday. DuLutsen is a weekend chock full of Duluth’s top musicians playing way up North of North, as they say. This is a great opportunity to catch some good tunes from our neighbors to the South right here at home. This year you can hear groups like Black-Eyed Snakes, Hobo Nephews of Uncle Frank (featuring Ryan Young of Trampled by Turtles), Jillian Rae, Sarah Krueger, Rich Mattson & The North Stars, and Brothers Burn Mountain. Tickets are $12 at the door and music starts at 8:30 both Friday and Saturday.

If that doesn’t entice you out of your midwinter stupor, listen to this! This year marks the 42nd annual St Urho’s day celebration in Finland. St Urho, of course, is famous for chasing the grasshopers out of Finland, thus saving the grape crop. Folks, this is a three day event. It kicks off with the Miss Helmi Talent and Beauty Contest from 6-8pm on Friday the 17th. There’s a parade through Finland on Highway 1 that starts at noon on Saturday, March 18. There’s music around town throughout the day Saturday as well as a craft fair, games and lunch at the Clair Nelson Community Center. If you’re still standing, you can win some door prizes at a raffle drawing at 3pm on Sunday. St Urho may be made up, but this party is for real. So put on some purple and we’ll see you in Finland!

If you need something slightly calmer, the woods are lovely right now. The thaw and freeze has made for a very solid crust that keeps a person on snowshoes right on top, making for easy travel all over the place. The inland lakes are pretty icy, but if you don’t mind a little slipping, you can usually find a ribbon of windswept snow along the eastern shores to carry you along on skis. Traveling so close to shore has given me insights into the winter woods I otherwise would have missed. Like the scattered remnants of an otter’s lunch, blue and orange shells adding to the illusion created by ocean-like ripples the wind has made in the snow.

So there you have it. Good tunes, a parade, and peaceful wilderness, all out our backdoor this week in the West End. I feel better already.

I would be remiss if I didn’t add that this week I am especially grateful for WTIP. In addition to all the wonderful things WTIP does for our community, which I’m sure you’re hearing about during this membership drive, I’d like to add one very personal thank you note. Years ago, my Grandpa Frank Hansen transitioned his newspaper column, the West End News, to WTIP. While I always enjoyed it when I heard it, I never fully appreciated the lasting impact of those recordings. Now, years after he’s left us, I can still listen to his voice recounting history and news as though I were in his living room anytime I want, just by clicking a button on WTIP’s website. It’s one of the only places his voice is recorded to my knowledge. So thanks WTIP, for capturing the voices of our community, what a gift.

For WTIP, I’m Clare Shirley with the West End News.